I am finding it hard to land my trainer. It is a frontier 40 with a thudner tiger 42 ( i think, could be 46?)

I get the motor at complete idle and it still does not want to come down, unless i am nearly forcing it to the ground!

This is my first plane and i have no idea on what prop size it is.

Can anyone suggest a prop size. I am going to my local HS over the weekend and can grab a new one, the guy there doesn't know much abotu planes.

10x7, 11x5, 12.25x3.75 (if it still wont come down) all apc
if your breaking props a lot use MAS

awesome. thanks for the reply. I put the borth ailerons up a tad to help bring her down aswell, depending on how that goes a new prop sounds like the deal. Havn;t broken any as yet..... It has hit the ground a few times tho

WP ... if your engine is properly idling (about 2,000-2,200 RPM) the plane will come down. That is not enough to hold the plane in the air. Check your RPM. Also, if its a TT46, an 11x5 is nice, so is an 11x6 for a trainer.

Trainers are always "floaty", that's kind-of what makes them trainers. No plane will stay up below it's stall speed though (which is kinda what makes them planes) so the trick is to use a prop within the engine's recommended sizes (so as to not over-rev or over-load the engine), make sure it's idle is set as low as possible while still being reliable, and use long slow approaches to bleed off speed. If the plane will fly level or even climb at idle, your idle's too high (or the engine's too big for the plane).

There could be a couple of things causing you to have problems on landing.

First of all, check the CG. If you are "on the edge" of your CG, you might want to add an ounce or two to the nose to help get the nose down.

Second, prop choice is always a consideration because to high a pitch will make it fly faster, but will also set you up for landing faster. You might want to drop down in pitch a step at a time.

Third, your approach may be to short. If you lengthen it somewhat, you will find that your plane will have time to slow down to landing speed. Fly the plane. When landing, set up your approach so that you never see the bottom of the wing. That teeter-totter point where you see it then you don't.. then work on the approach so that you just don't see it but are not to steep because you will gain airspeed then the flair maneuver will cause you to balloon back up and start that porpoise action (up then down then up then down).

And a combination of all three is what's most likely happening if you are a newbee. It takes time and practice. Do a lot of approaches without actually landing the aircraft. Come around and set up the approach. Come in as though you intended to land, then when happy, slowly push to full throttle and go around and do it again.

Sooner or later, you will find yourself doing the right thing with the throttle in the downwind leg, then turning to base, again with the right throttle setting, then on final where you want to be and at the right rate of descent. Do it over and over agian until you don't have to force yourself to think about it, it will come automatically with each approach, based on the wind for that day.

Best of luck.

CGr.

Not to disagree with CGr, but a plane that won't slow down for landing is usually caused by too much weight in the nose. Rather than add more, try adding weight to the tail.

Minn: I was basing my response on his statement " I get the motor at complete idle and it still does not want to come down, unless i am nearly forcing it to the ground! "

This sounds like he is either coming in to fast or he doesn't have the CG set right.

My thoughts were that he might be ballooning when he is coming in and that his CG may be to far to the rear preventing the nose from dipping as it should. But, either way, he may need to spend a few minutes insuring that his CG is correct.

Then, perhaps focusing on his landing technique, coming in to fast, of course..

CGr.

thank you everyone. This is great help. I am going for a fly today and going to try and get the idel down a lilttle more. The center of gravity is good on an empty tank, maybe i should get it right at half tank maybe?

I am still very new at flying plane, i have only ever flown helis. Practise makes perfect i would say. The elevator flaps are also down a little bit to help bring the nose down and fly flat, maybe it needs mroe weight in the front? ( i presume that would bring the nose down, but then again a trainer might react to bringing it up again)

CG is done with empty tanks.That way if you have a little fuel left in the tank it'll just make you slightly nose heavy which'll make it easier to land, not harder. Hmmm if the elevators are trimmed down to keep it level in flight that might suggest a tail heavy plane or the wrong angle of incidence on the wings but unless it needs a LOT of down it's not going to be of concern. Make sure your CG's right according to the plane's instructions and if there's a range given (eg: 105-115mm from leading edge) set it at the more nose heavy end of the range. Having it tail heavy won't make it floaty at low speeds, it'll make it stall-ey. What makes it floaty is the big, flat bottomed wing and the cure to floating is reducing your airspeed to reduce your lift.