Sempiterna

So I fly full scale and when you fly full scale, you always have a landing touchdown target.. I've tried to keep that target in mind when I'm landing the RC versions.

Our runway is 400' long, and I generally stand downwind, about 50' from the end of the runway.

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the carrot (^) is where I stand, and the arrows is the wind direction, and the # is my target for landing.

Is this the tried and true? If not, what should be my landing 'target'.

TexasAirBoss

My Feedback: (22)

In front of my right foot is where I typically aim for practice. But I might alter that for the field if I'm in the middle.

Sempiterna

So you touch down right directly in front of you then?

MetallicaJunkie

if im landing left to right, i try to touch down left and in front of me, and roll it to me if possible... sometimes i land right in front of me and sometime i over shoot and have to go retrieve my airplaner

brett65

My Feedback: (18)

I try to stand a little closer to the beginning of the runway, but there isn't always a spot open there. We only have about 300' or so, that is the spot that I always try to land at though. Gives me plenty of time to slow after touchdown or extra runway in case I don't make it down in time. I always go around again if I'm not touched down by midway, unless its a deadstick of course.

Villa

I have been flying R/C since 1972. I have hundreds of crashes under my belt and try to learn from each one. As a result I feel very comfortable in most situations. It never fails to amaze me when I make what appears to be a stupid landing; land short, bounce a lot, hit the ground too hard, stall, etc. After many years of this I realized where the problem is. The average depth-of-field for humans is 17 feet. Yes, just 17 feet. What this means is this: You never know where the plane is relative to a point on the ground unless it is within 17 feet of you. I therefor make that "point on the ground" to be roughly directly in front of me. I also only land left to right or right to left, depending on the wind. Only if there is a sever cross wind will I angle the plane slightly. During this last condition I will abort a lot if things look wrong. Angling the plane into the wind has caused me many crashes because the change in orientation robs me of the ability to judge the air speed/ground speed. I feel I'm safer fighting the cross wind and landing my NORMAL way. Works for me. Anyone else understand the significance of depth-of-field. Comments?

alfredbmor

I guess that my landing zone is around the 17 feet that Villa mentioned. I prefeer to touch down just a few feets before the line where I am standing up, I like to see the wheels touching down to know if it is a good or a bad landing.
At some pattern contests, the touch down should be at the front of the pilot.

brett65

My Feedback: (18)

That's why I stand as close to the beginning of the runway as possible. I think even at 30ft. I am still ok. I am pretty good with judging the movement of something flying in the air, maybe comes from playing baseball my entire life, I dunno.

gunfighterII

The runway. I'm always happy if I can hit it, does'nt matter where.

flyX

I'm like brett65. I might be standing close to the center of the field during flight, but i don't hasitate to walk towards the end of the field.
espacailly on oneside of my field..there nothing for me to judge depth against..no contras , no landmarks close enough.
Plus I clipped the stupid fence too many times. it's just a stupid wire fence..kind of like an electric fence for cows..to keep
people with ATV out.

One of my problem at first was landing on the outside of the field.
Plus the models look the same size to me wheather it's a .60 or .40 during flight.
I'm basically flying further out with a bigger model.
Sometimes I forget I'm flying a biggier model.lol

Plus the field is set east and west.lol You get the crazy sun glair in the morning when we go flying before the wind picks up.
And in the evening after work is worst...that's the side that dosn't have any contras.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

I like to touch the wheels on tera about 20 to 10 feet to my side, left or right depending on the wind direction. I was taught to land right in front of me but the way I do it now just feels right. It's something about the roll out?? Just feels better when it's off to my side A little.

Sempiterna

My theory is that when I'm flying scale, i always aim for the numbers. I think I should be touching down between 10-50' after the runway starts.

SoCalSal

My Feedback: (16)

I second this!!!!!

j.duncker

My Feedback: (2)

I believe that it is easier to judge the flare if the moment of touchdown is right in front of you. I know when I teach someone to land that is what I tell them to aim for 50 feet out and right in front of them.

However if you are landing a scale model and you have good depth perception then what you are doing will look better. I always liked landing tail draggers on the fronts and letting the tail down just as it passed me.

ndb8fxe

My Feedback: (1)

"There's nothing more useless than the runway behind you." Quote by B. Shiff. This works for full scale however with models I find it much easier on the eyes and planes to land somewhere near to in front of the pilot.