when landing do you use the ailerons or the rudder. i have been practicing with aileron but someone said to learn the rudder. dont want to waste any time learning the wrong thing?

I use both... But I guess not the rudder as much as I should!!
I use both when side slipping in due to wind. I "mostly" use the
ailerons on my approch, then used the rudder for fine
adjustments before touchdown. But again that's just me..

Actually you should learn to use all 3 control surfaces. The Elevator for the flair, the rudder for track over and on the ground and the ailerons to keep the wings level. Don't forget about power to level the descent

The rudder is your friend and is a very powerful surface when used properly. Learning proper use of the rudder will enable you to learn more advanced landing and altitude techniques such as the sideslip (quick way to loose altitude but maintain glide speed) and crosswind landing for which the sideslip really helps out.

One of the best ways to learn the rudder is to get up about 100 or 200 feet and make a turn using only the rudder (not much rudder at first). During the turn if the plane drops a wing (most planes will with a few exceptions) you then counteract that with aileron (ie, right rudder turn, right wing drops, use left airleron to bring the wings back level) now the fun comes in, when you counter act with the aileron you now are in a turning sideslip and depending on how much rudder/aileron you may straighten out go right into a sideslip and the plane will want to loose altitude quite quickly. You counteract that with power and elevator.

When done correctly it looks cool to see the wing down, the plane flying sideways and dropping right to the spot you wanted on the runway. Right before touchdown, you release all the controls and get the plane back straight and touch down. Timing is everything but be careful as you are now completely cross-controlled and the plane can stall fairly easy if you get too slow.

Yep, you can get very busy very quickly but do this 20 - 50 times and it soon becomes second nature and you will find that flying in wind becomes allot easier.

Hope this helps somewhat

we are flying models, not full size aircraft, so the correct way is the way that works! don't be overly obsessed with forcing yourself to fly one way or the other, do what works for you and the plane.

As bubbagates said, you should be using all controls, in theory.

Ideally, you want the plane to be pointed in the direction it's flying at touchdown. IE, the track and the heading should be the same. (heading is the direction the plane is pointed. Track is the direction the plane is actually going in relation to the ground. They aren't the same in a crosswind)

In a crosswind, if you don't use rudder, you will come down in a "crab", where the plane is pointed slightly off from the direction the plane is actually going.

Touching down while in a crab on a trainer is no big deal. On some airplanes, espeically ones with retracts, the results can sometimes be broken gear or mounts.

The easy way to think about it is to use the rudder to keep the plane pointed where you want it pointed, and use the ailerons to keep it actually going where you want it going. In a steady crosswind, that will result in the rudder and ailerons being held opposite, a slip as described above.

In addition to handling crosswinds, you should, in theory, always be doing coordinated turns, using both rudder and aileron together anyway. Espeically at slow speeds, this will allow the plane to turn easiler and smoother, and reduce the odds of a stall if done correctly.

Many models can be flown with out the rudder, but it often helps to use it some anyway. Next time you fly, watch the nose and tail of your plane as you roll in to a turn. Does the nose "pop up", kind of sliding up and to the ouside of the turn as you start your turn? Now, try using rudder and ailerons together. The turn entry should look a lot smoother, and there should be less movement of the nose and tail. Again, this varies plane to plane quite a lot.

Coordianted turns at slow speed (such as when turning final to land) also are easier to do accurately, and the plane will seem like it can turn tighter, making it easier to line up with the runway. It takes a little pratice though.

The key to good landings is your turn to final approach. You should have a land mark or reference point as to where that position is for your field, and know the best altitude for final. Too high means diving in and building too much air speed, too low means dragging it in on the verge of stall. When you are in the right place on final, the trick is to "let" the plane land, keeping the wings level (ailerons) and maintaining the desired airspeed. You should have very little, if any, course correction needed. Don't be doing a lot of "flying" at this point. If you have to deal with a cross wind, you may need to use some rudder to maintain the heading you want, as well. Keep it simple. Good luck.

You will be a lot better pilot if you learn to use all the controls. Rudder keeps the longditudinal axis straight with the runway. Ailerons control roll, and elev controls pitch. You control the descent with throttle. As stated, you find a good pitch attitude for your final approach speed, and vary throttle to give you the desired descent. If you change the pitch, you change the speed.

I see many guys who fly all the controls, and most of them are very good pilots. The guys that just fly the right stick will never fly a plane to its full potential. Either way works, but if you want to get better than average, learn to use them all.

start with whats easy and most affective and then use the control surfaces you are not that comfortable to improve you accuracy.

I've only used aileron/elevator, except for taxiing on the ground. Only one of my planes even has a rudder, the other two are hand launched/belly landed and only have elevator/aileron. When I get some more experience, I plan to start using the rudder more, though.

As has been said, the best RC pilots use all the controls regularly. Start using that rudder now, because the longer you wait the harder it will be to get use to using it.

I was fortunate enough to have an instructor who insisted on my using rudder from the start, and I use it almost as much as I do ailerons or elevator. I seriously doubt that I ever fly more than 10 or 15 seconds at a time without some rudder input.

Good luck,
Dennis-

HUH I just press the red easy button. and it greases in all by itself

"Wasting your time" WHAT ,are you kiding ?
take your time to learn everything
"dead stiks,cross wind,radio hits>
glitches

or all you will end up with
is a smoking pile[X(] maybe you should be Re directed
to the crash form[:@]

Hi,

I know someone has this in their signature block but I can't help myself: "Your total number of landings should equal your total number of take offs".

Now I have that out of my system I can only add to the view point that without mastering the coordination of rudder and aileron you will have great difficulty in cross wind landings.

I don't know if this is just me I find dead stick landings easier than power available landings and always have. The big proviso is providing you can reach the strip.

Cheers,

Colin

yeap, apply what you've learned.
2-3 mistake high until I get comfortable with any type of new manuvers.
Doing stall truns was a great help to get me using the throttle and rudder.
4 pionts rolls or slow rolls also.

Don't worry so much about do things wrong way.
Safty first is always the right way to me.
Yes, even I know by holding the sticks like a twizzer one can get more
percision control. but I still use my thumbs.
My flight instructor insist that I still us my thumb while trying to get the feel of a heli.lol
Consentrating on the tail verse the nose was differernt too.

dead sticks are great, I love them.
They're different everytime.
staying calm, quick decisions making and adaptability.

Use both rudder & ailerons to make coordinated turns in your approach -- including the turns in the landing pattern & course corrections on final. The use of ailerons-only will eventually catch you one day at low speed & result in a stall-spin-crunch event.

A simple and effective way of learning to use the rudder is simply to fly perfectly parallel to the runway back and forth back and forth using rudder only to make small corrections to keep you on track. DO NOT let people tell you this is too difficult.. IT IS how you will learn to fly with rudder.

1st get comfortable just taking off and landing and flying generally comfortable once you are comfortable with your plane work on this...

Simple Exercise.
1. Takeoff and go around and come into the wind at the end of the field set your distance there so that as the plane passes in front of you it is 100' out and say 75' high. Start at 100' out at the end of the field and try to stay exactly 100' out all the way from one end of the field to the other . USE RUDDER and elevator ONLY to maintain altitude and track. Only use the ailerons to keep the wings level NOT steer the plane, thats what the rudder is for. stay with it,,, it works.

2. When you get to the end DONT TURN, climb vertically maintain a perfect vertical line using the rudder and then at the top ease the throttle back so you are at a high idle and give full rudder deflection so that the plane turns 180 degrees and faces straight down. (Thats a stall turn or hammerhead) You should stive to come back down the exact same line you went up, YOU CAN DO IT!!

3. At the bottom pull the stick back gently and level out at 75' high and 100' out maintain distance out with rudder and elevator only ALL THE WAY down the field..

Repeat steps 2 and 3 over and over (just remember to takeoff and land) for at least 1 gallon of fuel do only this. Mark the gallon RUDDER. I learned this trick from aconversation with Bryan Hebert a REAL good pattern pilot and it works

When you get proficient at it mark another gallon RUDDER INVERTED,,,
go through the exact same exercise but do it twice as high and inverted. The trick I used initially for inverted rudder control was to watch the wingtip closest to me. Focus on maintaining distance out and altitude. When inverted just use your rudder thumb to push the wingtip forward or back, almost like your thumb is actually on the wing and you are physicaly moving it. You will have to push(down elevator) to climb vertically from inverted remember. Once vertical with the belly of the plane facing you push the rudder stick in the direction you want the tail to go to maintain a straight vertical line. At the top ease back to high idle and push full rudder in the direction you want the tail to go. It takes a while for your brain to catch on but once you do its VERY simple.

Once you get comfortable and with these exercises I guarantee you will be flying the rudder all the time... inverted, upright, in turns, loops rolls all the time and you wont even be thinking about it. Anyone can just fly for fun and that is great, not everyone wants to be a good pilot some just wanna have a good time.

MIke

Looks like you're getting lots of feedback on this one so I'll put my two cents in. The plane, if balanced correctly, will all but land itself. As mentioned in a post above, find a landmark (this may be different from plane to plane), shoot several touch and goes until you find your landmark and altitude needed to grease it in. Then, allow the plane to land itself and loose it's own altitude. Keep the plane level using aileron control. Rudder comes into play with cross wind corrections. I recommend you have several greased landings without cross winds before you try to fly in these conditions. As you approach the runway just before touchdown, a small amount of flair to land on the mains and you should be home free! Touch and goes are not only fun, and conserve fuel, they also improve your landing skills. I once owned a Kadet Sr. (ARF in red). A fellow club member and I would go out together (he had the same plane) and we would shoot touch and goes one right after each other. Was pretty cool. The crowd never knew who was flying which plane!

FUN FUN FUN!!!

I am itchin to fly my plane, but what is the hardest part? if the wind is completely calm do you reccomend me to go with a friend who knows how to fly but do everything myself?

You can do what you want but if you get help from someone to fly your odds of success are all but certain. Try to do it alone and you will crash. You may learn to fly eventually but it will be painful and somewhat costly. Flying is easy once you learn how, but it takes a little time to get the hang of it.

If you have never flown before, do not try it alone. Find someone who knows how to fly and let them teach you. Otherwise, you might find your new flying career cut short

For safteys sake please try to get a more experienced person fly with you. If the plane has not yet been flown then an experienced person can properly trim it for you and show you the basics.

Although learning on your own can and has been done succesfully, the odds are usually not in your favor. As always there are great examples of the exception to that statement and I'm sure someone will give one

thanks for all the good tips. that will clear things up in my mind. (for now anyway)

Thanks also guys. I found someone who can teach me whenever.

Im new to the hobby and fly as much as i can , actually today i was practicing my landing so what a better place to reply ! I only use alerons to get the plane coming in nice and even to the glide path , i use rudder to make my left / right desicions . Hope this helps !