Landing Tips needed!

[TonyThomasian]

I have a 30% AM yak 54, and a Comp-arf 3m extra 330. I fly both of these planes with no problem. I have had the yak for almost a year now, and the extra i have only 4 flights on. I could land the yak very very very easily. I dont even need to make a approch from distance. For some reason i cant land the comp-arf extra 330 slowly. I come in at idle, but a long distance from the runnway. I take good approches, but for some reason, i cant bring the Extra 330 down slowly. It just doesn't want to quit flying. Why do bring it in so fast, when its at idle? Does anyone here that has one of these planes explain to me how you slow them down? Please give me some tips!
thanx

[3ddd]

that's an easy one,the yak has a big open radial cowl that slows it down fast,the extra has a streamline cowl to some extent so it slips thru the air easyer.i make a long approch but i play with throttle to keep up just enough speed to get a slow decent without stalling the wings,a good tip to look for is if the wings start waggin get on the throttle a little our it will stall and hold steady up elevater to just off the ground then flare to a touch down.hope this helps ya and have fun

[DKjens]

For a very sleek and great flying airplane like the 3.0m Extra, it can be tricky to slow it down, especially on a no wind day. One trick you'll see many of the good pilots do is come in with a side slip, or cross control. When you're on final, if you have any kind of cross wind componant. give a little rudder that way, and a little aileron the opposite way, to keep the airplane level but same course. You can practice it with high approaches first, which just results in a fly by, and you can start with very little rudder. I have to confess, that I don't nearly practice it enough myself, because I've been flying a plane (MA 37%Yak) that doesn't need it. But, when you see a good pilot come in in a steep side slipping final, to grease the landing without any danger of coming up short because of to low idle, or going long, because of to much speed, you really tell yourself that that's something you want to be able to do.

On smaller planes I also tryed putting a little spoilerons on the plane (both ailerons moves up a little) and this would work fine. But, your particular airplane flyes like crap if you do that, and it may very well end up getting damaged, so the side slip is the ticket.
DKjens

[airborneSGT]

Yeah man I have had the same problem with my 33% 260. It only weighs like 23.5lbs and seriously just wants to float. I do the same side slip thing or I Just kinda harrier a little to slow up. You can make a landing mix to give the bird a little more drag and slow her down. The problem with longer approaches is it is sometimes hard to tell where the plane is in relation to the ground. Its really easy to fudge or be off. On the drastic side of things I just kill my throttle at a certain point where I know I am going to be ok.

More often than not in South FL we have the wind thanks in large part to being only miles from the ocean. Certain props also are much better at braking than others. Where is your CG on your Extra? I found a slightly tailheavy CG also helps. You can program a down elevator mix to compensate at say 1-2% throttle and never notice it really.

[TonyThomasian]

thanx guys! nice tip DKjens!!!! I will try that on my next flight, thanx!

[Boulder]

Tony,

Make sure you do as Jens said, and try it 50 ft. up first to get used to the opposite ailerons, what I mean is, how much rudder to how much opposite aileron. You certainly don't want to mess up 3 feet off the deck.

Good luck!!

BTW: A friend of mine uses that approach all of the time, looks sweet as heck!!

[RH1N0]

I agree with the side slip "dirty" approach but, at the risk of stating the bleeding obvious, can I add that you should come out of the slip just before touch down (as with a cross wind landing) otherwise your wheels will not be alligned to the runway and you may damage your undercarriage or veer off the runway etc.

[Boulder]

As obvious as it sounds, it's always good to say it anyway

[DKjens]

	Quote: Originally Posted by RH1N0
	can I add that you should come out of the slip just before touch down (as with a cross wind landing) otherwise your wheels will not be alligned to the runway and you may damage your undercarriage or veer off the runway etc.

I forgot this little detail, thanks for bringing it up. Yes, very important to come out of the sideslip and straighten up before "touching down", thanks guys.

[GremlinX]

Throttle back sooner.. Stall it sooner...

[TonyThomasian]

thanx!

[3D-Seth]

on my comp-arf 2.3 we had to set a landing mix up un the radio - basically 2-3 clicks of down elevator trim
does your plane want to almost keep climbing? thats what mine does - it could be a little tail heavy as mine is . . .
ive slowed mine down so much that the plane lands tail wheel first, and it stays in that position (with front wheels off of ground) for around 10 ft or so . . .