Hello everyone,before I continue my issues with livery and activation codes have been solved (thanks for the help!)Anyway Im asking this question so I can achieve something at my virtual airline, having my name on the top landings wall. Is there any techniques on "greasing the landing" on a 737? I want to get it down to about at least -50fpm, I read about someones technique to greasing a 747 (initiate flare at 50 radio alt and reduce the fpm and at 10 radio alt retard the throttles to idle) but the 747 and 737 having a significant size difference I thought there would be a different way. Please post your thoughts below,thank you :D

In the last seconds before the touchdown dont look at the instruments but rather outside. Get the feeling of the exact breaking point - the point when you retard the throttles and start the yoke pull. Down the glideslope looking at the touchdown zone and then down the runway during the flare helps to get the proper feeling.And, oh yes - practice mate.... :(

I have found a couple of nice techniques to really get the landing nice and have had a lot of sucess with it. Most landings now average between -40 to -70 or so with a few in there around -20. Of course, it depends on which ACARS you are using as well.Other than the obvious - correct fuel, correct speed, on the glideslope, altimeter set right, etc., I really spend the time looking at the runway until it is time to "flare" and then as the other person mentioned, move your eyes down to a point halfway down the runway and towards the end. The other two things that have really helped me is to pay attention to the callouts 30 feet, 20 feet, 10 feet, etc. and pull back smoothly and slowly to really let it settle into a level glide just about the runway surface before it drops in. I also picked up a little trick from a Citation captain I have had the opportunity to fly with in the past and noticed that he would repeatidly, but gently kind of pull the yoke back a bit when just a couple of feet off of the ground (maybe 5-10 times, about a second apart). Obviously, you dont want to stall it or initiate a climb again, but it worked for him and has also really helped my FS landings. I don't really know how it works other than it is just gently cutting the lift and helping to get into just the right angle. The HUD is also a great tool as well provided you have everything really set up correctly. You will find that you can glide along the runway at 2-3 feet or so for a couple of seconds and it will settle right in there. Please note that I have noticed that even I have everything dialed in correctly, the gear sometimes touches down with 2-3 feet on the hud. Maybe my angle is off a bit, but for the most part, they are pretty consistent now.Of course the long runways are nice to work with for a good greaser, but I guess it is not necessarily all that big of a deal to get those low numbers. I think anything under -150 is actually pretty good.Oh, and practice, practice, practice.

the -800 is slightly different, best is to reduce throttle idle smoothly while flaring or to 'grease' it you'd need a higher pitch attitude around 5 or slightly above... When to begin the flare has a few factors, wind, turbulence, etc.. Don't go directly to idle like the classics or -600/700.. I imagine you're asking about the -800/900 correct?

Hello everyone,before I continue my issues with livery and activation codes have been solved (thanks for the help!)Anyway Im asking this question so I can achieve something at my virtual airline, having my name on the top landings wall. Is there any techniques on "greasing the landing" on a 737? I want to get it down to about at least -50fpm, I read about someones technique to greasing a 747 (initiate flare at 50 radio alt and reduce the fpm and at 10 radio alt retard the throttles to idle) but the 747 and 737 having a significant size difference I thought there would be a different way. Please post your thoughts below,thank you :D

If you want some honest advice you shouldn't be trying to grease it. I have never understood why some VA's are obsessed with this. Land it within the TDZ around vref, Job done.Of course you don't want to slam the thing onto the runway but you don't want an ultra smooth landing. You risk eating up runway in the flare, spoilers not automatically deploying etc etc. You get no points for it in the real world.

I am glad that this subject was brought up, because after almost 180 registered flights using ACARS with B7437-900/800/700/600 variations, I still could not grease land this baby as I used to do with Md-11 and B747-400, No matter what I did!! the best landing I achieved with the 800 was -59ft/m, 900 was -101ft/m and 700 was 79ft/m using VC or 2DC or HUD view, the reason I think for that is, the PMDG B737-* is so sensitive due to high quality programming and realism involved, now it depends on so many factors how successful the greased landing would be (like weight of airplane, wind, CG), the main technique is to flare the plane 3-5 degrees 10ft above the ground with calculated loss of speed (you have to put the throttle into idle or higher), it will take less than a second to land and it has to be done on time perfectly, in real life -if I was a pilot- I wouldn’t aim to grease land the plan I will target -100ft/m and reasonable G and everyone is happy.

Look towards the end of the runway, this way you see the runway "rising""Squeeze" in this video also might help

Bert Van Bulck

If you want some honest advice you shouldn't be trying to grease it. I have never understood why some VA's are obsessed with this. Land it within the TDZ around vref, Job done.Of course you don't want to slam the thing onto the runway but you don't want an ultra smooth landing. You risk eating up runway in the flare, spoilers not automatically deploying etc etc. You get no points for it in the real world.

Fully agree. Greased landings tell nothing about a pilot's quality. Usually, especially in gusty and/or crosswind conditions, you want a "positive" landing in the real-world which - by the standard of your virtual airline - would apparently mean thumping the bird onto the pavement.

Edited January 28, 201214 yr by bpcw001

Greased landings are not a priority.The priority is to land in the right place, so as to avoid the possibility of an overshoot.While you are messing about trying to touch down like feather, the end of the runway is getting ever closer. Add unfavourable conditions to the mix and it's a recipe for disaster.By the way...Has anyone noticed a curious behaviour in the NGX. If you touch down hard, there's a very sudden and unrealistic drop onto the runway. It's almost like the aircraft is instantly down, before it should be.

Try different flaps settings. Flaps 30 helps me a lot for a smooth landing! But as Martin said, be aware of overshoots...

The term "squeeze" refers to rudder control to make sure the aircraft is aligned with the runway, therefore you won't get any sideload which adds to the feeling of a smooth landing.. You can land any 737 with a soft touchdown and when the gear compresses the speedbrakes will deploy, if not, just maually deploy then.. In real flying, the longer versions 800-/900 give the illusion of a harder landing because the gear struts are a little too rigid which I believe Boeing is well aware of this.. Flying in to larger airports like KMCO etc.. You have 3000 feet to land, with a long runway and with a nice headwind can land well short of that with a soft touchdown.. Typically aim to touchdown between 1500-2000 feet from the threshold.. It's all about throttle management and knowing when and how much to flare. Regardless of what the manuals say about touchdown attitude, when to cut power, most landings are different, and while they apply around those standards, slight deviation is required depending on the weather, how much you increase vref due to gusts etc... It takes a lot of experience and practice to handle different types of scenerios..

Edited January 28, 201214 yr by CaptBillyBob

I still could not grease land this baby as I used to do with Md-11 and B747-400, No matter what I did!! the best landing I achieved with the 800 was -59ft/m, 900 was -101ft/m and 700 was 79ft/m

Oh come on now! Those are greasers all right! Those speeds mean that you take about 1-1,5 feet per second downwards, while you travel about 220 feet forward. Barely letting the wheels spin.Also I agree that V/S on T/D is an arbitrary FS thing not connected to real aviation whatsoever.

I would add my weight to "Don't grease it!" You can easily get caught in ground effect which my mean you touch down well past the touch down point with the risk of running out of runway. If there is any hint of crosswind, tail wind or a wet surface, you must do a "positive landing" i.e. fly it onto the ground. There is no way any virtual airline can protest against a cast iron reason for putting the a/c firmly on the ground in these or any other conditions. If any passengers protest then all you have to say is "Would you rather slide off the end of the rwy into a ditch and die".vololiberista

Well, it's quite hard to do "greased landings", it took me about 5 landings to get the technique right and I still need some practice.The reason they are really hard is that you need to flare and retard in the exact point. You might get scared and flare too much and you'll float, or you might 'forget' to flare and hit the runway at 300 fpm.Best technique is to start flaring at about 30-20 RA and wait a bit until you retard throttles, so engines can decelerate the aircraft's VS, once you got that retard it, but DON'T wait too long or you'll float.It is a very difficult landing technique and it requires a lot of practice so don't expect to get it right in the 1st or 2nd attempt.

I think the best way to learn proper pitch attitude in the flare if you are having trouble doing it visually is to use the HGS device. With the HGS device, at 50 feet start easing back the throttles toward idle and as you do that the Flight Path Vector of the HGS should move from the touchdown point down to the opposite end of your current runway. Hold the FPV with pitch at the opposite end and as long as you are not really clumsy with the throttles you are guaranteed a smooth landing.A few time doing it that way and you get good enough with the throttles to not eat up any extra runway while still kissing the runway. Then you'll find you don't need the HGS to do it anymore because now you've learned the proper combo of thrust (or lack thereof) and pitch "sight picture".