landing and balancing
 

hi everybody
i have two questions. First, should i use some throttle or fully closed throttle for landing a taildragger? Was out flying yesterday, and got one perfect landing out of ten?! If i used a throttle it was too fast, if didn`t it wanted to stall. Tried my friends trainer, uuh it was much easier to land.
Second, if trim a plane with full tank, then after a while it will drop a nose because the tank is getting empty (logical), so how should i trim or should i trim in the air as the balance changes?

thanks
Crow

landing and balancing
 

The ideal spot for the tank is at the CG. That's usually too far behind the engine to work (the lines get too long). With that said, you balance the plane with an empty tank, since your tank if probably ahead of the CG. If it ain't ahead of the CG, it should be!

You said that as the tank empties, the nose drops? That tells me that your tank is too far aft. Your CG is, then, too far aft, and the plane is 'tender' or tailheavy - which in turn makes it difficult to land properly.......

landing and balancing
 

thanks, i`m gonna check my CG once again! But what about speed on landings. Found out that it is good to have a little throttle on landing an trainer and not throttle at all on my cub?!?

Which wind do you fly, is 10knots too much. How much is the normal and what is the max for flying an rc model.
Have had 10 knots for all month, these wind twists near the ground make a landing quite tricky. Still no major damages.

landing and balancing
 

crow, a definitive answer is really hard to come by. In calm, no wind conditions, I can cut the throttle completely and let the plane do the rest. In windy conditions, you "may" want a click or two to overcome the wind. I fly 3 planes and in all three, I sometimes use throttle, and other times don't. Most of the choice is how hard the wind is blowing as you land into it.

landing and balancing
 

Landing just takes practice and lots of it. There are so many variables that the more you can remove the easier it'll be.

I think that when I was learning to land I would bring the plane to idle and not touch the throttle again (if all went well). For me, a good-idling engine is a thing of beauty, so I could just bring the throttle all the way closed and not worry.

With that said, my technique was to get on 'long final' which is when you're parallelling the runway but flying towards that point where you'll turn onto 'short final' . Short final is where you're pointed at the runway...long final is where you're heading to turn onto short final. Anyway....on long final I'd chop the throttle and leave it chopped. Adjust your flight path to bring the plane onto short final - and thence? onto the runway!!!

In other words, remove the variability of the throttle, at least on a floaty trainer, and use your flight controls to get to the runway...

landing and balancing
 

Hi Crow,

The answer to your first question, about using throttle on landing is "it depends." All planes will fly a little differently, and it doesn't really matter whether you are talking about a taildragger or tricycle gear. You say that you are flying a Cub. Cubs are serious floaters, and it doesn't surprise me at all that you land at idle. If you were to fly something heavy (like a warbird) or draggy (like a bipe), then you'd probably end up doing the approach with more power.

Dead stick landings are pretty different between planes, too. With your Cub, you would probably land it dead stick using the same approach that you always do. It might actually be easier to land dead stick, since it won't float as far. The warbird or bipe, on the other hand, is lots more exciting to land dead stick. As soon as you see that the engine has quit, you've got to get the nose down right away and head straight for the runway. The descent would tend to be steep until you're right over the runway.

The main thing is just to understand that planes are all different, and it's not right or wrong.

As to your second question, about the wind. For a 40 size plane, I would consider a 10 knot wind to be pretty insignificant, no matter which way it's blowing or even if it's swirling and gusty. Mostly, it's just a matter of your flying skills (and how well you use the rudder). Ground handling is actually a much bigger issue than flying. Sometimes a stiff wind will flip the airplane over on the ground before you can get it into the air. Once you've taken off, wind is no big deal (within reason of course - the plane must be fast enough to be able to cover ground flying up wind, 10 knots would probably be unreasonable for a park flyer, for example.)

Thanks,
-Wade

landing and balancing
 

I`m an self-learner, so i just have to keep learning. No formulas in this case.
Fortunately no crashes anymore.

thanks

landing and balancing
 

A Cub probably floats more than a trainer. My brother's Goldberg Cub with a .61 wouldn't land at all with a 'stock' prop for a .61. I think it was a 11x6 or 12x6. He flattened the prop - either a 12x5 or 13x5 and it slowed the plane down enough to land.

Yep - a Cub with an idling engine slipping to the runway is a thing of beauty.......

landing and balancing
 

i agree with RobStagis
for most i like these slow passes, look so real, the sunlight shining thru the windows....,

uuh, have to get back to the field tomorrow :)

landing and balancing
 

Heh - we used to go to this antique/experimental fly-in in Orange, MA. They've got a long runway - like a mile or so. Anyway, all the planes are flying down the runway and landing half-way down...oh yeah - this is full-scale planes...anyway. Y'know? You're watching the old couple touch down 1/3 way down in their 182 and taxi for a freakin' mile while other planes are being waved off.....We were parked, in our motorhome club, along the taxiway which led TO the runway. It crossed the runway at a point maybe 100 feet from the beginning of the runway...is that understaandable?

Anyway - we just watched this T-28 or Chinese something-or-other trainer zoom down the runway in a low flyby.....and ya hear puttputtputtputt.....and this Cub slips in, puffing the dust at the very beginning of the runway and slows down enough to turn off onto the taxiway.....it was too cool - and refreshing to see.