I haven't felt this good about a landing for some time.. more about it later. A bit of a long story with the images, but this was a "proper" flight in so far as how I usually fly the big jets in FSX (load up a flight plan into FSX and have the stock ATC along for the ride and final vectoring... ). It was an experiment to see if the haters of the product are actually right and I should bin it as not fit for purpose (MY answer is most definitely not!!). Note I said haters of the product and not haters of the developer's way of handling their business. That is a totally different kettle of fish! 

Thanks to the excellent IMHO Pre Flight Manager, this DHL liveried A330 freighter is off to Shannon with a pretty hefty load of cargo, about 64 tons.. , just because I can and wanted to get some more flight time with the BBS 'Bus and see how she fares when close to MTOW. (Very well I think.) Note that this flight is carried out with an FS9 flightplan input into the MCDU via the Company Routes folder (also loaded into the stock FSX planner so I can get vectors into EINN), just so I can gradually get into FMS programming. Mind you, I have to shell out for a Navigraph subscription to get current data into the MCDU and not vintage 2012 data which it comes with...  so the FS9 plan is a good enough fudge until I do so.

I believe that EDDP is DHL's main European hub... although strangely quiet in my sim... (I hardly have any stock AI traffic switched on).

 

Lined up on 26L (MCDU defaulted to 04 ??? but it allowed me to change that. )

 

Goodbye Leipzig.. (I think I've got a texture missing despite installing all the libraries, allegedly..)

 

Feet wet! Flying over the North Sea, bound for Blighty, past what I believe are the Amsterdam Water Supply Dunes (the array of small lakes and channels near the coast).

 

Feet dry over England.🍻

 

... and about to go feet wet again over the Irish Sea. If you look just above the bottom seal of the window, between the pen and the shades, you might be able to make out Liverpool Airport..

 

Passing by the isle of Anglesey.

 

Descending over the Emerald Isle on the way to EINN.

 

So far so good! I was vectored on to an ILS approach for RWY24. The autopilot is getting us established on the localiser (I've only done a couple of visual landings prior to this). Not sure the actual course for the localiser is correct - sim or MCDU.. but it'll get me close enough for this flight (further experimentation needed).

 

Runway in site - get rid of the autopilot, but not the autothrottle  as per real life.

 

Touchdown! Now... can anyone tell me what is so wrong with the BBS Airbus in the way it acts? This is why I felt good about the landing as i mentioned at the beginning fo the post. I glanced at the PFD sings at the top of the display on my approach. From G/S it switched to LAND and then, just as I was panicking a little (stop faffing with the stick!!), it changed to FLARE as I was getting the height callouts 50...40...30... etc. I closed the throttles and pulled back on the stick a little and was greeted with ..10...... 10...  I floated a little! I assume that because I'd closed the throttles I didn't get the RETARD callout? Then down she went on the starboard main gear first, followed by the port mains. No bounce!  She didn't go into an unrecoverable 1000 plus f/pm plummet at any time. When I needed to flare, she responded to my stick input instantly. Now granted, I totally guessed at the approach speed: She's almost at max payload weight and carrying some excess fuel, so based on her nose up attitude all dirtied up then 145 knots seemed good to me.

Did I misuse the approach procedure, is the flare law still wrong in this bird and the 340? I wouldn't know. All I do know is that she stayed in the air for me and landed fine. Perhaps the secret was carrying a few knots extra speed (look at where the yellow line begins on the speed tape in the screenshot above..)?? No doubt real 'Bus drivers will scoff... and they are of course totally allowed to do so! I look forward to some discussion and education on the subject. 🍻

 

Shutdown at the ramp... Hello, little one! The 737 landed after I did. (NOTAM: Here I did find a flaw - the cargo doors do not open, only the front left and right cabin doors!! Not that this aspect bothers FS2020 users of course! )

 

Enjoy! I certainly did, trying to get used to this electric jet 

11 hours ago, HighBypass said:

Mind you, I have to shell out for a Navigraph subscription to get current data

It would be worth it. You could subscribe for 1 month only and then cancel. The navdata would be good for at least a year.

You and I are linked Mark. I am also giving my bus a chance and liking it more as I do (working around the bugs) .....wierdly my latest paint is Aer Lingus! 😄

1 hour ago, edetroit said:

I am also giving my bus a chance and liking it more as I do (working around the bugs) ..

So the Airsimmer product is not without its bugs then? Are they due to some FS9 constraints or ... just bugs? 

EDIT:

Quote

It would be worth it.

I guess so, as it will update the QW146 FMS data also..🍻

Edited October 27, 20205 yr by HighBypass

3 hours ago, HighBypass said:

So the Airsimmer product is not without its bugs then? Are they due to some FS9 constraints or ... just bugs? 

 

Not FS9 constraints....just bugs. The product was not ready for market. Shame as it had serious potential.

Yes, it was one of my favorite aircraft in FS9. 

 

Glad you're enjoying and learning from this A330F, Mark,...DHL looks good, here...!!

Hello Mark, how do you like the new mood lighting in the Aer Lingus bus? 

Love the DHL colors. So distinctive. Aer Lingus pretty nice too!

Nice mood lighting, Ed! Don't have that option in a freighter..