Landing the heavies?

[thunder]

hi to, all im new at this, for the past 5 yrs ive had the micro soft flight sims , and some of its problems , one being --------- linning up the heavies on finals, its so frustrating as one battles to stay linned up to find my self skidding side ways and not being able to stay straight, no problem with the final parrmeters,I subscibe to computer pilot, ------------and they quote the following re directional control on landing , the landing run, taxing that your problems are over with a flight yoke and pedals , no more wondering all over the run way etc , i use a joy stick and currantly use F/S 2004 ------------ i will gladly spend $500 TO SORT THIS OUT ----BUT WILL IT? can some of you experts assist please

[ZK-Brock]

I can't see that it would, when I fly real aeroplanes I find a stick better than a wheel ("yoke"). As for pedals, I understand that heavies barely use the rudder compared to a lightie, so I can't imagine that it'd fix your troubles of lining up on finals. I don't have a flight yoke or pedals however, can't afford it, but I don't think these would fix your problems.

That said, I do like the idea of rudder pedals to make the sim more realistic, instead of twisting the computer joystick - so you could buy some pedals to enhance your flying, but I doubt it'd help your problem of lining up correctly.

[Alex]

It all depends on what you are used to. If you are used to a joystick, a yoke may not help, the same with rudder pedals and the joystick twist. What aircraft are you trying to land (and where?), perhaps try a nice simple aircraft to start with and move on to more complicated, larger aircraft as your skill improves?

Alex

[ranm]

Well, I have the yoke and pedals, and still have to do a 'go around' sometime.... - I tend to fly small prop and turbo prop planes most of the time so when I try a heavy, I am all over the place.

One of the issues, besides that fact that Flight Sim is more sensitive than real planes, and the lack of physical sensation, is that the point of view from the cockpit is not consistent between aircraft. This leads to the picture of the runway, frames by the cockpit (or shell I say flight deck) windows to be different for each model of aircraft you are flying. Also, the location of the windows makes it hard to put the runway in the middle of the screen. It looks right 5 on a 5 miles final, just to find you are to the right 1 mile before the threshold. Add cross wind, and it is very easy to over-correct in a heavy as the controls are sluggish, especially at approach speed and so you either go around or land on the taxiway.

I believe that the key is practice, practice and then some more practice. do some ILS approaches and see what how the runway is looking as you descend down the glide slope, then try it manually.

The key to a good landing is a good approach. To help line up with the runway you can enable the Axis Indicator (Views | View Options). This is the definite middle of the screen, and where the runway centerline should be when you take off and land. Real pilots sometime stick a little dot on the windscreen to tell them where the runway should be on approach and this is the Flightsim version. Another option, which I can't find it at the moment, is a gauge you could download that provides you with a view indicator that looks like a speck of dust on the windscreen, great for impressing your friends as you line up and land that 737 in the middle of the runway like a 10,000 hour captain

just my 2 cents

Ran

[towerguy]

dial up and set the ils for the runway you are using

fly the approach visually but keep an eye on the localiser to keep you on track

watch where the runway is located against the window frame and against some of the instruments on the panel
keep retrying this until the view becomes second nature

same with the glide slope

eventually you will find you look less and less at the instruments and the correct visual clues out the window will lead you to the threshold each time.

if it is an airport you fly into regularly then also pick markers on the final approach track that stand out well and fly over them each time.

hope it helps
cheers

[Ian Warren]

QUOTE (thunder @ Jan 13 2008, 08:56 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

hi to, all im new at this, for the past 5 yrs ive had the micro soft flight sims , and some of its problems , one being --------- linning up the heavies on finals, its so frustrating as one battles to stay linned up to find my self skidding side ways and not being able to stay straight, no problem with the final parrmeters,I subscibe to computer pilot, ------------and they quote the following re directional control on landing , the landing run, taxing that your problems are over with a flight yoke and pedals , no more wondering all over the run way etc , i use a joy stick and currantly use F/S 2004 ------------ i will gladly spend $500 TO SORT THIS OUT ----BUT WILL IT? can some of you experts assist please

Doing exactly what they practice in a airshow , do the circut , run along the runway cycle that half dozen times getting lower in each pass , aim for a point/ground refer before turning in , can't go wrong

[SUBS17]

You should use the VASI as a guide for the correct approach glide slope also try the tutorials on landing the heavies if the wind is blowing you off course just dip the wing(into the wind) and crab it back in. I only use rudder for finals in cross winds but if you do the crosswind tutorial they teach you 2 ways of countering the crosswind. One way is to crab it in the otherway is to use the rudder and fly into the wind turing to the runway during the flare. If you're overshooting then try aiming for the area just in front of the runway and also try using the F-10 view which is consistent regardless of aircraft type. Another method is the auto-land which you can use in the heavies and this will give you the correct glide slope for you to copy when you do it yourself. A decent Hotas is good for FS I use the X45 which is quite cheap.

[ardypilot]

Like many have said above, it sounds like you are making visual rather than instrument approaches in your heavy aircraft.

If this is correct, read the 'ILS Approach Guides' thread, and then if you are ready for it, the 'DME ARC Approach Tutorial'.

It definitely won't cost you $500 to fix! Maybe adjusting your joystick sensitivity settings may make things easier for you too- all the best!

[Q300]

I dont think I can give you any advice, the heaviest aircraft I land is my B1900D
Lol JK I fly the 737 PIC more so I prity much do what has been said above, fly in with ILS (only using APP mode on the AP in bad weather) stay in on the glidescope. Also it may just be me but I find it a heap easyer to fly/land from the VC it gives a much more clear peception of the rwy distance. And one last thing i always do which can look stupid to people watching or walking past but I run my hand down the center of the screen and I find that will give a good indication of the center of the rwy, the best way of using a panel indcation of the rwy position is to have the runway lined up with the center of the altitude position indicator

Sam

[ranm]

and you can listen to this: AVweb's Monday Podcast: Determining a Visual Glidepath with Pilot's Audio Update

Ran

[thunder]

QUOTE (ranm @ Jan 15 2008, 07:41 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

and you can listen to this: AVweb's Monday Podcast: Determining a Visual Glidepath with Pilot's Audio Update

Ran

Hi Ran many thanx 4 your coments ------------ as a new comer to Flight sim forums im over welled with the response to my problem with a manual approach to landing the heavies < intersting that most of the responses refere to ( I L S) approaches i have yet to come to grips with such? regards Noel Klein