Hi Alex,While you were going-around did another plane land on that runway? Is there a runway nearby that had planes landing on it?Thanks,Jimhttp://www.hifisim.com/banners/hifi-community-sigbanner.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/

Hi, Jim-Thanks for taking time to reply.There were no takeoffs or landings at the airport at all during my go-around. I heard nothing on the comms, and would have noticed visually if there had been any other traffic. Only the 737 which was also going around. It vectored west, while I turned east into pattern.The only other airports remotely close are untowered GA facilities with asphalt runways under 5000 feet. --------------------------------------------------------As I've thought about this today, I'm thinking more and more about the wake turbulence theory, since I had two encounters on my initial approach. Is ASX that good that it produces BOTH vortices? I have really enjoyed this product, and knew that it could produce wake turbulence, but I'm REALLY impressed if it does this, even though it got me.

Hi Alex,If by "both" you mean from the plane and then near the ground, then yes it is possible. We spent quite a bit of time on this since ASv6.Thanks,Jimhttp://www.hifisim.com/banners/hifi-community-sigbanner.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/

I'm still burned by a landing in Bar Harbor, Maine in FS2002. I was on final in a Dash 8 with about a 15 knot wind just a few degrees left of the runway heading. With me near stall speed and at about 100 feet agl, the wind swivelled 180 degree to just off my tail at about 25 knots. To say I landed a bit short would be an understatement.Anyway, FS2002 was infamous for those drastic wind shifts. It stil bugs me though.Thanks for your story and good luck with the trip.BlairCYOW

Hi, Jim-I sure don't understand all about vortices, because in my mind I was thinking there would be one from each wing. Is the one near the ground a reflection, and can they stick around for, say, oh, the time it takes to go around the pattern again?

Definitely from each wing. I believe the larger planes wake can last 4 minutes or so.Jimhttp://www.hifisim.com/banners/hifi-community-sigbanner.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/

Well, this is incredible!Decided to resume flying today. I just finished a leg from Sydney to Melbourne (YMEN). Cleared to land runway 26... number three behind a pair of BAe 146-300's. Uh-oh, deja vu all over again! Not to mention there was a 737 on approach to Melbourne Int'l. nearby.I considered my options. I confess, my first thought was to go around, except I could hear so much approaching traffic that I figured I would only delay the inevitable. I remembered I had more than 6000 feet of runway to work with, and since there was five miles separation between each of us, I decided to continue my approach. Came in clean, fast, and a bit high; noticed where the jet ahead of me touched down. Sure enough, about four miles out, my plane began to roll, so I knew the wake was there (thank you for that, Jim!). Got it under control after rolling 10 degrees or so for maybe five seconds... increased altitude a bit... and held my breath as I continued on final.I landed past the jet's touchdown point, but otherwise uneventfully.YEE-HAWWWWW! My (simulated) piloting skills just went up a notch, I think.What a great learning experience over the last 24 hours (although I would not want to have learned THAT way for real)! There's definitely more "reality" in FSX than I knew.OK, I think I'll go back to enjoying my hobby again. Signing off...

Thank you for one of the most interesting posts I've read in a long time. It's nice when folks talk about flying here - not framerates!Colin in PDX

Well, to be honest, I wasn't trying to necessarily generate interest or be melodramatic when I posted about my failed landing in Cairns.Traditionally, I have flown airliners, but for some reason I found my interest had waned (even after being quite successful with LDS 767). SO, decided to have a go at GA flying. Didn't take long to figure out there were different challenges involved, and my interest returned as I grew to embrace learning how to manage the airplane instead of managing the computers that manage the airplane.I was genuinely disheartened when I made my original post. I didn't understand where I had gone wrong, and just had to get it out somehow. Having the sim basically recreate the scenario so soon basically blew my mind, and my feelings of triumph when I landed successfully were something I had to get out as well.Having said all this, I'm like you: I enjoy reading about flying. Maybe that is what the AVSIM Flight School forum is for, and maybe this post belonged there. It seems to me though that most questions there are data/facts type, and less about the "art" of flying.I, too would like to read more posts like that. Don't know if there is enough interest for some other sub-forum here, or if it even makes sense.

Alex, that's an interesting account:) An accident when you

Well, I agree with one thing: it's all about the checklists. So easy to get complacent. That and monitoring everything that needs it. Sometimes I wish I had a stopwatch with an alarm to prompt me at certain intervals so I don't forget things like fuel levels.

There are some excellent video examples of wing tip vortex on the 'net. The one below is from a NASA test with a L-1011. Others can be found by searching GOOGLE for "wing tip vortex".

The most "personal" encounter I ever had with one in real life outside my actual flying was while playing golf! I was at a golf course in Colorado Springs (while in the Air Force) that was about 2 miles north of KCOS. Approaches to runway 17R passed right over the course. A B-737 had passed overhead on final, and about a minute after, one of my fellow golfers said, "What the heck is that?" as he pointed to a lake next to the hole we were playing. It was a calm day...almost zero wind...and the lake was "smooth"...except you could see this "rippling effect" moving across the lake towards us. It reached the shore of the lake, then we got hit with the wind from it. It was a wing tip vortex that had dropped to the ground, then travelled horizontally to us. Just like a small horizontal tornado. I was very surprised at the strength of it, and immediately thought that if I was in an airplane, it would have rolled the airplane quite easily.

And that is what ASX can model!Jimhttp://www.hifisim.com/banners/hifi-community-sigbanner.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/

Did either you or sirocco turn off your auto-pilots just prior to the uncommanded roll? Just curious, http://www.my-buddy-icon.com/Icons/objects/red_3d_plane.gifAlex ChristoffN562ZBaltimore, MD

This was a visual approach... no autopilots involved.BTW, the animated GIF in your sig gives me a feeling of deja vu all over again. *:-*