New to Flight Sims, A Few Questions

[Mirtma 0]

I'm having problems to slow down & stop when landing. No problem with long runway. But at short ones ... At what speed should I touch down with Stearman and RV6? How to break. I try to press and release break button. Or just press and hold?

[Chalkman 0]

Press and hold, if you are using a button you might want to release it a few times then hold to stop.

[dburne 2]

Press and hold, if you are using a button you might want to release it a few times then hold to stop.

Especially in the Stearman or you will nose that thing over every time- unless you have the braking aide enabled in options.

[Rickenbacker 0]

I'm having problems to slow down & stop when landing. No problem with long runway. But at short ones ... At what speed should I touch down with Stearman and RV6? How to break. I try to press and release break button. Or just press and hold?

Press and hold the brake key, and release briefly now and then on the taildraggers (especially the Stearman) so you don't tip them over on their nose. You really want to touch down at the right speed, and as early as possible (ideally "on the numbers" on paved runways, and roughly the same spot on dirt fields) to give you the maximum distance for your ground roll. The correct approach and landing speeds are in the checklist, hit Q and read it before landing. From memory, the Stearman wants 65mph on final, and you should flare and touch down at 55, with the nose up HIGH. Personally I find the Stearman a bit of a handful to land. Not only does it lose speed VERY fast when you throttle back, so you might have to carry some throttle all the way down, but it also likes to flip over unless you stop braking for a second now and then, AND you'd better be holding that stick back in your gut while on the ground. It also has great visibility in all directions except forwards and down, i.e. the direction you need to see when landing :). I solve that by a curving approach, so I only lose sight of the runway when i'm right over it.

[Guest]

I usually consider my landings like I had to do them on a carrier so I usually stop in the first half of the runway even when they are not long.I do nor know if this a good way to land but this way of acting is stronger then me. I landed the 737 hundreds of times and rarely I approached the runway really too soon but I have never stopped the plane over 3/4 of the runway.I tend to do the same in Flight with the Maule.Is this a correct or wrong behaviour when flying GA ?Thx

[Oracle427 45]

I know the control towers give me grief and ask me to expedite my exit if I land long and miss the first taxi way. :(I would think that it is always wise to use the runway effectively by touching down as early as possible without compromising safety of course.

[Great Ozzie 101]

'm having problems to slow down & stop when landing. No problem with long runway. But at short ones ... At what speed should I touch down with Stearman and RV6?

Hi Mirtma,I looked at the Van's site for landing info (http://www.vansaircr...lic/rv-6per.htm) and saw stall speed @ gross wt. is 55mph (47 knots)A good rule of thumb for approach speed is 1.3 times Vso. So in this case @ Gross Weight would be 61 knotsTruth be told... I don't look at the airspeed indicator when landing. I shoot for that approach speed... so 60kts or so by (quite literally) over the fence. From that point on my eyes are solely outside concentrating on the runway in relation to my plane during the roundout / flare. The plane will land when it is ready (keep holding the mains off until running out of stick!). A crosswind could require a few more knots.This is why you will see me make statements of how important it is (how I cannot emphasize enough) to maintain the proper airspeed for final. On "long" runways (with excessive speed) maybe the worse thing is you aggravate the Controller by not being able to turn off to a taxiway until near the end of a 4 or 5000' runway. On shorter runways it can make a huge difference to keep you from sliding off the end.An exercise that is good, go up to "altitude" (say 3 or 4000' AGL) and set up for roughly a 500' fpm descent at your 60 or so knots approach speed. See what manifold pressure you need and... burn that "approach image"... what it looks like... what the nose looks like in relation to the horizon... into your mind. That should give you a very good idea of what "things" should look like on your approach to landing.Keep your point of intended landing in the same spot in the windscreen. It moves up the windscreen (with no change in approach attitude / speed) you will undershoot and need a touch of power to arrest your (excessive) descent rate. If it moves down, you are going to overshoot and need to back off the throttle a bit. Small changes... small changes... See if that helps.-RobEdit: aha... I see you made one of my points Oracle... yes can be a problem for controllers trying to work others into the landing sequence.and MarkII if you are referring to aiming for a specifically for a certain point to land... then this is precisely what I was taught and what I would teach. :good: And if not down by the first third of the runway (for whatever reason) it is time to "go around".Just looked in the Stearman POH I have (I have to go back to the Beta site to find the link for this... will post in a few) with a Vs of 53mph. So 1.3 that is just under 70mph... i hate being much slower than 70-75mph in the Stearman as it's "dragginess" (two big wings, struts, wires etc) help to slow it up quite a bit during the flare.Stearman I like a touch of power thruout the flare, and go ahead and try for the RV. Comes down to what works for you.phew! found it (Stearman POH): http://www.stearman-aero.com/media/text/Stearman/Stearman_Handbooks/Pilot%27s%20Handbook%20for%20Stearman%20Airplanes%20Models%20N2S-1,%20N2S-2%20and%20N2S-3.pdf

[Mirtma 0]

Ozzie Tnx. Will try that. And, I know ... practise. I don't have much problem with longer runways. (Many hours in DCS:A10c. ;) ) There you have higher landing speed, but also flaps and airbrakes.Oh, and tnx for links. Great resource of info.

Press and hold the brake key, and release briefly now and then on the taildraggers (especially the Stearman) so you don't tip them over on their nose. You really want to touch down at the right speed, and as early as possible (ideally "on the numbers" on paved runways, and roughly the same spot on dirt fields) to give you the maximum distance for your ground roll. The correct approach and landing speeds are in the checklist, hit Q and read it before landing. From memory, the Stearman wants 65mph on final, and you should flare and touch down at 55, with the nose up HIGH.Personally I find the Stearman a bit of a handful to land. Not only does it lose speed VERY fast when you throttle back, so you might have to carry some throttle all the way down, but it also likes to flip over unless you stop braking for a second now and then, AND you'd better be holding that stick back in your gut while on the ground. It also has great visibility in all directions except forwards and down, i.e. the direction you need to see when landing :). I solve that by a curving approach, so I only lose sight of the runway when i'm right over it.

Tnx Rickenbaker.