Hi all. as you may well have already read but I am attempting to put my idea's and thoughts down on paper to help share a little of my knowledge which I hope will in turn help others. I'm no expert but I have spent many hours trying to improve and have found certain things have helped me overcome some of the obstacles that I can see some of you are struggling with today.
I will try and post something each week if at all possible. Breaking down the landing side of flying down into manageable size chunks. Nothing is written into stone and its just advice so take from it what you can.
Some off you more experienced guys might have different idea's from myself and I would love to hear your suggestions and have your input as we all have slightly different ways of flying, so please share your idea's and tell me if you think there is a better way of doing something.
That's the great thing about our sport, everyday is different and we all do things in a slightly different way but nobody id necessarily wrong. Lets use this blog / 'Landing Briefings' page to share our experiences as we have all either got to overcome the many challenges of landings or we continue to strive to get better!
Look at the top left hand side of the blog's front page under 'Landing briefings' to view each new chapter as it is written.
Feel free to comment or email me your idea's / suggestions and I will post your comments up on the blog to share with everyone. It would be great to hear from the guys who are at the early stages of landings. Please share your experiences and thoughts.
It's sharing that makes this blog work and encourage people back to read more. I need your help guys!!!
email: paul.hampshire@shelf-space.co.uk
Slope Soaring Sussex is a friendly group of RC glider flying enthusiasts based in Sussex, UK. We slope soar at various locations on the South Downs and have a field for thermal soaring. ‘Slope Soaring Sussex’ is a BMFA affiliated RC Glider-only flying club. We fly many types of RC gliders from conventional slope soarers to Scale, DLG, F3B, F3J, F5J, PSS and more. Our aim is to encourage and promote safe, responsible and enjoyable radio controlled model flying. New and experienced flyers welcome.
Hi Paul, I am not as experienced as you and Ian A, so I really appreciate your input. I have read the 2 parts of the landing briefing and I think they're brilliant. I can't add anything, but look forward to the next lesson.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rob for your comments. We can all learn from each other which is a big positive!
DeleteHi Paul, I read your notes with interest and thank you for sharing your thoughts and experience on this subject. I feel I have got to a point where I can confidently fly out on the slope (occasional heart drop moment without letting it on!) My main problem is confidence in coming back round on a circuit without worrying about the model being pushed back over the top of the hill. The second issue for me is controlling the aircraft coming towards me in strong winds where more control on attitude and speed is needed coming into the landing. I tend to lose composure then start overreacting with the controls. I feel now I am at a stage where I need to take the landings seriously and move on. Its all very well being able to fly out in front of the slope but that's no good if you can land the plane safely. I look forward to learning from this and improving my landing skills. It would also be good to run the clinics where there is more open space for landing (conditions allowing of course) I know we have to be able to land on different slopes but learning where it is more forgiving will help with confidence. Just my initial thoughts.
ReplyDeleteHi Andrew. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and I know exactly where you are coming from. I have a few idea's that will help with the issues you have highlighted. Good point about more space. We can move away from the main group of fliers and use more space on the hill where possible. All valuable points you have raised. I want to run some theory / lectures maybe after flying to help reinforce what has been demonstrated on the hill. This can be done at my office in Plumpton where its warm and we have a white board to draw stuff out. Understanding what you are trying to achieve will help doing the real thing. Thanks again Andrew.
DeleteI like your Learn the Basics First article. The only comment I’d make is about the car driving analogy – I think flying a model glider is more akin to riding a bike.
ReplyDeleteLike a bicycle a slope soarer in the wind is inherently unstable, so it’s totally reliant on the pilot’s ability to ‘balance’ by counteracting the model’s propensity to tip over left or right. When the pilot can instinctively balance the model in flight there is a good chance he’ll lift whichever wing is drooping on the landing approach before it touches terra firma.
Thanks Rusty for your alternative analogy which indeed does work but I didn't mean to say that flying a model was like driving a car. I actually said it was a similar process in learning to drive a car as you need to figure out how to operate your hands and feet together and after time you would learn to subconsciously make these decisions and this is what you would end up doing after some experience when learning to fly. You make automatic changes without having to think about what corrections you need to make. I hope this makes sense?
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