The planned Takeoff, Climb, Approach & Landing

[RevoME]

Hi Folks,

while I claim to be trying to contribute at least something useful to this great community, at least every once in a while, I thought of a "refresher" on Approach & Landing procedures with fixed wing aircraft. This should help the newcomer or person trying to get back into the game after the long winter months and should not be limited to any amount of channels.

I'm a Set-Up Pilot.
Means every reaction I want to see from my airplane is the result of prior action from my side. Consistently doing the same thing while flying is crucial and once I had transferred what I learned flying real airplanes to models I got better results all of the time. Being ahead of your plane will help you control, rather than "react".

I'd like to start with a proper takeoff/ launch procedure, which is the second most dangerous situation you will encounter with your aircraft.

Preflight Check:

Rudder, Aileron, Elevator, Throttle, all moving free (!!) and in the proper direction. Engine or Motor have seen one complete cycle of operation and perform well without cut outs or sudden loss of power on electric models.

Surface is flat, clear & free of neighbors house and you have 3-600 ft in any direction of flight. Winddirection & speed checked.

Takeoff & Climb

Slowly advance throttle to full power and maintain directional control with the Rudder. Hold 1/4 - 1/2 up elevator during the ground roll to notice the right rotation speed. Compensate for wind using the ailerons and opposite rudder. Ailerons into the wind, rudder away from it.
Rotate at sufficient speed and get the aircraft settled into a stable climb.
Directional control & climbing should be your utmost concern during the "upwind" leg. In 25-30 feet I reduce power 3/4's or 1/2.
The first turn should be at approximately 40-50 feet with a shallow bank to the left or right, followed by a tap of rudder. I make sure my crosswind leg is somewhat close to 90 degrees off my takeoff course to get a rectangualar pattern.

The Pattern:

While still on the crosswind leg I level the airplane and adjust power to between 1/2 and 1/3 and trim for level flight. The following left or right turn into Downwind happens right after that. While in the turn you will likely need slight elevator or power input to compensate for loss of altitude. During this tailwind section I note the wind and correct the offset with a slight crab angle. I like square patterns because they give you the same setups & enough time, all the time.
At about 45 degrees from my intended treshold for touchdown I start the Approach phase.

Approach:

While turning base I reduce the power to slow the aircraft to a reasonable speed and trim for a light descent. Some people do deadstick landings (power off) some want the engine to pull them to where they go. I'm lazy and keep some power (usually less than 1/3) before I turn into final. Up to here everything is fine. During final the aircraft approaches me almost head-on. Keep in mind, it's coming toward me and if it drifts or rolls to one side you need to react towards the direction it drops the wing. Funny? I've seen many rolls on final... and subsequently spirals that ended in shoeboxes.

Final & Landing:

When You turn into final you want a few things to be in balance and checked.

1. Speed OK & Slight Descent
2. Fuel/ Time in case of Go Around
3. Landing Field is Clear, final look at the wind
4. Flaps/ Gear... "If the ground is near, lower the flaps and the gear!"

Including flaps and gear into your "final turn check" will help you as you move on to more advanced models.
Approach and Landing are the "first most" dangerous part of your flight.
If your aircraft is trimmed right, you will need slight power adjustments to descent at a lower or faster rate. If the descent rate is high and you assume you will be short, add power first before any elevator, again if it's trimmed right all you need is power. I tend to be aileron lazy while on takeoff and final.
Why? Adverse Yaw affects your aircraft and tourque is a killer in the following situations: High Angle of Attack, Slow Airspeed, High Power or sudden change thereof in case of Go-Around. Your rudder will help you regain control, your ailerons will destroy your efforts (any questions on this... please ask!)
I reduce power to idle about 3-5 feet above the ground maintaining aircraft control simply with rudder. Your flare should be done within equally level (=level, speedbleedoff) and slight nose high (slowdown and touchdown) attitudes.
Barely have I ever seen anyone do what you do with real airplanes and touch down as the stall occurs. The bigger the model, the better off you are judging the speed.

It's hard to discribe a perfect landing, too many variables, but landing and rollout are a breeze if you follow a few simple basics beforehand.
As far as perfect altitude goes: Any altitude that will allow you to bring the airplane in rather than walking the fields to get it after an off airport landing.
It also greatly depends on the wind. A electric model that quits spinning the prop right on upwind will most likely end with a tailwind landing... but once on the downwind you should be able to make it safe.

Now if you fly a 1:2 Extra 300S with a 4 cylinder motor you may want to refer to your experiences, what I described will only work really good with high and low wing trainers and reasonable slower airplanes. Everyone has his own confidence level and comfort zone, if you feel better with a AMA Instructor hooked up to you, please do so!

I have flown about 6 hours since the snow is melting and this worked for me, so I thought I would share.
I own a Piper Cub a Extra 300S, Pitts Special (all left in Germany together with a few gliders & a Big Lift.
My next topic would be stalls and spins if anyone is interested.

-xmas-

 

[rocknbil]

I'd only add two things here, one a successful pilot does instinctively but often sends beginners to the repair bench on their first flight:

Takeoff & Climb

Slowly advance throttle to full power and maintain directional control with the Rudder. Hold 1/4 - 1/2 up elevator during the ground roll to notice the right rotation speed. Compensate for wind using the ailerons and opposite rudder. Ailerons into the wind, rudder away from it.
Rotate at sufficient speed and get the aircraft settled into a stable climb.
Directional control & climbing should be your utmost concern during the "upwind" leg. In 25-30 feet I reduce power 3/4's or 1/2.

One of the first things I learned is that a slow advance on throttle can tend to send you all squirrely right off the bat, especially with a nose wheel, causing you to tip over and break props. From a dead stop on the runway, push the throttle to full or almost full, watch for the little torque twist, and the plane will get up to speed and stabilize into a straight line more quickly with very little adjustment on the rudder.

The other thing is to give it a slight elevator to lift off, then level off the elevator. A mistake for beginners is to equate "go up" with pulling back on the elevator, so as soon as it leaves the ground instead of levelling off they keep pulling back. On takeoff it will nose up, stall, crash.

 

[RevoME]

Thanks rocknbil!
I should have noticed the fact that ever since my airplane was taking off, no one bothered to check the angle of attack for a climb...
Thanks for your vote also... you must have been the first and only one that managed to stay awake... LOL
I guess I will type the spin and stall text and send it to england by bottle...

 

[ThunderHawk]

Engine or Motor have seen one complete cycle of operation and perform well without cut outs or sudden loss of power on electric models.

For those "non" pilots that may take up the hobby....Please define a "complete cycle of Operation". This is an excellent how to. Don't worry about Polls or responses too much. I will bet the views will be high. This seems like a great tool for a beginner or somebody interested. Keep them up!!!!


Great Job,


Hawk

 

[SMaxxin]

The other thing is to give it a slight elevator to lift off, then level off the elevator. A mistake for beginners is to equate "go up" with pulling back on the elevator, so as soon as it leaves the ground instead of levelling off they keep pulling back. On takeoff it will nose up, stall, crash.

LOL I watched one of my friends do this exact thing not long ago. Full throttle and keep climbing....stall and crash!

Thanks for posing this Revo, I'm on the verge of trying a plane so all tips and how 2's are always great.

 

[RevoME]

For those "non" pilots that may take up the hobby....Please define a "complete cycle of Operation". This is an excellent how to. Don't worry about Polls or responses too much. I will bet the views will be high. This seems like a great tool for a beginner or somebody interested. Keep them up!!!!
Great Job,
Hawk

Engine broken in and performing well, without showing any weakness and or sluggish response to throttle. The owner should also be clearly aware of the time it takes between refuels... so a few groundruns will help. When I started flying gasmodels I was somewhat forced to think about what I can do to keep it safe for little airplane and bystanders. After seeing a dear friend loose his scale huge, fast, and heavy twin engine with retractable gear, flaps, hydraulic brakes & landinglights less than 20 yards from my former girlfriend (bystander) after a single engine failure, I thought different about these little engines. LOL, nothing happened, my ex returned to the crashsite after running for her life... being on airports all the time she was "taught" to never take your eyes away from something that flies, takes off or lands... old family rule (my wife is the same way now...) An Airplane coming down due to the fact that the machine was smarter or quicker than the operator is a real show & partystopper. On electric I'll just smoke the first set of batteries to find out how much time I have.
In the world of real aircrafts you call that situational awareness.

Thanks for the supporting words... I only got one yawn so far... )

 

[kwong2001]

Couple of other pointers, one thing a lot of guys will do with gas planes is start them up, hit full throttle, then point the plane up, down and (sometimes) flip it upside down to see if the motor will lean out or quit. What frequently happens is the little fuel pick up inside the tank isn't moving freely or binding or something and the engine will lean or stall out. Better to find the fuel issue before take off, then after. I've seen many guys have to come in dead stick because of fuel issues. Happened to me WAY too many times.

Also, when taxi-ing, give full up elevator regardless of whether it's a tail dragger or nose wheel, helps prevent the wheels from digging into the grass and having the plane nose over.

On take off, I just give full up elevator from the start and will hit full throttle ASAP, but I fly from a grass field. Once it gets off the ground or close to getting off the ground, i'll back off on the elevator to 1/4 up elevator or so. Note: Full up elevator on take off works off the same principles as taxi-ing.

If the plane can't get up enough air speed and you're using a grass field, then try bigger wheels, our first plane had a hell of a time getting off because of the grass.

Also, not sure if this was mentioned, but when taking off, if it's windy, if at all possible, take off heading against the wind as opposed to with the wind. This goes the same for landing.

On landing, typically I'll use 1/4 throttle to setup for final approach, then slowly dial the throttle back until at idle or until I can do a nice flair. But that also depends on the plane and how much power it has.

Oh, and best thing to do on the first flight of a new plane is to just take it slow and easy to learn the low speed characteristics since you'll have to land sooner or later. Better to do that then tip stall on landing.

Also, for electrics, I prefer to just hand launch the plane. Just a little up angle and it's good to go. My Yak is kinda over powered so I just launch at 3/4 throttle or less or else it'll take off like a rocket. But most beginner planes I would expect would need to be launched at full throttle.