Something else going on??

[sihinch]

That's what I did with my Nooner!

[Andy Hoffer]

Why do I get the profound feeling that I am surrounded by mental giants?!!   

[sihinch]

You could take that in multiple ways, Andy!

[Ededge2002]

Why do I get the profound feeling that I am surrounded by mental giants?!!   

Mental yes I will give you that one but giants?  That might be a stretch.  (get it stretch and giants...)

[pmackenzie]

You guys are all talking about downwind turns, but the turn to final is upwind 

In all the downwind turn discussion you usually see this is the point so often missed. It is the turn back to upwind that is the problem.
Turning downwind is rarely a problem for most pilots.

There is of course no upwind/downwind from the model's perspective, the problem is one of a ground based pilots perception of the airspeed.

Keep the ground speed up on the downwind pass, and start your turn earlier than you think you need to.

Pat MacKenzie

[flying IT]

i have been reading this thread with great interest.  It has brought back memories of full scale flying.  I will let Andy confirm this but this what i remember (also one of my scarier experiences as well).

What I have learned last year is that model aircraft follow the same physics and rules as full scale.
Pat is dead on, the advantage is the instruments and that "feeling" of the plane on your butt which you do not have on the ground

The most dangerous turns are turning into base and onto final.  abrupt control changes can cause the wing tip to stall causing your plane to spin without any room to recover

I remember turning final, 20 degree flaps, and the plane drop, i think that 172 was just hanging there.  Got on the ground ok, but the instructor was as white as a ghost.

Lessons learned, always keep ahead of the plane, nice turns when low and slow.