I just got the FDS Porter and haven't really learned how it flys yet.If you fly it can you tell me if what flap setting you use for descent/landing? Full-flaps - 48 degrees - seemed quite different from flying the 172. The nose was way down - not sure I am doing it right or could get used to that.- Myles

Hi Myles,They vary whether you are flying the amphib or the land plane. This is for the land plane:Wing Flaps AS DESIRED (flaps down preferred) 0-10 degrees to 175 KIAS 10-20 degrees to 150 KIAS 20-30 degrees to 125 KIASAnd Amphib: On Water:Wing Flaps AS DESIRED (flaps down preferred) 0-12 degrees to 99 KIAS 18-24 degrees to 94 KIAS 30-48 to 90 KIASOn Land:Wing Flaps AS DESIRED (flaps down preferred) 0-10 degrees to 175 KIAS 10-20 degrees to 150 KIAS 20-30 degrees to 125 KIAS [ ] Airspeed 75-85 KIAS (flaps FULL DOWN)You can find the manuals in the MSFS2004 Aircraft Folder under Porter/manual. Just click oin checklists, and all the procedures are listed there.Mine is here:Program FilesMicrosoft GamesFlight Simulator 9AircraftFSD PortermanualHope This helps,Joehttp://aboutpolitics.net/images/bannerav.gif.About Politics.net - FORUMShttp://pub162.ezboard.com/baboutpolitics.Contribute to the Richard Harvey Scholarship Fund.http://www.avsim.com/pages/scholarship.shtml

Take a look here....http://www.acr.net.au/~tony/home.html

I have just had a search of my hard-drive for file I downloaded a few years ago which was a description by an ex-Australian Army pilot who flew Porters in Viet Nam. Couldn't find it, but from what I remember of it I tried some of the "manouvers" in the FS2000 freeware version of the Porter. Sit at the end of the runway with full brakes on, pull the stick full back, apply full power then, after a few seconds, let the brakes go. The Porter will leave the ground with the tail-wheel the last wheel to leave the ground, an unusual take off situation for a tail-dragger. The FS2000 version used to achieve this. The other situation called for landing by more-or-less just diving at the end of the runway and applying full stick back and reverse pitch on the prop then dropping onto the runway. I don't think I ever achieved this in the sim. I have also heard of Porters dropping skydivers then racing them to the ground, and beating them. I think that Porters were banned from being registered in some Countries because of the problems people could get into by applying reverse pitch in such an overpowered to weight ratio aeroplane. I really enjoyed flying thr FS2000 version of the Porter. You can push your Porter to the limits in your sim. Go on , have a go, if you crash , so what, start again and see how far you can push it. tony

I haven't flown the FSD version but can offer some real world insight.As was already posted you typically don't need full flaps for a normal landing. I recently sold my Maule, which also had a 48 degree setting. I rarely had to use it, though, as the "normal" 40 degree setting worked just fine for most strips. It came in handy when flying into some mountain dirt/grass strips but for most reasonable airports you really don't want to use them. The main reason is that should you need to go around (not an option for main backwoods strips) the 48 degree setting produces an aweful lot of drag and stick forces to overcome until you get the flaps cleaned up.Flying a STOL aircraft does give you a different picture out the windscreen, though, as power off (or in turbines, flat pitch) approaches are made a relatively steep descent angle. (In fact, we tend to chide the Cessna pilots who make giant, flat, "bomber pattern" approaches .) This is also true of the Cessna Caravan, with its immense flaps, that can easily accomplish an normal approach after entering downwind at 3,000' AGL. So, if runway length isn't an issue, use more power/airspeed and less flaps if it makes you more comfortable.Much of the Porter lore comes from its service in southeast Asia with the CIA's "Air America" during the Vietnam conflict. Many supply missions were flown to remote strips on hill tops cleared by end. They were sloped, short, and dirt, and the pilots took great advantage of the Porter's rugged construction as well as its flying characteristics. There are some good documentaries on the subject as well as an excellent web site maintained by the University of Texas at Dallas: http://www.utdallas.edu/library/special/aviation/AirAmerica/