Hi folks,
First, a disclaimer. I'm not a pilot or even a particularly accomplished flight simmer, and I'm not alleging that there is a bug in the FM simply because something is happening to me that seems bizarre and that I don't understand. I just want to know if what I'm experiencing is understood and what, if anything, I can do about it.
I understand the power curve and the region of reversed command, I can use the stick to establish AoA and the throttle to adjust glide slope, and I can land confidently (on an airfield, anyway!). But there is a behaviour that occurs moments after I lower my flaps and gears that I simply cannot seem to get my head around or adjust for.
I throttle down and, if necessary, extend the speed brake until I slow to 250 knots. As soon as I hit 250 knots, I retract the speed brake (if extended), lower my gears and set my flaps full down. Several seconds later, the nose of the plane soars upwards. I begin haemorrhaging airspeed and, when my speed drops a few knots below 130, I start falling like a stone.
I've learned to compensate for this as best I can. When I lower my gears and flaps, I push the stick all the way forward to compensate for the pitching up and push the throttle to full mil, and desperately struggle to keep it from dropping below 130 knots while simultaneously trying to establish the desired AoA. Within a minute or so, I can get it stable and on speed and start concentrating on the actual landing. It doesn't kill me anymore, but it really is an immense struggle to achieve stability in that first minute or so after the flaps and gears go down, and I often lose hundreds of feet of altitude in the process.
Is this typical? If not, what am I doing wrong? And if so, how should I be compensating for it to achieve stability sooner, or, even better, to retain stability throughout?