revolution coming in to land..

[macey2kk]

hi all.... again!!.

thanks for the great advice on trim settings for take off, well and truly digested!

in respect of landing - apart from the obvious of landing into wind etc do you have any landing tips for the revo?

i understand the wing is quite fast - is it possible to apply a % of brake to slow you down on approach? or do you run the risk of a stall?

or if you feel your landing is too fast can you apply a bit of power and brake to steady your approach?

sorry for what may seem trivial questions but i have said previously, for me the theory is 75% of the job and understanding that will make the practice so much easier.

i said that to my guitar tutor too -- how wrong i was with that! E A D G B E has stuck tho!

[dantheman]

I reckon power off landings will be safer for you and save your props, watch the video below, nice landing at 25 seconds.

He pulls a bit of brake (to shoulders) when a couple of feet from the deck to fly level with the ground - converting speed into lift and then flares to land (brakes all the way down). It's a bit easier for him as there is clearly a nice breeze which slows a landing up a lot but if you anticipate having to run then you will be ok.

During your training you will probably fly loads of hops with just the wing, either being pushed into the air or gliding down slopes so you will have bags of time to practice landings until they are second nature.

[gordon_dunn]

The guy in the video cuts the engine very late for landing. Usuallly i'd cut a lot sooner, maybe 50ft or so from the ground- but only after i've cleared the last obstruction, and i'm totally comitted to landing.

GD

[Guest]

Agreed,

I tent to cut the motor as soon as I know I am going to land in the field.

I have never 'needed' a powered landing.

SW

[macey2kk]

thanks for that guys...knowledge is power!

[Guest]

Its ALL about airspeed.

you say the revo is "fast" but what does that mean.

you are flying through the air at between 20 kph (slowest) and 55 kph(fastest) compared to 18 and 50 on other wings.

(the following numbers are for illustration only but principle applies to all wings)

When you fly at 20 kph you are coming down a slope of about 1:6

When you fly at 55 kph you are coming down a slope of, say 1:5

When you fly at 30 kph you are coming down a slope of 1:7

There is an airspeed that is somewhere between the stall and the max that flies you down the shallowest slope. We call this max glide, it is where the lift is highest and the drag is lowest.

Then there is ground speed. how fast are you going across the ground. this is airspeed minus wind speed (assuming you land into wind). You cannot tell what your airspeed is. Your sense of how fast you are going is a sense of your ground speed DANGER DANGER DANGER. If you alter your air speed to suit your idea of a "nice landing speed (ground speed)" you will come down a slope that is much steeper than you need to. You will arrive at the ground with a high vertical speed (sink rate). AND you will have no possibility of reducing either your vertical speed or your forward ground speed any further or you will stall.

SO.

Landing in a stiff breeze (20 kph) you need to fly at max glide (around 30 kph) of airspeed. your descent rate will be around 1:7 and your forward speed will be 10kph (ground speed) . You will have plenty brake travel left to slow you up at the last three feet onto the deck with a "flare"; big brake input that slows the wing to a stall but which is timed to drop you zero feet onto the deck. You will arrive at 0 to 5kph (walking speed)

Landing in light winds (10 kph) you need to fly at? thats it max glide (30kph) airspeed, to fly down the shallowest slope. your ground speed is 20 kph....arrggh too fast???? not at all you are not landing yet you are still flying, the ground racing up to meet you, as you get within 5 ft or so you start to apply brake and you slow down (airspeed), which momentarily reduces your vertical speed as the forward energy is turned to drag and you level off at 10 kph you are now just as in previous example ready for your flare timed to drop you zero feet onto the deck at 5kph ground speed.

Nil wind landings (0 kph); Homework. Write this one yourself..........?