Is it just me or the landings are much harder ?

[itael]

Hi Everyone,

First of all let me congratulate Dan and the team for an outstanding Addon to the Flight Simulator community.
This is by far the best addon I ever installed ...

Now for a question that is not a real problem,
I find the landings to be very hard ... and I have done tons of them in the past in Flight Simulator but without FSP ...
Now a simple landing in a B737-800 (PMDG) with a good Center of Gravity (loaded the aircraft through the manager) and only 40% total
fuel left , is very hard ... I find it hard to keep a decent descent of 500fpm ... and I always come nose high ... has anyone else found the
landings a little different with FSP installed ?
I only flew 3 flights with the 737 in FSP so far , I have'n't found the time to try different aircraft ...
Your input would be appreciated.

Thanks ,
Itai

[l2005ynx]

Hi,
No I dont think its just you because Im having the same problem. Ive tried several 737 flights, all with different models, from the default
through to addons, and all have been hard landings with hard to control decents etc. I thought/think it might be the way im loading the
plane but im not entirely convinced of this. I did post a thread in support about it last night but didn,t really get a positive answer. Its a
great prouduct like you say but ive been landing 737's with my eyes closed for years now, but with FSP im getting increasingly frustrated.
Maybe someone could enlighten us here as to why landings are causing us these problems.

Many thanks.................Gary

[DanSteph]

FsP don't touch anything to the aircraft handling

Anyway pay attention to the fact that an heavier aircraft
may require a bit different handling, also you may consider
having the CG indicator in front instead of just middle.
(that's special with PMDG aircraft)

I think that CG trick should do the job....

Dan



Post Edited ( 07-11-05 12:36 )

[Andedrunkard]

i could never land the things anyway!

Funny when the copilot tells you "check your decent rate" - im always in spot view when landing as cant see anything in cockpit. plus
means i dont hear any shouting from the pax in the back!!

[SWAFO]

If anything, I think the landings feel more difficult with FSP, because I'm under more "stress" to have a perfect landing. That is FSP's
goal. To add a sense of responsibility to FS2004. This could be the reason you feel the landings are more difficult as well. It's a
psychological thing.

I don't know though, just my 2 cents.

[itael]

Well , reading all the responses I guess I should just practice landing without FSP and then land with FSP and see if there is a
difference
Myabe it is a CG thing , which brings me to the next question ...

The CG to be "optimal" for a stable plane is dead Center right ? (sorry if it's too silly)

Itai

[briansommers]

yes i think it might be the cg, now i have not flown the pmdg 737 ng with fsp yet,
i did however fly the pmdg b1900c passenger and freighter versions and i will tell you that it was oscilating all over the place on landing,
the thing i did to fix it was to go into the ini editor and set all stations to 0,0 and that took care of it

try moving them forward and see

[Tord Hoppe]

itael wrote:
Well , reading all the responses I guess I should just practice landing without FSP and then land with FSP and see if there is a
difference
Myabe it is a CG thing , which brings me to the next question ...

The CG to be "optimal" for a stable plane is dead Center right ? (sorry if it's too silly)

Itai

Nothing silly at all, but actually the Center of Gravity or Center of Mass is not in the same spot as the Center of Lift. A plane in that
configuration would be unstable. As you know lift is the opposing force to gravity, when the two are equal the plane is stable in the vertical plane.
The center of lift is usually (AFAIK) behind the center of mass in most planes which means that the tailplane, which also exerts a force, is actually
pulling the tail down. Should the tail brake off the plane will pitch downwards since the lift is behind the centre of mass and therefore lifts the
aft of the plane. There are obviously aircraft models where the opposite is true, but the result is the same. It´s very important to have a correct
centre of mass (handled by loading the plane). Let´s say that the aircraft is loaded very noseheavy. The takeoff speed is just enough so that the
airspeed over the tailplane builds enough force to balance the downward force of the centre of mass. Should you then land with the same weight and at
a lower speed there is a chance that the tailplanes pulling force is not enough to counter the CoM pull and the plane will pitch down with potentially
disastrous results.
Hope this abbreviated text is of some use. Since english isn´t my first language I may use some faulty terms, but it should be enough for a general
idea of the forces at work.

This site is a place to start learning about aerodynamics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_of_pressure



Post Edited ( 07-11-05 16:08 )

[itael]

Thanks a lot Tord,

It's definitely a CG issue .. however .. this brings me to the next question ... how do I know what is the ideal CG for the specific plane I am
flying ? if I load the plane in the cargo bays to it's full capacity , it means I need to place the CG in the back to counter the load ?
Should I keep the CG centered in the middle at all times ? (that's what I tried to achieve) but got bad results because the plane was very
unsteady in the pitch on landing.

Thanks.

Itai

[jboweruk]

I think it's still mostly psychological, I've been practicing kiss landings for ages now because of FSHotseat, so I guess I'm used to trying,
and I've honestly not noticed anything. That said I'm flying Cessna's, Mooney's etc at the moment till I have a pilot high enough to fly
something bigger.

[Chris B.]

I've noticed this too. I just imagined that due to the weight loading that it's a more realistic representation of the plane. I also noticed that
engine power it more sensitive. Short after one take-off with a 747 I blew the gear and flaps, 250 kts was easily overcome , all that
surprised me.

Chris B.

[Big Vern]

On a slightly different tack, I've noticed since installing FSP FS2004 ATC seems to be inviting me to a much larger proportion of visual
approaches/landings (always politely declined). Again, maybe just coincidence?

[itael]

Anyone can shed some light on how to load up an airplane correctly in regards to CG ? would be greatly appreciated.

Itai

[pagir]

With FsP it's dead simple: when starting your flight, you have to keep the arrow as near of the center of gravity as you can. That's it. For
doing this, I prefer to full the plane with passengers, then add the fuel needed, and finaly distribute the cargo weight in front or in back of
the plane until I reach the CG.

Pagir

[DanSteph]

It think this is valuable for ALL aircraft appart the PMDG where
I *would* advice to try puting it in front....

I don't have the PMDG so if anyone would simply make the test.:

put it half way in front :

|................|.........V.........|

And lets see how it handle...

Dan