Getting the hang of it!
 

Well, finally after bad weather and scheduling problems, I was able to get two really good sessions in this weekend at the field.
This was the first time I have had over the past few weeks to dial in my tail dragger setup and work on my landing woes.

First, I would like to thank you guys for your great advice, Harry you especially were right on target.

I went ahead with a tail tragger setup on my trainer, simply because I had run the LHS out of nose gears! So I got that setup straight, and spent allot of time practicing control ... or lack of control on the ground. I finally am starting to feel pretty confident about taxiing, takeoff and landing rolls.

I spent the majority of both mornings practicing touch and go's and really working on my landings, and flairing properly. Some I did well, some not so good. Here are a couple of observations. I must have a really "floaty" trainer, because if I even think up elevator, it balloons back up into the sky. I am really having trouble knocking down airspeed without gaining hieght. I am sure that it will get better with practice. Should I be putting in up elevator trim as I do my turn on final .. or just the sticks? All in all I feel that I am getting closer ... at least I am not busting props and digging the nose in the runway!

Bo

Getting the hang of it!
 

I am glad it is coming together Bo.

By easing the elevator back you creat more lift as long as you are below the stalling angle so the first thing that happens is that the plane zooms up. To slow a plane down but maintain height or maintain the same approach angle, you need to reduce power and then very very gently pull in the up elevator bit by bit as the speed reduces. The way we do it full size in a light plane is to turn base leg, reduce power and then start gently pulling back and back to maintain height until the desired speed is achieved, then allow the nose to come down a little to maintain that speed and at that point the descent starts. In full size we constantly re-trim the plane but in general this is not necessary with a model since the stick forces are minute and the landing approach is all over in seconds. You certainly do not want to be fiddling about with trims trying to turn onto finals. You will need to fly the approach a bit slower that normal cruise and this means holding in a touch of up elevator all the way. This is not easy since any correction to aileron or elevator requires that your thumb then get the elevator back to that off neutral position quickly and accurately as you can not just let the springs take you back to neutral or you will drop the nose and speed up again. It takes lots of practice but ultimately is easier and better than re-trimming.

Three common problems I have observed in learners:

1. The most common problem in model flying, (not just in learners) is being too high too close when on base leg. This means throttle right back and most folk dive at the runway, thinking because they have throttled back the plane must be going slow! It then hurtles past them bouncing all down the runway and off the end and they turn round and tell everyone that this model just will not slow down! You need to have reduced power on base leg and started a gentle subtle descent before turning finals.

2. Another very common problem is to allow the nose to drop a long way on turning finals making it into a diving turn so you come out of the turn with huge speed, as you level the wings the model zooms up and now you are in a fight to lose height and speed that you can not win. Keep those turns in the same attitude as when the model started the turn, you are going more slowly I hope so it will need a bit more up than usual to keep the attitude the same, but don't actually lift the nose high and risk a stall.

3. Not lifting the nose on landing is not just your problem Bo, many people have this. Depending on the model design, the balance, and the speed you are carrying, it may need from between 1/3 to full up elevator just before you touch down. Don't look at the fuz, look at the wheels above the ground and get that nose higher than the mains using as much elevator as it needs. If you are just a few inches above the ground do not be afraid of using full up if that is what it takes. Next landing may be at a higher speed and the same model just need 1/3 of up, so be prepared to judge every landing individually and use as much elevator as you need to get that nose slightly up once you are about 6" off the deck. If the model climbs you were going too fast!

Harry

Getting the hang of it!
 

Thanks for the reply Harry. Thinking about it, you are right. I was guilty of all three sins that you mentioned. I was trying to play at when to throttle back as to time it right so the plane was coming down onto the deck where I wanted it. I was using the turns on final to loose altitude, and was not holding up my nose. Therefore, of course I was building up speed, and it was ballooning up when I straightened out off that final turn when I tried to give it some up elevator. The result was a bunch of go-arounds as the plane cruised by me still 50 foot up, and a couple of landings way down the runway, with a power-slide at the end to keep it out of the hay field. This morning I was trying to dive it down to the deck to loose altitude, and then crank up the elevator. Yep you nailed it, it was a balloon ride to the deck. I tell you though, when I did get it right, it sure did look and feel good all the way in.

Why does it sound so easy when I read about it and talk to people, and it is a whole other ballgame when the knees are shaking and the plane is coming toward you on final!

All right, it sounds like my next drill is to play with chopping the power and slowly inching up the elevator to slow it down. I will work on drills at two mistakes high and play with the way it looks and feels. Too bad it is back to work on monday ... I am having way too much fun with this to let something like work interfere!!!!! I had absolutely no idea that this hobby would be such an obsession ... I thought that fishing was bad!

Thanks again for your help.

Bo

Getting the hang of it!
 

Isn't your instructor teaching you this stuff?

The amount of up elevator you use to fly a bit slower on the base leg and approach can be as little as 1mm movement at the top of the elevator stick so don't get too enthusiastic and pull hard back! The fuz should be level or slightly nose down. Only nose up in the last few seconds. Also beware of "chopping" the power, make small gradual reductions in plenty of time then there is no sudden nose drop to cope with. Ideally you should not be making the approach at idle but a couple of clicks or so above idle.

Harry

Getting the hang of it!
 

Bg, I remember when I was on my trainer I had to cut power to idle before I made my final turn, those trainers will float forever if its a calm day. Try it if you sink to fast just give it a touch of throttle. Harry where do you live I could use some help from you.

Getting the hang of it!
 

Cheltenham, England. Sorry, you have no hope of hands-on flying lessons from me but I am more than glad to help you any way I can through the forums!

Harry

Getting the hang of it!
 

Well if you ever make to Chicago let me know

Getting the hang of it!
 

Bgor,

Wait till you try to land an Extra :eek: !

Getting the hang of it!
 

One of the hardest habits to overcome when training new pilots is the automatic instinct that throttle equals speed. From our earliest childhood years we are used to the idea in cars, bikes, boats, etc., that the throttle is a pure speed controller. We naturally carry this habit into aircraft and if you are getting too slow on final approach the first habit is simply to open the throttle. With trainers more than any other type of model this can be disastrous due to the strong nose up pitch leading to a hammerhead stall. The reverse of this habit of course is to close the throttle and assume that therefore the plane is travelling slowly when in fact it is still hurtling along. If elevator controls the speed, how come all the diagrams show drag being balanced by engine thrust? Surely more thrust must mean more speed until drag once again balances thrust?

So it looks like throttle is intimately tied up with the speed. Gliders can go slow and gliders can go very fast indeed. How can a glider go fast when it has no throttle? Simple, the pilot leans forward on the elevator. Ah you say, but the glider is losing height and to go faster it loses height faster. Not true actually! It loses air height faster and that is not the same as height above the ground. Imagine our glider in cruise at 40mph, still air, losing height at 200feet per minute. The pilot leans forward on the stick and flies at 80mph losing height at 500fpm. Now he brings it back to the 40mph cruise and enters a thermal. By sheer coincidence this thermal is rising at 200fpm so the glider stays at the same height, stays at 40mph and appears to be experiencing a miracle – with no engine it is flying level and maintaining speed. In truth it is descending through the air and is still losing energy at the rate of 200fpm even though the height above the ground does not change. What has happened is that the thermal has brought in new energy at the rate of 200fpm and is balancing the rate of loss of energy. Now the thermal increases in power to rising at 500fpm. The glider pilot has a choice – continue at 40mph and rise at 300fpm, or lean further forward on the elevator and go all the way up to 80mph and not lose or gain height over the ground yet be losing energy in the air at the rate of 500fpm. Do you see what is happening – the pilot uses the elevator to control the speed, it is the input of new energy from the thermal that controls whether or not he goes up or down at that speed. Different speeds cause the plane to lose energy at different rates, so to maintain level flight the plane must replace that energy at different rates, and that is what the thermal does for a glider. If you want a glider to come down you do not put the nose down. You open the airbrakes, which is the glider equivalent of throttling back. A power plane is simply a glider with a built in and controllable thermal! To control the speed I use the elevator, that alters the rate of energy loss which the engine is there to balance so I must alter the rate at which the engine puts in replacement energy. To go faster I push forward on the stick and to stop the loss of height I add a bit more power. Eventually we reach a speed in level flight at which the throttle is fully open. I can’t go any faster in level flight, but I can go faster, often much faster even though I have no more throttle to open, I just have to accept the loss of height.

So you see, throttle is intimately tied up with speed but is not how we control the speed. The throttle controls whether or not we are climbing, level, or descending at that speed.

Harry

Getting the hang of it!
 

Good food for thought Harry. Unfortunately, my instructor is not really explaining this stuff to me. He is pretty much in a get out there and do it kinda mode. I have never thought through the theory and practice on how this stuff works. Also, to my instructor's defense, he has been on holiday this month, and we have not worked together very much lately.

That was a great explaination on the use of speed control with our glider example, I am looking forward to really playing with it and seeing what it feels like.

rc_sport ... I was doing what you said, and cutting my throttle to idle before the final turn. Without using my elevator to slow it down, I was still coming in way to fast, and floating right on down the runway.

Thanks again Harry for taking the time to explain things to me. I am sure everyone else will agree how helpful your examples and explainations are! By the way, I just looked up Cheltenham and see it is southwest of us around two hours or so. You need to let me know when your club is having a do down there, and maybe I can come by and meet you.

Bo

Bo

Getting the hang of it!
 

There's no substitute for real life practice! You can't learn to fly by reading a book, nevertheless it is crucial that you are at least prodding the correct stick when you want to change speed or height. If you have something like MS Flight Sim I can talk you through flying the Cessna from taking off at London City to a beautiful landing at London Heathrow without once touching the elevator. Take off, climb, level off, turn above London, descend and land nose high at Heathrow with no bounce, and no elevator is involved. You can see from the instruments that the speed does not change and it really does ram home the message that throttle makes you go up or down and not faster or slower.

Just to prove it in real life I did it a few weeks ago one very calm evening with the Thunder Tiger trainer my pupils are using. I trimmed the elevator for a low speed, then did a take off, circuit and nose high landing without touching the right stick. This helps prove the rules to those who doubt them, and also it made them really p****d off because without touching the elevator I did a better landing than they do with it. It also annoyed them that the plane flies in a straight line for me and I don't touch the controls whereas it wanders all over the place for them and they have to keep controlling it. That's the giveaway - I do nothing and it goes straight, they are sawing at the controls and it goes all over the place! When you are still learning and lacking confidence to leave the plane alone, or really worried about crashing it, you just do far too much controlling. Remember back to when you were learning to ride a bike and you frantically swing the handlebars back and forth but still fall off, yet once you can ride a bike you can do it without touching the handlebars and you would have difficulty making it fall over. Small, smooth movements, made promptly is the trick to flying, but that needs anticipation and that only comes with practice practice practice!

Harry

Getting the hang of it!
 

Harry speaks sooth... listen to what he's telling you. One thing that can help sometimes is to use a low elevator rate on landing. This will keep the stick from being so sensitive to feeding in a bit of up elevator and can make keeping your attitude smoother. However, some planes need all the elevator you've got to properly flare for touchdown. If that's the case with your plane, it's not a good idea to use low rates. A good landing MUST have a proper approach. If you're too high or too fast as you near the runway there's no way you can lose enough speed and altitude to touch down where you'd like in a good landing. The problem is that the apparent point in the approach of the right altitude with the right speed seems to keep changing! Every change in wind conditions will affect this, and each airplane is different to a lesser or greater extent. It just takes shooting landing after landing and learning from your mistakes. The idea is to run out of altitude and airspeed at the same time and at the point on the runway you're wanting to hit. One of the worst mistakes I see pilots commit is trying to force the plane to hit that spot when it's not ready to. Just keep practicing your landings keeping in mind the good advice from Harry and you'll soon be nailing most of 'em!

Getting the hang of it!
 

Thanks again guys for the advice. I was able to get out the other night and continue practicing. I mainly concentrated on approaches, and touch and go's. I definately see what you mean crosswind on how it is different approaches are every time. It was one of those nights that the wind did not know what to do, fairly calm, but with some gusts thrown in just to goof me up. I was successful in playing with the elevator to slow the plane down. I really had to ease up, but as the speed bled off, I could put more and more in. I also did some passes feeding in the elevator until the plane stalled to get a feel for the stall speed. It was amazing to me how slow that speed was.

As I said, the wind was light but also a little gusty, and I was having trouble judging where I was with my approach, speed and altitude in relationship with the runway. I guess my debth perception leads allot to be desired, but this is where practice will come in ( I hope).

All in all, with you guys help, I am doing much better, and I must be doing something right because I am not tearing up props anymore (I do still get a nick in the prop every now and then), and I have not brought back another bag full of broken airplane parts for my to yell at me about for a while!

Thanks again .... and keep the advice comming!

Bo

Getting the hang of it!
 

You've been flying you lucky lad! The weather here is so useless I have not flown for 2 weeks. One pupil phoned me at 7.55am yesterday to enquire if weather was good enough, I said I did not know as I had not got out of bed yet! At least he is still keen.

I see someone at rconline.com is telling beginners to line up model on finals with rudder, oh dear, please always ignore that nonsense. I think modellers see something we full-size pilots do but not knowing what we are doing they take it out of context and think that is how to fly a plane. If landing in a crosswind there are two ways to fly the approach. One is to side slip by pointing the plane along the runway then banking it into the wind. This causes it to sideslip into the bank and therefore into the wind, thereby compensating for the drift. Of course the plane then yaws into the turn so you have to hold on opposite rudder to prevent that. You actually flare and land the plane like that, landing on one wheel, the one into wind, then let the other main wheel down. That is a sideslip approach. The other way is simply to turn the plane (by banking) a little into wind so that the plane is pointing a little off runway heading to compensate for the drift. This is much easier since once the turn is complete, all the controls are back at neutral. Modellers utterly fail to understand this because from the ground it looks like the plane is travelling slightly sideways so surely the pilot is holding on some rudder and therefore modellers often, incorrectly, call this a sideslip when in fact it is perfectly straight flight through the air. Now here comes the bit that model fliers get out of context. On this type of approach the aircraft is pointing away from its direction of travel so at touch down the wheels will be pointing off to the side of the runway instead of straight down it. That imposes side loads on the bearings, the tyre/wheel joint, scrubs the tyres, and also makes the plane veer off in the direction the tyres are pointing. So an instant before touchdown we use rudder to yaw the plane out of balanced flight but point straight down the runway. Do it too early and you start drifting sideways across the runway which means you risk going off the side and anyway you are back where you started with the plane pointing one way and going another way. Modellers can misinterpret this last second use of rudder as using rudder to steer when in fact we are using it to push the plane out of balance!

Harry

Getting the hang of it!
 

A few months ago an Antonov An2 flew over our model field. It is the huge biplane with a single monster radial engine and it flies very slowly. Its slow speed in a stiff crosswind meant that its heading (where it is pointing) was quite different to its track (its path over the ground). Our then club Chairman looked up and commented on how much rudder the pilot must be holding on. Aaaargh! I had to explain to quite a few of them that an aeroplane goes straight through the air and no rudder is being held on at all, it is only appearing to travel sideways in relation to the ground which the aircraft itself knows nothing about. Cross country flying in any aeroplane would be impossible if we had to hold on rudder against the wind - rudder is very strong and makes your leg tired out in minutes, most full-size planes do not have a rudder trim.

This does not suddenly change just because you are on approach in a side wind, though some model fliers seem to think so. The laws of physics don't know you are on approach. An aircraft on approach in a sidewind is flown just like an aircraft in the climb or cruise - if its heading and track are different its because it is being blown by the wind and not by holding on rudder. Think it through - rudder causes yaw which very slowly causes turn due to fuz lift and engine thrust being angled off. If you hold on rudder in a wind then you will eventually go around in a big circle!

Harry

Getting the hang of it!
 

The landing approach against a wind presents interesting problems especially for the model pilot who has no airspeed intruments.

Let's start by assuming a totally calm day. An aircraft only knows about the air it is in, nothing about the ground it is over. The pilot is concerned about ground position but the behaviour of the plane is purely aerodynamic and knows nothing about the ground. On a calm day the motion through the air equals the motion over the ground. For the sake of this example we will use the 3 degree approach favoured by full-size. Our plane is lined up and approaches the runway on a path that is inclined at 3 degrees down through the air, and therefore also 3 degrees over the ground. Ignoring the slight difference due to the angle of descent, one mile through the air equals one mile over the ground. Now introduce a headwind, straight down the runway. The descent angle through the air can no longer equal the descent angle over the ground, the air angle will be less than the ground angle.

You have only one choice in a glider, but two choices if flying power. The glider must make the same approach through the air at all times, so in a wind it must start its approach much closer than on a calm day. It still descends through the air at the same angle but when compared to the ground it is much steeper than a calm day. If you take it to the limit and the wind speed equals the glider's approach speed, the approach will be vertical compared to the ground, yet still the original angle through the air. Imagine the glider releases a smoke trail in finals, whether in wind or calm by the time it touches down both smoke trails will match one another because one will have been laid over the ground and the other will have been blown back over the ground. So when your model goes deadstick and becomes a glider, you must allow fo the wind by turning finals much closer and do not be fooled by the apparent steep descent angle and low forward speed over the runway. Look at the angle the fuselage is at - is it the same attitude i.e. nose up/level/down that you normally fly the approach in calm conditions? If you fly the same attitude as in calm weather then you have got the same airspeed, ignore the groundspeed.

A power plane can do the above and it is the better option, but full-size aircraft are often forced to fly 3 degrees over the ground regardless of conditions, to suit instrument landing systems, local patterns etc. Seeing this can deceive some modellers into thinking you have to fly like that, or that aircraft do fly like that! You can if you want to, there is no harm, but you need to allow for the fact that you will fly such an approach in wind at a higher throttle setting than on a calm day. Once again imagine the smoke, if you fly a normal approach path based on the ground but in a headwind, by the time you land the smoke trail will be far longer, and therefore a lower descent angle, than on a calm day. Since power controls the rate of descent, and your rate of descent is less if you try this type of ground referenced approach, you must have been using more power than on a calm day. Not convinced? Assume a plane approaches at 60mph = 1 mile a minute, for a 1 mile approach takes 1 minute and the approach started at 300 feet so it lost height at 300 feet per minute with the throttle set accordingly. The pilot goes around but next time he encounters a 30mph headwind on approach. Instead of approaching from closer he elects to keep the same 1 mile from 300 feet (3 degrees over the ground) approach. His airspeed is 60mph (fuselage at same up/down attitude as before) but now his ground speed is 30mph. It will take him 2 minutes to cover the 1 mile ground approach so now he must lose height at just 150fpm instead of 300fpm, and he must therefore use a higher power setting. That means more of a power change when closing the throttle prior to touchdown, which leads to a more pronounced nose drop and even if that is corrected for, a more severe rate of descent if done too early.

So, learn the angle of the fuz for each of your models on approach, because that is the angle you want for that airspeed regardless of how windy it is. As the wind speed increases you can bring your base leg closer, keep it the same distance but higher, or fly the same shape over the ground as on a calm day but be prepared to use a higher throttle setting. The first two options are better even when you have power (they are variants of the same thing really) as then you will be doing much the same thing should you go deadstick, and not get lead by habit into a deadstick approach from way downwind, which never reaches the runway. Bear in mind that when deadstick you will have a slightly lower nose attitude than when power is on, for the same airspeed. Your thumb will have the elevator at the same position as when power is on but the nose will be a bit lower so don't be tempted to pull back a bit more and get exactly the same attitude as when there is power. Learning to judge how the plane is flying and what airspeed it is at by getting feedback from your thumbs is one of those things that takes a long time to learn. Your thumb can actually tell you a great deal about your airspeed and how close you are to the stall!

The further downwind you fly your circuit to turn finals, the more likely you are to have turned too early. We tend to get used to turning finals when the model is at a particular angle from the runway where we are standing. So if you go further away and still turn finals at the normal angle you will not be over the centreline. Conversely if you fly closer such as in a wind, you may turn too late. Be prepared for this on a windy day, if you keep the base leg closer then be ready to turn finals at what looks like a little earlier than normal.

On the downwind leg sits an invisible little gremlin just waiting to flick your model into a spin as it goes past him. In a wind, you know the model scoots downwind rather fast. So many modellers are tempted to cut power (thinking that means they go slow!), the model descends so they pull back the elevator (thinking that makes them go up) and just before they turn base leg they have run out of airspeed, fooled by the wind-induced groundspeed into thinking they are still flying. The gremlin gives a horrid laugh and flicks his finger under one wingtip. Splat! Fly the downwind leg at the same fuselage attitude and same power setting as normal. If attitude and power are the same as normal then speed and height change will be the same, regardless of the wind.

If you ever realise that you are turning late onto finals, or if a crosswind is blowing the turn past the runway, DO NOT steepen the turn. Stall speed rises in a turn and the steeper the turn the higher the stall speed. It is not a linear increase either, it is exponential and once the bank gets to 60 degrees every little extra bit of bank causes a huge rise in stall speed. Since I hope you have already slowed the model on base leg, you may find the stall speed coming up to match the airspeed that you have! Not a problem on well behaved trainers but a dreadful habit to get into just because the model lets you get away with it. Do the same thing with your lovely Kyosho CAP 232 and you will kiss it goodbye. Keep the same bank that you normally use but of course just keep the turn going to get the model back towards the centreline.

Phew, that's enough for now. Hope this all helps, if not say so and I will save myself some time! If it does help, what else would help or are you having problems with?

Harry

Aw sh!*!!!!!
 

Well Harry, as you know our weather has been horrible around here. I have mostly been spending my time on this dag gone computer, and tinkering with the plane. This morning when I got up, I looked outside and even though it was misting, there was little to no wind blowing. Knowing UK weather, I decided to at least head down to the field and hope for a break in the drizzle. So I kissed my wife and daighter goodbye, (my daughter wanted absolutely nothing to do with sitting in the car watching it rain) loaded up and off I went.

After sitting around for about a half hour, a break came and out I went. Fired up the engine and took it off. Things were going ok, and I was playing with trimming her out. I started to make a bank to circuit around the field, and realized that she was not responding to my aileron input! So I added more and more in and all of a sudden, bang hard right bank .. like instantly over 90 degrees. I tried to level the wings out and nothing happened and then upside down and nose first into the ground it went. Luckly it was into a wheat field, so the damage was not catestrophic, but I ripped the nose off of her, and there was nothing but fuel line and throttle linkage holding it together. Boy things sure happen fast when it starts going wrong!

On inspection I think I found out what happend. I have a high winged trainer, with the aileron servo located dead center on the bottom of the wing. I use an extension cable to reach my receiver, and the extension cable and connector had gotten tangled up in the throttle and rudder servos and the connector was partially disconnected. So I don't know if the connection got pulled loose when it got tangled up, or if I didn't have it seated all the way. Possibly a little of both ....

Oh well, it is back to work in the garage for me.

Bo

Getting the hang of it!
 

I'm sure this is the wrong place for this question, but it does have a bearing on learning to fly. The dreaded downwind turn! It's my contention that the airplane doesn't know if it's turning downwind or upwind or crosswind, as the airspeed remains constant, or will drop the same in a sharp downwind turn as in an upwind turn. Some "experts" insist the plane will tend to balloon up when turning into the wind. I have never experienced this either with a flat bottom wing trainer or anything else. Granted, the plane LOOKS different from the standpoint of the ground, but it's flying in a moving mass of air at a constant airspeed. Any idea of why some pilots swear their plane balloons up when turning upwind? Is it something they're doing with the controls they're not aware of, or am I really missing something? And yes, I know the downwind turn arguement has raged for years! Sorry about the crash. Happens to us all, and I'm glad the damage was no worse than it was. I'm going flying now as the rain has stopped!

Keep it coming Harry
 

Hey Harry ... I just wanted to let you know how valuable your posts have been to me. I am a true novice to this whole flying thing, and never put one lick of thought as to the theory behind it. You have opened up my eyes, and made me start thinking about what the plane is doing, and really concentrating on flying, not just driving it around in circles. I have actually been cutting and pasting the discussions into a word document, and building a flight manual so to speak so that I have this information organized and easy to access for brushing up on stuff.

As for now, the brushing up I will be doing is on balsa, CA and sandpaper, and another fight with the covering iron. I already put a couple of hours in digging the mud out of my spinner and engine, and verifing that everything appears pretty much OK. We are going on holiday starting wednesday next week (off to Rhodes for 10 days) so I doubt I will be able to fly her again before we get back.

But again, I really want to thank you for the time you have taken to help me out. I am serious about coming down to see you one of these days. My family and I have not toured the cambridge area yet, and would love to see that neck of the woods.

Bo

Re: Keep it coming Harry
 

And most welcome you will be Bo, but we need to work on your British geography! Cheltenham is Gloucestershire which is west of England, Cambridge is on the east. Mind you, it is about 2.5 - 3 hours away which by American/Canadian/Australian standards is next door! But to us Brits that is a foreign holiday distance, or at £4 per gallon of petrol it costs like it! If you do go near Cambridge do not miss the Imperial War Museum airfield at Duxford, it is a superb, whole day museum trip for aero enthusiasts. If you are into warbirds, their Flying Legends airshow is out of this world with dozens of WW2 huge piston engine fighters all taking off together, ah heaven. The sound is beyond description.

Where I live is the Cotswolds, all American tourist dream stuff, chocolate box picture villages nestling in tight little valleys covered in ancient woods with old cottages hewn from the golden honey coloured limestone, covered with climbing ivy which is green in summer and Ferrari scarlet in the Autumn. Henry Ford was so enchanted he bought an entire street from one of our villages and tried to have it dismantled and shipped back to the good ol' US of A (Arlington Row in Bibury) but so incensed the locals at losing their heritage they managed to stop it happening. The drive from my home in the greatest Regency town of all Cheltenham Spa, to my airfield, takes me up atop the Cotswolds, through ancient villages with oh to die for cottages and colourful country gardens, along narrow little valleys, up through the steep hills with woods where deer are still hunted and which sometimes leap across the road ahead of the car, past fields stocked full of wild colourful pheasant, and finally emerge at the top of the wolds at our airfield with views to as far away as the flat plains of Oxfordshire, and mysterious ancient Wiltshire to our south. Our runway is ex-WW2 airfield, wide and long and we have kept the tarmac renewed and smooth on a large patch of it.

Seriously, if you do holiday over this way drop me an email, you can visit the club and I can tell you where to go for the best sights and experiences as tourist in the Cotswolds.

Harry

Getting the hang of it!
 

It's as good place as any to ask. I have edited out most of the quote from your post but you are bang on correct in all of it. The downwind loss of height and into wind turn ballooning are all caused by the model pilot!

The dreaded downwind turn does not exist in full size flying. Since an aeroplane is an aeroplane regardless of size, what applies to full-size applies to our models, and vice versa. But, in full size the on-board pilot has an airspeed indicator and altimeter to tell him he is right or wrong in how he moves the controls. Model pilots have no such luxury. When turning downwind we see the model appear to move fast towards the top-side of the model as if we had pulled hard back on the stick, due to the wind effect relative to the ground. This fools many fliers into easing off the back pressure, the nose drops and the model loses height as it comes out of the turn. On turning into wind the opposite happens, the wind drifts the model towards its belly giving the visual illusion that more up elevator needs to be applied in the turn, so some fliers do and hey presto the model is climbing by the time it comes out of the turn.

In full size, especially when I flew gliders in thermals, I have sat there going around and around and around in a circle for up to 10 minutes, while drifting downwind. The speed never varies, and the height (or rate of climb) never varies. Once locked in, the ailerons are neutral, the rudder stays where it needs to be for balance and the elevator stays where it needs to be for that speed in the turn. Apart from seeing the ground appear to drift, you would not know that there is a wind.

Any model that climbs or dives when turning is the victim of its pilot who is responding to a visual illusion.

Harry

Sheepish and geographically challenged
 

Hey Harry, you know how geographically challanged we Americans are! I swear I looked your place up on the map and it was near cambridge.

From your description, the area you live in sounds really nice. My wife read your post, and was scratching her head saying that we will need to go see that area. With momma on my side, I think we will work something out! I will drop you an email, and invite ourselvesf down that way one weekend this summer for sure.

As for now, I have my plane mostly put back together. I have decided to recover her completely, it was starting to look like a patchwork quilt. So for the past couple of days I have been doing allot of sanding, and glueing. I hope to have it back up in the air as soon as we get back from Greece.

If I don't speak with you again, have a great Queen's jubilee holiday, and I will be back around in a couple of weeks.

Bo

Getting the hang of it!
 

Enjoy Greece Bo. Actually we do have 2 villages called Cam and Cambridge about 20 miles from here but I would be surprised if they showed up on your maps as they are so small.

Harry