Question for AI experts

[WND]

I'm just getting into AI (after all these years of Flight Siming) and I can program them, they appear to takeoff and fly well but the one thing I have noticed is how they land - it's more of an "arrival" than a landing!!! In fact, they tend to slow down too much (unrealistic to my liking) and at about 50 feet above the ground they tend to take a nose dive!!!!!!!!!!!

So my question is: Is there someway in Flight Sim (or some other software program) to adjust the approach speed / landing speed and "flair" point of a landing AI aircraft?

Other than that, they back out / start up / taxi out / fly and taxi in ok - just the landings are terrible..

I appreciate any and all comments and thank you in advance..

Bill

[Mick]

Very curious!

Does this happen with all planes?

Does it happen at all airports?

[Desert Rat]

Is it a dedicated AI only, or is it a flyable plane your using as AI?

[WND]

Mick and JD:

Good questions!!! As we speak I'm doing a comparison..

There appears to be a difference when I use an "add on" airplane versus an FS stock airplane. Right now I'm flying the Baron and it appears to land ok (altho I wish my "final" speed was a little higher!!!)

The other airplane I was using was one of Mr. Shupe's Commanders (560) and that was really noticeable!!!

However they both flair higher than I would like!!! It seems they all like to flair about 50 feet in the air!!! lol Being a "real world" pilot - I'm not used to that!!!

I've only used 2 airports in my testing - a "homemade" one that I made and KPNS (Pensacola) which again is stock.. Results are the same at both..

If I'm reading this right, I would say that unless the airplane is specifically designed for AI, I'm going to have issue's...

One thing I forgot to mention earlier in things I would like to change, is the taxi speed - they all seem to want to taxi fast!!!

Anyways, thanks for your responses - I appreciate it.

Bill

[Terry]

You can change taxi speed with "FS Configurator.zip". Either Avsim or Flightsim.

Check runway pattern altitude, normal is 1000' if you go higher ai's will land long and steep.

[Wing_Z]

Welcome to the wonderful world of AI!

You can change taxi speed with "FS Configurator.zip". Either Avsim or Flightsim.

Google FS9 Configurator and you'll get it at some of the other sites around, as AVSIM is kaput again and Flightsim doesn't have it.
If you get stuck, PM me an email address and I'll send it, it's quite small.
Obviously dedicated AI models are better if you intend to have a fair number visible, they are tailored to minimize frame rate hit.

[tgibson]

The easiest way to speed up the landing approach is to increase the empty_weight value in the aircraft.cfg file; if this slows down the plane too much you can increase engine power to compensate. That said, almost all AI aircraft (including the default aircraft) tend to flare too high.

Hope this helps,

[WND]

UPDATE:

Wing_Z: Again, thanks for the FS9 Configurator - works real well - got my taxi speed down pretty decent...

Terry: Once I realized the "altitude setting" in the flight planner wouldn't override my pattern altitude - and went into ADE and changed it, it made a very nice improvement to where the landings are "livable" now!!! lol Worked my way down to 1,000' foot pattern and I think that's where I'll stay..

TGibson: Haven't tried changing any weights yet - I'll work on that one down the road!!

Spent most of the afternoon "test hopping" different add-on aircraft and found so far that the Carenado Mentor isn't too bad along with the Eaglesoft PA30. Not having much luck with the "Alpha" birds tho!!!

Anyways, to all I thank you for your comments and help - you got me going in the right direction..

Bill