Scary landing

[hookandbook2 0]

I was in my -800 enroute to KDEN. During the approach the entire region was in near white-out conditions (snow storm). This approach was going to be a classic CAT III for runway 7. I broke through the clouds with a 1/2 mile at best of vis when all of a sudden at around 100 feet I noticed that I was all of sudden pitching over for a nose dive into the dirt just before the runway threshold. After a rather quick and loud "Oh SH#T!" I yanked the yoke as far back as it would go. I avoided a disaster and landed on the 'piano keys'....a hard landing at that.Not sure what happened...I know I had the auto pilot set up correctly. When I yanked on the yoke I heard the "auto-pilot disconnect" warning sound. The APP button w/ both channels we're selected. I had the AT set at Vref + 5 (132kts). Oh well...at least I saved the skin of my virtual passengers. Was fun though, even for a sim my hert skipped a beat there for a sec.Mike Brown

[Guest CA7719B]

What was your approach speed and flap settings?Also, was there a sudden strong tail wind?p.s. if it was nose diving, i'm wondering if your speed was too fast for the flap setting..... or there was a strong sudden head wind... or both.Randy Oldfield

[hookandbook2 0]

hmm....not sure what the wind was. The approach was going great up until then. Everything happened so fast. Maybe it was the wind. quite honestly I didn't look at the wind prior to setting up the approach. in the future I better take that into account.My approach speed was 130kts w/ flaps 40.Mike Brown

[Guest CA7719B]

It is very well possible that it was a strong head wind. I tend to use 140/25 kts/flaps if there is any wind. 130/40 I find is very reactionary to any form of wind at all. Randy Oldfield

[ztimbre 0]

Hi Mike, are you using ActiveSky 2004? I have seen this happen when you hit 'wake turbulence' using AS.Ryan Jay

[hookandbook2 0]

No, not using AS2004..yet (I plan to get it soon though).Mike Brown

[Guest NGdriver]

If you had 130 KIASflap 40 it might well have been a sudden drop in wind force causing the plane to nosedive. RgdsKevin

[bobbyjoh 11]

Hi Mike,I live here in Denver, and I took off today for New Orleans in this terrible weather :-). Depending on your weight, which you did not mentioned, a landing speed of 130knots is a little low. There are not high winds today in Denver, just snow and fog.Depending on what time of day you were landing, the ceilings were ranging from 1000 feet to 500 AGL so if you were doing a auto land you may have caught some wake turbulence.On a another note, I watched a UAL 777 make an awesome approach to the airport over my house. The active runway to KDEN today is runway 7, which is always used when we have one of these "upslope" storms from the east. My house is only a couple of miles from the Jefferson Country airport which is where the approach to runway 7 starts to turn to the east. The 777 was backing down on airspeed in the heavy clouds which is quite a sound and then he broke through the clouds for just a moment, it was really exciting. There is no greater thrill in FS than to fly in "heavy" weather and see if you can set the NG down like the RW pilots do. BTW the airport has not been down at all today. The RW pilots really earn their money on days like this and I have nothing but the utmost of respect for their skills. If you want some fun go to Denver today and see how good you can land :-)BobKDEN

[KevMac 0]

Just curious, why were you using Flaps 40? Was it a short runway? Flaps 30 is usually the normal flap configuration setting.-Kev

[ztimbre 0]

Flaps 30 is the normal config for the 600/700, but Flaps 40 is normal config for the 800/900. I believe the reasoning behind this is (in part) that Flaps 40 gives a lower deck angle, reducing the chance of a tail strike on the longer aircraft.Ryan J

[hookandbook2 0]

I was flying the -800 series. However Kev, point taken, I typically use full flaps anyways wether it is in the 6/700 or the 8/900. I'll take note of the flaps 30 for 6/700 series A/C. Thanks.MikeP.S. I'm making the flight again here in about 1/2 an hour. Its raining here in Southern California...perfect flying weather!! :)

[hookandbook2 0]

My flight from SNA to DEN was uneventful. No approach problems. And I used flaps 30 in my -700 series. I'm posting SS's in the SS forum if anyone is interested. Mike Brown