06-01-2009, 06:50 PM
I got a Saitek yoke for Christmas, and It's opened my eyes to an often overlooked problem with landing sim planes. Even if you always
land the same craft with the same weight at the same field, it should still be slightly different every time because of the influence of wind!
A moderate, consistant, direct headwind makes it easy to land. But if it's gusty, off heading or inconsistant (more often than not), then
getting the feel for what the craft is doing is essential. This is particularly tough in a simulator, so you have to pay close attention to your
airspeed and decent rates. What I have found is that now I have a much greater range of throttle travel, I find it easier to understand how
small adjustments to throttle interact with the wind and other influences on my airspeed and decent rate.
This in turn was how I've found a handy hint for your approaches. My habit was to turn off the autothrottle at about 200 AGL, but was
overflaring and doing all sorts of things to compensate. Now, I turn off the Autothrottle much further back on Glide Slope, often as early as
between capturing localizer and top of final glideslope. This means by the time i'm down to decision height, I've got some feedback from
the throttle on what the conditions are like. If it's a nice day and I'm feeling confident, I'll disengage the AP early and make a peachy kiss
landing. If it's choppy, I'll leave the AP on right down to 100AGL, and let it sort out the condition changes until I'm squared away.
The other advantage I've found with this is, if you get an unexpected go around, you can get on the power early, and if you're really
organised, you might have even had time to set your autothrottle and heading to go around settings.
land the same craft with the same weight at the same field, it should still be slightly different every time because of the influence of wind!
A moderate, consistant, direct headwind makes it easy to land. But if it's gusty, off heading or inconsistant (more often than not), then
getting the feel for what the craft is doing is essential. This is particularly tough in a simulator, so you have to pay close attention to your
airspeed and decent rates. What I have found is that now I have a much greater range of throttle travel, I find it easier to understand how
small adjustments to throttle interact with the wind and other influences on my airspeed and decent rate.
This in turn was how I've found a handy hint for your approaches. My habit was to turn off the autothrottle at about 200 AGL, but was
overflaring and doing all sorts of things to compensate. Now, I turn off the Autothrottle much further back on Glide Slope, often as early as
between capturing localizer and top of final glideslope. This means by the time i'm down to decision height, I've got some feedback from
the throttle on what the conditions are like. If it's a nice day and I'm feeling confident, I'll disengage the AP early and make a peachy kiss
landing. If it's choppy, I'll leave the AP on right down to 100AGL, and let it sort out the condition changes until I'm squared away.
The other advantage I've found with this is, if you get an unexpected go around, you can get on the power early, and if you're really
organised, you might have even had time to set your autothrottle and heading to go around settings.