Landing the A320

[Lukemeister 6]

Hi guys,

I have recently learnt that pilots will manually land the Airbus series of aircraft 99.9% of the time. I have always used autoland.

 

What I want is some kind of training session so I can try my hand at landing the Airbus without having to do a "full flight" and then just mess the landing up. Ideally i'd like to practise in a variety of situations, IE foggy conditions, windy conditions etc. I have landed the Airbus by hand before, however, when the wind is gusting it always seems to blow me off track at the final moment and I end with a very sloppy landing.

 

 

Your advice is appreciated.

 

Thanks

[rosariomanzo 545]

Autoland is only used in CATIII approaches.

You could try to perform standard traffic patterns in various weather conditions, with touch and go's.

Practice makes perfect.

[Lukemeister 6]

Hi Rosario, thanks for the reply.

 

Are only certain airports equipped with CAT III approaches?

[hifly 925]

Hi Lukemeister. I understood that during most landings are flown with the autopilot holding the ILS glideslope until 200 or 300 ft AGL 'Minimums'. At either of those heights the AP is switched off for a manual landing. 

 

For practice, take off go to your desired altitude and distance from the airport then save the flight. Once saved you can return to the airfield you departed from, changing the conditions as you wish for as many times as you like. Or you can do Circuits and Bumps where you take off, do a circuit of the airport and then land. You don't have to fly between two points to practice landing. 

 

Hope this helps.  Keep practicing. And yes only certain airports have CAT III

[allardjd 1,853]

To be more specific, only certain aircraft are suitably equipped and certified for Cat III landings and pilots must be certified for it too.  There are currency requirements for both aircraft and pilots, i.e. they must have made a Cat III landing within so many previous days, or must go through some kind of recertification dance.

 

So, runway, aircraft and pilots must all be properly pedigreed for a full Cat III autoland.  There is a lesser version, Cat II, with different minimums, but similar restrictions apply.

 

My airport diagrams call out Cat II and Cat III runways where they exist in FSX.

[britfrog 180]

If I understand your problem correctly, you are lined up on the runway about a mile from the end  however by the time you get the wheels on the ground the plane has drifted off the center line and your attempts to keep it on the center line result in a messy landing, yes?

If this is the case, in a crosswind situ pilots have to resort to 2 methods of getting the plot on the ground

the crab method

the low wing down method

with the crab method you keep the wings level and aim say 5 degrees into the wind direction so you are flying down the center line but with the nose aiming away from the runway a bit, this allows the plane to land on the center line however just before putting the wheels on the ground you need to use the rudder to turn the a/c so that it lines up with the runway center line.

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtnL4KYVtDE

 

the second method needs you to fly aiming at the center line but keeping it in front of you by flying with one wing low so you are effectively turning into the wind, however this method has at some point got to be changed back to the crab method because you could hit the wing on the ground

 

and of course some people use a mixture of the two methods and some just sling it at the ground like the emirates guy  who makes the 3rd landing and the 4th landing as they have landed before kicking off the drift in the following sequence

 

However now you will understand better the phrase "any landing you walk away from was a good un"

[Lukemeister 6]

Thanks guys. That's very helpful. This is a topic I've never really looked at so pardon my ignorance.

I'm looking at recreating Easyjet operations so is the procedure quoted of disengaging the AP at minimums correct? I guess that makes landing easier as it's just the very final stage of flight is in my hands.

I think the best way of me practising is by doing a short hop for example Liverpool to Belfast Aldergrove. Not much flying and I enter the landing with a proper path and plan.

I'll let you know how I get on. Thank you.

[allardjd 1,853]

Before trying to master crosswind landings I recommend you set up either zero wind or a wind right down the runway and practice that. When you have that pretty much mastered, then bring on the crosswinds.

John

[brett 2,316]

Also a good idea to add crosswind incrementally, add a few knots each time you make a good landing and the higher crosswinds will come easier to you as you practice them.

 

Explanation of de-crab, crab and slideslip see here.