Low wing aeroplanes - the differences

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

Chris Some folk learn with a trainer then go straight to an Extra, Sukhoi or the like. We all progress differently, Will an Acrowot be o.k. for some yes it will. Set it up with a low rate as well as the recommended one, slightly nose heavy's not a bad thing. Get some height and test stall into wind, also do checks re engine thrust lines (plenty of stuff on here about that). It will go where you tell it and stay there that's the beauty of them Expo I don't like for newish pilot's once away from centres you're into big movements, I would sooner set up with less throw.

A 55 will give you a quick model, that can be bad news, trim it to fly on less throttle till you get comfortable with it.

Landings maybe a bit more use of throttle, should still have a good glide though.

Props.. less pitch less speed.

Best advice I can give though is get buddied up with it to begin with if possible

Good luck John.

P.S. With a new engine get some fuel through it first , deadsticks kill models

[john melia 1]

Posted by cymaz on 22/04/2014 09:31:40:

The .46 size Seagull Spacewalker was my first low winger after the trainer.....great plane. No vices.

As cymaz says , and I repeat , a fantastic low wing trainer , flies hands off , straight and level , been out again with mine in the rain today , you cant go wrong with the spacewalker

[Mark a]

As Gurth has mentioned the Acrowot will need flying into the ground so to speak, your approach will be quicker and rate of decent less than your trainer to achieve a good touch down. Not trying to put you off just something you need to be aware of. I was trained on my Wot 4 with the rates turned right down and now fly the same model with rates set at max and its a hoot its one of my favourite planes and I've now been flying 2 years.

Mark.

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

To expand on Gurth's point and answer your question Chris:

A Roller is when you land fast and level on the main wheels with the tail up - the plane is still very much flying right up to the point of touch down. Really its an ultra low-pass that turns into a landing! Once the main wheels are down (or very close) you chop the throttle, keep her straight with the rudder, and let the tail settle. Its not the most elegant landing technique and subjects the model to quite a bit of stress - especially the U/C. But it has the virtue of being very safe.

A Three-Pointer is the classic taildragger landing. The approach is slower with a steeper descent angle, the nose is brought up first level - at about 5 feet off the deck - the throttle is open, but only a little. As the speed bleeds off further and the model sinks slowly the nose is eased up into a position known as "the flair" - the speed decreases further and the model very gently and quite slowly settles into all three wheels at the same time (hence "three pointer"!) This is the "correct" way to land most tail-draggers. And it looks very elegant - hence the "cool" adjective Gurth applies. But its much harder to judge. The aircraft ends up nose pointing slightly upward, at a high angle of attack, and very slow. the danger is that you miss-time the whole thing - flair a fraction too early and you'll slow too much too high, it'll stall and pancake. Flair an instant too late and you'll slam the nose into the deck. Get the speed wrong (usually learners have the speed too high because the initial approach was too high and so the descent has added speed) and when you try to flair the model will just zoom upward, looses masses of speed suddenly - and pancakes in again - only this time from much higher!

So you can see why Gurth was recommending that if you go AcroWot you stick to rollers initially!

BTW - I wouldn't recommend the AcroWot as a follow on trainer - great model but too much for most new flyers - you'll have a lot more success and fun with a WOT4 I think.

BEB

[GrahamWh]

Chris I would recommend you use plenty of expo for your first low winger as well as low rates. My first was a Black Horse Renegade. If I remember rightly I had no or low expo on when I got it off the ground, but fortunately had my TX set to put on 25 or 30% on elevator and aileron at the flick of a switch and as soon as I did that the wild thing in the air became a pleasure to fly - much easier to direct than my high dihedral high wing trainer had been.

[Chris Anthony]

Mark, BEB, thanks for the technical descriptions - that's the kind of stuff I love to read. I can picture exactly what you describe BEB and have been guilty of flaring too early, and too late, and am familiar with the effects! Fortunately none of those situatons resulted in too much damage, worst being a few nose-overs and prop-strike-stalls. And what you say about keeping the speed up for the landings makes sense to me too, this is something I'll keep in mind.

Graham, I've not yet had the chance to experiment with exponential rates. This is also something I'll bear in mind. As I understand it, expo can give you large throws when desired, at the extremities of your TX stick movement, but with smaller adjustments available towards centre-stick. It essentially provides a mix of high and low rates, would you say that that description is accurate? Or is there more to it. If this is accurate, at the moment, having high and low rates changeable at the flick of a switch seems to be good enough; position 1 for the funky aero stuff, position 2 for landings/practising..

John and John, thanks also for giving me some confidence.

Edited By Chris Anthony on 27/04/2014 22:31:00