Hi Guys,

This is Josh "BoneDoc" Young. If any of you guys have been following the 3D Flying Forum, you'll notice that for the last month / two, I've been posting a series of 3D Clinic sessions, with videos included. Some of the past Clinics include:


BoneDoc's 3D Clinic #1: Harriers, Upright and Inverted

BoneDoc's 3D Clinic #2: KE Spins & Blenders

BoneDoc's 3D Clinic #: Knife Edge

BoneDoc's 3D Clinic #4: Hover

BoneDoc's 3D Clinic #5: Rolling Harrier

In the process, I've gotten a lot of request to do a clinic video on take off and landing, so here it is.

Some basic primer on take off and landing:

Take Off
Apply throttle, correct heading with rudder
As the model began to lift its tail, then gently pull on the elevator for a nice scale looking take off. That's IT!

Landing
The most important part of landing is to visualize in your mind the flight path that your airplane is going to take. From where the plane is to where it needs to be, visualize the "semicircle" arc that the flight path will take, and fly it accordingly. The mistake most beginners make is to come in too high, and too hot. In their mind, they determined to LAND, and so they "force" the landing. Instead if you're still too high and too hot (fast), either take a BIGGER arc, or make a turn around.

The next mistake made is when they try to use too much elevator and not enough throttle to keep the nose up. When you do that, you'll bleed off speed, which brings the model ever so closer to stall speed. You can FEEL when you're getting close because your control will feel a little "MUSHY" instead of nice, crisp, and responsive. When this happen, ADD THROTTLE.

Personally, I like nose down 5-10 degrees until I'm about 6 inches off the ground, then I level off and bleed off the rest of the speed. A little nose down will ensure that my model will still fly at sufficient speed until I'm ready to flare and touch down.

The other thing to consider is to use:
THROTTLE to control your descent rate (how fast you're loosing altitude)
ELEVATOR to maintain attitude (which way the nose is pointing)

As you gain more practice, you'll start to really get the feel of it.

Just remember, that landing is the *only* required maneuver .

ADDITIONAL RESOURCE
Scott Stoops book, "Mastering Radio Control Flight" is also a great educational tool also in not just 3D, but precision flight as well as basic flight. It's a recommended must read and a book that you're not going to outgrow.

Of course, thanks to my lovely wife Inn, who not only film my flight, braving the torching Texas heat, but who is also my biggest supporter and fan.

Enjoy!

Josh "BoneDoc" Young

Special Thanks to:

My lovely wife Inn, who makes all these things possible
Ben and the 3D Hobby Shop crew
Andrew Jesky for designing a great 3D platform for us mortals

3D CLINIC VIDEO #6a: Take Off and Landing

3D CLINIC VIDEO #6b: Take Off and Landing, Featuring Mike "KingsFlyer" McD

Also, I have the pleasure of doing video for Mike McD (aka Kingsflyer) instruct us on take off and landing with his Hobby-Lobby Funster. I will get that video uploaded once I get a chance to properly edit it.

Josh "BoneDoc" Young

Josh,

You may want to check the file name as it's labeled as 5a instead of 6a as it may lead to some people over-writing the previous video.

Keep up the great work!

Mike

Thanks for noticing that Mike. In the process of copying and pasting, I forgot to change that .

Ahhh! nice vid Josh. I think i've got the runway landing down on the Velox. 4 for 5 now but then again i'm on the 3S setup currently. I can harrier in my EF Extra now thanks to that vid. Watching the sticks and the constant throttle adjustments was exactly what i needed . THANKS as always!

the tx overlay for the landing vid is much better and clearer than the full-screen overlay. great vids. keep 'em coming!

Landing? What is landing? I've only known that you catch a plane when it's hovering in front of you

But good video Josh. Demonstrating expert skills even in crosswinds. My personal favorite kind of landing is upsidown Doesn't work too well on hard surfaces though

Also, a lot of people flare their aircraft like you were saying. I've found it hard on the aircraft if you don't flare at the right moment. I have seen plenty of beginners pull up at about 1-2ft. off the ground, and totally smack their plane down hard, and break the landing gear because of them trying to bleed off speed, and have the plane stop rolling instantly. And of course I took their plane in for a more than perfect landing

Josh, I think you should put these on CD's, and either sell them for cheap, or give them away at big 3D events, so that people can learn 3D the right way

Hey guys,

I had the pleasure of flying, as well as filming Mike McD aka "kingsflyer" from RCG. I've just uploaded the video for your viewing, and learning pleasure.

nice vid with kingflyer! I liked the echo. It gave it a nice touch and allowed me to hear you two over that blasted wind!

Kewl... Thanks for letting me use your camera for the event. It really helps a ton.

No problem. Ironically i tried to snap a couple of shots prior to that and I couldn't get a decent flying picture >.<. I tried to get pictures of Ben flying Scott's 87" SHP, but I couldn't get a good shot. Focus was always off... even in that hover that Ben pulled. I'm glad u could put it to good use. Btw... u've gotta show me how to make one of ur rigs.

...

Great videos BoneDoc. It was nice meeting you at the 3DHS fly-in. Have you considered breaking up your training videos into 2 separate series, and have one for 3D and another for the more basic stuff?

Thanks. At this point, I'm just going to lump them as "3D" even though some of the topic will be basic, and non 3D. But my goal is to get pilots to go beyond simple sport flying, and simple 3D... we'll see.

On some topics, I'll have to get good enough to demonstrate first .

You could always focus on harrier landings .