Auto Landing

I don’t know quite the point of the question. Auto-land from a Cat 3B type instrument approach still involves a power reduction and a flare, just that it is controlled by a computer rather than pilot input.

It is possible to set an aircraft up such that no more control input is required before touch down. This is done for such-as glassy water landings in a sea-plane. That requires a low rate of descent and a low speed to give a slightly nose-high attitude. Similar is the wheel landing on a tailwheel aircraft which is stabilised at a low rate of descent shortly before landing.

In both cases it is necessary to put some down-elevator input almost at the moment of touchdown, in one case to get the aircraft ‘on the step’ and in the other case to stop the tail dropping and the aircraft re-launching itself into the air.

The rate of descent at touchdown is of the order of 100 ft/min or less and far too low to be set-up other than in the very last stages of an approach.

Autoland

Hi,
Guys and Gals, don’t be so dismissive.

Try flying your spam can around a visual circuit using just the RPM guage.
All other instruments are covered up. You deduct life expectancy years for busting the flap limiting or gear speed. Lose points for being more than 5 knots away from your chosen speed.
In my Rotax powered 3axis m/light I can fly the from late downwind to 20 feet over the threshold with just one power setting ( 2800 RPM ). If you have any pretensions of flying heavy metal then knowing exactly what power setting and attitude you need before you set it, is a must.
I don’t recommend an autoland ( I’ve done a few) but if you take power off for the flare it is possible the nose will drop. It may be you need to add power in the flare to raise the nose and arrest the rate of descent.

It saved my life in a heavy 4 engined turboprop over Frankfurt one night when the ASI froze up with water in the tubes. Knowing your power settings may save yours.

Safe Flying

There is a Flight Sim section on this forum here 😉

I have been trying to figure out how to set up for an auto landing,Is this possible?

In a GA aircraft? Why would you want to even try that? Are you serious? If you mean to not touch throttle or stick from 500ft or something, I guess it could happen OK if you are really lucky sometimes but then please tell us when you intend to try and I’ll come and watch!

Reminds me of the old Flight International photographs with the same caption: “Too late on the round-out, Hoskins!”

Done it. Look forward to your contact Dean

My gosh John you haven’t stepped on my toes at all, any help offered by anyone is great, the more the merrier 😉

I am still here mate, I just don’t get time to get on flight sim at the mo, flying all day every day tends to dampen your appetite for flight sim when you get home.

Mate, you have indeed dropped a clanger, that wasn’t me, I haven’t heard of the horizon forums, PM me the url 😉

Rgds

Dean

😮 Sorry Dean. Didn’t mean to step on your toes. I completely forgot you had done the ILS tutorial and I should have mentioned it. It’s plain enough above the message too.

Nice to hear you’re still about mate.

Was that you on in the Horizon Forum a month or so back or have I dropped another clanger and written to someone else with the same name?:confused:

Best wishes.

John

I like to guess what power setting to pull the throttle off to as I turn Base, trim the Warrior to 75 knots and then see if I can get to the Threshold without having to adjust the throttle or do any pitch changes.

I can then pull the throttle off as I cross the fence and just pull on a little flare as I cross the threshold.

that’s the theory anyway, doesn’t often happen:o

Konrad

Further from what John said a while ago I wrote an ILS tutorial for beginners, it is posted as a sticky in the flight sim forum and is located here

Follow it and you should be ok, it has piccies too.

Any more questions please post in here

Auto Land

Thanks for that, I will give it a go.

Konrad
🙂

I take it you mean an ILS (Instrument Landing System) landing.

What you need to do is sort out a destination airport that has the system. Most of the major ones do.

In Flight Planner enter the destination then click ‘Find Route’. On the map that comes up expand the destination airport until you see a light green feather pointer. Hovver the mouse over that and you will see two figures; the ILS and MHz. Note these carefully. Also in the NavLog, note the height above sea level of your destination airport.

After clicking ‘Fly now’ and getting into the cockpit tune the Nav section of your radio to the MHz number and click the double headed arrow to make it active. Then set your OBS direction finder to the ILS (runway) number.

When you are some 20 miles from your destination reduce your altitude to between about 2000′ and 2500′ above the altitude of the airport.

Make sure you are more or less lined up with the runway in accordance with the ATC and gradually reduce your speed according to the aircraft your flying’s approach speed. Making sure your altitude is correct in the auto pilot, click it on if it’s not on already and then click on ‘Hdg’, ‘Alt’, then ‘App’ (approach).

You should see the ILS system come on in your OBS/Direction dial, and also that firstly your ‘Hdg’ (heading) indicator in your Autopilot will go out and then your ‘Alt’ indicator will go out. This will show you have been captured by the system.

You must operate your speed controls and flaps yourself. ILS doesn’t do that for you unless you are in the Flight Director that only the major jets have. To start with I would suggest you learn on the Cessna Skyhawk 172.

You need to give yourself time so its probably not a good idea to wait until the wheels touch before you turn off the Auto Pilot. I usually do this about a mile out. That gives me time for final flaps, throttle right down and a little bit of flare to if the speed is a little too fast.

If you find you come down early, it’s not the auto pilot, its because you haven’t kept up sufficient speed to keep the aircraft up.

Now, that’s my version of it. Its not a manual. For that you need to go to the learning centre in the simulator, which when I first started I must admit I found most complicated.

Hope it helps.

John Y

Most payware aircraft won’t do autolands. If you buy payware like the PMDG and Level-D Simualtions, they can do autoland’s.