just wondering how many people need to use the shift/enter down view when coming in for an approach and landing. i used to not have that problem but that's because i wasn't flying exactly by the book. now that i am, i'm finding it difficult to see the runway when coming in for an approach unless i use the down view. anybody? william

Personally i use .75 zoom for both regular and VC. And if you land like you should (only flaring when you're supposed to) you shouldn't have a problem

Yea I had that problem even when I had the ILS nailed all the way down. I simply resisized the windows. I shrunk the panel down a little and then enlarged the outside view. Make sure that the border of the external view sits on top of the panel (ie:dont let it continue behind the instrument panel). This fixed my problem and now I can have a good view all the way during approach!

I used to have to problem, but realized I wasn't using flaps to my potential. What would happen, is I would land with too little flap, and to keep my speed down, I would have to pitch up during approach.Now I keep my nose down and apply flaps at the appropriate level, and I can keep the runway in sight almost down to the flare. Then of course, during flare, you lose site of the runway, but you shouldn't be flaring until you are nearly over the threshold anyway, so it doesn't matter. You just land where the aircraft decides to touchdown (grin).No real life experience here, but I found proper flap usage is critical to maintaining proper attitude during approach.

When I'm about to land, I go to gauges-only view... I've noticed in some new aircraft (jets) it keeps the MFDs in front, but you still can see the runway off the sides.There may be a way to move the MFDs to the sides...Andrew

All depends on the panel. Some work fine by doing nothing. Others block the view so bad that I use the W key to get rid of them. With most VC's it's shift-enter, but I don't like changing seat positions with the 2D's, because it's more like just moving the scenery up or down. I'd prefer FLY's method of lowering the panel, or the X-Plane method of making the panel semi-transparent.But regardless, unless you're flying a few airplanes with long noses, and usually taildraggers.................. the panel should not be blocking your view. Visually, it should be like driving a car on the freeway.L.Adamson

thanks for the feedback guys. my problem was flying with a full tank of gas which required alot of up pitch during the approach thus not being able to see. william

>thanks for the feedback guys. my problem was flying with a>full tank of gas which required alot of up pitch during the>approach thus not being able to see. Just keep in mind, that looking out your airplane's "windscreen" should be like looking out of your car's windshild, although it can be a bit more limited. When driving down the freeway, your focus is on the road, & not a big panel taking half the screen. It's the same in an airplane unless consentrating on IFR instruments only.Flight simming is a compromise due to a much smaller viewing area, and the panel has to be there somewhere. But then you also need to get rid of it, or partially rid of it, when the need arises........rather than using some weird pitch angle to always see the runway. But it also varies from plane to plane, as some come with "landing panels", or low panels that taper on the sides. Sometimes I just use "shift Z" for digital readouts of airspeed & dispense with the panel "W" key, altogether. However, my most realistic landings are from using the VC's & shift enter & shift backspace to raise the seat.With the VC's & eyepoint pulled back, you get a much better sense of yaw/speed & peripheral vision which greatly adds to the simulated experience.L.Adamson

>thanks for the feedback guys. my problem was flying with a>full tank of gas which required alot of up pitch during the>approach thus not being able to see. williamI think you have just answered your own question there William :-), don't try to land with full tanks, at least not with an airliner.With something the size of a 737, 757, A320 you should be landing with about 6 - 8,000lbs of fuel, not full tanks.HTH