Hey,

I just finished with a trainer and now i'm flying a groovy 3d. I know i skipped a few steps. I've flown the plane 5 times and its amazing. The only prob i have is that has an extremely solid undercarriage with very fat aluminium bars. My landings havn't been perfect, but i didnt bounce or come in too hard. However now i've found that the aluminium struts have pulled away from the wood they screwed into.

My first thought is that i have tightened the screws too tight making the wood(that the aluminium barsare screwed in too) have to give way when i land.

Can u guys give me some tips on how to stop this problem, other than landing a bit better?

how tight should these screws be because i made them as tight as they would go

Thanks boyks

Jeza

Experiment with the tightness. If you accidently strip it out, a dab of Elmer's glue will help act as lock-tite. Got pics??

unfortunately not, but it mustnt be tight am i right in thinking that??/

I know that you didn't want to hear it, but unfortunately it's true. Learn to land. The fact that you admit that you advanced too fast in your choice of planes also tells me that you didn't spend the time learning to land properly along the way.

I've been in this hobby a long time and I've read a lot about different planes that supposedly had problems with "bouncing" on landing. So far the list is actually very very small where the problem was with the plane and not with the pilot. Far too many pilots don't take the time to learn properly. The may be able to do a ballet in the air with their planes, but when it comes time to land they look like a pig on stilts because they can't land worth a darn.

I'll be a dollar to a donut that if you spent some time practicing your landings the problems you are having will disappear. I'm not talking about months worth of practice either. Go to the field and take only your trainer. Spend the whole day at the field doing nothing but touch and go landings. Run 4-5 tanks of fuel doing that. You'll be surprised how fast your landings will improve.

For what it's worth, a perfect landing that is "greased" in is just about the prettiest thing in the world!!! Don't believe me?? Watch other pilots at the field. As soon as a pilot makes a nice landing everybody will notice it!!!

Hope this helps

Ken

Use nylon screws. They'll snap before the wood pulls out. Also, practice landing.

Dr.1

I fly IMAC, 3D, big gas planes, etc. etc...

and I still do this about once a month........

On landing, remember to fly the plane down to the runway, don't just try to slow down to a stall and chop the throttle (chop and drop). Most new pilots (and a lot of older pilots) think that the slower the plane is flying, the more time it gives them to correct and get it straight. In fact, the slower your flying, the harder it is to correct the attitude of the plane.

As you approach the runway, use the elevator to control speed and the throttle to control altitude. Keep the wings level and use the rudder to steer. Let the plane settle onto the runway. If you're going long, don't be ashamed to throttle up and go around. Bounces happen when the decent rate is too high or the pilot panics and adds too much up elevator to flair. Practice, Practice, Practice. Try bringing the plane in and flying it just a few inches off the runway. Landings are no different, just a few inches lower.

If the threads for your landing gear bolts rip out, you can use blind nuts instead. The nylon bolts are also a good idea, but until you learn to land properly, keep a large supply of replacement bolts handy. Also make sure you tighten them approximately 1/4 turn past snug. They must be pre-stressed in order to snap off properly. You probably want to use at least 1/4 inch bolts. If the wood threads are stripped out and you don't want to use blind nuts, fill the holes with 30 minute epoxy and microballons (50% mix), then redrill and retap the holes. You won't need to harden the threads with CA.

A couple of ideas..........

Let the airplane land itself..... OK..... not entirely what you want to do but it describes what you want to happen.........

Set up the landing when you're on final. You want the approach angle and speed set before you come over the threshold. The airplane should be coming in flat enough to touch down without your dinking with the elevator. It should have enough speed that it's not risking a stall and still be slow enough that you don't smoke or flatspot the tires. And you do all this by working the throttle BEFORE you're over the numbers and then only dinking the throttle from then on with clicks.
After practicing with fairly long approaches, you'll soon be able to identify the right speed and angle quickly and learn how to get into that shape with shorter approaches. but............

And it's amazing how many touch and goes you can do in one flight. You can practice the heck out of landing with just a couple of flights.

Think this bit got skipped. Yes it must be tight, unless you want to watch your landing gear land without your plane due to engine vibrations.

Take off the aluminum landing gear and replace it with the wire landing gear, that way if you land alittle hard you don't have to worry about cracks appearing in the fuselage and it will help you avoid repairs or even rebuilding the under side of your plane.



Happy Flying

Paul