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Old 07-29-2003 | 02:10 PM
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Gordon Mc
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Default Re: Landing technique(trainer)

Originally posted by jeffsend
Is this correct,or are you supposed to deliberately dive to lose altitude and try to flair out under power?
One point that you are missing here, is that you should actually be using the elevator to control the speed during the landing, and the throttle to control the touch down point (TDP). Borzak has it right when he says "don't use the elevator to loose altitude".

Basically, you need to pick your target speed (a little bit above stall-speed, plus a little more safety margin in adverse weather), and adjust the aircraft's pitch until you get that speed. If you have the throttle too low, then you'll find the aircraft now heading for a TDP that is short of the runway, so you add a little power to move the TDP forward. The added power will probably affect your airspeed, so you then adjust the pitch again to get the speed correct.... repeat as necessary.

This is actually much easier to learn in full-size aircraft where you can watch the ASI and use the stick to get the right speed and then see whether the aircraft is pointed at the piano keys or not & make the power adjustments as necessary to make sure that the point where you run out of altitude is right where you want it... but with some patience you can understand and employ it on your models too.

I know this "elevator controls airspeed" concept sounds intuitively backwards, but the big advantage in learning to do this, is that when you associate elevator with airspeed (instead of throttle with airspeed), you will find yourself much better equipped to deal with a deadstick situation rather than only being able to do good landings when you have a running engine.

Good luck,

Gordon