Landing Problems

I am getting to grip with my heli now and can hover out a pack most of the time. I can manage to keep the heli stable in a hover, the problems come when I try to lose height and espically land. What is the secret here ?
I either end up killing the throttle too much hitting the deck hard, or lose control in the last 6 inches in GE before touch down resulting in catching a skid and landing on one side or on the nose, poping the rotors off.

I have removed my training gear in the past week or so to get better flight times, I can land with the training gear no problem as the base area is much larger.

To top it off just bust the tail rotor as well [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

Suggestions ?

[R44]

I don't have tips,
I usually just hover over the spot where I want to land,
cut the throttle a bit, the heli drops (pretty) fast and the ground effect "cusion" lands the heli. It sounds hard for a beginner but it's just a feeling you'll get after several flights. Always take the time, you musn't have the feeling that you have to land ..
: So : Hover at an altitude just above the ground effect, let's say 45 CM and cut the throtlle for about 1-2 "ticks"..

Tell me if it worked soon!

Kind Regards,
Dave [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

Oh yes, almost forgot, I have a Pro, that's a little bit different but it should work on the stock fun or eco...

Well this is how I did it (I think) when I was learning - get the heli into a hover, and reduce the throttle very slightly so the heli starts descending a few inches every second. Then descend a bit faster until you reach about 5 inches from the floor. Because the heli is still descending, add some throttle to slow its descent. Finally when it's about 2-3 inches off the floor cut the throttle. If you're still using the stock undercarriage (which I never liked - far too small!) unless your pretty skilled, cutting the throttle a couple of inches up is probably the best solution for you.

Just remember, if you're coming down too quickly, add a gentle burst (two words that shouldn't go together!) of throttle to slow the heli's descent and fingers cross land nicely!

Regarding your bust tail rotor, mine bust ages ago and to this day (well 2 days ago actually [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]) it's survived - to fix it, get a small strip of tissue paper big enough to cover the crack and separate the two even thinner sides of the tissue paper. Then holding it over the crack with a small screwdriver or a sharp pointy device soak the crack and the tissue paper in CA. Do the same on the other side of the crack. To re-balance the tail rotor, disconnect the main gear from the motor pinion so the rotor can spin freely. Then begin to add scientifically-inaccurate sized bits of tape to the opposite rotor blade until when flicked the tail rotor spins at a constant speed (no slowing down and accelerating as one blade reaches the top ...)

This fix only broke recently when I flew my heli into a garden chair ... not advisable! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Thanks Hogster - bit of tissue paper and I am back in the air. Time to order some spare tail rotors though I think. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Still struggling to make graceful landing - maybe I am expecting to much ?