Nose gear put down, how?

[Midnight_LS1]

I'm always flying jets and heavies in FS9.

However the problem isn't my landing which is the approach to touchdown with the mains.

It's putting the nose gear down on the runway. I don't know how should it be done because everytime I attempt to do it in the way real life is done by gradually putting it down, my nose gear breaks 60% of the time!

As I know, the mains have to touch first, then the nose has to be on the ground before braking can be done.

If not, slamming or putting the brakes on will make the nose gear fall and smash the ground from the braking action.


Right now I've been doing this way:

Mains touch down, spoilers deployed, thrust reverse deployed, gradually up elevator until the airspeed bleeds off and no longer can keep the nose up, and let it set the nose on the runway by itself.

But this is the way I do it in a private pilot C172 for soft field landing (nose up as long as possible that is)

However this takes a long time to slow down in a large jet by aerodynamic braking (letting airspeed bleed off with the nose in the air)

What is the right way to do it?  Isn't there a speed the aircraft must be within or under in order to safety put the nose gear on the ground?

[Mr.Mugel]

Just come in, sat her on the runway with the mains, than I usually slowly release elevator, which should be pulled quite much while touchdown, to get the plane slow.
Most planes go softly on the gear that way.

But I don

[EGNX]

When im about to touch down in a heavy i flare the aircraft for i nice soft landing, then deploy spoilers and reverse thrust and just slowly push the nose down. Sometimes if i do a bad landing and the main gear hits the runway hard, the force of me hitting the runway can cause the nose to swing down very fast and break. Try to put the aircraft on the runway softly, then when the plane starts to slow gently lower the nose onto the runway.

Good Luck,

EGNX

[Flt.Lt.Andrew]

For me its a combination. When I'm about to hit the numbers I deploy airbrakes, to slow it down and quickly pull them up again. As the mains hit, reverse thrust goes on, nose-wheel hits, brakes on, airbrakes, flaps, push down on the stick.
You'll be alright, Midnight.


A.

[RollerBall]

Midnight, if this is happening with POSKY heavies don't worry. They are nearly always MUCH too sensitive and need to be adjusted in their cfg files. Their designers think nose gears are made of glass. They need to see how some heavies land in real life sometimes

[Ecko]

Doesnt real heavies touch down on the right, or the left main gear first, then they put down the opposite, and then the nose.

[EGNX]

Doesnt real heavies touch down on the right, or the left main gear first, then they put down the opposite, and then the nose.

Nooooo no noo nooooooo. Unless you want to fracture the landing gear. All the weight of the aircraft landing on one landing gear strut is'nt exactly going to much good to the plane. Thats why planes have lots of landing gear, so that the weight of the aircraft is distributed beetween them, so that none of them snap like matchsticks.

[Ecko]

Noooooooo no noooooo yourself!

They just exactly touch, no real pressure on the gear, just enough to make contact. Thats what I mean.

[Midnight_LS1]

Check out the Kai Tak 747 landing videos.  

In crosswind you can land on one side of the gear first followed by the other then the nose.

[Calb]

For those who apply reverse thrust and/or braking BEFORE the nosewheel is on the ground are inviting trouble. At normal landing speed in ANY aircraft, you do not have enough elevator power left to keep it from slamming to the ground. Go to an airport and watch. You will NEVER see reverse thrust applied before the nosewheel is down.

You can get away with it FS because the Impact Damage Threshold (vertical) speeds are set waaayyyyy high.

Cal (CYXX)

[EGNX]

Noooooooo no noooooo yourself!

[Ecko]

Seriously, did you get the point of the post? Just so you don't think I'm a total idiot, who thinks a 747 captains favorite thing to do, is to slam one single part of the gear down on the runway at 5000 feet pr min.

[beefhole]

For those who apply reverse thrust and/or braking BEFORE the nosewheel is on the ground are inviting trouble. At normal landing speed in ANY aircraft, you do not have enough elevator power left to keep it from slamming to the ground. Go to an airport and watch. You will NEVER see reverse thrust applied before the nosewheel is down.

Errm, from what I know, that is not true on most modern airliners.  I posed a question about engaging reverse thrust before the nose wheel was down a while back and our resident 737 expert said that it was fine.  

So it depends on the plane.

[MadDriver]

Heavies have reverse thrust going long before the nose wheel touches down all the time.  Here in Anchorage... we have lots and lots of heavies, and almost all do it the same way.  Mains touch, spoilers deploy, reverse thrust... then nose wheel goes down.

[vt6]

ok.......well here is how it goes ( real life pilot...lots of hours) depending on the aircraft thier is a landing "speed". this is usally the take off speed of the aircraft when useing the flaps at full. you want to come onto the run way at that speed. with a aoa of about 10% touch down on the right wheels and the quickly but carefully put down the left wheel. mark that the left wheels should only be about 1' of the ground as the right wheels are on the ground keeping the nose wheel up at 10%. as you roll the nose well come down by its self. if you have any more ?s about this or a ? about what i just told you please ask.  ;D

thanks braydan