Simviation Forum

Aug 4^th, 2003 at 12:30pm

philliez98 Offline
Lieutenant Colonel

Posts: 9

anyone know of a good strategy for landing a plane? i always have problems landing my planes. i would really apprecicate it if someone could give me a little walkthrough for landing a plane without crashing......thanks!!

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Reply #1 - Aug 4^th, 2003 at 12:45pm

Smoke2much Offline
Colonel
The Unrepentant Heretic
Sittingbourne, Kent,

Posts: 3879

Phil,

The most important thing is preparation. Get yourself lined up with the runway nice and early. Make sure your gear is down and you are flying nice and slow. Although a great deal depends on which 'plane you are flying the principles are the same. Practice flying the plane low and slow, just above stall speed and learn to control your vertical speed accurately. Try and touch down on the centre line ( I have never been able to do that with any huge success Sad

)

I would also reccomend that you learn to do it with all of the realism settings on hard, doing it on easy with crash detect off is just fooling yourself.

Make small, smooth corrections with the stick, they should be changes in pressure rather than actual movements.

Will

Who switched the lights off? I can't see a thing....... Hold on, my eyes were closed. Oops, my bad...............&&

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Reply #2 - Aug 4^th, 2003 at 12:52pm

fisharno Offline
Colonel
Your basic Forum Rat
Reno, Nv

Gender:
Posts: 626

Hi Phil, and welcome.

Firstly, what aircraft are you flying with? If you're having trouble landing, it's always a good idea to go back to the basics. Get out the ol' Cessna and practice. Maybe take the training tutorials in the sim, too. It's very easy to apply what techniques you learn in the Cessna to larger aircraft. Don't worry about using the ILS, or any of the Nav system, yet. Practice under Visual Rules so you can see what the aircraft does when you make control inputs.

Some key tips in landing the Cessna...

Trim the aircraft for straight and level flight at about 60% power.

After that, practice climbing and decending using only throttle inputs. This is the way to control your decent to the runway and a soft toughdown.

Give yourself plenty of room to line up on the runway. If you normally start your line-up and decent at 10 miles, make it 15, or 20. What ever you need to comfortably make your decent and line up on the center of the runway.

And: PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!

Hope this helps.
Grin

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Reply #3 - Aug 4^th, 2003 at 12:58pm

Scottler Offline
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Albany, New York USA

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Posts: 5989

Definitely go back and go through Rod Machado's lessons. They're an invaluable tool within F$.

My only other advice (that hasn't yet been posted) is to start your descent on time. There's a thread back a bit that talks about the 3:1 rule. It says something to the effect of "if you're at 10,000 feet, start your descent 30,000 feet (five miles) from the runway."

I honestly haven't gotten to fly (doing other VA stuff) in a while, so I don't remember the exact rule. Check back about 1-2 weeks and it should be there.

In other words, don't dive at the runway. It should be a nice, semi-shallow descent.

AND MAKE SURE YOU EXTEND YOUR GEAR! Sooo many perfect approaches, and even more pilots/passengers have been killed by an eagerness to get on the ground.

Great edit, Bob.&&&&&&Google it. &&&&www.google.com

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Reply #4 - Aug 4^th, 2003 at 1:05pm

philliez98 Offline
Lieutenant Colonel

Posts: 9

ok thanks for all the replies....the name is Alex. I mostly use the learjet and the boeing planes. i think my main problem is when im landing im going to fast and i always cut my engine but im always going to fast. also is there a way you can you like autopilot to land or something?

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Reply #5 - Aug 4^th, 2003 at 1:12pm

Smoke2much Offline
Colonel
The Unrepentant Heretic
Sittingbourne, Kent,

Posts: 3879

Use the airbrakes / key to slow down. Try and land as a real pilot would, prepare early. If the prep work is done the actual landing becomes easier. I don't know much about autoland systems as I personally cannot see the point but I suppose you could use the auto throttle to limit your speed.

Will

Who switched the lights off? I can't see a thing....... Hold on, my eyes were closed. Oops, my bad...............&&

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Reply #6 - Aug 4^th, 2003 at 1:15pm

Scottler Offline
Colonel
Albany, New York USA

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Posts: 5989

People always seem to want an autoland feature, but to me, landing is the most exciting part of the game!

Its not impossible to land. If you're going too fast, then I'm suspecting that you're descending too rapidly.

If you're in a heavy jet, you shouldn't be going faster than 200 kts, which is still a little high. Try descending a bit sooner and shallower. Use your flaps, they increase the efficiency of your wings at lower speeds. And don't cut your engines! If something happens, and you've gotta go around, you're dead!

Great edit, Bob.&&&&&&Google it. &&&&www.google.com

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Reply #7 - Aug 4^th, 2003 at 1:31pm

philliez98 Offline
Lieutenant Colonel

Posts: 9

ok i will start practicing with these tips.

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Reply #8 - Aug 4^th, 2003 at 1:33pm

Scottler Offline
Colonel
Albany, New York USA

Gender:
Posts: 5989

Okay, I couldn't find the thread in question.

This, however, is from www.flightinfo.com and their "Rule of Thumb" section. Very cool info!

1. Take your altitude and multiply it by 3. That equals your distance in miles to begin your descent.

2. Now take half your ground speed. This is your rate of descent in hundreds of feet.

Ex.If you are flying at 12000ft at a ground speed of 150kts and you need to descend to 2000ft, the difference is 10000ft. Multiply 10*3=30 miles out you must begin your descent. Half your ground speed is 75, add a zero, and 750 ft per minute is your rate of descent.

Great edit, Bob.&&&&&&Google it. &&&&www.google.com

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Reply #9 - Aug 4^th, 2003 at 1:36pm

philliez98 Offline
Lieutenant Colonel

Posts: 9

ok thanks i will check out the website

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Reply #10 - Aug 4^th, 2003 at 4:27pm

j_g_parker Offline
Colonel
I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

Posts: 15

I agree. Landing is the fun part. I have approach Hold in the AP of the cheyenne 400 twin I fly, but never touch it. Two tips:

1. From an impression I got from your post I want to clarify something: Use pitch to control speed (not throttle) and throttle (not pitch) to control altitude/descent. Usually a little of both is required (e.g. when you pitch up to slow down, you will climb slightly and temporarily).

2. Also read the Geoff Butler tutorial at the http://www.avsim.com. ; (Learning Center or something similar). And do touch and goes. When I downloaded a new plane and wasn't used to it, I forced myself to do 12 touch and goes to try to learn how to handle it.

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Reply #11 - Aug 4^th, 2003 at 4:35pm

Nexus Offline
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The greater of two evils...

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My first advice: Read the other SPLENDID answers above very thoroughly!

First of all, landings will always be the hardest thing to master in this sim, so don't worry if you fail in the beginning, that's only natural Grin

I only fly the Boeing 737, so I'm pretty aware of what is wrong and right when it comes to that aircraft. Lets start without using the ILS frequency (that's cheating 8) )
So this requires that you have a good visual of the airport and actual runway.
For a 737 approach, read on

If you want to do this correct, it is very important that you are aware of the flap speed limits of your aircraft (more on that later down). Be also sure to know where the wind is coming from, do you need to make crosswind or headwind corrections? etc....

Anyway
When you are out of 10.000 feet your speed should NOT exceed 250kts (above that would get you suspended by the authorities Wink

)

At about 10NM from the airport, your speed should be around 200 KIAS this will give you enough time to be ready for the final landing configuration before passing the Outer Marker.
Flaps set to 10-15 degrees

I assume you use the GPS to get a visual reference on the localizer (the green thingy you are supposed to capture Cheesy

)?
At the outer marker (4-7NM from airport) , you should be ready for a final approach , landing gear down and a target speed around 160 KIAS depending on load and weather. Flaps set at 40 degrees. Altitude around 2000 feet

So how do you know if your approach is too high, OR low for that matter?. Well, take a glance at the 4 unit display PAPI , which is a visual aiding instrument for VFR approaches. You can see the 4 lights just beside the runway you're approaching!
If it shows 2 white and 2 red lights, it means your altitude is perfectly set. If it shows 4 reds then you are too low. 4 whites means that you're a wee bit too high.

The touch down landing speed is tricky, but I use 120knots, full flap for my landings. But keep in mind that these speeds can differ ALOT, depending on the aircrafts config files.

And as promised;
Boeing 737 flap speed limits (in degrees)

1 degree= 250 KIAS
2= 250
5= 250
10=210
15=200
25=190
35=175
40=162

I hope this was helpful to you. Learn to fly VISUAL approaches before going to ILS. One thing at the time...you need to learn to walk before you can run, if you catch my drift

Good luck!

Edit: Found a crucial error, I meant VISUAL approaches of course...not VFR. I'd like to see how many who flies a B737 VFR Roll Eyes