Landing the P-51

[heavy]

Hi all, I've lately been trying out the A2A Civilian Mustang and I have a hell of a time flying it but.....landing it is another story. Anyone got good technique? I touch down and bounce my way down the runway. Very sad! Any help is welcome...

H

[Blade124]

Hi all, I've lately been trying out the A2A Civilian Mustang and I have a hell of a time flying it but.....landing it is another story. Anyone got good technique? I touch down and bounce my way down the runway. Very sad! Any help is welcome...

H

H,

The Mustang, as you know, is a heavy, fast plane. This means all decisions have to be made quicker, several times faster than some smaller GA planes. This means it is very easy for the aircraft to get ahead of you. At first, you want to make sure you can establish a controlled descent. Ultimately, you will want to be able to bring it in faster if needed. If you are coming fresh off a slower aircraft, there will be an adjustment period before you feel comfortable. This is the way it is in real life when moving between two different aircraft.

I would start reading these tutorials from Mustang pilot, Dudley Henriques.
http://www.a2asimulations.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=93&t=32663

Scott.

[gman5250]

The three best procedures that I found worked for me...

1. Seat time
2. Seat time
3. Seat time

I've got a lot of hours in this aircraft and I still am learning it. It's a humbling experience but well worth the work.

[JAllen]

AND when you finally understand it a sweet feeling of accomplishment comes with it.
My landings were more like diving to the fence and pulling up at the last second compared to what the Mustang has taught me. I had a lot to learn shall we say.
If you can get this plane in the air then, with patient practice, you will get the landings too. Absolute must read what Dudley Henriques has written.

[skyhawka4m]

I have to agree with what has been said but I have found that if you are doing circuits at an airport....if you're not you should be.....I have found that lowering flaps and gear on downwind help alot.....once this is done you get the feel of the plane and the drag invloved.....increase throttle as needed. As others have said...she's not a slow landing aircraft...she will drop right out if youre not careful. Try both with flaps and without....get a feel of how she flys....even if not on an appraoch......did it mid flight to get a feel for it.....airspeed is key.

[MudMarine]

Hi all, I've lately been trying out the A2A Civilian Mustang and I have a hell of a time flying it but.....landing it is another story. Anyone got good technique? I touch down and bounce my way down the runway. Very sad! Any help is welcome...

H

TnG after TnG and then some more TnG's! Don't worry you'll get a feel for it and after you do it'll never go away.

[pilottj]

Agreed with the others, this is fairly heavy airplane with a very slick wing, so being below recommended approach speeds can get you into trouble. I shoot for 105kts on final which is about 120mph for the Mil variant. The Civil is a little lighter than the Mil too. With practice, you can get this airplane into airports like FTX's Harvey or Darrington airports with moderate braking. I would consider those types of airports to be 'short' field for the P-51. FTX's Bowerman is a great place to practice, especially with a stiff crosswind, it really helps you sharpen a P-51 landing.

[Mr.Mugel]

Don´t be too heavy, don´t get too slow or she´ll just fall out of the sky. Practiced the Military one at 2B2, pretty short one there.

Pick a nice long runway, take her in pretty fast at first, and than when it comes down smooth most times, reduce speed, a little more than 100 mp/h works with flaps one notch short of full. Can´t speak for the civie one there, though....

[heavy]

Wow, thank you for all the help and advice, I cant wait until I get home from work! Ill be reading the article from Mr. Henriques at lunch! Thanks everyone!

H

[clmooring]

I agree with pilottj and others regarding speed on landing. I was trying to land too slow. It resulted in tail first landing and bouncing all overt the place. I try to take the approach at about 110 to 120kts. Then just as I cross over the runway I reduce throttle slightly again to slow down to just about 105kts and fly her practically on the runway. Then I reduce throttle to idle and the plane slows down quickly and settles main gear first on to the runway.... and no bouncing.

P.S. for me getting the approach stablized is important. I cant just whip her around on a short final like a C172.

[fsxar177]

Strange;
the A2A Mustang practically lands itself compared to the Warbirdsim 'stang, which I actually have to fly.

Anybody what me to expound on this subject, and we'll cover it in detail.

Joseph

[griphos]

Hi all, I've lately been trying out the A2A Civilian Mustang and I have a hell of a time flying it but.....landing it is another story. Anyone got good technique? I touch down and bounce my way down the runway. Very sad! Any help is welcome...

H

Well, I certainly agree with all the advice to practice, practice, practice, as far as that goes. But from what you say above about touching and then bouncing down the runway, I suspect you're actually landing too hot, not too slow. If you are in a nice three point attitude above the runway, and not at a ridiculous height, and just hold her off as long as you can, then when those wings are through flying, you'll land, and stay landed. Mostly, bouncing is a symptom of trying to land before the wings are through flying. In other words, with too high a speed. Try approaching 5 kts slower than you have been, and see what happens. Then, if you're still bouncing, knock another 5 kts off, etc.

Approach speeds need to change depending on conditions, of course, and also depending on weight of the aircraft at landing, so I'd set up at some nice field on a nice calm day with about half fuel and just do patterns, as suggested above, trimming a little airspeed off on each pass until you plop her down and she sticks.

[JimH]

Keep in mind that FSX usually loads the plane with a bunch of fuel, so it's on the heavy side. Planes landing after a mission or long flight typically would have less fuel remaining and would be lighter. It helps a lot to go into FSX and remove the excess fuel, just leaving what you need for some pattern work.

[jerrygiffin]

Hi all, I've lately been trying out the A2A Civilian Mustang and I have a hell of a time flying it but.....landing it is another story. Anyone got good technique? I touch down and bounce my way down the runway. Very sad! Any help is welcome...

H
Slow down ahead of time,flaps down,,gear down...come in about 100 mph..throttle down...pull up a lil before touchdown...land slow speed.

[napamule]

Heavy,
You said: 'Anyone got good technique?'. Well, at least you are smart enough to realize that it's NOT all 'practice, practice...'. A bad technique is a bad technique no matter how many times you do it. Right? Right. And it applys to all aircraft in FSX, not just P-51s.

The one thing that all pilots that have 'issues' (I love the rationalization that it's someone ELSE's fault) fail to realize or understand is the use of PITCH TRIM for setting attitude on approach. The ILS landings will show you how sim will keep inputing up pitch trim as you slow on approach. Yet simmers never seem to notice, and then use, this. So they 'miss' this aspect which is VITAL for their 'HAND FLY' landing 'technique'.

When you do your pattern work ('practice'?) input enough pitch trim that will take pressure off your joystick/yoke (allowing 'level' flight with out joy input!!!) and THEN you LEARN to land ac in the sim. You will hear: 'pitch for speed, throttle for descent rate'. But just go ahead and use the trim to help land and let the 'real' pilots argue all they want (bla,bla,bla). Sticking the landing is what is important. Not theory. That is what I am saying. So do use pitch trim-whether for a 747 or a Cessna-on landing approach-I guarantee that you'll like the result. Cheers.
Chuck B
Napamule

[dandog]

Here's a landing technique that works for me. Trim for level flight at about 1500 above your touchdown point. Your speed should be stall speed plus about 10 knots (airspeed). Line up on final and just use minor throttle adjustments for pitch and glide slope. Not enough throttle and you land short of the touchdown point at too high a rate of speed. Too much throttle and you never loose enough altitude. This technique usually yields a smooth controlled landing. Use any altitude devices, VASI or PAPI (etc) to make sure you start your decent at the proper distance/height from the field. Eventually, you'll just know by the way landing strip looks as you make the approach.

[DaveQ]

Strange;
the A2A Mustang practically lands itself compared to the Warbirdsim 'stang, which I actually have to fly.

Anybody what me to expound on this subject, and we'll cover it in detail.

Joseph

Dudley Henrique's input is very interesting and gives us great insight into how a real Mustang behaves in relation to the A2A product in particular. But I wonder how different the WBS Mustang is in terms of its take-off and landing behaviour? I certainly have little difficulty getting the WBS Mustang off the deck fairly cleanly; the secret seems to be not to hoist it off too quickly otherwise torque-roll will kill you. Getting it down, I agree too much speed on touch-down causes bounce (as it does with most aircraft), but crossing the threshold at about 100 knots and 100 ft, flare, chop the throttles and she'll settle quite well.

And if you think the Mustang's a bitch try the SSW F-104's or the AS B-58:isadizzy:!!

DaveQ

[MudMarine]

Torque will also kill you during an aborted landing attempt. DON'T firewall the throttle if you have to do a go around, it's a quick way to meet your virtual maker! :-)