Flare and Idle thrust

[Chock 17,770]

Hi Rick, incidentally, if you are at EGCC or near it right now, take a look at the sky to the south, very dramatic-looking! Al

[martin-w 3,303]

but that does not mean people who don't fly for real cannot get into it

Absolutely, I've never flown for real in my life. I think those who are finding the landing phase difficult, should take solace in the fact that those of us with more experience aren't. Simply because that means they too will get to grips with it with practice. Martin Wilby.

[vc10man 732]

Hi Rick, incidentally, if you are at EGCC or near it right now, take a look at the sky to the south, very dramatic-looking! Al

Thanks for that HU, Al. Unfortunately, in North Wales right now but had a real bonus day on Sunday just when I did not have my DSLR with me. Saw the Emirates A380, Ethihad A330,Qatar A330,China Airlines 747-400F,Monarch's A300-600ER(due to be phased out soon, I gather) + a host of 737-800WL,the usual fleets of A320/321,Emirates 777, a couple Thomson 767s. A veritable feast indeed. Don't like the Viewing Park's charge-by-the-hour parking compared to previous years park-all-day-long charges. I wonder if that CI744 has replaced the Air Hong Kong and Great Wall 744 freighter?

[willywonka 36]

Sigh.. a lot of complainers are expecting PMDG to fix the product to match their expectations, rather than accept that PMDG made a realistic product that they need to adapt and learn to fly properly. (I'm not talking about anyone in particular).

[Jetman67 517]

yeh get a life if its not good enough get a job as an airline pilot and fly the real thing, PMDG have made some mistakes I am sure they will remedy, not need to call them clowns like to see you do better

[Guest]

I simply stated that a real 737 pilot opinion ( arm101 maybe ) would be more precise than mine, and more precise than the opinions of who claim to be the red baron. Told that, few real pilots already stated the sensations behind the pc are completely different from the sensations when flying a real plane, therefore also landings feelings are different, therefore don't be so sure your own feelings are 100% correct, maybe they are just 74% correct.

[Jacob Axford 0]

I dont believe the PMDG flare is very realistic and a Ryanair pilot has confirmed this, a temp fix he suggested was changing the life scalar on flaps.0 to 0.8 (aircraft.cfg) My landings are much more realistic now

[wanabflyer 53]

I dont believe the PMDG flare is very realistic and a Ryanair pilot has confirmed this, a temp fix he suggested was changing the life scalar on flaps.0 to 0.8 (aircraft.cfg) My landings are much more realistic now

Speaking from experience, when as posted some time ago in this thread, I was having problems in this regard, I discovered that the only problem with landing the NGX is you have to do it properly.

 

Regards,

[Vollie 11]

I had problems with flaring thie 737 in fs. Tried it many times and the result are very suprising.

 

Im flaring at 50 ft with throttle off and nose up to 6 degrees. Nice touch downs

[NM5K 1]

I dont believe the PMDG flare is very realistic and a Ryanair pilot has confirmed this, a temp fix he suggested was changing the life scalar on flaps.0 to 0.8 (aircraft.cfg) My landings are much more realistic now

 

What service pack are you using? I think the early versions might have been just a tad

floaty on landing, and I once used a slight tweak in the flaps drag, but after SP1C, I didn't

have to do that. With the last version, I've never tweaked anything, and it seems fine to me.

Makes me wonder if maybe you or he is using an older version.

Myself, I land using almost totally visual cues from the outside. The only instrument I look

at much is the air speed. I use HGS most of the time. The airspeed is fairly critical to a good

landing at the right spot on the runway. The rest is just practice, and knowing the plane.

 

I almost never have a bad landing.. And I have numerous videos I've spit out to prove it.. lol..

I never watch my AOA, etc.. No need to if the speed is right. And when I throttle down is dependant

on my speed when crossing the fence. If I'm a tad fast, I might chop the throttle early if I have the

speed to carry through to touchdown. If I'm slow, I might not cut the throttle until I'm almost on the

ground. If slow, the AOA will be high, and if you cut too soon, will make for a rough landing.

You are pitched up, and slow, and if you chop the gas too soon, you will drop hard on the main gear,

which will rattle false teeth in the back. :(

In a case on the slow side, I'll keep the gas on, and right before I touch down, I'll actually push

the yoke forward a bit to level the plane back out, with the gas on a bit until touchdown.

Will be a much smoother landing, and no teeth are rattled in the back.

Anyway... It's pretty much just getting used to the plane. Like I say, I never bother with pitch

angles, decent rate, etc.. I land it like it's a Cessna on steroids. Pretty much by sense of smell,

and outside visual cues.

This is the most recent video I've spit out.. A Southwest flight from KHOU to KTUL from

last month. Landing was done by sense of smell.. No pitch angles were consulted when

doing this landing. Only watched the airspeed when I got close. To me, the speed is what is

most critical, as the speed is what will determine the pitch angle. If the speed is right, everything

else will fall into place on it's own.

Er.. that's my $2.31 worth anyway..

 

[Tharmagon 2]

I am not a real pilot ... did do some GA flying and did get my glider license many, many years ago, but I can't judge like a real pilot can. But what I can say is I raced motorcycles for real. And I have tried several motorcycle racing sims computer and professional. Now you say what the hell has that got to do with FSX and the NGX. Well none of the motorcycle computer sims were like racing a real motorcycle. Some felt closer than others but none felt real. And if you think about it they never can. On a real bike you feel movement,  g-forces, weight shifts, balance, wind, bumps, vibration etc etc. You also have peripheral vision and smell as well as all the movement aspects. A computer sim can't simulate that. So no matter how close the model dynamics, controls and visual aspects are, it will never feel real. I am sure professional training simulators get as close as possible. But I doubt even they feel totally real. I think the ngx is as close to real as a home computer based sim can get right now. I'm sure in the future sims will get even more real. I can't judge how different the ngx is to a real 737, never flown one. But I can say I enjoy flying the ngx immensely and I do not expect it to be real. It is a challenge and landing the most challenging part.  For me I am still practicing landings. I float some, I hit hard on some, some I get about right and some I screw up completely. I replay almost every landing with inside and outside cameras and try to work out what I did well and what I did badly. But I find the challenge is the fun. As they say it's the journey and not the destination. I think if i got to the point where I greased every landing 100% I would get bored. Then Of course I would add crazy weather and faults to get back the challenge. So here's to those like me who don't get it right all the time but who enjoy the challenge  trying. And who understand it can't be 100% real.

[Vagabondo 23]

 

 

Told that, few real pilots already stated the sensations behind the pc are completely different from the sensations when flying a real plane, therefore also landings feelings are different

I can't really comment as I was an avid sim flyer before learning to fly so sim handling is as natural to me as handling the real aircraft.

 

With regards to NGX, it does work really well as flying a real 737 is more science than art and NGX landing is realistic enough if you apply the correct technique. Begin the flare at 20', just after (not before or simultaneously) initiating the flare slowly reduce thrust so that the thrust levers are at idle at touchdown.

 

The use of the word "flare" is interesting. As some have said you don't really flare. What you actually do is simply select the correct landing attitude (increase by about 3 degrees over approach attitude) and then just hold that attitude to touchdown, it is bit like three pointing a taildragger. The only adjustment that one can make, is if floating, gently reduce the pitch attitude slightly...don't increase the pitch attitude.

[Flamin_Squirrel 71]

...it is bit like three pointing a taildragger. The only adjustment that one can make, is if floating, gently reduce the pitch attitude slightly...don't increase the pitch attitude.

 

Not really; in a tail dragger you want to float over the runway until it won't fly anymore. If you try that in the 737 you'll run off the end of the runway.

[Vagabondo 23]

Not really; in a tail dragger you want to float over the runway until it won't fly anymore. If you try that in the 737 you'll run off the end of the runway.

 

Why do you think the 737 would be off the end of the runway? With the right technique and speed control, there will be minimal float in either case.

[Flamin_Squirrel 71]

Why do you think the 737 would be off the end of the runway?

 

Because it will do if you tried to land it like a tail dragger.