Simviation Forums

Hi guys!! im adrian n can u help me out here? im a big fan of FS games n i might just be a real pilot one day so can u guys teach me how to land an airplane ?? i've tried a few times but it came out unsuccesful.this is really annoying coz thats the only part left for me to master b4 i can really enjoy my flying experience.Hope u guys can help me out! Thanx again!!

Hey remyadrian,

I can only tell you from my glider experience.

Assuming you want to know about landing speed: you approach the runway threshold with a speed just above stall speed (which differs per aircraft and its weight, for a glider 15 kms extra depending on windspeed and -direction), then nearing the point of touchdown, you level off (or what is it called in English).

By doing so, you increase the angle of attack of your wing, causing it to maximize its lift. BUT, this also causes your drag to increase, which is good for bleeding your speed off. The moment your plane is lowering it's airspeed further, you keep pulling the stick or yoke toward you, gently but decisive, until at a certain speed your plane won't fly anymore. Preferrably, you don't gain altitude during this procedure. Now, you should be just at the desired point of touchdown, (and for a glider) just 5 cms. (2") above the ground, almost ready to touchdown.

This way, your plane will touchdown gently, and because you don't have enough speed, your plane won't be able to start flying anymore.
To prevent it from bouncing back in the air (basically, making you fly again without enough lift, thus you might crash back to the ground) you could open the spoilers, airbrakes, wheelbrakes, whatever to slow you down.

Mind you, there is much more to a landing, especially in a glider, like ground effect (denser air lower to the ground, enhancing lift just before touchdown) or crosswinds, but generally speaking you DON'T run the plane on the ground, you level off just above the ground, so it settles itself down.

I leave approach for someone else. Good luck.

hi, i have fs2004, i hope u too. if u have this, i will teach u on 'www.zone.com' if u want.
if u want that i teach u there plz write an e-mail to:
UnknownIbex@web.de
cuz im not often online. i hope u send me an mail. cya UnknownIbex

Hi remiadrian,

          The explanation just above is right, I just wanna precise something: ''the secret is to flight the slowest as you can''. The stall speed is when your angle of attack (angle of the wing throught your relative direction) is too hight ( generally between 15 and 18 degree). The air does'nt stick anymore on the wing and you lost all your lift. So you go down. If I take the most common acft use to practice landing, Cessna 182S, on the air speed you will see to circles: one withe and one green. The green is your speed without flaps open. You will notice that the end of this circle (around 55 kts) is called the stall speed. The begining of white circle is the moment when you can go down the flaps. The end is the stall speed with the flaps open (around 40 kts).
So when you want to reduce your speed without reducing your descent angle, go out flaps. I think that a good lannding (with Cessna) does'nt required flaps. But I understand at the beginning it is a little bit difficult.

I hope, with those explanations, you will understand more how to land but keep in mind that the secret is to flight at the slowest speed as you can without stall.

If you have any other questions, send me an e-mail.

                                                                             Ciao

how to land...

Try it in a prop-driven plane first, i perefer the Yak-18T and the DHC-6 for crazy stunts on approacht

Yak-18T
Drop gear and flaps(up or down, nothing in between), prop max (ctrl-f4), engine at the 5 position on the manifold pressure.
when above the runway, power to idle, and  touchdown

DHC-6 (Project globe twotter ONLY)
Depending on the approach
Have the autopilot trim for level flight. disengage autopilot, extend flaps in stages, but get them max out with plenty of distance to go to the runway.
Throttle on half of the FORWARD range while descending
when flaps deployed and runway clear, throttle to idle (or inflight reverse if its a short runway).
When the rear wheels toch max reverse (if you didn't apply that on approach already)
Max reverse+inflight reverse gives it a '2 lines on the runway' landing distance

the key to a good landing is a good approach

the faster the plane the longer the final leg (when you can see the runway ahead of you) should be.

but in general, the farther the better.

that's because when you come in from far away you have more space and more time to adjust your position so you are aligned with the centerline of the runway.

you should be able to align your plane to the runway just by looking at the runways shape. if it looks simmetrical (equal on both sides), you're aligned.

then theres your glide slope, which is basically the descent path your plane describes when inbound on the runway.

this is important because if you come in too low, you'll thouch the ground before you get to the runway. and if you come in too high, you'll won't be able to stop the plane before the runway ends.

basically you want your wheels to touch the ground on the first quarter of the runway.

to do that, there is a neat feature that most airports have.
it a row of 4 lights on the side of the runway. they can turn white or red

all red means you're too low
alll white means you're too high
2 white and 2 red is your goal

the key to a good landing is to come in aligned with the centerline of the runway, and in the correct glide slope (2 lights red 2 lights white)

once you're over the runway and about to touch the ground, cut throttle to idle (zero) and pull back so the planes nose doesn't hit the runway before it's main wheels