Make a recording using the pt-40 at the RF park, taking off, do 2 circuits around the field, then land? NOTHING FANCY, I want to watch the joystick inputs.

I must be missing something very basic in my setup as I cant line up my approach worth @#$@#.

Thanks,
RichD

I have made a recording for you. I think you will need to swith off the trees to see the plane in some parts of the circuit.

I put the recording in a ZIP-file which you can download if you click [link=http://www.modelaviator.com/pt40.zip]right here[/link]. Hope it helps!

Merry Christmas!

Best regards / Krister

awsome, thanks.... will tell you how it goes in a few.

watching your stick movements, I see where I am messing up during the turns. Your using rudder/ailerons, where I was using ailerons/elevator. Using my rudder now sure helps with the turns.

Only problem now that I am having is still the actual alignment with the runway. I can constantly land about 20' past the runway....hehe Think its the computer graphics, with nothing really to line up with.

I need to find someone who flys locally to just show me the basics. Trying to figure it out on your own stinks. Never thought flying would be so dificult...hehe

Merry Christmas,
Rich

To be honest, I find lining up with the runway trickier in G2 than out there in the real world.

Try to pick out landmarks in the terrain - a tree, a house, a rock or whatever happens to be around the airfield. After awhile you will develop a feeling for "where that runway is". I usually pick a landmark beyond the far end of the runway. Ideally, that is where I should roll out of the turn onto the final approach, and from there the rest is just flying straight ahead to the runway. I use the same trick when I am out flying real models.

Also, I mostly stick to the same airfield in G2. It happens to be the Fun Fly field. I don't think it is better than any of the others, but over time I have learned all the landmarks around that field which helps a lot.

Feel free to ask, if you have anymore questions!

Best regards / Krister

Rich D,

I find it useful to add someting like a windsock to the airfield near the end of the runway. They are usually tall enough that you can see them when making the "upwind" leg of your landing pattern and they help you orient on the runway.

As previously mentioned, finding the runway is much harder in G2 than in real life. Don't sweat it as long as you can land the plane.

Best of luck.

Carl

RichD, have you ever tried flying with the view option "Look at Ground" turned on? If not, please try it and see what you think of it. Keep in mind that any time you change planes you'll have to reset it (I have no idea why Knife Edge didn't make it persistant).

I agree that ground reference is easier for real than it is in the simulator, but it's really not too bad if you keep the ground in view. If you fly a regular pattern you'll pretty much always see a part of the runway and it makes it real easy. Of course your plane gets smaller faster as it gets farther away but it's not an issue if you use a high enough resolution (I run in 1600x1200 with trees turned off on a PIII 1.5Ghz, but a friend uses this view in 1280x1024 to good effect).

Also, as you noticed...the rudder is key to most of the accurate manuvers you wish to do. Make sure you add rudder into your practice early on (make a practice plane with the aileron control throws set to zero if you're having trouble...you'll learn quick ).

Chuck

its funny you say that, because back in the early 70's when my dad flew, he used .10 sized planes with NO ailerons, he says all you need is rudder/elevator/throttle.

I usually can land with no problem, but just not on the runway, usually very close to it though.... Still practicing. I have also taken Madd_Maxx's advice and started flying a tail dragger instead of the pt40. The plane actually is an underwing, and I can control it easier... due to no uplift from the trainers wings.