Vertical Landings By James Goss      What type of aerobatics do you like to see our R/C planes do in the air? What is your favorite maneuver? I guess everybody likes to see loops, rolls, and stall turns and there is probably more of these done than any other maneuver. When you stop and think about it most of the pattern maneuvers are built from these three, loops, rolls, and stalls. These are the first exciting stunts we learn when we commence flying R/C and when you mix these three stunts together we can come up with some pretty exciting flying. If you have a plane that will fly in a knife-edge position you can add even more complication to the maneuvers and the list goes on and on.     Most planes will perform at least some of the above maneuvers, but there are some stunts that are highly specialized and require a special purpose plane that has features to allow it to do these unearthly moves in the air. These include upright flat spins, inverted flat spins, tumbles of all kinds, pinwheels, knife-edge loops, hover, torque roll and other 3-D maneuvers. While all these stunts are great and the planes that perform them, as well as the pilots, are highly specialized, there are not many planes around that have the capability to do one of the most fascinating maneuvers in airplane history. Take a guess at what you think this maneuver would be. It involves the stall, and when done right it appears to be the most graceful maneuver in the book. If you make a mistake while attempting this stunt most planes will be destroyed. If you are successful in completing this stunt you will feel that it is the most rewarding experience. As you have probably guessed by the title of this article I am talking about the vertical landing.      This is a maneuver that you don't see very often and for a good reason. Most R/C planes cost a great deal of money and we don't want to risk loosing them in a stunt such as this even if it is a wonderful maneuver to see, and this includes giant scale as well as small scale. A lot of pilots, giant scale and fun fly, will hover their planes and descend down and touch their tails on the ground and then pull back up. This requires a lot of skill and practice and is a good 3-D maneuver, but you don't see them setting their plane down for a landing this way. The reason in part is because getting the plane to set down without having its rate of fall to be excessive is a hard trick to master. Even though the plane is already touching the ground with its tail, the final fall (I call it “Timber”) is enough to destroy your plane. I have seen giant scale planes fall from less than three feet high while in a hover and they would be completely destroyed. Even a plane that only weighs three pounds can have considerable damage. So we are not going to see this maneuver very often with regular planes.      We now have a plane for the R/C hobby that defies all the above reasons why we shouldn't try the vertical landing. As most of you have already seen this plane you will know what I am talking about. I call my version the “Postage Stamp” and I am really glad I have created it. I started flying flat planes about a year ago and have been at it ever since. I just can't seem to get away from these little magical planes. Of course I was already due for a change of pace after building several giant scale planes. To look at these little flat planes you wouldn't even think they would fly, much less be aerobatic. They are a little more difficult to fly, but anyone can learn to fly them with a little practice. I remember when I first started flying these planes I had some pretty scary events to unfold. Once I landed one of these planes on the highway next to the Eastaboga field and I was lucky there was no traffic on the road at the time I landed. It was a beautiful landing though even if I did miss the field. I can also remember seeing Pat Thomas running for cover while talking on his cell phone at the Munford field. I can also remember chasing one of these planes across the field during a run away and tumbling across the field myself, boy did I hurt the next day. I will be the first to agree that this plane is an unorthodox plane and everybody has a right to laugh at it and I would be the first in line to laugh. I didn't get discouraged with any of the mishaps and now I can fly them about as well as any of my other planes. Actually I think these little planes will improve anyone's flying ability and will help an R/C pilot no matter what style of flying he is involved with. I know I have a lot more confidence in my ability to fly R/C planes now than I did before I started experimenting with flat planes.      Once I learned how to fly with the throttle everything seemed to come together and I was doing maneuvers that I had only dreamed of in the past. Throttle control is the key to having a successful flight with the Postage Stamp or any flat plane. You will find yourself constantly adjusting the throttle, even in a simple turn around, especially a tight turn. The best vertical landings are created by bringing in the plane at about 40 feet above the runway and at a moderate speed. Stall the plane by turning up its nose and enter a hover. Let the plane settle and stabilize somewhat and then begin the descending pattern. To achieve this you reduce the throttle and see how fast the plane drops. You control the drop by throttle and elevator. If the plane is dropping too fast give it more engine power or less elevator. Of course if you reduce the elevator the plane might move forward unless you reduce throttle also. The vertical landing looks better if the plane doesn't move forward after you start the descent. It doesn't take long to work the stamp to within a foot of the ground. Give it a little power and let the tail softly touch the ground. As it begins to timber (fall to the ground) bring up the power and she will sit down just as pretty as you please. Give it full throttle and she will be back in the air in less that five feet.      The tail end on the stamp turns out to be the business end and that requires a strong tailskid to handle the shock of hitting on the tail constantly time after time. A tail wheel is not needed, just the skid built from 3/32 music wire. With the skid you can walk the plane around on its tail all day long and it will still be good as new. The main gear needs to be at least 1/8-inch music wire and be long enough so the prop will not hit the ground if on occasion you set down a little harder than normal. Of course you will still have a lot of engine restarts because you are flying around at one or two feet above the ground, so naturally the prop is going to hit the ground from time to time. Usually with the stamp the only thing damaged is a broke prop every now and then. So again let me say that I had rather see a plane perform a vertical landing than any other maneuver I know of. Its grace and agility even makes this $10 airplane something to behold.