Landing

[Icelandair Pilot]

i never use autopilot for landing/lineup, i line up myself with experience, never have used the localizer ever..

[Bazza]

Depending exactly on what your problem is, I always recommend this tip for getting newbies back onto the ground, somewhere near the hard stuff...

Go to the toolbar, select Views/View Option/ and Axis Indicator.

This will put a reference point on the windscreen which I found a great help when starting out.   If you think it spoils the realism, think of it as having the only 172 with HUD.

Good luck..

[Staiduk]

Another tip to back up Bazza:

When you're first getting used to touchdowns; the hard part (or one of many) is figuring out where (as in 'how far down') on the runway you're going to make contact.

A tip: Once you've learned to set and trim the aircraft properly for landing; start looking for the point on the ground that isn't moving. Bazza's Axis Indicator is a great help with this initially. That's the point on the ground you're heading straight for; IOW it's the point you're going to hit the ground at if you don't flare.
The object with a good landing is to put the point that's not moving right on the threshold of the tunway. That way; once you chop and flare, you'll (ideally) touch down right on the numbers.

Hope this wasn't too confusing.

Cheers!

[Nav]

All good advice - a few points to add.

The Axis Indicator is a great help when you're starting out. But don't trust it absolutely. It appears in different places on the screen, depending on which aeroplane you're flying - and it also moves up and down if youy use 'Shift-Enter' to lower the panel. So treat it as a guide only.

Further to that, don't look 'at' it - train yourself to look 'through' it at the whole runway. After a while you'll find that you are able to keep the whole runway steady in the centre of the screen - and at that point you'll be pretty well ready to turn the Indicator off.

And if, for example, you find that you're coming in too high, don't just point the nose down and dive at the runway, that will cause the speed to 'run away' - reduce power to increase the sink-rate until the Indicator (or runway) is in the right place again.

Finally, if you find that you are STILL a bit high as you reach the threshold, forget 'landing on the numbers' for that trip - just keep her sinking gently on an even keel, flare at the right time, and let her settle in her own time.

Come to think of it, 'LOOK AT THE WHOLE RUNWAY' is probably the golden rule for landing. All of us - whether in real life or on FS9 - probably start off by staring fixedly at just the threshold. Which is why it is so difficult to get in line and stay in line at first.