From the monthly newsletter of the Mid-Missouri Radio Control Association
Landings: Touch-and-Go or Bounce-and-Go?
by Glynn Mount, from the
Cam Journal,
Central Arizona Modelers, Inc,
“Touch-and-go” is a great way to
practice landings. It’s a sure way to rapidly
improve your technique. Even the best of us,
however, will bring one down a little too hard once
in a while, and the inevitable result will be a
bounce.
The size of said bounce will be in direct proportion
to how enthusiastically your airplane meets the
runway. If unattended, of course, the first bounce
will be followed by a second, and if the second
bounce doesn’t break your propeller, you might be
lucky enough to dribble to a stop before running off
of the runway.
This type of landing often will bring an
enthusiastic response from the critics sitting on
the sidelines.
There are however, a couple of ways you could
recover from a bad bounce and keep your dignity
intact. One is to maintain “full back pressure” on
the stick (i.e. full up elevator) in the hopes that
there is enough flying speed to cushion the second
bounce. If the bounce is more of a high-speed skip,
this method works well.
The second method is to immediately apply power and
return to level flight.
I’ve tried both methods, and a “bounce-and-go” with
quick application of power will usually result in a
more positive recovery from a bad bounce. If
performed with finesse, you might even make it look
as though you did it on purpose.
The best landing procedure is to hold the aircraft
off the deck a foot high with idle power and try
“not to land.” The airplane will slow and “sink in”
in spite of you, giving you a smooth transition from
air to ground. Q
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