I post this topic to ask for good tips for a good landing - without the help of automatic landing.
I am good at taking off with half automatic pilot, but landing remains a disaster! And after weeks of practicing I still don’t succeed!
I am looking for an answer for the following questions:
~ Landing completely manually?
~ What is the speed that you have to maintain until you hit the ground?
~ What about the “flaps”?
~ From how much distance is it recommended to “lower” and what height is best?
Other tips are certainly more than welcome! I want to thank you in advance for thinking and helping!
Just saying, if you want an easy aircraft to land then look at the 777s and 787s.
The A320 is good, but very sensitive and easy to float. Personally I think the B787 is the easiest and smoothest to learn on. It has good weight but enough power. Either way, practice makes perfect!
The A320 is absolutely great, and my home fleet in IF.
Landing speed (before Flare (search the community for information on Flare)) is between 135-142kt depending on weight and wind conditions (speed and direction).
My favourite Trim setting: 15-20%
For your first landings: Try to land with no crosswind and a wind speed below 7 knots as landings get harder the stronger the wind is blowing.
I usually lower the gear when reducing to the final approach speed (see above), usually between 8-4miles. Lowering the gear will mean you need more engine power to maintain your speed.
Another important thing: Give yourself more miles on final (at least 8-10) to be more relaxed and only use small movements to correct your heading and altitude. Furthermore preparation is the key to a great landing. You will need an altitude of 3000-3500 feet at the beginning of the approach cone (on the map) if the airfield is ~ 0feet high to be established on the glide slope of 3° for a smooth landing and approach.
~ What is the speed that you have to maintain until you hit the ground?
Try 150, then if you’re comfortable with it, 145, then if you feel really really good… 135 just before minimums.
~ What about the “flaps”?
You don’t have to go full flaps, try experimenting: going with slowest speed as you can and see how much flaps you need to keep your ride from “sinking”. Downloading IF-A helps as the GPWS will tell you if you are sinking. Keep in mind when I say lowest speed I don’t mean your stall speed! :)
~ From how much distance is it recommended to “lower” and what height is best?
Now this should be your first question! All of the above? Means nothing when you don’t do this right. Calculate descend from miles away to arrive at exactly 3000 feet AGL (Not MSL) at medium to low speed. That’s Ground altitude so if your airport is 6000 feet up in the clouds, you should arrive at its cone at 6000+3000 = 9000 feet. This “3000 feet” thing is when the little glide slope triangle on your right side of HUD hit the center - meaning you’re gliding down onto the runway at the correct angle. Shut down your ALT autopilot and keep this glide slope centered all the way down to earth.
Well, that’s how I do it anyway, ofcourse there’s actually a lot more to it like crosswinds, etc, but if you just wanna nailed it hope that helps, cheers! :)
I always do my approach manual
I always follow the glide slope that appears next to the altitude and the speed.
I also follow the heading that is in the middle at the bottom.
Hope this is useful
Also, check out this Topic. I have it bookmarked so I can quickly reference the quick reference cards (lol). It has most of the info you need to land a selection of planes.
For the first part of your question, use the voice altitude callouts to time your flares. Cut power at 20 feet and arrest the descent. It’s helpful to look down at the end of the runway.
Always land manually, unless the weather requires autoland. It is very good practice, and is a lot more fun!
The speed that you have to maintain varies greatly depending on the aircraft. For a general rule of thumb, the VAPP speed should make it so the FPV is approximately 3-6 degrees below the actual pitch indicator bar when in a landing config.
Flaps should be set to full, or their highest degree setting, with some notable exceptions. The biggest example of this is the 737 series, where flaps 30 is more commonly used on landing than flaps 40. Flaps 40 is used for short runways primarily, like when landing at KMDW. For aircraft where the highest flaps setting is most commonly used, there is usually some situations where the second highest is also used. For instances, the A320, 757, and 767 series will use flaps 3 and flaps 25 respectively when landing with a high crosswind, or the aircraft is very light.
I don’t really understand this question. If you could reply and rephrase it for me I’ll try my best to answer it.
My single biggest tip for anyone who wants to have better landings is lower your control sensitivity! This will allow you to have much more precise controls, and allow for minor adjustments on approach rather than overreacting. In my opinion, it also better simulates the feel of the aircrafts “weight”. Real aircraft don’t suddenly turn on a dime.
