F18 Spinout

[Guest Zelensta]

Sometimes, when I land an F18 and hit the brakes, it starts spinning out (usually to the left) . Am I doing something wrong (I raise the air brake)? It hasn't always been doing this, only recently.

[greggerm 312]

Stop landing with shredded tires!

How fast are you going when you touch down? Are you pointing directly down the runway, or do you have any angles going on? Any crosswinds you need to correct for?And the brakes - are you using rudder pedals or a single button for both brakes?Take a no wind, veeery slow and stable landing, and see if it does it. Add in some crosswinds, add in some more speed... see what starts to make it happen.The speedbrake shouldn't cause any problems like that. -Greg

[Guest Zelensta]

I usually land at 170-210.Yeah, I use one button for the brakes, and I don't touch the rudder.

[sbclark 55]

Hi,I've experienced the same issue.....it is all over the runway. Started a forum thread a few weeks back about it.....never got a good solution for it. The only workaround is to appy braking, and the second it starts to swerve right or left, release the brakes until you can straighten out with your rudders.I personally believe it is a flight model issue, although others have not experienced this problem.Your landing speed seems high, should be able to approach around 150 to 160 knots, and land around 140 knots.Bill

[Guest RonB49]

I am experiencing the same problem but have not found a solution. My dad had a saying that expresses it well, "As graceful as a hog on ice."At first I thought it was because I was landing in a severe (24 knot) crosswind but then I chose the clear weather and no winds theme and it was still a handful. I'm tweaking on the aircraft.cfg file but I haven't found gold yet.R-

[Great Ozzie 101]

A number of posts on this topic at: http://www.fsdreamteam.com/forum/index.php?topic=284.0Several are having a tough time... maybe there is something with the flight model... I mean the mains are fairly close together and maybe with the combination of the CG location and possibly having a lateral moment like one brake is slightly more effective than the other (don't ask me how and I certainly don't subscribe to that theory) or more likely..."Wheelbarrowing" from: High Landing Speed, Too much brake and/or the stick not being full aft (or even forward to "keep" the aircraft on the runway!) which sets up a "tricycle gear ground loop". The F/A-18 does use a stabilator, which, IRL makes an aircraft equipped with such typically more prone to wheelbarrowing (due to increased control effectiveness).Pitch to keep an "Onspeed" indication in the AOA Indexer and Power to stay on glideslope (VASI, PAPI, LAR {Looks About Right} or whatever) and full flaps to reduce landing speed. Remember, Groundspeed X 6 = fpm descent rate for a nice, gentle ~3 degree descent.Mains touch... Deploy the Speedbrake and stick full aft to keep the nose wheel off as long as possible. Light, judicious use of the brakes (don't stand on them), keep the stick aft... and you should be "OK". "Onspeed" AOA indication will be ~155kts in the FSX Hornet w/ Full Fuel. You can probably reduce that by about 2kts for every 1000lbs decrease in weight (Select MENU then FPAS in one of the DDI's to see current weight). But the AOA Indexer will tell you

[Dewey 0]

Rob, by your formula, the faster your ground speed, the greater your rate of descent. I don't believe that's correct. Or do I misunderstand your meaning?Dewey

[Great Ozzie 101]

Yes sir (or ma'am :-) ) that is correct... the faster your Groundspeed, the faster you will have to descend IF you are maintaining a fixed glideslope angle.Go to: http://www.analyzemath.com/Calculators/Polar_Rect.htmlR = Airspeed (say 155kts)t = Glideslope (3 degrees, your choice of course)Then click "Enter"x = Groundspeedy = Rate of Descent in NM/hr so in this example...fpm = 8.1 * 6076ft/NM * 1hr/60min (or just 8x100 as you can see 6076/60 = ~101)So at that airspeed, 800+ fpm I think is going to test the limit of the gear (especially if attempting a carrier trap where you don't flare to land). It took me some time to figure out that the full fuel loadout in the Carrier Practice mission is way too much (imo, just for that above reason). Currently I don't like launching with more than 3000lbs to do the 5 traps (I dump fuel before 1st launch). Resulting Onspeed AOA is roughly 130 to 135kts (or even less... it all depends on the weight) so now when I trap, I no longer see the shower-o-sparks from the Nose trying to remove the non-skid from the flight deck (that is... if the gear doesn't break first).So GS*5 or GS*6... I have read both... either/or will put you close to a 3 degree glideslope... which, of course, you'll fine tune; but that will put you in the ballpark. :-DBtw I think the actual no. is GS*5.3 or 5.4 (for a 3 degree glideslope), but I can't do double digit*triple digit in my head unless there are a lot of zeros involved. :-SRob O.

[Guest fsxmissionguy]

What I'd like some of these folks to do is show us some video of their landings (with Shift-Z info displayed).Something along these lines:http://youtube.com/watch?v=pFXH7X1d6YwI am unable, in a proper speed landing, to induce the wild steering mentioned by these folk. Not saying it's not happening, just that it's not happening to me.Cheers,Kevin

[Great Ozzie 101]

Someone posted this "braking test" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AfQhXRTxAw which I don't really see as a valid comparison because...Just because one can't ground loop a B737 or Lear doesn't mean it can't be done with another aircraft.I posted a video response to his test... I am convinced it is due wheelbarrowing and an induced moment (from the pilot). You can see in his video the increased force on the nose from heavy braking. Also can be seen in mine (as is 100% brakes from 155+ to 0kts) esp. when I input full forward stick (to *increase* down force on the nose wheel to increase the wheelbarrow in hopes of inducing a Ground loop). If I input side-stick, yes I can initiate the slide, but then... that is my fault as I am using (even more) improper technique.Rob O.

[Guest fsxmissionguy]

Rob,Your video response just about says it all, I should think.Not sure what's going on with these guys' equipment (or skilz) ... but the flight model seems pretty solid to me.

[Snowfalcon 18]

Seems to be a problem with the runway landing only. If you trap it's not going to be a problem as you won't have any rollout. The FM seems Ok but after you land the aircraft isn't flying anymore. This has been a problem with other FS aircraft in the past as well.