I've been using the Airbus X Extended for my Drukair company on Air Hauler. I almost always manually bring in and land my planes (unless conditions do not permit), and I usually get -50 to -200 touchdown FPM on manual landings with all my PMDG aircraft, MJC Dash 8 Q400, and SimCheck A300B4.

 

The problem I am getting is when I land the AXE, I have trouble getting good landings. I usually end up having long landings because when the plane tells me to flare, I flare but usually end up flaring too much and hovering off the runway for a lot longer than desired, risking a MAP or an excursion. I'm used to doing the conventional landing techniques and don't really do much flaring on my landings.

 

Does anyone have any advice for me on flaring in the AXE or any efficient drills I can do to improve my landing skills in the Airbuses?

 

Thanks,

Nathan3219

Hi Nathan,

 

Two things you could look at (especially relevent to the ballooning, or delayed landing you're seeing) :-

 

• Try retarding at 50 or 40' instead of the 20' call.   Real A32X pilots do this sometimes, as the 20' call is the 'last call', or the 'do it now!' warning.
• Try a little less backpressure on your joystick when flaring at 20-50'.

 

Good luck!

Hi Nathan,

 

Two things you could look at (especially relevent to the ballooning, or delayed landing you're seeing) :-

 

• Try retarding at 50 or 40' instead of the 20' call.   Real A32X pilots do this sometimes, as the 20' call is the 'last call', or the 'do it now!' warning.
• Try a little less backpressure on your joystick when flaring at 20-50'.

 

Good luck!

 

Just tried your advice flying VGHS-VQPR route in the A320. Worked out great! :smile:

 

Retarding the throttles at 40 really helped me get this baby down and remove the "ballooning" as you called it. For the flaring I'm just going to flare like I do in the NGX, Q400, and A300B4 and I think I'll be fine. I must of been overthinking the whole "flaring" concept in the A320, instead of just landing it like any other plane.

 

Thanks,

Nathan3219

My problem is exactly the opposite. About 40 ft AGL she sort of falls out of the sky;landing at 300-500 FPM

You have to catch the nose down movement in time at 50 ft. I don't know if this happens in real life. I also wonder if the trim reset on TD should be after the nose wheel touches down or like it is now when the main gear touches down resulting in quite an aggressive nose td.

 

Once I've cleared all obstacles I dip down a little and come in a little lower so I have more room to pitch up.

The real aircraft does indeed impart a nose down action at 50', although whether the AXE is overstating it is worth considering. I tend to retard throttles at 40' and invoke just a small moment of backpressure on the joystick, followed by restoring it to it's neutral position, and that will usually give a nice, defined landing without ballooning or slamming it! :lol:

 

Now whilst I'm not making this into an AXE vs BBS thread (as I am learning to love the BBS alongside my beloved AXE), the BBS hand flying overall feels more realistic (lighter and more responsive) but the BBS's floating tendency is huuuuge; anything more than a tiny tweak back on the stick, and the BBS will float forever before touching town.

 

It's hard to say which does it better, but one thing is for sure, they are both very different in their feel.

Can't comment on the BBS but the nose down effect of the AAX is confirmed by RW Airbus pilots not to be too strong, but rather to be started just a little bit to abruptly.: http://forum.aerosoft.com/index.php?/topic/68604-reduce-pitch-down-attitude-during-flare/?p=489216

Ah cool, that sounds about right  :good: