Aces High Bulletin Board

Help and Support Forums => Help and Training => Topic started by: PAMARRIN on September 05, 2003, 11:17:07 AM

Title: Landing A Plane??????
Post by: PAMARRIN on September 05, 2003, 11:17:07 AM
Can anyone give me some tips on landing a darn plane?  Have been steadily progressing in flying skills, and gotten a few kills, but can never land.  any tips on procedures and steps would be greatly appreciated.  Semper Fi.:confused:
Title: Landing A Plane??????
Post by: Nwbie on September 05, 2003, 12:04:37 PM
Depends on what plane you are flying
But a general rule is slow down to under 200 before even attempting to lower gear, again dependin on plane drop flaps 1 or 2 notches, slow to about 125 to 160, gently touch down, if ya bounce, still too fast, keep it steady, let it roll a little ways slowing down, apply brakes (spacebar for me) watch your ball in center, if need to give left or right rudder to keep straight, slow to stop, hit tower button

Will get easier over time, I know I had a hard time in the beginning too, came from Air Warrior RR and didnt really need to play with rudder all that much-- The one I still have probs with is the F4Uc, still ground loop the dang thing 1 out of 3 times lol

NwBie
Title: Landing A Plane??????
Post by: Horn on September 05, 2003, 12:23:48 PM
Quote
Originally posted by Nwbie
The one I still have probs with is the F4Uc, still ground loop the dang thing 1 out of 3 times lol

NwBie


After setting up the landing as you described, drop full flaps and kill engine just prior to touch down. Roll out as usual. Will eliminate your ground loop.

h
Title: Landing A Plane??????
Post by: Soda on September 05, 2003, 01:18:01 PM
PMARRIN,
  Typically, difficulties with landings involve speed control.  people tend to come in WAY too fast, or too steep, and fight to control their speed.  Even if they manage to force the aircraft onto the runway it's still going very quickly and applying the brakes can lead to ground looping or loss of control.  Depending on the aircraft, you tend to want to land at much lower speeds ~100mph.  To do so means you should slow down well in advance, typically before you have even started your approach to the airfield.  I get 90% of the people I help with landing issues have this problem, either coming in steep and fast or very shallow and fast.

If you'd like, you can email me at: soda@hitechcreations.com and I might be able to meet you online in the TA and give you some help.  I've helped a lot of people with landings and typically once you've seen it done a couple of times you can do it yourself with little problem.
Title: Landing A Plane??????
Post by: SlapShot on September 05, 2003, 01:49:26 PM
I never drop gear until under 200 mph. I never use flaps ... I guess its just me, but soda probably hit the nail on the head. Your approach is probably much to steep. Take your time, get your plane slow and controllable and gently put it on the runway. Use rudder to adjust the tendacies to turn right after touchdown.

The key to the F4-U is to get the wing wheels on the ground and when your speed is at about 100 mph, the tailwheel will start to settle. Once under 100 mph, I pull back on the stick to set the tailwheel down firmly and then and only then do I apply brakes. Applying brakes before this point makes the F4U want to do the ground loop in combination with the engine torque. Turning the engine off on intial touchdown does help.
Title: Landing A Plane??????
Post by: Ack-Ack on September 05, 2003, 02:01:32 PM
Fly the P-38L, it's the easiest plane to take off and land in AH.  And it's also the coolest plane in the game.



Ack-Ack
Title: Landing A Plane??????
Post by: Virage on September 05, 2003, 03:46:19 PM
ask to join someone (.join ) online to watch thier landing technique.  It will put you in their cockpit and give you a good idea as to speed, approach angle and flare.
Title: Landing
Post by: J318 on September 05, 2003, 05:44:52 PM
What I do is drop down to about 500ft then fly around to get rid of the momentum then I drop the rpm and bring out my flaps (by the way this is for a perfectly healthy plane with all engines going) at that rate your tavelling very slowly but staying in the air with enough speed to climb a little if need be. Then line up the runway, kill the engine, touch down and slam on the brakes.

What ever u do make sure your in a hanger or on a runway when you exit because you could be smack in the middle of an airfield but on dirt it claims u ditched which sucks knights balls
Title: Landing A Plane??????
Post by: Blank on September 05, 2003, 05:55:09 PM
something to think about:

if you turn off the engine your brakes dont work as well,

if you need to stop real fast (on a field with many vulchin nme about) get speed below 130-140 and belly land and you stop nice and quick with none of that brakeing stuff to do. :)

although your plane is now knackered :D
Title: Landing A Plane??????
Post by: bockko on September 05, 2003, 11:18:20 PM
i remember my days of flying real planes [can you say how much is a kitplane?], when you get over runway, you should be slow already, in ah this means under 150. over runway, throttle chopped to zero, flaps as you prefer, more flaps makes for lower speed touchdown. keep your nose a bit up; the angle required to hold nose just above horizon changes as you burn your speed off so you will have to keep adding elevator to keep nose up. Eventually the plane will stall to the runway, but the stall is gentle, don't worry. If you bounce up, add a bit of throttle, this bounce is called 'porposing' and happens to everyone when they first learn to land; ease plane back down by backing throttle off. If all goes horrible, apply full throttle and go around! once on ground, hit brakes, use rudder and ailerons to stay straight. If you have rudder pedals you can use differential braking.  key is to come in slow,not too steep, but steep enough to avoid losing sight of runway way before crossing threshold. the rest is practice and preference. You can watch 10 different pilots land the same plane 10 different ways [well, expect maybe cv landings], so you will find your feel. I always prefered to add 5 knots to my approaches hehe, that low/slow stall sure was not in my playbook. Luckily in ah crosswinds are not a big deal.
Title: Landing A Plane??????
Post by: B17Skull12 on September 06, 2003, 12:21:39 AM
land a prop plane is easy just follow what has been posted so far. landing a jet different story. a hint i use is to put my gear down below 200 mphs and let the wind resistance drop my speed and then put flaps down. in a jet i put my flaps down set throttle to idle and let the plane slow down and descend. and i still haven't learned to land a rocket:mad:
Title: Landing A Plane??????
Post by: Xjazz on September 06, 2003, 08:50:54 AM
Adjust decent rate with throttle and flight speed with joystick.

Use joystick in very gentle manner.
Title: Landing A Plane??????
Post by: Innominate on September 06, 2003, 08:52:07 PM
Quote
Originally posted by Nwbie
The one I still have probs with is the F4Uc, still ground loop the dang thing 1 out of 3 times lol


Heres the trick with the F4U's.  Get your tail wheel on the ground as soon after your main wheels hit as possible.  Once the tailwheel is on the ground, there wont be any more ground spin.
Title: Landing A Plane??????
Post by: acepilot2 on September 07, 2003, 07:22:11 PM
When i was new, I always lost my gear and smacked down on the runway when I was landing...it turned out I was falling too fast.  You do not always want to completley cut the throttle 100%-I actually keep about 135 or so until I am about to touch down, when I cut the throttle.  If you feel like your are ever "falling" (and about to stall)  do not be afraid to actually power up.  Also, make sure your altitude loss is gradual.
Title: Landing A Plane??????
Post by: Devourer on September 07, 2003, 09:13:48 PM
When i started playing AH, i would focus on just two things, speed and rate of descent. I kept my speed at around 150 and tried to get the wheels to touch as smooth as possible.

I used to crash land the plane all the time because i didnt want to run out of runway.

 If you are running out of runway, dont do what I did. Just land the plane smoothly, turn it around using the rudder and brakes and head back towards the runway.

Be patient, if you dont have the speed or angle to land, just circle around and get a good landing. It will take you less than a minute and might save you from crashing.

AND finally, practice makes perfect. You should practice your landings until you have learned them by memory, then landing is like second nature. It will probably take a week or less.
Title: Landing A Plane??????
Post by: SKurj on September 07, 2003, 09:30:54 PM
F4u --  

Ferget wheels down and all that stuff +)

Plant it on the runway, any speed you like, and if the nose tries to go right on you, just give it a tiny bit of throttle.

SKurj