Flaps

[Captain Pappy]

I saw your Quote on setting up expo. I have a spectrum receiver and transmitter. I set my rudder at %50 in flight Mode 2, set flight Mode 1 to normal settings, My thoughts getting it off the ground to prevent over use of the rudder during take off. Then switching it to flight mode 1. I am not sure about the setting at %50 rudder.

[Grossman56]

I run about 30% expo on all my airplanes, if you're worried about too much rudder on take off for instance, use low rate. I was taught to set expo so that I could move each intended control surface without out causing the others to move while on the ground. Too much expo will give you a wet noodle effect where you get nothing, so you feed in more, nothing , feed in more and WOA, you get too much. So then you try to correct but it doesn't react fast enough because of too much expo.
When landing, you have to think of your throttle controlling your descent and your elevator controlling speed. Peel off your altitude before getting too close to the runway. Get your nose level and establish your descent rate with your throttle. I used to come in too slow and be holding the nose up to stop the decent rate without adding throttle. Learned to repair airplanes that way.
Especially fighters! They will stall out and wing over, it ain't pretty. With a nose wheel, you tip the nose up slightly (SLIGHTLY!) at the last second to settle down on your mains, otherwise you suddenly have a bucking bronco on your hands. Learned to repair airplanes that way too!

Grossman56

[E-Challenged]

Low wing models tend to drop the nose with flaps down. High wing models tend to go nose up with flaps down and too much throttle. I use a small amount or no flap for takeoffs. I use about 20 degrees flap for landings and have throttle at about 1/4. I let the model settle down to the runway with slight nose-down attitude adjusting throttle as necessary for desired rate of descent. . Adjust throttle to get desired rate of descent .and gentle touchdown. Experiment with throttle versus flap angle to get a general feel for flaps in calm vs headwinds, etc. Don't use flaps in cross-wind landings. Notice that elevator authority decreases with decreased airspeed. Don't kill throttle during landings, some airblast on elevator and rudder helps with control authority and helps prevent stalling. Flaps were invented in the late 30's, one of the first to use flaps was the DC-3.

[paladin]

Well this arrow T 28 has been my first plane with flaps. I have been using a 10% flap on the first setting and 20% on the second. The plane still seems to land fast. Not sure if it would be safe to adjust for more flaps. What percentages do you pilots use on your flaps.

with the t-28

i put the gear down on the last low pass (well actually at 50 or 60 ft at 70-60% throttle) i bank the wings as it passes me then bring the flaps down 45-50 degrees with a slider and it makes a quick turn as i'm adding 16 clicks of down trim. i adjust the throttle for level flight on the down wind. out of the down wind turn i level the wings and slowly bring the throttle back till it begins to descend. i already primed for this on the down wind so it does not have to comeback much. keep the wings level and play with throttle to keep the decent rate i want all the way to the ground. pull the nose high just before touch down to keep off the nose wheel.

in wind coming out of the down wind turn i point the nose to the runway, do not adjust the throttle, fly to a foot of the grass and level off. reduce the throttle, keep the wings level and wait, if the wate is to long i give back some of the elevator hold and it lands.

i've taught two others to land this way, i had them fly down and dirty traffic patterns to get a click count from full tilt to level flight (i like to hold some up E in down and dirty flight) and most important what throttle setting can not sustain level flight.

Joe