hello,

Today was my 3rd flight ever and my plane keeps on going further and further back and eventually my trainer has to remind me to bring it all the way back up to the flying zone. are there any tips u guys have??? is this a bad thing?

and also we were practicing landing and he told me to try and line it up as best i could and im still way far away... will it be easier when im further down??? cause i was still way up in the air. thanx

You can lose orientation of the plane fast when it's further away not
to mention other problems it's best to keep it closer to the field..
I use to try and keep my plane parallel to our runway about 75-100yds
out. It was a lot eaiser to see what you and the plane are doing..
On landings I would have a good approch height wise, but would be on
the outside edge of the runway.. So the last turn to final and I would
aim the plane towards myself (before making the final turn towards
runway)and I had a land mark that I would use that aligned the plane to
the center of the runway before finishing the last turn.. This helped me
alot..

You have already done the best thing that you can do to avoid the problem you are describing.... You are aware of it. Just keep honing your awareness and working on what you know you have to do to fly back to / toward yourself. As you are aware of the landing problem, you will start flying the crosswind leg a little farther toward yourself before you start the final turn. Eventually you will pick out an object in the distance from where you are standing to begin your lineup to the runway, and the altitude that you want to use to properly slow for landing. Then, you will start recognising what your aircraft should look like while you are makeing a proper approach, and you will use this to help line up on any runway you get ready to land at. I took a while to get used to where I had to place my plane to line up with the approximate center of my runway. I tended to land to the far edge all the time. Just for fun, I let my son land once without warning him that I knew he was coming in short, and let him land in the tall weeds at the south edge of the runway one day. He learned from that one experience more closely how to judge where the plane really was on final.

Ask your instructor to point out objects on the approach to use when lining up a landing. If he doesn't happen to use objects on the "horizon" watch him make a landing approach, and you pick one.

Keep your eye on the left and right horizons when flying too. It will help you keep the plane in the same position relative to the runway.
Dennis-

Here's a "trick" I use. On my landing approach I do the downwind leg, turn into the cross-wind leg, and when I think it is right to do the upwind (landing) leg, I wait two or three seconds before I turn in (the plane should be flying slowly already). Then, (this is my trick)... I fly the plane *directly* at myself (our pilot stations at my field are about 10 meters from the runway area...). I do the whole landing directly toward myslef, keeping the wings level, and the plane comming at me. When the plane comes into the "inner circle" (that space where it is suddenly "close", not "far"), I gently turn the plane parallel to the runway, and it should be right over it.

This method does not guarantee you will be over the runway, but it *does* ensure that you fly a consistent approach *every* time, and that you can use the consistency to iron out any gremlins from your approach.

gus

use landmarks.
fence, trees, power lines
practice, practice, practice

there'a a chalk line at my field. i use that also

i had the same problem at first also..
i was over controlling the plane, not giving it time to fly back during banking or truns.
my instructor made me do two 45 deg truns for trun around,
so the plane won't drift further and further away

i was also a little bit to slow to to level out ..so by the time i level out i wasn't parallel with
the chalk line , or the field. it gets further and further away this way too.
my instructor had me make minor adjustments with the rudder to correct the
flight path. after he told me level out faster for the millionth time

he also had me practice procedure turns for trun arounds.
i had to master this before before he taught me to land.
these procedures help me a lot . it help me practice left and right banking,
flying parallel to the fight lines more frequently other than just flying
in circles. i'll throw a loop in every so often to makesure my instructor
was still paying attention.lol

trun the stick in the direction that the wing is dipping to level the plane when
it's heading to you. this tip help me a lot.....i didn't have to think as much
anymore. it's r/c, i'm not sitting in the cockpit.

i also put big stripes on the bottom of my wing. i didn't get tired as fast
after that. i didn't have to try to focus as hard anymore.

Lots of great ideas...and here's one too. It's what I try to do. Notice I said TRY. Conditions don't always allow a nice landing down the center stripe.

First thing, before you take off, and this works no matter where you are flying. Look down the runway to your left and right, and imagine a line running parralell to the runway, and you are standing on it. Notice any landmarks like trees fences, etc. as mentioned earlier. On the final turn on the approach, simply notice where your plane is in relation to this imaginary line, and any landmarks. Using landmarks to define this line is important. Once you learn to do this, lining up on final will become a snap. Hope that helps.

Jim C