How did you learn to land

[Grossman56]

The boys at Nefi put me onto the 'control descent with throttle' concept and it has really helped. Pull throttle back to about idle (approximately 1/3 throttle, not zero throttle). Get the descent happening, level the wings when about two feet off the runway and give it a slight amount of nose up elevator to flare and she'll settle on her mains. Mike told me, and he was right, that once you've got it, its there, like riding a bike.
Since then, my landings have steadily improved to the point where what I used to call good landings are just okay landings.
There is a sweet feeling when she comes down and settles on her mains and rolls out!! I'm not a golfer but I'm pretty sure its like when you hit that ball just right.

Grossman56

[Randol]

I have an SU29 (ParkZone Green) and had experienced issues landing it without coming down too hard. The plane likes a little power all the way down, just keep practicing, and you'll get it. The wire landing gear is pretty flexible so it will definitely give enough to allow the belly to touch the ground on a hard landing.

[Hippie 64]

I never got to have the pleasure of anyone helping me in person . The nearest club is a hour away and the time spent trying to get there would never work out . Old school by trial n error !!! I did have a sim to practice on before ever attempting and made sure I practiced . I started by no wind and normal conditions then went up to 5-10 mph .
I did talk with Rich in Fla. a few times at first and I have wore out Ryan's phone . He probably hates seeing my number come up . Both were very helpful and Ryan has been SUPER and still is now .
I bought a Flyzone Mini Switch for my first and rebuilt it at least three times before I learned the bigger the better so I bought a Pandora . What a great piece of advice that was .
That was three years ago and now my poor Wife surely regrets saying yes because my basement is full . I can't play Pool with four planes on it either . 20+ and still she says ok , I am a very lucky Man !!!

Bryan

[Grossman56]

Right on Bryan, I remember well the days when we were newbies and had maybe three planes, (sniff)
I miss old Rocketeer, but he helped us out a lot.
But, yes, talk about blessed, you, me, Rich, Charlie Brown and many others here have amazing wives. The best landing I've made is when I landed her.

Grossman56

[doctormike]

The Gman is so right. As with full scale planes, throttle control is the secret to good landings. (Or, at least, a large part of it.) Doc

[Grossman56]

Yep, maidened the Bearcat and used the exact same method for landing her the first time, control descent with throttle, get her over the runway, wings level and lower her onto her mains, in the case of the Cat, four feet up over the runway and enough speed to chop throttle and let her settle in from there, but with the idea of adding some slight throttle if needed to control the descent.

Grossman56

[KitBuilder]

Col Art Johnson taught me to land. Had no idea who he was at the time as I was 14 or so. Was a member of my club in Boca Raton, Fl in the lat 70's. Helps to be taught by the best ! Was an absolute wonderful gentleman.

[PappaBear]

Col Art Johnson wrote magazine articles for RC Modeller. I read a lot of them.

Martin.

[Grossman56]

Cool to have met people like that.
Warbird Charlie, Ryan and Mike got me on the right track. Its a long drive to Muncie, but man, I came away a better pilot!!

Grossman56

[OV10]

Thanx for the accolade Dan but I just gotta say that helping another pilot become a better warbird jockey and seeing a smile on their mug when it goes as planned is all part of the thrill that keeps the boy in me alive. Never forget that you have to fly them to a landing and the next time I read where you say something like chop n drop I'm gonna turn you into the "Intermediate Pilots Police".........HAAA:p

[Grossman56]

I guess what I was getting at is honing that judgement thing, to know exactly what you need to do in order to land successfully. In that case, I was right down the runway, gear and flaps down, leveled the wings and brought back power to maintain descent. Gave a slight bit of back elevator to induce a bit of flare, down on her mains, pin the tail and that was that.
In hindsight, the phrase,"Chop and drop" could be misinterpreted, so please read the above for my definition of the phrase!:angel:

Grossman56

[Oxotnik]

At my field, no one is ever paying attention whenever I make a perfect landing, but they're sure as heck all watching whenever I botch a landing. One of the guys in our club used to own Don's Hobby Shop (in Salina, KS). He and our club president have been incredibly helpful in helping me to learn good throttled-controlled landings and to be able to put the plane where I want it to land.

[Grossman56]

I hear you Ox, but people will say its an awful smooth flying airplane when you grease them in, as if you had nothing to do with it!
So, I take that as a compliment as well, although, when I had to belly land the Spitty a couple of weeks ago, it made people sit up and take notice. No damage whatsoever, didn't even break a prop blade.

Grossman56

[wrongroad]

G'day Ox,
You must fly in front of the same blokes I do!
A couple of weeks ago, I made a really nice landing and a new comer to our club asked another member why no one made a comment as he had heard as other pilots landed.
I was rather chuffed at the answer and a bit red faced at the same time when my fellow club member said that my 'landings were expected. That was a normal landing so we do not bother to rate them any more. He just does it, time and time again.'
A nice compliment if a little stretch of the the truth.
Later, that new gentleman came up and asked for the secret. I think he expected the answer. Practice, practice, practice and when you think you have it right, you will plant it into the ground. Back to the drawing board!


The main thing to a successful landing is very simple. Doing the same thing, the same way, at the same time, every time. Do not rush your landing sequence so, give yourself plenty of time.
Each model will react differently so have a plan for each and run it through your head before the flight.
With a retractable gear model, I always drop the gear on the runway pass, watch for it to hang out to dry and then turn on the cross wind leg. On the down wing leg I deploy the flaps. [Even if the model has fixed gear and no flaps, I still make the call as if the aircraft had the bling.] Usually to flaps one and rarely to flaps two. Letting the model settle for a moment, I then turn on base and roll out in line with the runway. [mostly]
I use the base leg to get a handle on the speed of the machine and usually keep the throttle at that point, and right through the turn onto final.
Then I use the throttle to stay on the glide slope and the elevator to control the pitch. I also dial in a little bit of nose down trim to set up a positive rate of descent as well. Then I use the throttle and elevator as mentioned.
I keep my speed up quite high and have found that using the throttle trim to keep the motor ticking over even if you pull the stick right back, is helpful. Just about a low idle speed on a glow motor is good. This provides some thrust and airflow over the control surfaces and prevents the propeller from windmilling and causing drag.
I fly all the way to the grass and cut the throttle only when I am on the ground and not before. With the throttle at low idle, you might find that the roll is a bit longer but, only like a glow model as it stands. I sometime give a slight blip on the throttle just to ease the touch. It works nicely on trikes to lift the nose gear a tad without using elevator.
It does take a little to get used to not chopping the throttle and gliding in but, I can tell you that gli-DING [ding is the word] in will result in plenty of dings in the long run. It is really bad technique and a bad habit to develop.
With our electrickery models, we can afford to coast a bit as we can hit the throttle and the power will [should] come back on. I have found that a cut and glide approach has lead to me having more problems then an under power landing.
Be prepared to abort and go around. There is absolutely no shame in going around for a second or even a third try. I do it a lot if I am not happy with the approach. Make up your mind early and if you think...'I can still do it from here...' call going around. You are in trouble and you are trying to convince yourself that you are good to go. In fact, you will get a better response from the peanut gallery for choosing to go around, then if you crash trying to make it.
Use all the visual aids around your field to line up with the runway. For example, the tree over the back, if you are level with the third branch from the right, you are at the right spot in your approach. Or the power line tower, or the chimney.
All of these clues make it easier for you and they are all there. Different things at different fields but the pointers are there. Do not use a cloud for this.... do not laugh too hard, I have seen it done!!
I have a set point on the runway and if my models are not within two feet of a touch down, I go around.
Mostly, a good landing will not come from a bad approach. We will fluke a greaser from time to time from an ordinary approach but a bad one is not worth the effort or repair bill.
In conclusion.....
Practice, practice, practice. You may well break a model or two [I did], but one day you will realize that you are doing it and you did not even recognize it.
Regards and repsect
Daryl

[Oxotnik]

Good words, Daryl. Thanks! I still fight the urge to want to glide in for a barely-above-stall-speed landing. I do set my glide slope and reduce power, then bring power back up to retard the descent rate, a few feet above the ground. Your comment on 'go-around, even if you think you can still make it from here' is spot on. I usually do that, but I didn't on the last flight of my FLRC P-38. I had a bit of a cross wind, and I had let the plane drift too close to the edge of the flightline. While I was focused on crabbing it back to the center of the Flightline, I had let my airspeed drop too much. I didn't bring the power back up quickly enough, and it belly-flopped from a foot or so off the ground. I rewarded myself for that stunt by getting to make a walk of shame to pick up a model with collapsed gear (easily reparable though). Stupid me. I should have powered up and gone around again when I realized that I wasn't lined up properly.

Chuck

PS. I'm in Chantilly, VA, this week on business and plan to visit the Udvar-Hazy Air & Space Museum on Friday. Does anyone want photos of anything in particular?

[TiredIronGRB]

The number one thing that helped me is the simplest thing...watch the wheels. Keep your eyes on the wheels of the plane as you're coming down, that has helped me tremendously.

[ace184]

Thanks for all the info and tips. I've been busy with school lately, but am off all next week. So I will practice and hopefully get around to maidening my A10 finally.

[wrongroad]

G'day Tom,
Where you mention that pilots have trouble landing are flying too slow [words to that effect] you are spot on and I blame the magazine reviews for this. I really wish the reviewer would refrain from the using the words, 'the model can land at walking pace'.
This makes the new owner think that he or she is doing something wrong if they can not slow it down to the so called walking pace.
I see a lot of pilots in my club practice touch and go landings and have them near to perfect only to slow down too much for the full stop landing and stall into the deck. It frustrates me to see that.

In general.........

I also worry when I hear a pilot mention that they dead stick a model in for landing because it is too 'floaty'.
That simply means that the model is flying the pilot and not the other way around. You can run out of options far too quickly when you elect to not use power. Yes, we can throttle up again with our models but it could be too late.
I put in a little nose down trim for a floaty model and then use the stick to keep level flight. Yes, it does increase my work load a fraction to fly straight and level but, I have a positive rate of descent dialed in for landing. It works for me.
My FMS Bf109 will float all day if you let her. So, she needed to be told to land. Just a bit of nose down trim. I do this for nearly all of my models.
I do not use mixes at all.

It think it is tired iron who makes the comment about watching the wheels. Again, another valid comment.

For those of you in need, keep watching this thread as I am sure there will be more valid ideas along.

Regards and respect
Daryl

[Grossman56]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPsHhWALh-w#t=239.694406

Hey Ace, check out the pro's.
Wings level, and controlling his descent with throttle. Beautiful landing.

Grossman56

[Sky Wolf]

Right on Bryan, I remember well the days when we were newbies and had maybe three planes, (sniff)
I miss old Rocketeer, but he helped us out a lot.
But, yes, talk about blessed, you, me, Rich, Charlie Brown and many others here have amazing wives. The best landing I've made is when I landed her.

Grossman56

What ever happened to Rocketeer? I haven't seen or heard from him a very long time. Did he drop out of the hobby?