Hello everybody. So, I've decided to join this forum, because I love planes. I'm not a pilot. I'm not even a pilot in training. In fact, I am a terrible pilot who doesn't even manage to fly without hitting "overspeed" at least once, unless I use autothrottle set below the max speed.But I still love them planes, and I still love flying them in FS9.My favourite planes are commercial airliners, the C-130 and the A-10 Thunderbolt II. Oh, and the Turboprop planes like the Dash-8. Love those sounds. I live in the general approach/takeoff area of Frankfurt Airport, and I get to see and hear planes every day and every night, all few minutes.Sometimes, I imagine I actually know what planes I'm hearing, but it's not that easy, especially since they all sound different from down here than they do in the simulator. Getting back on the fav plane topic, the A-340 series is my favourite passenger plane. Specifically the ones with the CFM engines.I just love that howl they have when accelerating, it sounds very powerful and just awesome.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7DMS0yUoZ8 Guess this is the engine in question.I also like the A-10's sound, and the C-130 which I used to see a few times in the sky before me and my family moved to where I live now. Can somebody explain to me the different phases of the flaps, preferrably on the A340? I don't really know/understand which position is used under what circumstance.Anyone else here like one of the planes I mentioned above?

Flaps are basically the same on every aircraft as far as functionality is concerned, there are different mechanisms found on different aeroplanes, but they all do the same thing, that is, they increase the amount of lift the wing generates. They do this by increasing the curve of the wing surface, increasing wing area, and they also increase the amount of drag that is generated (this is because you don't get something for nothing, so generating lift also generates drag, and if you generate more lift, you also generate more drag too). Because this is so, it is typical to only use relatively small amounts of flaps on take off, where the object is to accelerate quickly up to flying speed before you run out of runway. So on take off, you will usually see aeroplanes only using the very least amount of flaps they can get away with, typically about 5 or 10 degrees, although it can sometimes be more. After take off, the flaps are gradually retracted as speed increases, because the wing is then generating enough lift for the aircraft to fly without the need for flaps, and the flaps would in fact be damaged at high speeds. Airliners typically take off at about 160 knots, and they usually retract the flaps in stages as the speed increases, so the flaps are completely retracted by the time they are doing around 230 knots, although this can vary with different aircraft types. When it comes to landing, you need larger flap settings, because you want to slow down, and with more flaps you can fly slower and still stay airborne, but you need a lot of engine power to overcome the drag that large flap settings will generate, which is why you will hear airliners using their engines at high power settings even when descending for a landing. But the drag that flaps generate is also advantageous when landing, because it prevents the aircraft from accelerating even when it is in a descent toward the runway, so flaps also work a bit like 'air brakes' on an airliner when it is landing. Most airliners also have what are known as 'slats' as well, which are basically flaps on the front of the wing that augment the flaps trailing off the back of the wing, and you will see these deploy at both large and small flap settings, because they do not cause much drag, and in fact on an Airbus, you may also see them with the slats lowered as they taxi about on warm days, because they prevent the bleed air ducts from overheating when they are lowered. The A340 is a pretty complex aeroplane, and there are a lot of things which go on with the flaps, but if you are really curious, here are the pages from the Airbus A340 training manual describing the flap systems and how they work: Hope that helps - Al

I live in the general approach/takeoff area of Frankfurt Airport, and I get to see and hear planes every day and every night, all few minutes.Sometimes, I imagine I actually know what planes I'm hearing, but it's not that easy, especially since they all sound different from down here than they do in the simulator.

Greetings to the neighborhood... And believe me, I've tried to do the same for the past decade - forget it, 'hearing' what plane it is just doesn't work. Some share very similar, if not the same engines, and it's mostly impossible to make an educated guess (except for some distinct exceptions of course). Or maybe it's just me after all.

Hi! Welcome to the forum. I have been to Frankfurt only a couple of times when the bus from Ryanair's Hahn stopped there just to show us how close to the city the real airport is! I didn't get a chance to do any spotting there but Hahn is quite a nice airport too and has an observation terrace. Frankfurt itself was a cool city though and I had a good time there even though I only went for a day! Many thanks, Pierre

Spotting isn't exactly great there. They do have a small elevated platform (actually two if I'm not mistaken, but I've never found the other one), but e. g. being right under the final is a bit difficult as the terrain is extremly flat. In fact I would almost say it has even rather a slight upslope towards the thresholds, especially on the right (now center...) runway. You'd in fact need a ladder to get some decent shots there. There's a long bikeway though that's right at the fence, which is quite cool. That way you can at least stand under the final and enjoy the roar, har har. Quick calc would estimate aircraft to get their 200 call right over your head - not exactly TNCM style, but still alright. Plus you'll only get to the outer fence. Then there's a street on the other side and at least one or two other fences. This is about what you will get right at the fence, left runway: Not possible on the other runway, as said, because you're quite a few feet lower and there's also a lot of brushwood around the fence. Not so cool.