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Training Pages
Landing Lesson
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Engine start/stop:
Throttle:
Rudder:
Brakes:
Landing gear up/down:
Flaps: |
[E]
Increase throttle [+] - Decrease throttle [-]
Left rudder [A] - Centre rudder [S] - Right rudder [D]
[SPACEBAR]
[G]
Fully down [Q] - Fully up [W]
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- Choose an aircraft and field from the Select menu. Ensure that you have enough fuel, take off, and fly out a few miles. Don't go above 5,000 feet above ground level.
- Around three to five miles out (you should be able to zoom the map to see how the runways line up, or use your printed maps), turn and line up with the airfield.
- Fly to the field - descending to 2,000 feet above ground level (AGL). The most important thing here is to set up a good approach - if you're inexperienced, a bad approach will screw up your landing.
- Reduce your power to about 25% and hold your altitude - your speed will start to bleed off.
- Fly over the runway - at mid field with power off (or 25%), break turn 90 degrees to the left. You should be down to 1000 AGL.
- Fly out for about half a mile or a count of five, and then break left 90 degrees and enter a downwind leg.
- Drop your gear (the two 90 degree break turns at low power should have bled your speed down to a reasonable gear speed). Abeam the numbers, drop some flaps. The flaps (in effect) alter the shape of the wing and create more drag (to slow you down), and lift (to enable you to fly slower without stalling). When you lower the flaps, the nose of your aircraft will drop slightly. Be ready to counter this with stick back, and keep the aircraft in a gentle (500 feet per minute) descent.
- Turn 90 degrees onto the base leg and continue your 500 fpm descent. Add more flaps. Look out the left window and time your turn to final. Once you get a rhythm down, this will work as one fluid 270 degree turn from entry to downwind all the way through, rolling out on final.
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Control your rate of descent with your THROTTLE, not with your elevators:
- Close the throttle to lose altitude, or increase your rate of descent.
- Open the throttle to gain altitude, or decrease your rate of descent.
Control your speed with your elevators:
- Pull back on the stick to slow down.
- Push forward on the stick to speed up.
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- As you cross the runway threshold, you should be at about 50 feet and 100mph. All you need to do is drop the aircraft gently onto the runway.
You do this by pulling back gently on the stick, which causes the aircraft to slow down and sink, and also sets the aircraft in the correct attitude for landing. This is called flaring
If you are sinking too fast, add just enough power to arrest the sink rate, but do not begin a climb.
- As the plane touches down, stop the engine, and start braking.
- Steer the aircraft to a complete stop on the runway and exit the plane.
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When you are flying online, many landings are not carried out as described in the procedure above. There are various practical reasons for this, like running out of fuel, engine damage, landing under fire, or most often, simply because you've cocked up the approach, and you're too eager to land and replane.
Most times this is when you've made the approach too fast, too high, or coming in at an angle to the runway.
These situations are things that you will learn in practice, but you'll be able to perfect some of these offline.
Once you've mastered the normal landing, practice coming in at an angle, or too fast or high. The controls you'll find the most useful here are the flaps, throttle, and brakes.
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More Info and Related Links
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Landing Lesson
Aircraft Instrument Panel
Aircraft Control Surfaces
Trimming your Aircraft in WarBirds
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Mail the KrodMaster
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