Simviation Forums

Okay, I looked this up:

Glide slope:

Two white, two red - proper glide slope
Three white, one red - slightly above glide slope
Four white - well above the glide slope
One white, three red - slightly below the glide slope
Four red - well below glide slope

From the first shot, this would be a proper glide slope. However, I stayed up a little higher due to the trees. I used up about 1/3 of the runway before touch down.

From the second shot, this is well below glide slope. However, I didn't land short of the runway.

It's been a long time since I sat behind the yoke of an aircraft. I always thought all red meant you were on proper glide slope.

What say you, good pilots?

4 red your dead. NAh 2 red and 2 white is correct glide slope.

4 red your dead. NAh 2 red and 2 white is correct glide slope.

I like that first part. Makes sense.

Always remember and never forget... airspeed..

Fly a perfect glidescope too fast and you'll float the runway away.. too slow and you compress your spine when you round out and flare..

Of course that's not modeled well in any desktop sim.. but you can tweak an aircraft.cfg to get close.

This happens to me. I always stay on the correct glide slope (or so it indicates) and then when I get close to the runway, they all become red, though my landing is still a good one. Is this normal?

hey all,
red over red your dead, white over white your as high as a kite. thats what i learnt anywayz. i think the reason ur seeing 4 reds but ur landing was okay is because ur in spot view and from whatever angle you look at the lights is what glidescope it would be from that angle, if that makes sense.

Yes Mab, that is (reason why they are all red on landing) correct.

your VASI or PAPI visual glide slope indicating lights will go all red right about the time you are crossing the numbers or passing the lights - this is normal.

a VASI (visual approach slope indicator) will be arranged one set of lights "above" the other and holds true to the saying "Red over white, your just right, white over white you'll fly all night"

A PAPI (Precision approach path indicator) will be arranged 4 lights side by side. Your lights turn red from the runway side outward. you want 2 red and 2 whites.

example ... O=white light X = red light

OOOO = Above glide path, fly down
OOOX = slightly high, fly down
OOXX = On path
OXXX = Slightly low, fly up
XXXX = Below Glide Path, Climb out of the trees!

both light systems hold true to "Red over red you're dead" or "All reds you're dead"

you should also realize that most of the VASI and PAPI systems in FSX are built for general aviation aircraft... following such indications in a 747 could have you landing short of the runway by several feet as the large airliners  where you are 50 feet up in the air during the flair usually require a different approach indicating light system

A PAPI (Precision approach path indicator) will be arranged 4 lights side by side. Your lights turn red from the runway side outward. you want 2 red and 2 whites.

example ... O=white light X = red light

OOOO = Above glide path, fly down
OOOX = slightly high, fly down
OOXX = On path
OXXX = Slightly high, fly up
XXXX = Below Glide Path, Climb out of the trees!

Your example of x's and o's is perfect. Will be making a copy of that for display on my monitor. Of course, I could memorize it as well :-)

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread.

Always remember and never forget... airspeed..

I agree about the airspeed. Landing speed for a Howard 500 is 110-120kts. I don't have a throttle box yet, so I leave on the GPS monitor with F10 display to watch my landing speed.

Are you an Australian, do you wannabe but live in another country, or are you an Australian trying to make some money??

The visual glideslope is associated often with the ILS, so it is designed to bring the aircraft several hundreds of feet into the runway for landing - in some places this is a thousand feet down the runway.  So most small GA aircraft can in fact land and stop before the second piano key.  It is the big iron where the undercarriage is way behind the pilot that is being looked after.  It's not much use the 747 pilot being well over the runway if his wheels still hit the ground before the bitumen.  

Are you an Australian, do you wannabe but live in another country, or are you an Australian trying to make some money??

No. Lived in Adelaide, SA (1995), Live in Texas, USA. No.

Red on red; you're surely dead. White on white; you'll fly all night. Red on white; you're just right.

It's fun to try landing right on the numbers.  Land as slow as possible in a slow aircraft and see whether you can stay within the arrow area before the marked start of the runway.  But other times, specially in heavier planes, nail the speed, fly the lights and land comfortably well into the runway, and engage reverse thrust etc by the book -and enjoy the professional side of the sim.

Aussiewannabe what were you doing in Adelaide in 1995?  I was state superintendent of education at the time.

[quote]Aussiewannabe what were you doing in Adelaide in 1995?