6 minutes ago, El Diablito said:

Last week flying into Milan was the choppiest I've ever had, it was a lot of fun.

MSFS weather needs to attain and maintain that level. There's a reason no one likes flying in rough air, it's a workout🤣. So this one time, a friend and I were doing touch and goes in a C-141B. We were having a blast because we had a stiff crosswind with some bumps fighting with crosswind controls. Once done, we were emboldened to run over to the aero club on base and take up a piper arrow😶. On the first approach for the option, he was fighting for his life on the controls. We were both like 😨😰. I was afraid we were going to get tossed upside down or roll that thing during the touch and go. He was wrestling a hippo on the way down and I wanted no parts of it! He gave me a look and I said, "I'll request a full stop". I think I pooped my pants that day. What a difference of response between a heavy and a light GA aircraft😬 

28 minutes ago, G550flyer said:

He was wrestling a hippo on the way down and I wanted no parts of it! He gave me a look and I said, "I'll request a full stop". I think I pooped my pants that day. What a difference of response between a heavy and a light GA aircraft😬

My lord, I had a good laugh there 😂 

Just remembered I downloaded some weather presets from .to the other day, to set I.e. low vis conditions. I think they also include wind and turbulence. And you can get some decent looking cumulonimbus. Or perhaps some altocumulus floccus if you fancy 🤔

Edited March 20, 20242 yr by Cpt_Piett

6 minutes ago, Cpt_Piett said:

My lord, I had a good laugh there 😂 

That was the first and probably the only time I've been afraid in an airplane🤣

2 hours ago, G550flyer said:

That was the first and probably the only time I've been afraid in an airplane🤣

Mine was my first cross-country where I thought I had drifted off course and got flustered. My first waypoint was a dried-up salt lake in a rather featureless landscape near Albury, AU. I was genuinely scared of getting lost and running out of fuel, wrecking the Tomahawk. Needless to say I didn’t bring a GPS with me that day. Oh, and my first solo when I kept getting sequenced behind regional airliners on approach into Coffs Harbour 😨 I still remember feeling so tiny and insignificant in the 152.

Other than that just pure bliss! Memorable moment: low-flying over cattle near the outback. Oh, and landing on a dirt strip and getting a huge grasshopper into the cockpit just after touchdown! Besides not being able to see anything for a few secs due to all the dust…

Forget the above: best moment by far was in the Archer after a quick checkride then getting clearance to fly a Sydney Harbour sightseeing trip. Requirement: below 500ft eastbound over Botany Bay in order to fly well below the descending airliners 🤩 Sadly my 3 passengers suffered tremendously with air sickness due to the turbulent air (rising thermals, very common down under). That’s when those sickness bags come in handy 🤢 Sadly they got so unwell I had to return to base and miss out on Sydney Harbour 😢

Miss those days. Never got past PPL though. Biggest aircraft was the Sundowner. Favorite: Piper Archer.

Oh well, quickly entering hangar chat territory. 

Edited March 20, 20242 yr by Cpt_Piett

6 minutes ago, Cpt_Piett said:

Mine was my first cross-country where I thought I had drifted off course and got flustered. My first waypoint was a dried-up salt lake in a rather featureless landscape near Albury, AU. I was genuinely scared of getting lost and running out of fuel, wrecking the Tomahawk. Needless to say I didn’t bring a GPS with me that day. Oh, and my first solo when I kept getting sequenced behind regional airliners on approach into Coffs Harbour 😨

Other than that just pure bliss! Memorable moment: low-flying over sine cattle. Oh, and landing on a dirt strip and getting a huge grasshopper into the cockpit just after touchdown!

Miss those days. Never got past PPL though.

Good times! Getting lost and caught in bad weather are two of the big ones lol.

3 hours ago, G550flyer said:

I planned to be at 133KTS and fully configured by G/S intercept.

I’ve finally learned this lesson thanks to this thread and applied it to the EGLC situation. Earlier I was constantly chasing behind the aircraft, going down 5.5 slopes at 240kts, thinking I would somehow be able to catch up with the aircraft in time… Just need to slow down a bit to get to flaps1… No more. This thread has proven more valuable than I had imagined🙏 

Edited March 20, 20242 yr by Cpt_Piett

3 minutes ago, Cpt_Piett said:

I’ve finally learned this lesson thanks to this thread and applied it to the EGLC situation. Before I was constantly chasing behind the aircraft, going down 5.5 slopes at 240kts, thinking I would somehow be able to catch up with the aircraft in time… No more. This thread has proven more valuable than I had imagined🙏 

That's awesome! If my tips can help, I'm glad to share. In my approach at 133, the speed never got above 136 on that 5.5 slope.

53 minutes ago, G550flyer said:

pick up that 3.0 degree path

5.5 degrees!

For rwy 09 approach (the one with the fantastic views), aircraft are cleared down to the initial 2,300 ft MSA south of the airfield, which most achieve when abeam the threshold on the downwind leg. This is to ensure separation from the descending EGLL westerly arrivals above. (Yes, quite often you can have westerly EGLL approaches and easterly EGLC ones).

Reduce speed, throw the gear and landing flaps out and hold your altitude through base leg and on final until ILS captured.

Descent on the glide path begins just before the Isle of Dogs peninsula / Canary Wharf complex at 3.4 DME, with a restriction of not below 1,290 before 2.1 DME.

Flare at ~55 ft AGL.

 

Exactly right about not being behind the aircraft. A lot of events need to occur in very quick succession to have a stable and less stressful approach.

 

Sorry, I seem to have gone on for a bit longer than I expected... 😅

Alongside the visual approaches onto rwy 13L at KJFK or onto rwy 20L at SBRJ, it's a favourite of mine!

25 minutes ago, G550flyer said:

That's awesome! If my tips can help, I'm glad to share. In my approach at 133, the speed never got above 136 on that 5.5 slope.

Please don’t ever leave this thread 🤓 The MCDU recommended 142kts IIRC. I was coming in with about 64.2 tones I think. Perhaps I should’ve gone lower (was hand-flying the approach) as I was well above the… what is it called, yellow zone, I forget.. Good advice re: not always relying on the FMC/MCDU though!

As I’m typing this, I’ve got my TBM850 in a hold near ENRA for several hours. Should probably do another mid-air refuel as right now this thread is more interesting than trying to master that difficult approach!

20 minutes ago, F737MAX said:

Sorry, I seem to have gone on for a bit longer than I expected... 😅

I tend to fall into that trap at least once on Avsim nowadays! 😅

Edited March 20, 20242 yr by Cpt_Piett

2 hours ago, G550flyer said:

If you haven't hand flown in true rough air, KCOS will make you a believer. I had a FA hit the ceiling and smash back down during a descent into KCOS. She had to go to the hospital after landing for a sprained ankle. This happened after delaying for 2 hours due to severe low level windshear at KCOS.         

This is so right! I live right near Co. Springs and KCOS is my home airport when traveling. Every time I fly into KCOS I am concerned that my flight could get delayed for high winds, clouds or fog engulfing the airport and dropping visibility super low, or just plain crazy winter weather. Oh, and let's not forget the fire season and potential for smoke. It's always an adventure flying in and out of KCOS, that is for sure 😁

31 minutes ago, F737MAX said:

Exactly right about not being behind the aircraft. A lot of events need to occur in very quick succession to have a stable and less stressful approach.

Yup, everything happens too fast while the aircraft continuously yelling “glideslope, glideslope, too low and pull up!”. Highly stressful, very easy to get overwhelmed/flustered.

31 minutes ago, F737MAX said:

Flare at ~55 ft AGL.

Looking back, I think this was how I was able to do it on the 2nd attempt. An early flare to reduce VS from 1200 to 40-50. And not doing this on 1st attempt is the reason I failed disastrously with my 900fpm touchdown, completely ignoring “pull up!!”. Me: no way, I’m bringing her down, shut up 😀😆

I needed to dust off flight recorder as one can never watch a successful landing too many times, lol 

Edited March 20, 20242 yr by Cpt_Piett

44 minutes ago, F737MAX said:

Alongside the visual approaches onto rwy 13L at KJFK

Do that one on a dark and windy night in a jumbo and I guarantee it won’t be your favourite for much longer 🙈😀

26 minutes ago, F737MAX said:

5.5 degrees!

😁We were talking about unrealistically flying aircraft into EGLC that are NOT certified for the 5.5 degree approach. I also posted early on that you can deal with steep and unusual approaches by making them normal at some point if possible. I then gave a quick example of doing that in a unrealistic situation. I flew the 5.5 slope down to the minimums, adjusted slightly and then picked up a 3 degree very short final to describe an example. Of course you wouldn't do this real world if you must maintain that slope visually. For example, the LDA X Rwy 8 at PAJN. It's a 3.69 visual angle, but you can adjust your aimpoint to make it more normal once clear of the hill. But, it does say you have to maintain the 3.69 visual angle at night until the threshold. Another good one is KASE to 15. It is a 6.59 slope down to MDA and there are minimum points along that path until MDA. Once visual, you can adjust to make it more normal. This means getting lower after MDA once visual. There is also a visual approach where you can come over low terrain and maneuver to become normal if you have the weather. I'm most familiar with those one because I've flown three types of Gulfstreams into KASE without issue. The instrument approaches do state not authorized at night because you have to be visual. At the end of the day, landing is a visual maneuver lol😁   

@G550flyer based on what you're saying above, would you agree that deviating from glide path in the EGLC example (i.e. sneaking below it) is a sensible thing to do? It seems to me that a reasonable landing is not possible without doing so. I always get nervous by those glideslope and too low callouts... I'm willing to comply with pull up though 😉 

Edited March 20, 20242 yr by Cpt_Piett

35 minutes ago, G550flyer said:

😁We were talking about unrealistically flying aircraft into EGLC that are NOT certified for the 5.5 degree approach.

If you come in at the more usual 3º you'll be waving at all the bankers sat in Canada Square and Churchill Place, though I doubt they'll be waving back in a friendly manner!! 😜

LSGS, KASE and KSBS are some interesting alternatives if EGLC isn't sufficiently challenging.