Landing Tips

[Lawndart]

Some important tips for the actual landing:

* Aim for (put the FPM on) the numbers and not the threshold of the runway. The FPM or velocity vector should be around 2-3 degrees below the level line (0-degree pitch line) and the airspeed roughly 150 knots. In a clean jet shoot for around 145 knots and if you're landing a heavyweight, shoot for about 160 knots. This gives you a 700-800 fpm decent rate on the VSI which is what you'll need to maintain a 3-degree glide slope.

* By the time you reach the threshold, you want to be on a 3-degree glide path (same as an ILS) at final approach airspeed. Regardless, if you're on the correct airspeed you should be flying 11-13 degrees of AoA. This will line up the FPM up at 2-3 degrees below the 0-degree pitch line in the HUD and the boresight cross just above the 5-degree pitch line (maybe a little less, since we're lightly loaded in the Thunderbird config).

* Start powering back and bringing the nose up as you cross the threshold. Set the boresight cross just above the 10-degree pitch line in the HUD and hold this attitude as you pull power back to idle. The FPM will also move upward and the point is to keep it just below the 0-degree pitch line and pointing at the end of the runway. The purpose of flaring is to decrease your sink rate enough to let the jet touchdown gently on the runway. If you pull the nose up too high, you'll find yourself "ballooning" back up in the air or slamming the tail of the aircraft onto the runway.

* Touchdown will happen beyond the aiming point (where you had your FPM aimed at). This will be around the third centerline stripe if the airspeed and aiming point was maintained until the flare. Approx 1,000ft past the aiming point.

* Once the mains are on the ground, fly the nosewheel down and let it settle to the runway. Use rudder to stay lined up and apply wheelbrakes once you're below 100 knots (80 knots preferably) as required, but not unless necessary. This gives the guy behind you some room landing. The staggered separation is a safety measure, still plan your landings as if it was single file.

* Be careful not to overflare and pull the nose too high. More than 14-degrees of pitch will cause the speedbrakes to scratch the surface and you'll rightfully earn your new callsign: "Sparky"!

Hope this helps!
Lawndart

[Funky]

Thanks a lot LD. The tips will definitely help. I don't know how you feel about it, but I've found it lot easier to make a jet liner's (in my case, a 737) landing look good than a fighter's. I've Flown PMDG's 737 on FS9 and I've flown a 737NG in a Level-D simulator, and those are what I'm basing my opinion on. I would say even making a Cessna's landing look good in real is easier than fighters in the sims , but I don't want to go there... I get to use all my senses in real.. so that doesn't make it a good comparison.

Again, thank you for the great tips LD

Funky

[EDIT] Well, after thinking about it for a few minutes I realized that you guys (BTV) don’t ever actually touch the ground with your Viper wheels so I guess that's another way of approaching it

[SilverOne]

lol i remenber on FS2004 i liked to play arround with the lago f-16 version ... onetime on a landing when i touch down a pretty nose up like 10 degrees up , then my gf said : wait i saw "sparkles" commin out of the engine ... i was like WTF?!; then i replayed and i definitlive scraped the back of the engine a lil bit, i was actualy suprised becouse it didnt crash...