Landing Queen in severe turbulence and x-wind - How?

[JSACKS 0]

Earlier today I landed the Queen at WMKK 32R in a fairly heavy x-wind of 21 knots, gusting to 30-32 knots with "heavy" turbulence. Hand-flying, I found surprisingly that the turn to LOC and getting onto the GS at 3000' were the easy part but final approach was awful with manual throttle control all the way down. Although I landed without smashing up the a/c, it was heavy (-400 fpm) and almost a 3-point touchdown. My approach speed ranged Vref25+5 to Vref25+20 in the wind with gusts. On replay, I saw that all was actually fairly OK down to the last 50 vertical feet when I came down fairly hard for the TD about 2000 feet down the rwy.I had elected to approach at Vref25 + a bigger margin than normal because of the wind and turbulence but it was a nasty last few moments. I was sweating after the TD!Was my procedure off or did I do things right? Any tips appreciated, thanks.Jonathan

[xkoote 57]

The policy for our airline was a normal of Vref+5. In case the gust is more than 5 kts above reported steady state, you add all the difference. All this with a max of Vref+20. To continue an approach past the final approach fix in these cases was at captain's discretion. Even so, all limit's mentioned in out Aircraft Operations Manual should be adhered to. Especially below 1000' where speed, bank and sink rate values varying from the limits are called out as warnings by the pilot-non-flying (the dude watching the other dude land the plane). When for example the sink rate exceeds -1000 fpm, less than an altitude of 1000' it wold be considered a "non stable approach". This would automatically constitute a go-around.Keep these facts in mind whenever you start an approach, and feel when an approach becomes dangerous. Don't hesitate to go-around. If on VATSIM or similar inform them. You'll feel so better prepared for what the weather throws at you and when you make a good landing on the runway, you'll feel so much better.As for the 747? Just crab it and maintain that until touchdown. It'll wreak havoc on the tires but better that than hit an angine on the pavement. Later on when experience builds you can use rudder and opposite aileron to keep the aircraft a bit more aligned with the runway. In FS2004 I still find this impossible as FS does not simulate real life rudder properly. I wish for the day they finally realise this. In FS when adding rudder, the plane will yaw a certain amount of degrees and stay there. That is SO not the way a plane reacts. In real life as long as you keep pressing rudder the plane will turn, you use opposite aileron to stop it. That is how you land in real life to save your tires, but in FS you can't simulate it.One last thing to remember, as you flare you speed will decrease, so expect that the wind will get the better of you and start pushing you off the centerline. Add some more rudder into the wind as you flare. It helps. I have a video I shot of myself landing in a 90*, 78kt crosswind just for fun. I wish I could post it but it's too large (130 Mb). In it you clearly see all the factors at play in a crosswind landing.Xander

[JSACKS 0]

Appreciate your informative post Xander, thanks. Some good tips for me to be aware of. Should one keep N1 spooled up to a greater extent than normal during the flare when landing in this kind of weather? I ask because after doing two or three manual approaches, I did an autopilot approach and autoland and observed that while N1 was pulled off from around 50 to 60' AGL, by the time the mains touched down, N1 was still around 37 to 40% although falling steadily. Made me wonder if it's wise to pull off N1 to idle at 50'AGL which is what I normally do.JS

[michal 44]

>real life to save your tires, but in FS you can't simulate>it.I don't think I agree. There are number of add-on aircraft where X-wind landing including ability to enter a proper slip is simulated fairly well. This 744 is one of them, certainly in Flight1's ATR it is also possible, not to mention some smaller general aviation aircraft from Dreamfleet (that's the extent of products I own to which I can testify). If you don't believe me ask pilots who fly those aircraft on daily basis in real life. So in fact it CAN be simulated in FS, maybe not with 100% perfection but close enough like everything else in this sim. > In FS when adding rudder, the plane will yaw a certain amount of degrees and stay thereNot part of my experience. As a matter of fact, just to refresh my skills and memory, just minutes ago I made a very satisfying sideslip landing in Flight1's Cessna 172 and noticed nothing wrong with its rudder simulation - and this is one aircraft nobody can accuse me of not having enough real-life experience on. And I used lousy joystick to accomplish this feat. ;)Michael J.http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/pmdg_744F.jpghttp://sales.hifisim.com/pub-download/asv6-banner-beta.jpg