Taking all this advice into account my last landing was 92fpm. my 920fpm I just didnt flare would love to blame the aircraft but I cant.

Great job! Once you perfect the flare and idling of throttles, your landings will be much more realistic and satisfying. Then the thing to improve on is making fewer and smaller corrections during approach.

Less than -100 is not really a great landing in my opinion. It's not a firm (safe) landing. A greased landing can do all sorts of nasty stuff to the plane, for example rip a tire off the rim, or make a plane start skidding if the runway is contaminated. These VA "landing competitions" are not teaching virtual pilots good habits, it's mostly crap

Less than -100 is not really a great landing in my opinion. It's not a firm (safe) landing. A greased landing can do all sorts of nasty stuff to the plane, for example rip a tire off the rim, or make a plane start skidding if the runway is contaminated.

If the landing technique of the pilot is always proper (i.e., flare and throttle reduction techniques are correct and the aircraft touches down in the correct runway region at the correct speed without excessive flotation) and his or her landings manage to be consistently smooth, I don't think it is a problem, especially in good weather conditions. If the autopilot can land consistently within proper parameters at less than 100 ft/min (yes—the autolands of some aircraft tend to be firmer), I do not see why it would be a problem for a human pilot to do the same.

 

Now if the human pilot either consistently uses nonstandard techniques to "grease" landings or is unable to "grease" a landing in the proper touchdown zone each flight, that would be inappropriate and undesirable. But if you can do it consistently, properly, and safely, why not?

usually get in the 200's, but if your new at it, give it a while

Less than -100 is not really a great landing in my opinion. It's not a firm (safe) landing. A greased landing can do all sorts of nasty stuff to the plane, for example rip a tire off the rim, or make a plane start skidding if the runway is contaminated. These VA "landing competitions" are not teaching virtual pilots good habits, it's mostly crap

 

Agreed, rating landings based on how low your V/S was on touchdown is just stupid and leads to dangerous/silly landings and bad habits.

Agreed, rating landings based on how low your V/S was on touchdown is just stupid and leads to dangerous/silly landings and bad habits.

It is true that rating landings is quite foolish, especially when one bases his or her ranking on one variable—vertical speed—but I believe it is possible to develop good landing techniques that consistently result in smooth landings, as long as one is not too obsessive in his or her pursuit of a smooth landing every time. Please see my previous post as well.

So I have read all the posts as this topic is of great intrest to me.

So what i have done is save a flight with no weather on approach runway 27 EGGP i have done some auto lands just to watch how the auto pilot lands the plane i watched the landings from inside and out the aircraft to observe what the instruments are doing and out side to see what the aircraft is doing. I have been doing this for a little bit and have floated once or twice just needs some tweeking but im getting there time to add the weather soon should be fun.

i have done some auto lands just to watch how the auto pilot lands the plane i watched the landings from inside and out the aircraft to observe what the instruments are doing and out side to see what the aircraft is doing.

This is one effective method of learning proper landing technique, but make sure that you are not only trying to mimic visually the appearance and flight characteristics of the automated approach and landing, but understand what the autopilot is aiming for in order to achieve such a landing profile.

 

In other words, also read the FCTM to see in words and comprehend proper manual landing technique, and try to observe elements of it in autolands. You never want to follow or mimic a computer without knowing what it is doing and why it is doing it.

 

Flotation occurs frequently, even in the real world, but as long as you are able to land in the correct touchdown area, your landings will be acceptable.

Actually there are numbers for this which can be found in FAR Part 25.473: http://www.flightsimaviation.com/data/FARS/part_25-473.html

 

To sum it up:

 

10 fps up to MLW (600 fpm).

6 fps from MLW to MTOW (360 fpm).

 

If I recall correctly, these numbers can also be found on the Boeing website somewhere.

These are certification requirements, and are the minimum what the airplane must be able to withstand. Hard landings though!

 

I aim for vertical speed that is the same as Vref, i.e. if Vref is 140, I consider landing VS of 140fpm ideal. But anything less than Vref+1/2 is OK in my eyes, and anything up to Vref times 2 is acceptable. That is just my personal idea though.

 

Regarding VAs and landing rate "competition" I agree that it is overrated. One VA I am a member of, CSA Virtual started rating by landing in TDZ recently, a good idea in my opinion.

I aim for vertical speed that is the same as Vref, i.e. if Vref is 140, I consider landing VS of 140fpm ideal. But anything less than Vref+1/2 is OK in my eyes, and anything up to Vref times 2 is acceptable. That is just my personal idea though.

Interesting idea! As of right now, I would occasionally fail to meet such standards.

 

One VA I am a member of, CSA Virtual started rating by landing in TDZ recently, a good idea in my opinion.

I am currently struggling to balance touchdown position and touchdown vertical speed. I used to land far after the touchdown zone (i.e., where there were no more markers), but did not go around due to the lengths of the runways I used. Then I realized that it was easier flying visually from minimums with assistance from the PAPIs instead of following the FD until 100 ft (the latter of which is actually quite difficult).

 

Now I am landing almost perfectly on the aiming marker, although I will sometimes float a little. Isn't it annoying when you watch the replay and see your flare bring the landing gear beneath the runway, only to have inaccurate contact points allow flotation and extend landing distance? The problem is, while most of my landings are now in the correct touchdown zone, they are also mostly 200–300 ft/min, which would be quite firm, even for the B747.