Hi

I have a World Models Skyraider Mk2 and I am having a few problems with it because it is just floating too much and doesn't want to land. I've been having to force the plane down, which is leading to a lot of nose-overs and bent gear. Any suggestions how I can work around this? I've been thinking about adding weight to the model over the CG to increase its wing loading, or maybe even cutting a bay off each wing tip. It floats even more than my Mk1 high wing and is causing a lot of trouble if there is any wind at all.

Don't go cutting anything off the wing, would be interested to know what engine you have in the plane. I flew one of these for a while and played around with a couple of different motors. With an OS 46AX or a Thunder Tiger Pro 46 it flew and landed without problem, with an OS 46LA in the front it was different to fly and land. With a low wing you have to fly it all the way down you can't just pull the throttle off and float it in. Don't know what sort of spinner you have but if you have a plastic one replace it with a solid aluminium one to give the front end a little more weight.

These are a good plane, if all else fails take it to the club and have an instructor or very experienced pilot have a look at it, they may be able to come up with other ideas

I had a .46AX in it initially and I now have a .55AX in it. It seems to land better with the .55, probably because of the extra weight, but it still won't land very well. I've tried flying it in and had a couple of deadsticks due to some bad fuel which led to floating in and either way it doesn't like to land.

Not sure why you would be having problems like that, I have both skyraiders and have no problems with either. I fly my mk2 in 25mph winds and it still settles right down nice and easy. Try bringing the idle down so that it has virtually no thrust at idle.

Your from the bottom of the Earth so your gravity is up side down....... (jk)

I fly Sky Raiders with OS .46's and other engines and in winds ranging from deal calm to over 25 mph, and have no problem slowing them down and landing on the tailwheel first. When I fly on our 3-pole practice course I have to literally land the plane at my feel over 12" high grass due to a very small usable runway area and have no issues spot landing it. A Sky Raider doesn't need much thrust to fly and if a .46 AX is not idled down it wants to float. I fly them with 10 X 6 & 10 X 7 props.

I think your issue is that .55 on it which is a torque engine and you're probably producing too much thrust even at idle. If you switch back to the .46 AX and run an 11 X 6 prop and idle the engine down it will probably land just fine. The idle need to be set so the engine is just able to keep running at idle.

Hogflyer

The 55ax is big for this plane. The 46 is at the top of the engine range. Put it back in and check the cg.

I flew one with the evolution trainer engine, apc 10x7 turning 13,000 and it flew very well. It is kind of a speed plane.

As for landing it will land a bit hot as compared to a first trainer. What worked for me was to get it a little lower at the far end of the runway and have a shollower glide path coming in. Don't expect to chop the throttle and just drop it in. It is a easy plane to land. I thought it was easier than my alpha just a bit different.

Sometimes a larger dia. prop spinning slowly will act as an airbrake....might be worth a try. For a slow idle so you will have to have your low end adjusted well.

It's better with the .55 swinging a 13x6 than it was with the .46 swinging an 11x6 or 11x7. We fly in about 15km/h winds most of the time, and in that sort of wind at walking pace the plane still won't come down. Idle on both the .46 and .55 is quite low, any lower and they stop. Both are tuned as well as possible according to our club experts, and there is very little thrust at idle.

The wind picked up as I was trying to land last Saturday and the plane was literally hovering till the wind dropped back again.

Our strip is grass and is only 80 metres (about 260 feet) and one end has trees which mean the approach can't be too shallow if the wind is that way. Didn't really have any problems with it until I had to start bringing it in over the trees and dropping it down, as you can get a very shallow approach from the other direction. It's floating worse than the Skyraider Mk1 trainer that I have, I can get that down without a problem with either the .46 or .55 in it, using the same props. The first deadstick I had with it everyone else at the club was amazed how well it floated in, I made it back to the strip from an altitude and distance that none of the various trainers at the club would have managed.

Don't get me wrong, I love the way the plane performs and handles, and I find it easier to fly than the high wing trainer, it just doesn't want to land if there is any sort of headwind at all. It's not bad if it's dead calm, but that doesn't happen very often.

The Skyraider is not known as a floater...I wonder if you have the throttle trim set too high....especially with the 55.....with a light airplane it'll make all the difference in the world
Good flyin to ya

The 55 is just fine, especially since it is a race plane. The 55 is the same physical size on the outside and if it is heavier, its such a small amount that it doesn't matter. I doubt the idle thrust of a bigger prop could even be a measurable difference either.

Sounds like you're confusing air speed and ground speed?
The plane will only care about airspeed when it is in straight line flying, so the wind will only effect the ground speed at landing. The ground speed can indeed be close to zero, or even negative in a strong head wind. I'm with the others on this one, reduce the idle...
What idle revs do you have?

Clint:

Read the following thread in the Aerodynamics forum, where a problem similar to yours was discussed and solved:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_7544125/tm.htm

Regards!

No, wasn't confusing the two, just wasn't clear enough in my post. What I meant was that ground speed was zero. Not sure on idle revs, don't have access to a tach to check it, but 2 clicks of down trim on the throttle kills the engine when it's idling and it's tuned as well as anyone in the club can get it.


Thanks for pointing me to that thread, gave me a couple of ideas how to fix the problem.