Advanced KnowHow

Theories: Why What! Interacting Forces Freedom of Movement Lift Dependencies The "Flaps“  "Stall“ and "Spin“ Standard Procedures Engine Control Starting Holding Direction Trimming Turns Approach Final Go Around Communication The Wind Taxi with Crosswind Crosswind Take Off Crosswind Landings Runway & Wind Flying Other Aircraft Low-Wing: Cherokee Warrior II Tail Wheel: Piper J3 Cub WWII-fighter: P-51D Mustang Jet: A-4 Skyhawk Biggy: B-52 Stratofortress Summary off Differences

A B-1B starting from KNUQ, Moffet Federal, San-Jose, California, USA

Theories: Why What!

Interacting Forces

Let us compare the required forces for a car and for an aircraft: Lift || Weight: The vehicle + payload + fuel + pilot(s) + passengers have some weight, which have to be neutralized in order to not climb or sink. For a car that is done by the pavement of the streets, and because that is very strong we do not care very much how much weight there is - the street will hold it! Also we do not need to care about going up or down - the street does it for us by it's construction! For an aircraft that works only while on ground - what we are not interested in now. In the air we have to produce that counterforce by the so called lift, that is produced based on the surrounding == Air. And that lift must change depending on going up or down or cruising leveled! That is the big freedom we have in an aircrafts: We do not (have to) follow the predefined ways! We are free to move into all 3 dimensions - while in a car we are restricted to only 2 dimensions! Air-Drag || Thrust: These forces are much more comparable, except that there is one more drawback for the car, called "rolling friction". Otherwise you could move a car by propellers - and would find everything pretty much the same, independent of car or aircraft!

Freedom of Movement

Let us see how we move in an 3dimensional world, i.e. around 3 axis: Normal axis (also called "Top axis"): This is the only axis we also know from cars: It is just turning left/right. All other movements are enforced onto a car by the terrain! That is a so to say "2 times more freedom for pilots"! The only problem: The pilots also have to (learn and then do) balance three interacting forces - a real juggling! Longitudinal axis: Tilting a car sideways is usually not wanted - mostly it is called a "bad accident"! While flying we need that all the time - very intentionally and very controlled. Lateral axis: Also this up/down is not really advisable for a car - unless you want to jump e.g. from a bridge into a river - and that would be a "very uncontrolled flying". In a car we better let us "force by terrain"! Of course you could do the same with an aircraft: Just keep the gear down and fly low! The next hill will force you upward like a car - but the "Public Health Authority" believes that to be very un-healthy"!

Lift

In the forgoing we learned already, that we need a force called "Lift" to keep us in the air when the "Weight" pulls us down. We produce that "lift" by pulling the wings through the air and giving them a special form. Have a look at that picture: The wing is formed so, that the air going over the top of the wing has a longer way to go compared to going underneath. But of curse somewhere before and after the wing the air will be reunited. So each tiny piece of air that is going the longer way needs to speed up and stretch over the longer distance. And stretching an equal amount of (air-) pieces over a longer distance means those pieces are less dense to each other. In the total context that means that the air-density above the wing is considerable lower. In other words: There builds up some kind of a vacuum above the wing - which pulls the wing upward (like if you suck something with your mouth, or whatever)! Surprised? Yes me too (some time ago). And yes: There is something added to this by the air pushing the wing up because of the angle of the wing to the air - but that is just about 25% of the Lift, and varies with the so called AoA (Angle of Attack). That picture also explains the stall: Imagine you increase the AoA towards 90°, then certainly there will come a point where the air above the wing does not follow the wing-surface any more but just tears off, thus you loose at least 75% of your lift --> and the winner is: "the Weight!". And your job will be getting the air back onto the surface and then pull up again very gentle, so that it does not tear up again!! (See "Stall and Spin") Also notice that the aileron (blue) will even lengthen the way that upper air has to take, while the green one does the reverse! For more details see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight And notice that propeller-blades actually are the same as a wings (just have a close look onto the form!) - and they act accordingly. Thus "Lift" and "Thrust" are produced the same way. The only difference is: "Lift" is produced by pulling the wings through the air by "Thrust" while "Thrust" is produced by the propellers being moved/rotated through the air by the engine.

Dependencies

As we did already during the "Solo-Flight" we will start the turn by using the ailerons, that means we tilt along the Longitudinal axis. So we get the picture on the left. What you should see is that the "Weight" (== gravity) remains the same - and also the "Lift" remains the same size. But because it is acting 90° upward to the wings, it now is not the direct opposite of the "Weight" - actually now only the part "L-1" works against the "Weight", while the other part ("L-2") pulls us into the turn. Obviously "L-1" is not strong enough to equalize the "Weight", so we have to increase the Lift. We do that by pulling the elevator (=Lateral axis) and thus raising the nose and thus changing the "Angel of Attack" -- actually we do initiate a climb (as usual! But hopefully that "climb" does not change our altitude!). Now we are circling - and thus we get into a new problem! May be you know that from kids-playing or from "Holiday On Ice" or just try it with a couple of friends: Grab your hands side by side and start turning in circles. You will see pretty soon that the innermost guy is just about standing still (just rotating) while the outermost one runs like hell! Look to the picture and compare the right most wink-tip with the inner guy and the left wing-tip with the outer guy. You got it? The outer wing (left) is altogether moving faster through the air then the inner wing (right)! As a nice side-effect that does add to the tilt produced by the ailerons = faster wing through the air produces more lift on that side --> raises that wing --> and thus supports the ailerons (may be even that strong that you have to use the ailerons into the opposite direction! It's magical: At that point you steer the ailerons to the left - while wanting to turn to the right!) = faster wing through the air also produces more drag --> that means the outer wing "hits the break" and thus tries to turn us to the left! So what do we do against that? Yes: We need to work against that by using rudder and thus we need also a turn around the Normal axis! Now you know why a pilot could easily earn his money in a circus, juggling different things at once! And you should know now why I had problems to define which control-unit to be used for what: You always need to adjust all 3 controls just to move around one axis !!! If you did not really noticed that yet - remember: You still might have the option "--enable-­auto-­coordination" active! As a good pilot you will not always fly with that help, because it prevents you from performing special procedures for different situations, e.g. Slips, Cross-Wind-Landings, etc. Let us prove what we said so far: Do one more solo but this time without the option "--enable-­auto-­coordination" and when in level flight try to apply only 1 of the controls and watch what all 3 axis do!! In the chapter Turns we will extend our knowledge about that even more!

The "Flaps“ 

• Flaps increase the wing lift by altering the shape of the airfoil (compare above chapter "Lift") - but also increase the "Drag"!
• So using the flaps helps you during TakeOff and Landings, because
  
• You may fly considerable slower, because of the increase in "Lift"
• You will fly considerable slower with the same power-settings, because of the additional "Drag"
• You will have a much better view to the ground, because you fly with a lower "nose-attitude"
  
• But apply them gradually, because
  
• applying too much flaps at high speeds may tear off the Flaps
• applying "full flaps" at once when already near stall-speed may reduce the speed that fast, that you stall before you can increase power
  

So watch out: The flaps are somewhat delicate: See the white ring inside the "Airspeed Indicator"! do not deploy the first step of flaps above 100 knots. (Or they may disassemble and fly away!) do not deploy the second or third stage of flaps above 85 knots. The flaps create a large amount of drag on the aircraft and brake the plane at high speed. This is one more reason not to forget to retract the flaps as soon as you fly above 85 or 100 knots.

• 0° - for normal flight and normal take off.
• 10° - for short field take off, when you want to gain altitude while flying slowly. Or during the first stage of an approach to land.
• 20° - to slow the aircraft and lose altitude quickly, for example when descending towards the runway to land.
• 30° - to slow down even more quickly.

"Stall“ and "Spin“

1. The High-Speed Stall: Looking at the picture "Lift" you surely can imagine that, if in a worst case the wing would be close to vertical to the airstream, then the air would not have any chance to  follow the surface of the wing. The airstream would break off the wing and in between the surface of the wing and that broken airstream would be created many many vortexes, which cannot carry anything! That is pretty much the situation if e.g. you do a "power dive" and then try to pull up with all your strength. Then it is no problem at all to produce such a stall - in a Jet - but with our beloved, sweet-tempered Cessna that takes a lot of hard work to produce such a "High-Speed-Stall" - you might not be able to do it at all!

2. The Low-Speed Stall: This is physically the same as the High-Speed one, but you need no force at all to produce it! You just need to get that slow, that the produced "Lift" (remember: Airstream-speed over wing-surface is lift!) is reduced that much, that it cannot hold the plane in the air any more! The aircraft will start falling  down vertically - and that means we have the same as in 1, just at a much slower speed! And remember: A "Stall" is an ideal landing -- but only if it occurs just 1 inch above ground - not some hundred yards above it! This close relation between stalling and a "perfect landing" is the most critical area for stalls!
   

• first FORCE a much higher speed to first blow the vortexes away
  
• i.e.: full engine power and dipping the nose very drastically - there is no time for petting!
  
• thus enabling the reunion of airstream and the wings
• and then you have to pull up GENTLY
• do not overdo it now: You are very close to produce a "High Speed" stall now!
  
• (Do I have to mention, that all that costs a lot of altitude??).

1. Aircrafts are equipped with stall sirens that sound when the critical angle of attack is approached (of course you might not hear it if you chose the FlightGear-option "--disable-­sound" or turned down the volume!). In reality You have no (legal) possibility to switch that alarm off!
   
2. Before a Stall you will notice that the steering-controls start acting delayed and somehow give a "soft" feeling (of course not with Autopilot active!)
   
3. Know your Stall-Speed and watch the airspeed!
4. Actually a Stall is not really critical if you are high enough and know what you are doing --> Thus you can always test what your Stall-Speed is and watch for it!
   

• level your aircraft at a safe altitude (let us say 2000 ft above ground)
• trim for a level flight
• now slowly start reducing the RPM and keep the altitude by pulling the elevator (do NOT trim!)
• increasing that wait for the siren to sound (You switched the sound on, did you?)
• continue to reduce speed while holding the altitude
• note the airspeed when stalling
• then nose down rapidly and full power
• after reaching some normal speed pull up gently

Standard Procedures

Engine Control

For the C172p-model there are two types available. The modern style "Ignition Key" like in a car - used in the 3D-models. The old style "Ignition Switch" - still used in the 2D-panels. To switch between those two types use "P" or "menu → view → Display Options →  Show 2D panel": In the 3D-Panel you can zoom in/out by using "x"/"X" or by the mouse-wheel in "View-mode" (after you clicked the right mouse-button twice!). "Ctrl-x" will reset the view to the original. You move the key/switch by typing  "{" and "}" or click into the hotspots. For the upper 3D-version you use the third hotspot to start the engine. When you change the magneto switch to "OFF", both magnetos are switched off and the engine will not run. With the magneto switch on "L" you are using only the left magneto - on "R" you are using only the right magneto. On BOTH you use both. In normal flight you must use BOTH. If you turn the switch to OFF, the engine noise stops. If you quickly turn the switch back to L, the engine starts again as the propeller is still turning. If you wait for the propeller to stop, placing the switch on L, R or BOTH won’t start the engine. (Once the engine is halted, always place the magneto switch to OFF.)

Starting the Engine

• To start the simulated / realistic way:
• Make sure Your engine is Off! If it is not see the following "Switching Off the Engine"
• Switch the Fuel-Selector-Valve to "Both" (In the latest C172p release that switch is below the Trim-Wheel on the center pedestal!)
  
• Check the Ignition-Switch: It should be turned off as shown (otherwise turn it off with multiple "{" or mouse-clicks into the left hotspot)
• Clicking three times into the center-hotspot (or "}") brings the key into the "BOTH" position.
• Click into the right-hotspot (or "s" in 3D or another "}"  in 2D) to "Start". The engine will start rotating - wait a little until it rotates freely - then release the button/key.
• The RPM should settle at ~500 RPM and the Gyro-Horizon will turn into a reasonable position
• As a good Pilot (to be) you now must test that both Magnetos function properly:
• Push the Throttle in until the RPM indicates about 15 (=1500 RPM)
• Switch the Magnetos to"L" ("{" or left hotspot) and watch the RPM: There should be a noticeable dip - but if the engine shuts down completely you have to call the mechanic before starting
• If the "L" tests OK do the same with the "R" (one more "{" or left hotspot). Again: Only if that works out OK you may continue.
• Switch back to "BOTH" (multiple "}" or right hotspots) - the RPM should rise again to where it was before
• At last insert the Yoke again if removed (of course you could fly (in the Simulator) without the Yoke - but somehow that looks odd!)
• In case you have multiple Engines you need do this same procedure as above for each engine, after selecting it: Key
  
• "!“   to select only engine No. 1
• "@“ to select only engine No. 2
• "#“  to select only engine No. 3
• "$“  to select only engine No. 4

• "~“  to switch all engines again to the normal control, i.e. they react again common to all commands!

• To start the "Quick and Dirty", unrealistic way
• Type "s"

Switching Off the Engine:

• For an orderly shutdown you first pull the throttle out completely, to get the engine to minimum power and fuel consumption.
  
• Then pull the mixture lever, till the engine stops because the mixture contains too much air. This ensures the engine does not get choked by waste fuel residue.
  
• Finally, turn the magneto switch to OFF to ensure the engine won’t start again accidentally.

Throttle

You already know that you increase the engine power by pushing that throttle in - and reverse: To push in use the Page Up key", to pull out use Page Down You can also use the mouse: For the 3D just move the cursor over the Throttle and rotate the mouse-wheel. For the 2D model click into the hotspots, with the left mouse-button or the mouse-wheel (here: Click, not rotate!)

Mixture

The "instable" RPM

Starting

• Before Taxiing:
• Set the altimeter to the altitude of the airport (e.g. KOAK=9 ft, KSFO=13 ft, EDDF=364 ft, etc.)
• Compare the "Gyro Heading Indicator" with the "Magnetic Compass"
• Check "Elevator Trim" on "Take Off" (See the mark to the left of the Trim-Wheel below the instrument-panel)
  
• Switch the Fuel-Selector-Valve to "Both" (In the latest C172p release it is located below the Trim-Wheel on the center pedestal!)

• "Cleared to TakeOff"
• Mixture is full rich (red lever full in)
  
• Fuel on both ?
• Altimeter on Airport altitude?
• Heading Indicator same as Magnetic Compass ?
• Trim on TakeOff ?
  
• Flaps in ?  (max. 10° for short field take offs)
  
• Landing Light on !!
  

• Take Off:

• Release the Parking Break
• (If you use the mouse to control: Mouse mode "↔", keep the left mouse-button pressed to steer with the Front-Wheel!)
  
• Full Throttle (PgUp▲)
• Hold the center of the runway by small movements with the mouse, while keeping the left mouse-button pressed
  
• At 45 kn start pulling the Elevator "softly!" to lift the nose-wheel at 55 kn
• At 55 kn take off with a very shallow climb
• Primary goal is now to gain speed (You are still in hazardous conditions due to possible "gusting winds", "Engine Failures", and similar)
• Perform only very shallow heading corrections
• Release the left mouse-button - you now control mainly with the ailerons
  
• After 70 kn hold the speed by varying the AoA between 70- 80 kn
• Keep the Throttle on Maximum
• Hold the direction of the runway
• on controlled airports until advised different (by ATC)
  
• on uncontrolled airports
• at least till 500 ft above ground
• prior to flying over houses you must have a minimum altitude of 1000 ft above ground
• Climb to your cruising altitude and level off
• Set your RPM as wanted (inside the green area!)
• Take your time to Trim to best can do
  

Holding Direction

1. By looking through the windows:

• following dominant coastlines or rivers or highways or railroads etc.
  
• aim towards dominant landmarks like Valleys or Mountains or big buildings or a forest or towers etc.
  
• or look for a unique combination of both, like e.g. "highway crosses river" etc.
  

• use Shift and the four arrow keys "←↑→↓“ to look to the front, rear, left and right.

• use Shift and the keypad keys to look into the four directions mentioned above and in four diagonal directions in-between.

• use the mouse in view mode (right button, ↔). This allows you to look in every direction, including up and down. Click the left mouse button to bring the view back to straight ahead.

• and do no forget the wonderful possibility to just jump outside and have a look around. "v/V" and the mouse or key techniques!

2. By Magnetic Compass:

This is located above the instrument panel. The compass is simple, but reliable (as discussed for the Magnetos). Sorry enough it is affected by the acceleration of the aircraft, and magnetic abnormalities as well from the construction of the aircraft as well from the geography. Also, the compass points towards magnetic north rather than true north. This deviation varies depending on your location.

To learn more about it see e.g.: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compass

3. By Directional Gyro:

The gyro is powered by a vacuum system. The gyro is set to match the magnetic compass, and is not affected by magnetic issues, or aircraft movement. However, due to gyroscopic precession and friction in the instrument, over time it drifts and must be reset by reference to the magnetic compass on occasion. To reset the Gyro during cruise flight, use the black knob on the bottom left of the instrument (normal mouse pointer mode, click left or right of the knob, or use the middle mouse button to move faster, Ctrl-c to activate the hotspots). The red knob, bottom right, is used to tell the autopilot what direction you wish to fly (HDG = “heading”).

4. By Radio-Navigation:

Trimming

Turns

"Attitude Indicator" (the blue/brown instrument): Adjust the little aircraft symbol inside it, so that the wings and the center-point of it are in one line with the "horizontal line", i.e. the line between brown/blue. "Heading Indicator" (just below it): Set the "red bug" within the scale to the heading we are now flying. We will turn until that "red bug" gets back to that position again - i.e. after a full circle of 360° "Turn & Bank Indicator" (to the left of that). That one will show us during the turn the "Turning Speed" and with the little ball in the "water leveler" how well we coordinate all three controls needed (aileron, rudder, elevator: compare "Dependencies")! With these settings we are flying a "standard turn" that will always turn us 360° in 2 Min., independent of speed and type of aircraft! And that is the specification for any turn required in any procedures - see e..g. also in the following "Procedure Turn". We exercised and proved that already in the part "First Solo" under "Turns".

• Use the Ailerons to start the turn to the left:
• Turn the Yoke left and watch the "Turn-Indicator", let the needle go and stay on the first scale mark left (Yes: In the picture it has gone too far!)

• Use the Rudder to center the ball in the lower part of the "Turn-Indicator"

• In the "Attitude Indicator" you should see that the Center-Dot moved below the horizon (indicating a descent!), so gently pull the Elevator to keep that Dot on the horizon

• Keep that attitude:
• "Attitude Indicator": Center-Dot on the horizon
  
• "Turn Indicator": on first mark  and  ball centered
  
• "Altimeter" and "Vertical speed" stay unchanged

• About 10° prior reaching the red bug in the "Heading Indicator" again, return to level flight:
• level the wings with the horizon
• while the bank reduces, apply less and less Rudder and Elevator
  

• Establish again a leveled and trimmed flight at 2000 ft,  as we had at the beginning.

Procedure-Turns

Look for a dominant "Fix" in the landscape and fly towards it Set the red "Heading-Bug" to the current heading (all the way upward!) Get your Stopwatch in FGFS ver.1.9.: Menu → Debug → Stopwatch in FGFS ver.2.0.: Menu → Equipment → Stopwatch Over "Fix" start your turn to the right as described above - until the "Heading-Bug" is vertically down (i.e. turned 180°) Start the Stopwatch and fly straight for 1 minute Then do another 180° turn (the red bug is vertically upward again) Then again straight for 1 minute etc.etc. - until ATC calls you out of the "Procedure".

In the map you see three "Procedural Turns" at the VOR's "FFM", "RID", and "CHA" - and one over the NDB PSA. Let us analyze the procedure over "CHA": We approach that normally with a heading of 285° (set the "red bug" accordingly!) and a minimum altitude of 4000 ft. But when busy ATC might advise you to start at a higher altitude. Then, later on, he will advise you to lowered down as other aircrafts below you leave the Procedure-Turn! By the way: The official times for the Outbound/Inbound Leg are 2 minutes (in the exercise I  reduced it just for those exercises - in order that you may exercise it a little longer/more often!).

Approach

1. "Traffic Pattern“: This is the safest, easiest and most commonly used procedure for GA. With this procedure you can inspect the airport before you land and you have common waypoints for when to be at what altitude with what speed. You approach the airport from outside on the altitude of a standard patter (800-1000 ft AGL) and join into the "Downwind" at an angle of 45°. See
   
• a detailed description in the next chapter: The Traffic Pattern
• an example in the chapter Solo-Flight - First Landing

2. "Straight In“: This procedure is only advisable if you already know the airport and some waypoints - and at controlled airports this approach is (worldwide!) allowed only if explicitly approved by ATC! With this procedure it is really difficult to define what altitude and speed and flaps you should use when! Especially if that airport does not have a DME! You can train for such an approach when doing it at an airport that is equipped with  ILS - you then can follow the ILS indicators while flying manually! (Or you use the "Menu → View → Toggle Glide Slope Tunnel" -- but that again would be something a real simmer would never do, because it is absolutely unrealistic!)
   
• See the chapter: Straight In

3. "ILS“ (Instrument Landing System): For this one you use the Radio-Navigation and approach the runway on a "localizer" (a radial sent by the ILS). All in all this is the same as "Straight In" - but supported by RNAV. 
• See the chapter: ILS in the chapter RNAV
• See the chapter: "IFR Cross Country“

The "Traffic Pattern“

• 1 = Upwind: Aircraft take off from the runway and climb. If they are leaving the airport, they just continue climbing straight ahead until clear of the pattern and then do whatever they like. If they are returning to the runway (for example to practice landing), they continue climbing until they reach a couple of hundred feet below ‘pattern altitude’. This varies from country to country, but is usually between 500ft and 1000ft above Ground Level (AGL).
  

• 2 = Crosswind: Continue to climb to pattern-altitude (800-100 ft AGL). After 45-60 seconds on crosswind do another 90°, turning to
  

• 3 = Downwind: Hold the altitude (800-1000 ft AGL). And watch it: All incoming traffic will join in here and may be on different altitudes and speeds - so it may be difficult to spot them - watch out!
• It is difficult to give an exact point when to turn for base - the most used definition is: 45° from the threshold! So while you are on downwind look to the runway/airport and turn if you see it 45° behind.
  
• Being on Downwind
• reduce the RPM to 2000 and hold the altitude --> speed will reduce
• when within the "white Speed marking" set the Flaps to Stage 1 --> let the IAS settle at 80 kn
• at the end of downwind you should have the following attitude (for our Cessna!):
  

• 4 = Base: Here you start your final descent:
• Reduce the RPM slowly to 1500 and set Flaps to stage 2.
• Hold the "Vertical-Speed" at about 500 fpm (feet per Minute)
• Look for the runway: Shortly before you cross the virtual centerline of the runway do your last 90° turn to:

• 5 = Final: I very seldom hit that point exactly - so I usually have to straighten out my course with the runway: Do that as soon as possible and as fast as possible. See the chapter "Final".

• see in Magenta those places where traffic joins in from outside. You should consider that those might join in on a different altitude and speed! (Yes: That is not allowed, BUT...)

• see in Green those places where outgoing traffic will leave the pattern. These are especially dangerous for you when you come from the other side of the airport and thus have to cross the departure areas! See e.g. the approach to KLVK during our "VFR X-Country", chapter " Join the Pattern"!
  

Straight In:

• Approach the airport on the virtual centerline of the runway, a little above the Pattern altitude. e.g.:
  
• ca. 1500 ft above runway altitude, RPM ~2500 and IAS ~115 kn.
  

• About 5 mi out from the threshold reduce the RPM to 1500 and hold your altitude!
• Watch the RPM: That might reduce in the following - keep it steady on 1500
• The IAS will reduce
  

• Inside the "white speed-marking" set "Flaps Stage 1" ("]“) – this continues to reduce the IAS
• Continue to hold the altitude - and watch the IAS going down to ~70 kn
  

• Hold that ~70 kn until you start your "Final Descent":
• Hold the IAS at 70 kn by adjusting the Elevator/Trim to descent more shallow or steep, do not change the RPM (throttle!)
• After you are on a stable descent (1500 RPM at ~70 kn) start concentrating onto the runway in its full length (and just a tiny little more onto the threshold!):
  
• If the runway moves upward - apply some throttle to reduce the "Vertical Speed" - while holding the IAS on ~70 kn!
• If the runway moves downward - reduce some throttle to increase the "Vertical Speed" - while holding the IAS on ~70 kn!
• Do only fly very shallow turns if you need to correct the heading!

• At 1000 ft above Runway-altitude set "Flaps Stage 2" ("]") and hold the IAS=~70 kn --> that means you will start to descent!

Final

• Autopilot "Off" (if "ON": Mouse-Click the "AP“-button. (The display will flash some time to warn - and only after that the AP will be off!)
  
• Mixture "full rich" ("m" or mouse-wheel)
• Activate the Carb-Heat: If you came down from high altitudes into moister air then you may experience icing in your carburetor! That could become a real shocker if the engine stops shortly before touchdown! So pull the lever out completely (with a mouse-click over it).
  

• your course must be centered on the prolonged virtual centerline of the runway
• your nose (hdg) may be off that direction to counteract the cross-wind
  

It would be wonderful, if you came in already as outlined in (a)! But chances are: It will not be that easy!   then do not aim towards the threshold (b)   rather aim towards a point as far as possible in front of it (c)   and then merge into the centerline The earlier you are on that "centerline" the easier you can adjust for heading, altitude and speed. If you need to get hasty you have lost already

• At about 500 ft above the runway set "Flaps Stage 3" ("]“). That will reduce the speed to about 60 kn - hold that one now. And use extreme care: The speed is now very critical just 15 kn above stall - that means gusts may stall you if you get slower!
  

• At about 3 ft (1 m) above runway "round out":
  
• Very smoothly pull the elevator so that you stop the descent and continue horizontally - that will reduce the speed even more
• Now slowly reduce the "Throttle" and equalize that by the elevator, so that you continue to fly just a few inches above ground
• The IAS will continue to reduce and finally you will stall -- hopefully close to 1 inch above the runway!
• And because you applied lots of elevator you will just land on your main-wheels
  

• Keep this attitude until also the front wheel will settle down at about 40 kn.

• Remember at that point of time you steer with the front-wheel, so keep your left mouse-button pressed if you control the direction with the mouse!

• Start using the breaks ("b") only after the speed reduced to below 30 kn - otherwise you may tilt!
• If needed use the differential breaking

• Exit the runway not faster than 10 kn!
  

VASI/PAPI

At many major airports you find helpful light-signals which indicate the correct "Glideslope" for touchdown. In the picture you see the so called PAPI. That are 4 lights side by side. When you see 2 red and 2 withe lights your altitude is perfect, more red than white means too low, more white then red means too high. See the picture, it is nearly perfect: » 70 kn at 1500 RPM » "Vertical speed" -500 fpm » 2 white and 2 red lights on the VASI » and only a very shallow turn to the right, straightening out for the runway centerline! If you need drastic corrective actions at this point, you better go around (see next). For more details see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_Approach_Slope_Indicator.

Go Around

• You just did not achieve a good landing-configuration - so you better retry! And please do not be ashamed of a "Retry - GoAround" - with that option you can learn - with a forced landing you just could get some laughs from spectators! Or do you really want to see that landing (with your name) as a film in the Internet - for ever!?!
  

• But there are also reasons for a GoAround, that you are not responsible for:
• ATC may order you to GoAround - then you do that at once without any discussion - or you might go to jail! Seriously: If ATC orders a GoAround because of a sudden safety hazard and you do not follow - that becomes very critical for your pilot-license! 
• You got caught by a gust of wind and cannot recover smoothly
• Birds, Automobiles, People, etc. on the runway
• etc.
  

• full power
• start climbing as soon as possible
• do that smooth (remember: You may already be very slow - close to a normal Stall - so a "high speed" Stall is near!)
  
• retract Flaps and Gear
• check the trimming
• hold runway heading until at least 500 ft AGL
  
• after that you start a new approach:
• if on VFR without an ATC you do a pattern (you should know before approaching if the pattern is left or right!)
• if on VFR with ATC you must inform ATC as soon as possible and ask for instructions
• if on IFR you must have studied the "Missed Approach Procedures" prior to approach (see e.g. the chapter "IAP": See the "Missed Approach" in the upper right corner of the IAP-map!)
  

Communication

First you need to set the tower-frequency into your COM1 Then keying "'" or "-" opens the so called Chat-Menu (in the following I use the "-" because it is easier to spot!). This presents option's to communicate with AI ATC's and/or Unicom, i.e. you can advise other traffic in the area or AI-ATC that you intend to land or start etc. AI-ATC will then advise what to do. According to the numbers shown in the menu you select questions and answers by typing those numbers. e.g.: "0" goes back one selection (e.g. you mistyped "3" but wanted "2" then type: "02") "-1" opens an input field in which you can type any message - this is only useful if you are connected to the Internet and want to send a message to some Multiplayer. This is similar to the input-part of the "Chat Dialog" (see next) - if you are satisfied with displaying the response just on the screen, then typing "-1"+text may be preferable over sending a message via menu → Network → chat. "-2" opens a sub-menu for Unicom messages, that are messages at airports without ATC, just to inform other pilots. e.g.: +"2" = "-22" = Departing: Opens another  sub-menu for messages related to departures +"8" = "-228" = "..departing runway xyz ..." "-3" opens a sub-menu for messages to the (AI) ATC, i.e. that could be used for an artificial ATC or a human one, being connected to the Internet. e.g. "-342" = "Tower, I am ready to taxi" (Tower will answerer "xyz taxi to runway ..." "-347" = "Tower, I am holding short runway..." e.t.c. "-4" = has no sub-menu, it is just an emergency short notice ".. going around .." "-5" = again without sub-menu, is just a "Roger" indicating that you understood (and will do!) You close that menu by "Esc"

Select: menu » Multiplayer » Chat Dialog In the upper part you see the latest messages listed (and you see in some lines what I do not like at all: Do you have any idea who is talking to who and who should answer? In your messages you should always name the MP you want to address!) In the yellow field you can type a message to some other Multiplayer Click "Send" when ready with typing. The window will stay open until you click into the square in the upper right corner

The Wind

Wind: A balloon will be moved with a speed of 20 kn to enjoy people, who do not feel any wind - while people on the ground may have to run after their blown off hats! As a pilot, taxiing on ground and thus exposed to this wind as crosswind, you should take care that the wind does not tumble your beloved Cessna onto the back! IAS (Indicated Air-Speed) is the speed you are interested in, while controlling your aircraft to keep it up in the air! GS (Speed above Ground) is the speed you and your passengers are interested in: When do we arrive at the target! How much fuel do you need? etc. When (as shown) the wind blows in the opposite direction (towards the nose of the plane), the speed of the wind subtracts itself from the airspeed of the plane. Hence you move slower compared to the ground. You will arrive later at your destination and thus have more time to enjoy the landscape (for another 13 min). When the wind blows in the same direction as you fly, the speed of the wind adds itself to the airspeed of the plane. Hence you move faster compared to the ground. You will arrive earlier at your destination (actually you will be 11 Min early).

In picture (a) there is no cross-wind. The pilot wants to reach the green hill situated to the North. He heads for the hill, towards the North, and reaches the hill after a while. In picture (b), the pilot keeps heading to the North. Yet there is wind blowing from the left, from the West. The airplane drifts to the right and misses the hill. In picture (c), the pilot keeps heading towards the hill. This time he will arrive at the hill. Yet the plane flies a curved path. This makes the pilot lose time to get to the hill. Such a curved path is awful when you need to make precise navigation. Picture (d) shows the optimal way to get to the hill. The plane is directed slightly towards the West into the wind. That way it compensates for the wind and remains on a straight path towards the hill - thus keeping the "course" with whatever "heading" is needed!

Taxi with Crosswind

• When there is no wind, do we have to care?? Oh yes! Then the wind is coming directly from 12 o'clock (even if you might not call it wind but rather airstream - the effect to your aircraft is the same!) - i.e. if you do nothing and taxi with some speed you will get into trouble: It is getting hard to steer, because the front wheel might rise! And in general you are just before taking off - so it is much easier to tilt when turning on ground!
  

• When the wind is blowing from 12 o’clock this is quite logical: The yoke is pushed forward (towards 12 o’clock) - thus the elevator makes the tail rise a little. That’s the most stable position to avoid the plane be tilted by the wind.
  

• When the wind comes from 10 o’clock, pushing the yoke towards 10 o’clock means that the elevator is almost neutral, while the left aileron is upward and the right aileron is downward. This pushes the left wing down and lifts the right wing - that is the most stable position to avoid the plane being tilted to the right.
  

• When the wind blows from 8 o’clock, you would think you should invert the position of the ailerons, to keep the left wing being pushed down. Hence you should push the yoke to 4 o’clock. Wrong! Keep pushing the yoke to 8 o’clock. The reason is the downward position of the aileron on the right wing makes it act like a slat. This increases the lift on the right wing and this is all we want. Symmetrically, the upward position of the left aileron decreases the lift of the left wing.
  

• When the wind comes from the rear, from 6 o’clock, the yoke is pulled (towards 6 o’clock). The upward position of the elevator tends to make the tail be pushed down. Once again this is the best - even though a strong wind now could push the tail against the ground! But the tail is conceived to withstand this.
  

Crosswind Take Off

The main way to know the wind direction and speed is to go to the control tower or ask the control tower by radio. A necessary and complementary tool are the windsocks at both ends of the runway. They show the wind direction and speed. The longer and the stiffer the windsock, the more wind there is. The windsock on the picture shows an airspeed of 5 knots (see the buckling in the center!), coming from the right!

• During the take-off roll, the aircraft will try to “weather-cock” into wind. You must react by using the rudder to keep the aircraft running straight. You will have to apply the rudder at quite a strong angle to stay aligned with the runway (which is expected from you up to a certain height!). You will need to keep applying rudder throughout the take-off.

• As you take off, the aircraft will react to the rudder and try to turn. You will need to correct for this using the ailerons. Once the aircraft is in the air, you can reduce the rudder pressure and aileron, then correct for the wind, to keep aligned with the runway as described above.
  

Crosswind Landings

Reality: A Boeing E-3A landing with Crosswind!

In General you need to obey the normal rules as also for the normal landing - but try to line up with the runway heading even sooner, in order to have time to get a "feeling" for how much the wind effects you and how much reaction you have to apply! You will not come in with the nose pointing in direction of the runway! So you need to differentiate (and learn) how to move along the extended centerline of the runway while holding the nose into some other direction. You may find that being not as easy as it sounds: Keep the whole length of runway in your view and juggle your controls to move exactly along the extended centerline of the runway. That probably needs some rudder against the wind and some ailerons opposite to that rudder! (Did you notice that: Aileron and Rudder opposed? If you still have the option "--enable-auto-coordination" active - then you are getting into trouble right now!) Keep that attitude until those last few inches above ground, then use a ridged, but well dosed, kick into the rudder so that the aircraft nose "JUMPS" into the direction of the centerline you then will settle down on one wheel first! Hold the direction with the rudder until all wheels settled down Then taxi as described under "Taxiing with Wind". That is the so called "Slip-Landing". You may see more details and additional methods in e.g.: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crosswind_landing

Runway & Wind

• with headwind our ground-speed is less - that means we can use a shorter runway
• with tailwind our ground-speed is higher - that means we need a longer runway, and our breaks and tires will wear down much more
• and there also is always a crosswind-component that wants to blow us off the runway!
  

• You probably remember, that runways are named according to the direction they point to (divided by 10)
• thus "rw18" runs from North (360°) to South (180°)
• So that is easy: If the wind comes from the South with 10 kts ("wind 180 @ 10") you land southward on runway 18!
• or the one closest to 180° !
  

On runway "18" you land by flying South (180°), so that is the runway for all Wind-directions from below the blue line.  Or mathematically: For all wind-directions between  (rw18=) 180° ± 90° On runway "36" you land by flying North (0° or 360°), so that is the runway for all Wind-directions from above the blue line.  Or mathematically: For all wind-directions between  (rw36=) 0° ± 90° Yes: 090° and 270° (and values close to it) are a problem - by which it does not really matter if you take the rw18 or the rw36. The first pilot arriving at that airport (or the ATC!) define which one to take!

Wind from 050°: guess for rw18: 180-050>90  180+50>90:  both results are greater 90 --> thus we cannot use rw18 (180°)! rw36: 360-050>90  360+50<90:  the second result (360+50 = 410-360=50) is smaller 90 - so we can use rw36 ! Wind from 120°: guess for rw18: 180-120<90  180+120>90: the first result (180-120=60) is smaller 90 - so we can use rw18! rw36: 360-120>90    360+120>90: both results are greater 90 --> thus we cannot use rw36 (360°)!. Notice: Although there are always 4 possibilities to consider - there is always only one valid result. So as soon as you found one fitting runway, you do not need to analyze the rest! Thus this "guessing" becomes very fast!

Flying Other Aircraft

Low-Wing: Cherokee Warrior II

The Cherokee Warrior II has some advantages upon the Cessna 172p. Thanks to its low wings it is far less sensitive to crosswind. Fully extended flaps provide more lift, thus it can fly slower and thus allows it to land on a much shorter distance. Take off is the same as for the Cessna 172p in FlightGear. In real life their take off checklists are not exactly the same.

• During the steady horizontal flight before landing, the trim must be pulled a little below neutral in order to get the yoke around neutral.
  

• The optimal tachometer RPM during landing is at a lower RPM than the tachometer green zone. Roughly, keep the needle vertical.
  

• Only put use two steps of flaps during landing. Don’t decrease the engine throttle too much.
  

• If you remain at two flaps deployed during landing, the round-out and flare will be similar to the Cessna 172p. However, using the third set of flaps will slow the aircraft down dramatically. It will very quickly touch the runway then come to a near halt. Be prepared to lower the front wheel very soon. (It is possible to use the third flaps step during the descent towards the runway, instead of tuning the engine power down. Oscillating between two steps and three steps allows to aim the runway start. Yet keep two flaps steps and tune the engine seems easier. An interesting stunt is to fly stable till nearly above the runway start, then tune the engine to minimum and deploy three flaps steps. The plane almost falls to the runway. It’s impressive but it works.)
  

Tail Wheel: Piper J3 Cub

The Piper J3 Cub is a very different airplane from the Cessna 172p and the Cherokee Warrior II. The Cessna 172p and the Cherokee Warrior II are nose-wheel airplanes, while the Piper J3 Cub is a tail wheel airplane. Take off and landing with tail wheel airplanes is more difficult. You have to tightly use the rudder pedals when rolling over the runway. The yoke often needs to be pulled backwards to the maximum. The Piper J3 Cub is a good introduction to tail-wheel aircraft and it is quite easy to take off and land provided you follow an appropriate procedure. Stall speed seems to be a little below 40 mph (the airspeed indicator is in mph) (about 27 knots). Take-off is below 50 mph.

1. Fly at say 500 feet constant altitude and "exactly" 52 mph speed towards the runway. Let the engine cover eat up the runway start. The engine cover will hide the runway completely. To see where the runway is, push the yoke/mouse very shortly then stabilize again in normal flight.
   

2. Once the runway start matches with the set of instruments (if you could see through the instrument panel), reduce the throttle to a near minimum and begin the dive towards the runway start. Keep 52 mph using the yoke. Add some throttle if you are going to miss the runway edge. (Keep in mind just a little wind is enough to change things a lot for the Piper J3 Cub).
   

3. Make the rounding and pull the throttle to minimum. Do not pull steadily on the yoke. Instead let the wheels roll on the runway immediately.
   

4. Once the wheels roll on the runway, push firmly on the yoke, to its maximum. This rises the tail in the air. You would think the propeller will hit the runway or the airplane will tilt over and be damaged. But everything’s fine. The wings are at a strong negative angle and this brakes the plane. (Don’t push the yoke this way on other airplanes, even if their shape seems close to that of the Piper J3 Cub. Most of them will tumble forwards.)
   

5. The yoke being pushed in to its maximum, push the left mouse button and keep it pushed to go in rudder control mode. Keep the plane more or less centered on the runway. This is quite uneasy. One tip is to stop aiming the rudder to say the left already when the plane just starts to turn to the left.
   

6. Once the speed is really low (and the rudder control stabilized), you will see the tail begins to sink to the ground. Release the left mouse button to go back to yoke control. Pull the yoke backwards completely, to the other extreme. The tail now touches the ground and the nose is high up. Now you can use the wheel brakes (b). (If you use the brakes too early, the plane nose will hit the ground.)
   

WWII-fighter: P-51D Mustang

Should you ever get a chance to pilot a P-51 Mustang, just say no. It is quite dangerous to take off and land. That’s the kind of airplane you fly only when your country is in danger. You need a lot of training. Yet once in the air the P-51 Mustang seems no more dangerous to its pilot than other common military airplanes. It is quite easy to pilot. At low and medium altitude the P-51 wasn’t better than the Spitfire and the Messerschmitts. The big difference was at high altitude. The P-51 kept efficient and maneuverable while enemy fighters were just capable to hang in the air. This was an advantage at medium altitude too because the P-51 was able to plunge towards enemy airplanes from high altitude. Another key difference was the P-51 is very streamlined. Hence it was capable to fly much further than the Spitfire. These two differences let the P-51 Mustang fulfill its purpose: escort Allied bombers all the way to their targets in Germany. This allowed the bombings to be much more efficient and contributed to the defeat of the Nazis.

Jet: A-4 Skyhawk

Take off on a jet is easy but you must have fast reflexes. My favorite jet on FlightGear is the A-4 Skyhawk. You get it with the -aircraft=a4-uiuc parameter on Linux, provided it is installed.

Ask for a red and full HUD by typing "h" two times. The engine throttle indicator is the leftmost on the HUD. The airspeed indicator is the one labeled "KIAS" on the upper left side of the instrument panel. You can also use the airspeed indicator on the HUD, of course. Tune in ½ engine power. Keep the yoke pulled in 1 of its total way (see the picture: the red arrow on the right side of the vertical line in the middle of the picture). It is not mandatory to use the rudder to keep on the runway. The airplane will take off before it drifts off the runway. (For sure it is better and more “secure” to keep in the middle of the runway. But using the rudder can make things hectic for a beginner.) Once above about 160 knots, the plane rises its nose in the air. Immediately push the yoke back to neutral or almost and stabilize at 200 knots airspeed (which makes a fair climb angle) (I’ve no idea whether 200 knots is the right climb speed for a real A-4. What’s more I suppose one should rather use the AOA (see below).). Retract the landing gear using key "g". Either maintain ½ engine power and a speed of 200 knots to get above the clouds, or reduce the engine power to less than ¼ and fly normally. (Off course you can “fly normally” with full engine power. Great fun.)

• Really far from the runway, keep below 2,000 feet and get the speed below 200 knots. Then lower the landing gear (key G) and I deploy full flaps (all three steps, by hitting "]" three times).
  

• Keep a steady altitude of about 1,000 feet and a speed of “exactly” 150 knots. Use the mouse/yoke/elevator to tune the altitude and the engine throttle to tune the speed. (The opposite from the Cessna.)
  

• Try to align with the runway.

• When do you know the dive towards the runway must begin? For this you need the HUD; the full default HUD with lots of features. Look at the picture below:

When you see the “distance” between the red “0” lines and the runway start is 25% the distance between the red “0” lines and the red “−10” dotted line, it is time to dive, aiming at the runway start. (In the picture below, that “distance” is 64%, far too much to start a landing.) Let’s explain this. The two horizontal lines labeled “0” show the horizon line. Rather they show where the horizon would be if the Earth was flat. When your eyes aim at those “0” lines, you are looking horizontally. Look at the dotted red lines labeled “−10”. A feature on the ground situated there is situated 10° below the ideal horizon. In other words: when you look to objects “hidden” by the lines labeled “0”, you have to lower your eyes of 10°to look at objects "hidden" by the dotted lines labeled “−10”. This implies, and it is very important, that a person in a rowboat, “hidden” by the dotted lines labeled “−10”, has to rise his eyes up 10◦ to look at your plane. He sees you 10° above the horizon. In the picture above, the start of the runway is situated at 64% of the way towards the red “-10” dotted lines. That means you have to lower your eyes of 6,4° to look at the run

This also means that if you start now to descent towards the runway start, the descent path will be of 6,4◦ (too steep). So, the HUD allows to measure precisely the angle of the descent path. On a jet plane you need an angle of 2,5° (up to 3°), that is 25% of −10° (up to 30%).

• Once descending towards the runway start, aim at it using the yoke/mouse. And keep 150 knots speed using the engine throttle lever.
  

• Keep measuring the angle between the ideal horizon and the runway start. It must keep 2,5° (that is 25% of 10° ):
• If the angle increases above 2,5° , you are above the desired path and you must loose altitude faster. Both decrease the engine power and dive the nose a little.
• If the angle decreases below 2,5◦° , you are under the desired path. I wouldn’t say you should gain altitude, rather you should loose altitude less fast. Both add a little engine power and rise the nose a little.
  

• Once very close to the runway start, do no rounding. Don’t pull steadily on the yoke like you would for the Cessna 172p. Simply let the plane touch the ground immediately, at high speed. Let it smash on the runway, so to say. All three wheels almost together. Just throttle the engine down to minimum. (If you try to pull steadily on the yoke and hover over the runway while the plane nose rises steadily, on a F-16 you would scrape the plane rear and probably destroy it.)
  

• Keep the key "b" down to brake and use the rudder to stay aligned with the runway. Make only very little tunings with the rudder, otherwise the plane will tumble on one of its sides.
  

The HUD in a real jet contains a symbol to show towards what the airplane is moving. It is shown in the picture. When you are flying at constant altitude, that symbol is on the ideal horizon line. Once you dive towards the runway start, you simply have to place that symbol on the runway start. This is quite an easy and precise way to aim at the runway start. (The diamond in the center of the FlightGear HUD sometimes can help but it does not have the same purpose. It shows towards what the airplane nose is pointing. For example if you descent towards the ground at low speed, the symbol would be somewhere on the ground while the FlightGear diamond will be up in the sky.) (By the way, the HUD on the virtual B-52 on FlightGear has that symbol. It is great to use while landing.)

In additional to airspeed, military fast jet pilots rely on using the correct angle of attack during approach. The Angle Of Attack (AoA) is the angle at which the wings are pitched against the relative airflow. The advantage of keeping to an optimal AoA is that the optimal AoA for landing does not depend on the plane load, while the optimal airspeed speed does. By ensuring that the AoA is correct for every landing, you will land at the correct speed, whatever the plane load. The Angle of Attack is displayed within the HUD, and/or as a set of three lights shown at the left. When the upper "∨" is lit, your angle of attack (AoA) is too high and you need to pitch down. When the lower "∧" is lit, your AoA is too low and you need to pitch up. The center indicates your the AoA is OK. Obviously, as you pitch up or down your airspeed and descent rate will change, so you will need to change your throttle setting appropriately.

Biggy: B-52 Stratofortress

The B-52F bomber implemented in FlightGear is a success. It is one of my favorite airplanes. I’m sorry it was conceived to terrify me. One single B-52 bomber can wipe out every main town of my country and rise a nightmare of sicknesses and children malformation for centuries. All B-52 bombers united can wipe out mankind and almost every kinds of plants and animals on Earth. The differences between the virtual B-52F bomber and the Cessna 172p are these:

• The B-52F starts with the flaps deployed and the parking brakes set.

• There are only two flap steps: retracted and deployed. When deployed they are only meant to make the wings lift more, not to brake. If you want to brake, you need the spoilers. They deploy on the the upper side of the wings. Use the key "k" to deploy the spoilers and the key "j" to retract them. There are seven steps of spoilers.
  

• The main landing gear of the Cessna 172p is composed of two wheels, one on each side of the airplane. In order for these wheels to leave and touch the ground altogether, you need to keep the wings parallel with the ground. The main landing gear of the B-52F is composed of a set of wheels at the front and a set of wheels at the rear. This implies that in order for these wheels to leave and touch the ground altogether, you need to keep the airplane body parallel with the ground.
  

• Push the yoke 1/3 of the total way.
  

• Push the engine throttle to maximum.

• Release the parking brakes (key "B").

• Push down the left mouse button to control the rudder pedals and keep the airplane on the runway
  

• The whole runway length is needed till the B-52F rises from the ground (KSFO).
  

• Once the B-52F leaves the ground, around 190 knots seems appropriate to get to altitude.
  

• Retract the flaps and the landing gear.

• Make a steep turn with a very strong bank; the wings nearly perpendicular to the ground.
  

• Try to get the plane back level. It will obey but very slowly. You will get aware that the turn will go on for a while and that you will turn further than your intended flight direction.
  

• Do something that accelerates the stabilization on some airplanes: push the rudder to an extreme, opposite to the current turn. This will suddenly make the airplane drop from the sky.

Summary off Differences