Flight Techniques

Tips to become a better pilot


Model Airplane Flight Tips: Land Like a Pro

Model Airplane Flight Tips: Land Like a Pro

We’ve all heard the old adage, takeoffs are optional, but landings are mandatory. Bringing a plane back to the ground safely is a pilot’s top goal. Unfortunately, one of the hardest maneuvers for an RC airplane to perform is the landing, and it is the first one that we pilots must learn to perfect to […]
RC Aerobatics: Fly the Elevator

RC Aerobatics: Fly the Elevator

The first 3D maneuver many pilots learn is the “elevator.” During an elevator, the airplane remains fully stalled and drops almost vertically in a flat attitude. Start by pointing the airplane directly into the wind. Cut the throttle and increase upelevator to enter a stall. At the moment the plane stalls, hold in full up-elevator […]
RC Model Airplane Flight Tech: Tips for Rudder Turns

RC Model Airplane Flight Tech: Tips for Rudder Turns

A rudder turn is performed using the rudder to yaw the nose of the airplane in the direction that you want to turn, and while space does not permit going into all the details, most airplanes will also inherently bank in the direction that the rudder is applied.   There are basically two different techniques […]
RC Aerobatic Flight Techniques FLY THE VERTICAL S

RC Aerobatic Flight Techniques FLY THE VERTICAL S

The vertical S combines a half-inside loop with a half-outside loop to perform an S-shaped figure. This maneuver is one of many that are also performed by full-scale aircraft, and it is used to climb or descend at a consistent speed. The airplane should be balanced in a manner that when rolled to inverted and […]
RC Aerobatic Tips Keeping Loops Round

RC Aerobatic Tips Keeping Loops Round

Guard against making the common mistake of releasing too much elevator, aka “hunting,” during the float and thus creating a flat spot on top of the loop. This occurs for the same reason people over-control at every skill level: they want to see their inputs doing something. Instead, you should concentrate on smoothly reducing the […]
RC Model Aerobatics: Conquer the Three-turn Negative Spin

RC Model Aerobatics: Conquer the Three-turn Negative Spin

In the early days of aviation,  spins were often fatal because most pilots did not understand how to properly recover from a spin. While in an upright spin, the pilot would pull back on the elevator stick in an effort to save the airplane (and their life!) and only make the situation worse. Since the […]
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Prevent Ground Loops with a Gyro

Like many of you, I have a few different planes, and enjoy flying most of them. However, I do have one or two that are just plain nasty in their ground handling and take offs. You probably have seen these – some Piper Cubs, Beavers, and especially some of the narrow under carriage warbirds. Strangely, […]
Snappier aerobatics with upline & downline maneuvers

Snappier aerobatics with upline & downline maneuvers

There are many good reasons to learn to fly advanced aerobatics, but the most compelling is the personal satisfaction that always comes from overcoming each maneuver’s particular challenges. If you’re like most aerobatic pilots, your initial learning curve was steep through basic looping and rolling maneuvers, but it went flat relatively quickly with stick time […]
Fly the Hammerhead aka the Stall Turn

Fly the Hammerhead aka the Stall Turn

The stall turn (sometimes also referred to as the “hammer-head”) can be broken down into five steps. While this maneuver may seem fairly easy, it can be rather difficult to perform time and time again. Let’s begin! ILLUSTRATION BY FX MODELS & CHROME CITY STUDIOS The basic stall turn is performed by pulling the model to […]
RC Aerobatics: Negative Snap from an Inverted Climb

RC Aerobatics: Negative Snap from an Inverted Climb

For this maneuver, the pilot enters from inverted flight and pushes to establish a 45-degree climb then he performs 1½ negative snaps. After the snap, another line segment (equal to the first line) is then executed. Once the maneuver is complete, the pilot must pull 135 degrees to exit in inverted straight and level flight. […]
Landings with a Twist — Master the Inverted Approach with a 1/2 Roll

Landings with a Twist — Master the Inverted Approach with a 1/2 Roll

For the extreme aerobatic enthusiast, there is nothing like performing hotshot maneuvers inches off the ground. One unexpected way to take the crowd by surprise is to add aerobatic moves to your landing. During a normal landing approach, the airplane is in upright level flight and flies downwind parallel to the runway, turns 90 degrees to […]
Fly a Positive Snap Roll

Fly a Positive Snap Roll

At the start of their flying careers, some pilots can only perform certain maneuvers from a particular direction. The proficient pilot, though, must be able to execute figures in all directions. Being able to apply corrective inputs in all directions, no matter what orientation the aircraft is in, is a critical skill. The positive snap […]
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