Flaps 35 on Majestic Q400

[jgutteri 2]

Hello All,

 

I'm a little confused as to the best flaps setting for landing this bird.  The sample flight tutorial says to land with flaps 15, and this in my opinion is the most stable flaps setting for landing.

 

When I try landing with flaps 35 she becomes very difficult to control, particularly with the speed.  

 

In real operations, do pilots land with flaps 15 or 35?

 

 

Thanks very much,

James

[airhauler 2]

Not a real world pilot...

 

But been landing with 15 degrees and can set it down pretty smooth

 

I know in the tutorial it says to leave power setting in until touchdown. 

 

Seems to help for me. Cause once I pull back on the power it drops like a rock

[shamrockflyer 647]

I set flaps to 35 earlier just to see how it would perform, as soon as I touched the ground it bounced violently like a basketball (I touched down pretty smooth to). Must be a bug because I'm sure that don't happen in the RW.

[jgutteri 2]

Yeah that bouncing happened to me too with 35 degrees, but not with 15.  If 15 is adequate for landing, I wonder why there is 35 degrees available?

[MarkW 1,490]

I am guessing for short runways or steep approaches like London City.

 

[regis9 4,004]

I wonder if the short runway at CYTZ requires the use of flaps 35?

[Avantime 81]

I am guessing for short runways or steep approaches like London City.

 

You're right, The Q400 do operate into some short fields. (YBHM in the Whitsundays is one) But if you're doing a long, stabilised 3 degree approach Flap 15 would suffice. Some airlines lock out the highest flap settings in other aircraft (except in an emergency) e.g. Flap 40 for the 727, Flap 42 for the Tristar.

 

Think:

More flap = more drag

more drag = more power required

more power = more fuel burn + noise

 

There are safety issues as well, for example the engines may be slow to spool-up in a go-around so they use high power settings during the approach, or the increased possibility of deep stall when the aircraft gets too slow with too much flap and too much excess drag.

[jgutteri 2]

Thanks for that, flaps 15 from now on it is!

[jgutteri 2]

Just heard from a real-world Dash-8 pilot that yes, Flaps 15 are used for most landings and 35 only for short runways

[Boeing or not going 578]

I'm about to fly a Luxair flight from ELLX-EGLC so my first time trying out Flaps 35 on a steep approach! I can't wait.

[Chris Smith 0]

I asked a Horizon Dash 8 pilot about what flaps are typically and he mentioned they always use 35 for landing and 15 for takeoff, per policy.

[Gregg_Seipp 565]

 

 

I set flaps to 35 earlier just to see how it would perform, as soon as I touched the ground it bounced violently like a basketball (I touched down pretty smooth to). Must be a bug because I'm sure that don't happen in the RW.

 

I hope that's a bug.  And I hope they look into it.  All the bouncing with this airplane.....

[ESzczesniak 128]

Forgot where I read it, but the rule of thumb was supposed to be flaps 15 >7,000' runmway and flaps 35 for <7,000' runway.

[~Craig~ 10]

FlyBE (largest Q400 operator in the world) use 15 for most landings, but 35 into places like LCY or Belfast City.   It's ultimately PIC discretion but 15 is used mostly.

After many, many hours of practice, I land with flaps 35 regularly - never with a bounce.  Sorry guys but I really think it's a lot more likely to be technique related with this bird, than a "bug".

 

If you land in the Dash with the wrong profile (wrong speed, wrong descent rate,  wrong attitude, wrong retard timing; you will bounce.      Simple as that.

[shamrockflyer 647]

I hope that's a bug.  And I hope they look into it.  All the bouncing with this airplane.....

That was some time ago I posted. I have used the MJ Dash 8 recently and cannot see any problems with such violent bouncing. I think one of the suspects causing the bouncing is likely that the aircraft is built outside of FSX, correct me if I'm wrong.