concrete runways

Do you have a special need for concrete runways? They are very hard on models compared to grass strips.

On Mon, 5 May 2008 19:12:45 -0400, I said, "Pick a card, any card" and "Worn Out Retread" instead replied:

Indeed. It turns a "near miss" into a "happening of note" that most likely will make it to the front page of the club newsletter.

-- Ray

Hakeman, I can't tell you anything about the Seattle area but I also prefer paved runways. I also prefer when people answer the question asked instead of telling you why you are wrong for asking it.

Try

On Mon, 5 May 2008 19:06:44 -0500, I said, "Pick a card, any card" and "BBQ_Ribs" instead replied:

That's a notional concept that goes along with asking a question on a discussion group like a newsgroup. If he wanted specific answers to a specific question then he's going to have to wade his way through the discussion that results here. Think of this as a party with lots of little groups discussing lots of little topics all at once. Do you read them all? Your pet peeve needed feeding.

-- Ray

That's a funny thing, isn't it. Lots of people's first reaction is to tell you what you ought to do instead of what you want to do.

I flew at the county parks department RC field in Kansas City for 11 years. This is a very nice field with long parallel grass and blacktop runways right next to each other. With such a setup available you start to learn which type of runway is better for which type of model. I liked landing my Telemaster and Big John biplane on the grass, but my .20 sized Miss Bikini was worthless on grass. It was outstanding on the pavement, though. In fact, 9 out of 10 of my planes have been better on pavement. (The Whimpy and other old timers are definitely better on grass.)

Regarding the difference between pavement rash and minor mishaps in the grass, well, that's the price you pay for excellent ground handling.

BBQ_Ribs wrote:

I have seen a few of those!! I have also been involved in a couple of those

No one told anyone that they were wrong about asking about paved runways.

I have flown off of just about every hard surface immaginable; ice, snow, grass, gravel, dirt, concrete, asphalt and a couple of others that I don't know the name of.

The reason that someone wants to use a particular kind of runway could be pertinent to the answer because even if a flying site has a that kind of runway doesn't mean that its condition is such that it would be suitable for the intended use.

I live in Arizona and all we have in my city, unless you fly electric, is pavement. In fact landing at our field, surrounded by washes, has been likened to landing on an aircraft carrier. It's what I learned on though, and I don't mind it. I've noticed that when "open field" type pilots come here they freak out and can't seem to handle runway alignment for some time.

And grass... what is grass???!!!

I remember that. I learned at a wide open field, and when I switched to a real runway I felt like I needed to learn to fly all over again.

Here are some alignment "tricks" you can use to land at a new site. They are part of what I use to teach beginners how to line up. This is actually the very first thing I do before the first training flight.

I start with standing on the centerline of the runway, grass or hard surface with shoulders parallel to the centerline. I make them do a 'dress right dress' and a 'dress left dress' (arms straight up and out with the hand in vertical [knife edge]position)so they can see their fingers pointing to the exact center of the approach and departure end of the runway. Then I make them look and see what gross landmark is on the near horizon at both ends with their hands still up and arms straight. Then we go back to the pilot station and repeat the very first step, parallel to the centerline. This is NOT where we want a plane trying to land as our bodies are in the way, so we rotate the hands and arms forward until we see the land mark previously noted, following with our noses. This helps the beginner establish the dead line concept as I tell them that when the plane is on our side of this second line my volume goes up significantly and I take control if it is not turned away promptly (as in immediately after I say something). I make them put their noses in line with the finger tips to help train the neck muscles and complete the physical feel to what is right and what is wrong. When it is right you head is 'thus' and when it is wrong, you neck is more twisted.

There is a 'window' just around that beginnings of the 'dead line' that will result in a runway landing every time. I used to teach on a 20 foot wide runway and most of my students would make landings on the runway more often than not.

YMMV so good luck

Jim AMA 1428

Good tips Jim.

the problem being that some beginners and even some more experienced flyers never seem to totally grasp the concept.

I had one guy with a fair amount of experience come to my field to fly. I explained that all he had to do to hit the runway in a right hand approach was stay inside the tree line, begin the turn to final at a certain point, and then use two trees about 100 yards off the end of the runway as a guide, stay between the trees, and you would be dead center of the runway at the threshold. It didn't work out for him. He went WAY wide and got behind the tree line, and then tried to fly through one of the trees.

On Wed, 7 May 2008 08:55:35 -0500, "Six_O'Clock_High" dress' and a 'dress left dress' (arms straight up and out with the hand in

That one issue is why I began making them follow the aircraft with their nose. Too many crash airplanes looking for this or that landmark rather than flying the airplane.

On Wed, 7 May 2008 14:02:33 -0500, I said, "Pick a card, any card" and "Six_O'Clock_High"

On Thu, 8 May 2008 12:20:51 -0500, I said, "Pick a card, any card" and "Six_O'Clock_High"

On Fri, 9 May 2008 11:17:37 -0400, I said, "Pick a card, any card" and "Ed Cregger" instead replied: