WINDWARD STOL Challenge: landing practice at St. Maarten
Note: You may print out these flight instructions,
or consult them in-flight (press F10).
This flight assumes familiarity with FS2004 (FS9), its ATC,
and the add-on Winair Twin Otter.
Suggestion: For the smoothest possible flight and the best control
of your flight, it is best to minimize the scenery and weather settings
of FS2004.
About the flight:
This first landing practice uses St. Maarten's long and wide runway.
The dual aim is to touch down, and stop, as close to the threshold as possible.
The weather is perfectly calm.
The plane is loaded at 80% of max. gross weight
(30% of max. fuel, 45% of max. passengers).
Try landing in 3 different ways of increasing difficulty:
with standard, medium and steep slopes.
You should be able to stop within 500 ft, which is at the second white
center stripe from the runway threshold.
Powered standard 3° slope:
The flight starts at 1000 ft at 135 kt, on autopilot,
lined up with the runway, with flaps 0 (0°).
Do this:
- disengage the autopilot (press Z);
- let the runway lights guide you down the glide slope (there is no ILS):
keep a mix of red and white landing lights in sight;
- slow to 90 kt for a standard approach, with flaps 3 or 4 (20-25°)
and a descent rate of about -400 ft/min;
- slow to 70 kt before the threshold, with max. flaps 5 (35°)
and a descent rate of about -300 ft/min;
- flare at the last moment;
- at touchdown, push the nose down hard, reverse thrust (F1 then F2), and brake;
- cancel reverse thrust when stopped (F1).
Powered medium 4.5° slope:
The flight starts at 1000 ft at 135 kt, on autopilot,
lined up with the runway, with flaps 0 (0°).
Do this:
- switch on the DME, to measure distance to the runway
(the PJM VOR is located close to the runway threshold):
click on the right black knob of the DME gauge at bottom center of panel;
- immediately slow down to 70 kt, gradually extending max. flaps 5 (35°);
- disengage the autopilot (press Z);
- at DME distance 2.1 nm, start the descent at 70 kt and about -600 ft/min;
- flare at the last moment;
- at touchdown, push the nose down hard, reverse thrust (F1 then F2), and brake;
- cancel reverse thrust when stopped (F1).
Unpowered steep 8° slope:
The flight starts at 1000 ft at 135 kt, on autopilot,
lined up with the runway, with flaps 0 (0°).
Do this:
- switch on the DME, to measure distance to the runway;
- at DME distance 2.2 nm, start to slow down to 70 kt,
gradually extending max. flaps 5 (35°);
- disengage the autopilot (press Z);
- at DME distance 1.2 nm, start the descent at 70 kt and about -1000 ft/min;
- flare at the last moment;
- at touchdown, push the nose down hard, reverse thrust (F1 then F2), and brake;
- cancel reverse thrust when stopped (F1).
Restart this flight (press Ctrl-;) to try a different approach.
You may also watch a video of one of my steep descents: press Alt-O | V |
select Win0-STOLlandingpractice-SXMa | Play Clip.
(Note: video replays don't show flap settings or flap movements;
and the plane can disappear underground when it stops, thus crashing.)
For the next practice flight,
load flight Win0b-STOLlandingpractice-SBH10.
Press ESC to end the flight.
Further documentation:
Read the Word file FS2004 MV challenge - Windward STOL.doc,
located in the folder C:\My Documents\Flight Simulator Files\Windward STOL
(or similar path).
Copyright 2004 Michael Vone