Do you hold a knife edge! I spent two hours on the sim tonight and got the knife to hold on an edge 330 for only a couple of times. What is the technique for holding it straight and steady? I had a 10 Mph head wind loaded. That plane handles amazing on the sim! Don't know why but want to learn to knife. So where should I start? Flying Thursday evening! Time goes ahead this weekend!! That will mean more evening flying!
Have a nice week Ya'll!!

One word altitude is your friend

And practice

yeah, just practice

If you haven't mastered normal flight yet, do that first. Then the other stuff will come easier.

If the airplane is capable, flying knife edge is very easy. Not familiar with your sim. Perhaps you were on low rate. Something was set wrong.

Knife edge flight is dependent on design of the plane and the CG. The further back you can push the CG, the easier it will be to hold knife edge (to a point). You also will have to counteract any roll coupling on the rudder. You must be able to throw the rudder enough to raise the nose in knife edge. In knife edge you're using the fuselage as the lifting surface.

Try pulling the nose up before you roll into knife edge. Sometimes this can make it easier to hold the nose up if you don't have as much rudder authority.

Brad

Like BK said, not all planes will do a knife edge or will not do them very well. All my Extras do them great and I have a Hots that I did a few mods on and it will pull a knife edge loop on those days I have the guts to try them. My old Bridi Kaos didn't hold them very well, the tail moment is too long and the fuse is too narrow. On my last rebuild I made some mods. I added to the rudder and made a big long fin. That did the trick, now it will hold one for a long time. At full power You pull up at about a 20 degree up angle then start the roll with the ailerons and start adding in the rudder slowly until you are in the knife egde. then just hold. If the plane starts to couple you have to add in some elevator to compensate.

Speed/power settings. Don't count on a maintained altitude knife-edge flight at 1/2 to 3/4 throttle for most planes.

Ditto All of the above. Some planes will not hold a knife edge well due to design. Powerfull engines can sometimes overcome design short comings, but when you knife edge you are basically using the fusalage and rudder as a "wing" and "elevator". So a plane with a taller fusalage profile and a large rudder like a "Hots", "Venus", or a "Funtana" will knife edge better than something like a trainer that generally has a smaller profile and rudder. Trainers with flat bottom wings and a lot of diherdral are also harder for me to keep in a knife edge. When holding a knife edge you are basically using the rudder as an elevator, still using ailerons to control bank, and using the elevator to go left or right. To keep one going straight usually requires some down elevator trim or else the plane will keep circling to what ever side the cockpit is on.
Even on the sim I usually peform a shallow dive at full throttle to get up more airspeed, then I start back into a shallow climb just slightly before I start rolling over into the Knife edge. Once you are able to keep the plane flying on its side, is just a matter of using throttle and elevator to maintain speed and altitude. I practiced a lot on the sim before I tried it on a real plane, so just keep practicing and you'll get it.

BTW. I made a large custom rudder and put a Magnum .46 on one of my Avistars and it will Knife edge much better than the stock Avistar with .40 La, but still does not do it as good as my "Venus" which also has a .46, Just goes to support my thoughts on plane design.

G'day Mate,
As has been typed above, the plane needs to be trimmed, & balanced first, you must find the sweet spot, balance wise.
Have a plenty powerful rudder & rudder servo, never nose heavy, & the best tip of all.
When aileron stick goes out, rudder goes out, when aileron stick goes in, rudder stick goes in.
So both out or both in, simple as that, but this only works from upright, not from inverted, BE WARNED!!!!!!!!! HA HA.

Goog info. Needto add more throttle. Will master basics skills first. But do feel that the SIM has helped me alot with that. So as it will with the more advanced stuff. Practice, Practice!!!
Thanks.

Just turn your monitor on it's side. Problem solved.

Oh my, now I have to clean the coffee I just sprayed all over my monitor. That the funniest line I,ve heard all week. Sorry gentlemen no disrespect intended

Works for inverted flight too John.

One thing I did forget to mention. When I first started practicing on the sim, I used the "chase" view, which is almost the same as perspective as actually flying from in the cockpit. By using this view I could see exactly what the plane was doing at all times. After I got pretty good using this view, I switched back to normal view and practiced being able to hold the Knife edge when coming back towards me. I practice that quite a bit before trying it on my real planes!

ROFLMAO!

Your signature is good too!