One landing?! (and some relevant stuff)

[Conure]

Hey guys,

 

So yesterday I spent three hours or so doing Batumi touch and goes and have pretty much got landing down (in clear weather at daytime)...I start out at at about 10 miles (is that too far?) bring it in so that I'm at 1500 radar alt at 5 miles which seems to be fine.

 

A couple of questions about ATC though...When they say "fly heading 270 for 50, pattern altitude" that effectively means fly west for 50 miles whilst descending to pattern alt, which I generally make as 2000ft agl.

 

So when this happens, does the game generate a random point in the air and when I reach it I get cleared? Also, they often say cleared for visual and then after, cleared to land, check gear. Does cleared for visual mean I can begin to land? I don't really understand the difference!

 

(Also, my profile says one landing...I did at least 20 yesterday!)

 

Edit: Radar altitude seems to be more accurate than barometric at lower alt, should I switch to Radar for landing?

 

Thanks everyone :)

 

Con

Edited March 7, 2011 by Conure

[Rusty_M]

I don't know too much about the rest, but I know about the alt's. Barometric altitude is always above sea level. Radar will always measure the altitude to the surface below you, so is probably a better guide for landing. Also, if the air pressure is different where you take off compared to where you land, the barometric altitude could pick up some inaccuracy, as it's based on the atmospheric pressure at sea level, which is a variable figure.

[Burnerski]

I'm not familiar with that mission but I'll take a guess. 270 for 50 probably means fly heading 270 and decend or climb to 5000' using baro alt. You alway use baro altitude , radar altitude is normally used for specific approches or maby some military low level stuff. You just need to have the correct altimeter setting. Approach will usually give that to you or you get it from atis.

The proper technique is to be vectored to the airfield by approach then they will ask if you have the field in sight. If you say yes then they will clear you for a "visual approach" which means you are cleared to manuver

as you see fit to set your aircraft up to land. Then when on final you will change over to tower who will clear you to land. The check gear down call is a U.S military technique only to verify that your gear is down.

[Inseckt]

The tower gives bearing and range to the "approach fix" wich is a fixed point a couple of miles out from the runway, when you reach this point (Its not a random point but the very same point youll get every time), tower will give you cleared for visual and you should now turn final... The check landing gear is sort of a final confirmation and I consider it as a kind of "point of missed apprach". So if I hear that message and I havent yet visually aquiered the runway or are very off my glidepath, i abort... I think you have actually understood correctly, its all kinda intuitive, but nontheless I higly recommend going through the landing training mission...

 

Edit: sniped!

[kingpinda]

IIRC from what the instructor told me, in the landing training mission, pattern altitude was 6000ft

[Malefic Rage]

I've only begun playing around with the sim myself so I can't add much but speaking from my very limited PPL experience, I'd say cleared visual means that you may approach and perhaps enter the pattern under visual flight rules (as opposed to an instrument approach). Cleared to land means you are permitted to actually plant your wheels on the runway. I haven't looked at how far A10 simulates ATC but after that, at a controlled aerodrome, once you exit the runway you usually have to contact ground control for taxi clearance.

 

When receiving directions from ATC, altitudes are given relative to sea level since not all aircraft (especially in the civilian sector) have radar altimeters. So if the pattern is at 2000 ft AGL and the runway is at 1500 ft MSL, the pattern will be flown at 3500 ft MSL.

 

Unfortunately I can't say much else, I know very little of millitary procedure. One of my main disappointments with the DCS and LOMAC series has been the complete nonexistance of procedural documentation and compliance checking. Not that it was by any means an exemplar but one thing that I liked about Falcon 4 was the list of procedural transgressions I had committed in the end-of-mission report.

[pitbldr]

Starting at page 486 in the manual covers the approach types and landing patterns and it mentions 2000 AGL for all but the TACAN which states that ATC will assign an altitude for this type of approach.

 

Regarding the number of landings, did you come to a complete stop or just throttle back up? For a landing, you generally need to exit the runway, otherwise it's a "touch and go". Technically speaking, you've landed in both cases, but the sim may only log a landing event if either the wheels stop moving and/or you exit the runway.

[pitbldr]

Along these lines, it would be a nice feature if you could contact ATC and request 'touch and go' landings and those be recorded as such. :)

[Conure]

TY guys, have been following the manual but its a little sketchy in places..For example, when waiting 5 mins or so for the EGI to align, what do the numbers which change cultiminating in 4.0.0.8 actually mean? I don't understand what the aircraft is doing, and why we have to wait 5 mins! It frustrates me to not know :D

 

Cheers

[sobek]

TY guys, have been following the manual but its a little sketchy in places..For example, when waiting 5 mins or so for the EGI to align, what do the numbers which change cultiminating in 4.0.0.8 actually mean? I don't understand what the aircraft is doing, and why we have to wait 5 mins! It frustrates me to not know :D

 

Cheers

 

First number (counting to 4.0 from 0.1) is minutes in decimal, the other number counting down from 10.0(?) is the error multiplier, IIRC.

Edited March 7, 2011 by sobek

[EvilBivol-1]

IIRC from what the instructor told me, in the landing training mission, pattern altitude was 6000ft

I think you misheard or misunderstood. The instructor says the typical pattern altitudes will be between 2000 - 3000 ft. During the lesson, he asks you to descend to 2500 ft.

[Temp]

If the ATC tells me to head 270 for 50 I head bearing 270 for 50 miles.

 

Unsure the best way to tell how far 50 miles is, but I set the HSI to the runway bearing and hopefully your waypoint is on the airport, so it will start to line up when you near 50 miles and I begin to turn towards the airport.

 

Is there a better way to tell when you've travelled 50 miles?

[effte]

You have a clock right there on the dash. :)

 

1 knot = 1 nm per hour.

 

To fly 50 miles at 250 knots you will need

 

50/250 hours, or

 

50/250*60 minutes. Usually you'll be able to get close enough just doing the rough calculation in your head.

 

You can also get one of these and make it ded simple (pun intentional). :)

 

 

Cheers,

Fred

[EvilBivol-1]

You can use the TAD display to set a markpoint at the bearing and range from your current position given by ATC.