How do I stop my plane tipping over?

[Wynn Robins]

How do I stop my Legacy  tipping over onto the nose when it stops ?  the plane is  built per plans  but with electric power plant – it is not nose heavy and balances right on the money – but every time I land it on grass it tips over onto the nose – not good for competitions as I would get zero landing points……any ideas on how to stop it tipping…… should  I bend the gear forward?

[Dan McEntee]

  It's the magnets in the motor trying to go to earth ground! only way to fix it is to go back to an internal combustion engine!!!!
 Seriously folks, yeah, tweak your gear forward a little, or make a set of grass gear that is a bit taller also. When you land, try to three point the landing on grass, use up as much speed and momentum as you can while still in the air. If you're wheels are stiff at all, that will help cause a nose over.
   Good luck and have fun,
   Dan McEntee

[Howard Rush]

I have grass gear the same length as my pavement gear, but with the wheels farther forward. 

[Steve Helmick]

Wider "slicks" work better on grass, if you don't mind the drag and weight. I like to grease the plane onto the grass, to stay on top of the grass, while bleeding off the last bit of speed. A sorta vertical 'plop' is a sure "tip up", because the wheels bury themselves into the grass, even tho forward speed is less. Opinions vary, but try it...

I put bigger wheels on "old blue" to help on grass, which it does, but it makes pavement landings more difficult to nail. The increased amount of sponge makes it very easy to bounce on asphalt. Last season's smooth landings have not been happening yet this year.  Steve

[Brian Massey]

Our field is grass only. Planes with 1.75 or 2" wheels have the "tip-over" problem.  I use the ultra lite 2.5" wheels and never tip over unless the grass is really really long. Usually at that point I can't take off due to lack of prop clearance anyway. I can't comment on any "bounce" effect on pavement due to lack of experience, but changing wheels is no biggie.

Brian

[jimmy Hnat]

Try to land in a 5 foot high snow drift,this will slow the plane down so it wont flip over.Another thing ive tryed is when your about 3 feet off the ground give it full down and the plane will usualy land right at that spot !!! If that dont work add a little tail weight,also make sure your prop shut off location is horizontal so its tip doesent hit the ground.....Jimmy in Ohio

[Terry Bolin]

I have flown Legacys for three years now and dont have that porblem so here is what I would try. First off make sure youhave big enough wheels (2-2&1/4) if you still have a problem after that....look to see if the wheel axle is 1/2" in front of the leading edge. Post a picture of your legacy please.
Good luck ,Terry

[FLOYD CARTER]

For the smoothest landings (on pavement) I adjust the L.G position where the plane will actually stand on its nose (just barely). When landing, your plane does not normally ever get nose-down so it won't tip over.  Yet this placement allows no-bounce landings. Too far forward and you get a bounce.  Too far aft, and it tips.  My setting is "just right".  FLOYD

[Wynn Robins]

I have flown Legacys for three years now and dont have that porblem so here is what I would try. First off make sure youhave big enough wheels (2-2&1/4) if you still have a problem after that....look to see if the wheel axle is 1/2" in front of the leading edge. Post a picture of your legacy please.
Good luck ,Terry

I re-bent a set of legs to get some additional clearance and also bent them forward to the LE - now it does not tip over... so that has sorted that out...

here is a picture for you Terry

[Dennis Vander Kuur]

Wynn,
That is one fine looking Legacy you have. Glad to hear that you found the cure for the nosing over problem. I had the same problem with my first Legacy and have seen others dealing with this same issue. I think I found the cause of this problem when I compared my kit-supplied landing gear legs against the plans. You can see in the attached photo that the kit-supplied landing gear was bent to match the plan's rear view instead of the side view. This error results in a landing gear leg that is over 1/4 inch too short and also doesn't locate the tire far enough forward. You could just bend the kit-supplied gear forward but then you would probably have a prop clearance problem. However, you found the cure (which is to make new gear that is both longer and locates the tire further forward).
I bet you're going to have a lot of fun with your Legacy. They are a great flying airplane.
DennisV