Solo flight tips
03-04-2005 | 08:28 AM
#26
My Feedback: (32)
RE: Solo flight tips
ORIGINAL: Grant-KS
Just a li'l update...I flew yesterday still on the buddy box. Basically just did TOs and landings for 30 min. or so. On a few of the landings I flared way too much, and it stalled and bounced. I should have pulled out of it on the bounce and tried again, but I gave it all the up elevator I could and bounced it a couple more times before it settled down. I wasn't a happy camper. Did probably 10-12 landings in all. I had a few really pretty ones that even Steven was impressed with, and so was I. I think some of the time I was just seeing that it was level, and at an even rate of descent, and let it land itself, but I needed to keep my focus all the way through until all three wheels were on the ground for good. We learned that the plane lands best with the nose up about an inch or so. Bring it in on main gear, then settle it down. Slid into the landing like hot butter. I could have just as well done it solo, as Steven never took over unless I asked him to do a demo pass/Touch-n-go. Didn't do any aerobatics. Just landings, and solo skills. Earlier I had just been flying back and forth, and practicing slow level rolls, snap rolls, immelman, etc. Don't know if this bird'll fly inverted or not...we'll have to check that out sometime. Also can't wait to start building a plane. Too bad it takes so much money. LOL Anyway, just thought I'd update a bit.
Just a li'l update...I flew yesterday still on the buddy box. Basically just did TOs and landings for 30 min. or so. On a few of the landings I flared way too much, and it stalled and bounced. I should have pulled out of it on the bounce and tried again, but I gave it all the up elevator I could and bounced it a couple more times before it settled down. I wasn't a happy camper. Did probably 10-12 landings in all. I had a few really pretty ones that even Steven was impressed with, and so was I. I think some of the time I was just seeing that it was level, and at an even rate of descent, and let it land itself, but I needed to keep my focus all the way through until all three wheels were on the ground for good. We learned that the plane lands best with the nose up about an inch or so. Bring it in on main gear, then settle it down. Slid into the landing like hot butter. I could have just as well done it solo, as Steven never took over unless I asked him to do a demo pass/Touch-n-go. Didn't do any aerobatics. Just landings, and solo skills. Earlier I had just been flying back and forth, and practicing slow level rolls, snap rolls, immelman, etc. Don't know if this bird'll fly inverted or not...we'll have to check that out sometime. Also can't wait to start building a plane. Too bad it takes so much money. LOL Anyway, just thought I'd update a bit.
Grant,
Just a couple of quick things. I actually did most of my training on the very same plane but with the EVO 46 TPS system until I pile drived it then went to the LT-40. You are correct, just land it nose high about an inch and she will grease most of her landings.
Most trike gear planes should be landed on the main gear first with the nose gear about an inch higher.
The day I soloed I had been shooting touch and goes and I'm guessing here, but it seemed like almost a hundred of them. I know it was at least 2 tank fulls. My touch and goes are usually like this for both trike and taildragger, land, rollout for around 50 feet, power up and takeoff, fly the pattern and repeat.
You know that good feeling you get when it greases on? Remember that, go back through your mind and remember what everything looked like, the downwind leg, the turn to base, the turn to final, where you cut the throttle and when you flaired. Now try to put that all together again.
Do not try to force it to the ground, if you flair to high just relax a tiny bit on the elevator and add just a very, very small amount of power, sometimes just one click of throttle is more than enough and only for a very brief second to level the decent, you already seem to know when you are flairing too late or too high. Now all you need to do is learn to recognize it a bit earlier and what to do about it which you already have a pretty decent handle on. Just remember that the throttle is mainly for climb and decent and the elevator controls speed, but both work very close together.
In another post you mentioned killing the engine. If I read this correctly I think you meant going to idle. If you actually meant shutting down the engine on purpose before actually being on the ground, I would not recommend that at this point in your training. It is a common practice for big gas powered and even big glow powered planes with large diameter and high pitch props, but you had better be very close to the ground or on it when you do shutdown the engine. At that point you are totally committed to landing and have no way to power out if it all goes bad quickly.
Now in my opinion, the need to practice dead stick landings (engine not running) is a very good idea. Sometime in your future you will be so involved in flying you may just forget about the time and run out of fuel and guess what, you are landing with no engine. On the Extra EasyII in most cases it actually lands somewhat easier with the engine off but usually that is because you are more focused than having the engine running on landing. You know your engine is dead, you know you have only one chance to make it back, so you tend to block out everything and have a higher level of concentration.
If I have been redundant and repeated things you already know or do now, then please take what I have written with a grain of salt. It really does sound like you are very close to ready.
Heck, you are already do basic aerobatics which is pretty advanced for a beginner [X(]
