Old Fogey and Landings

[llsouder]

hello all!

Been flying FT RCs for a few years now. I have never been able to land consistently until this year. Buying an RC flight sim help me a lot!

When I power down the Old Fogey without landing gear the aircraft floats down softly and glides very well. Now that I have added landing gear, it drops like a rock. I guess its the drag and added weight. My landing require about 1/4 throttle to get down to the ground without hitting hard. But then again the gear makes the Old Fogey flight more stable, but it just requires more power.

Should I add lighter gear so I can land without power? Is landing with 1/4 throttle common? Is this a symptom of something else, like being nose heavy?

 

[BlockerAviation]

That's common, most airplanes I've encountered require a little power for a smooth landing. What I do on landing is to control your rate of descent with the throttle and use the elevator to flair right before touchdown.

 

[The Hangar]

for most tail draggers, landing in something like grass is tricky. With some of my planes (like the Cub) I slow it down as much as I can, but I flare at the last minute and as so as I touch the ground I give it throttle to keep it from nosing over. Landing on smooth surfaces can be easier to get away with a worse landing. I try to keep enough throttle and touch down on the mains then drop the power and let the tail touch the ground. I’m still working on my landings, since they can always be better!

 

[tcalico]

The Old Fogey is a great trainer plane and a great platform for learning the science of flight such a CG. Yes, the gear is adding nose weight which as you found, does increase stability and control while flying. I always carry a little throttle while landing, and the nose weight really helps keep control on windy days. After having to repair the tail one time, it ended up tail heavy, it flew very "floaty" and would glide but was very difficult to control.

 

[TheFlyingBrit]

I have always flown mine with landing gear and use foam wheels around 3" diameter from memory maybe a bit larger. Landing and gliding wasn't a problem once I got the CG optimised. But turning was a pain at first, it use to get into a dutch roll and was a pain to get level again. Eventually I sorted it with reduced throw on the rudder but it made the turning circle wider, not an issue in a wide open space but indoors it could be a problem. The other solution was just to increase the expo making rudder adjustments less sensative.
But to conclude, landing into the wind it glided perfectly I would add a short burst of throttle at touch down to stop that nose over. Or bend the wheels forward slightly, as someone suggested to me, for the same issue I had with my Cub.