When trying to land a large plane like the 737, what point on the runway should the pilots eyes be focused on - the threshold, the very far end, etc? In short, what do you use to line up the plane - I heard when you taxi you are supposed to look all the way down the taxiway to line things up - is it the same for landing?Chris Catalano

Chris if you don't mind i'd also like to expand on your question...what height do you flare from and at how large (angle) is your flare? I've heard many stories...and the only one which works for me is gently flaring + cutting the throttles at 30foot.

I am a student pilot at this point but flaring and where to look on the runway pretty much has one concept on all powered airplanes. around 50Ft Radio Altitude it's a good time to idle the engines and flare the aircraft. and when it comes to landing you want to look ahead at the runway and at the touch down point with the big white stripes and calculates your descent to touch down there. Somobody else might putting more details.One thing not to do. On my first Solo landing i was on final and i flared the aircraft and after flaring it for some reason i felt as if i was not descending so i dipped the aircraft and the instructor corrected it me and told me that's a No No So I guess that's a No No No Dipping.Best Regards Adib Afraj

the best trick I have--is just like driving, keep your eyes focused far in front of you. If you look at the runway directly below you, you are going to be very wobbly--the more you focus on a point farther down the runway, the easier landing will be. Looking down the end of the runway, at the middle--that will keep you on the centerline. As for knowing when to flare, it depends on the plane pretty much. A heavy flares much earlier than a cessna would. As for power and landing the 737NG--there is a great thread on this forum all about it--you would really like it. I tried out the tips from http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...9&mesg_id=43829, look at zappers post (first reply in the thread) and my landings became much easier. For your speed, dont be afraid to add power on an approach, the first thing you should do if you are low, is gently add a little power. Remember not to slam the throttles forward, it takes a second for the effect to be felt, and if you do too much power you will get way high.

A quote from a 737NG manual I have, "The pilot should aim for a constant angle relationship with the 1,000 feet markon the runway, coordinating pitch attitude and power changes. As the end of therunway disappears under the nose, maintain this stabilized attitude and powersetting until the flare point is reached.The pilot should restrain himself from the tendency to dive at the runway whenbreaking clear of the clouds at low altitude under instrument conditions, or asthe end of the runway disappears under the nose in visual flight conditions. Thehigh rates of sink that develop with this maneuver are not readily apparent oneither the airspeed indicator or the vertical speed indicator and may not be noticed until the flare point. "

I can't speak to large aircraft, but where you look when landing a small aircraft (Cessna, Piper, etc.) can have a big effect. If you continue to stare at your aiming point you will likely flare too high and too much (oh, the runway is getting really close really fast: flare, flare, flare!). This is a common mistake made during training. You need to transition to looking all the way down the runway to get the best sense of your altitude in order to judge a flare at something in the range 5-20' (small plane). I think I transition my view somewhere in the 100' AGL range.I don't know how much effect this has in FS though. You don't get the peripheral view you do in real life.Lee Hetherington, PP-ASEL (KBED)

Most has been said, but just to add a bit. These are some tidbits from a 767 AOM:"Crossing the threshold, shift the visual sighting point to approximately 3/4 down the runway length, while maintaining descent."..."Initiate the flare when the main gear is approximately 20-30 ft above the runway by increasing pitch attitude approximately 2deg and smoothly retarding thrust levers to idle."One other thing that is stressed is that one should fly the plane down onto the runway. "Greasers" are likely to result in floating along the runway, thus increasing the landing distance and risk the possibility of the structure making contact with the runway. Again, this is for the 767, but I think the same basic rules apply...

Thanks for the help people...I fought 30foot sounded about right, all i have to work on now is intercepting the G/S and keeping speed right without the use of AT or APP...that way I know I can do it all manual:P

All,If you haven't already done so, check out the excellent videos at ATCBOX, http://www.atcbox.com/modules.php?name=Dow...download&cid=27These 737 cockpit videos are made by the site admin who's a 737-800 captain in RL. The "Didimon in action" is quite revealing :)The other video categories are also very nice!