Landing Gear Affects Flight

[jack10525]

Yes I'm sure that title sounds obvious but I still can't figure out why. I've build many speed build ft planes and a few from plans posted here an elsewhere. Recently I built the Hangers simple stick. I built 2 without landing gear and a lot of control surface throw. These 2 flew amazingly but with the extreme throw could be a handful to control. Decided to try dialing it back a but and built a 3rd stick. Added landing gear and a pretty big motor. It flies but not very well. It will not fly straight or true without constantly giving stick input. Checked the cg and it seems to be on. I'm thinking of removing the landing gear as a test to see if the flight characteristics change. Just wondering why landing gear seems to affect scratch build planes sooo much at least for me.

 

[LitterBug]

You are adding aero drag below the aircraft. Depending on the size and shape, this can be compounded. If it is fairly flexible, this can add a bit of randomness to it as well. Can you provide pictures od it??

 

[jack10525]

Yep I forgot to add them earlier. The probably 2.5" wheels.

 

[Timmy]

It might also be weight, that plane looks heavy with the fire wall landing gear and the extra weights you put on. Removing the landing gear for a test is good. Tell us how it goes

 

[jack10525]

Yeah I had to add quite a bit of weight up front to get the cg. I'll try removing the gear and see how it goes.