777 / 757 Flying Technique Question

[dkohl 0]

This is not a technical support question, its a piloting question. I have been practicing manual approaches and landing on both these fine aircraft. But I notice that I cannot seem to keep the aircraft pitched at what appears to be a realistic nose-up angle during final approach. I always seem to have a significant (maybe 10-degrees) nose-up attitude for the last 20 or so miles prior to touchdown. I'm trying to drop my speed toward landing Flaps-25 or Flaps-30 REF speed so that by the time I'm about to touchdown, I have slowed appropriately. But as I transition from clean to Flaps-1, 5 and so on, the plane continues to require more and more nose-up trim to keep a reasonable descent speed.I fly frequently (in real life) and watch planes come in for landings often. They typically appear to have a very near-horizontal pitch as they approach, and in some cases, even look as though they have a slight nose-down attitude until the final thousand feet prior to touchdown (or so). Thus, I feel I am not appropriately using the combination of thrust and wing configuration to accurately control the aircraft during the slower final approaches.I would appreciate some tips from an experienced pilot, or someone who had found the better techniques. NOTE: I've read the manuals extensively and while they are excellent, have not found them to be specific enough on this aspect of approach and landing to help.Thanks.-DK---David KohlFly! II v2.5.240Dell 8200 P4/1.8G, 1024MB RAM, Nvidia GF4 Ti4600 v41.09, WinXP Home Edition SP1.CH Pro Pedals and Yoke USB.

[rodger 0]

Good question David,I have experienced the same. Can anybody help?Rodger

[Guest Josve]

Have you tried to change the Center of gravity?Johnny"I'LL BE BACK"[div align=center]http://www.avsim.com/hangar/fly/josve/zone.jpg ][/div

[dkohl 0]

Yes. In fact, I'm often having trouble balancing the plane b/c I have too much weight in the front. I assume when the "slider" is all the way to the left, there is a lot of weight in the front. So it would seem to me that I would have the opposite problem.-DK----David KohlFly! II v2.5.240Dell 8200 P4/1.8G, 1024MB RAM, Nvidia GF4 Ti4600 v41.09, WinXP Home Edition SP1.CH Pro Pedals and Yoke USB.

[Guest jcomm]

BTW: Has aircraft behaviour (AUTOPILOT OFF) been tunned for 1 engine out operations?In the IGW777 I could shutdown one of the engines and the airplane would keep flying almost straight ahead, no compensation being required, and independently of the flight phase: Takeoff, Climb, Cruise or Descent...Is this the same in the B757?

[dkohl 0]

No idea. Never tried it. You should ask this in the PMDG forum - the development team may be able to tell you how they modeled the aircraft better than here.That said, this question was a bit off topic. I was hoping to understand better how to actually fly this plane correctly. Assuming the flight dynamics are fairly accurately modeled, how does one control the approach and landing speed such that the plane's tendency to pitch heavily nose up is reduced?-DK----David KohlFly! II v2.5.240Dell 8200 P4/1.8G, 1024MB RAM, Nvidia GF4 Ti4600 v41.09, WinXP Home Edition SP1.CH Pro Pedals and Yoke USB.

[Guest jrewing]

Hi David,I've not flown jet aircraft nor have I used the PMDG planes with FlyII, but I'm a flight instructor and I have some suggestions that might help.Carrying a 10 degree nose up pitch from 20 miles out sounds uncomfortable. Does the nose up attitude result from reducing power and pitching the nose up to maintain a slower airspeed or are you starting to configure flaps at 20 miles out?The key to a good landing in most any plane is a stabilized approach. Gradually add flaps so that by the time you reach the final approach fix (about 4 miles from the runway), you have all your flaps configured and are slightly above your Vref speed.Drop the gear as you cross the FAF and adjust pitch and power to maintain Vref + 10 knots with a 500' to 700' per minute descent rate - whatever will keep you on a 3 degree glideslope. If an ILS is available, use it to guide your adjustments. Since the FAF is 4 miles or so from the runway, getting in landing configuration just before that point will give you time to get things stabilized as you approach the threshold. Keep adjusting power and pitch to cross the threshold at the recommended crossing height and at or slightly above Vref.It is possible to add flaps or drop the gear after crossing the FAF, but doing so usually requires much more skill to keep the plane stabilized.Hope that helps ...John