How to reliably and safely land the Douglas DC-3 Dakota in Microsoft Flight Simulator
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- Опубликовано: 28 сен 2024
- A quick video showing a reliable technique to land the Douglas DC-3 Dakota in Microsoft Flight Simulator. It's all about speed, thrust over the tail, and minimal use of wheelbrakes.
#msfs #douglas #dc3 #dakota #landing #technique #runway #aviation #flying #howto #tutorial #flight #aircraft #plane #aeroplane
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Very helpful information. My landings in the DC3 have appeared to be undertaken by a drunken sailor.
Lol my take offs are the same
Haha! Exactly the same here! 😅
As a Pilot that flew a lot of hours on the DC3 I have some trouble with this one. ( For me the Rudder control in the flight simulators including FSX & P3D were too sensitive on all types)
I am well versed on the drunken sailure technique. Others I'm good at is the undershooter, the overshooter, the deck slammer, and the bouncing betty.
I’ve never drifted so much
Approach MP is 21". Right before touchdown you pull it back to 18-19" slowly and then walk it back to idle right after touchdown. A really important thing in the dc3 is, that you instantly go back to Flaps 0 after touchdown to bring the tail back earlier. When it starts to get down by itself you start pulling back the yoke and fly the tailwheel down. Then fully back when its down. This procedure avoids the uncontrollable turn in slow speeds like you had at the end of the runway. The plane is stable with the tailwheel down and locked.
Great tips - thank you!
Thank You Jonathan for the 2 videos on this plane, they are mighty helpful and make flying this plane awesome..!!
I am only using the retrofit version with modern avionics but that said I find it's really nice plane to fly and land. For a trail dragger I like it's extra size and weight. I can't fault it.
How do you get the retrofit version?
@@liquidgoose1518 it's included in the liveries. scroll across to the retrofit versions. enjoy!!!!!
In the real aircraft you always take off and land with the tail wheel locked. Typical final approach speeds (manuals vary) are: flaps up 90 knots, full flaps 80 knots. The DC-3 requires positive rudder control for takeoff, landing and turns in flight. Possibly the sim modelling requires tweaking.
Yep - all I am doing here is showing the EASIEST way to land it :) Obviously as you start playing games with short fields, and finer margins it becomes a more skilled dance on the part of the pilot - and almost impossible without good rudder pedals, differential braking, rudder, and locking and unlocking of the tail-wheel as required.
thanks for the info. I’ve only flown airliners in simulators and am now trying to fly without all the automation. thanks for the tips!
You're welcome :)
Gotta go try this out now. So far, it's been a series of slolam runs I've been having at landing. Thanks and muchas gracias.
You're welcome :)
Great video. Would have liked to see your power and trim settings during all phases of flight.
Trim has to be changed all the time - it's never set at a specific setting. If using the gyropilot, you keep adjusting it to get level flight.
@@jonbeckett Find it difficult to trim whilst doing circuits.
Thanks for this one…managed most of it ok myself…take off ok./navigate and 0k/ only managed one decent landing but now I can see how to do it I’ll practice it a lot to get the swing of it. The autopilot was a challenge but am fine with it now. Practice is the answer. It’s a dream to fly; so realistic.
Landing is a bugger without real-world sensory feedback, and rudder pedals.
Amen!
People are funny. When it's MORE realistic and doesn't meet what they THINK it should be based on previous FS experience its' somehow broken. Great video and thank you.
Honestly what has helped me the most was doing a metric ton of ILS and RNAV approaches to get a feel for the sight picture and throttle control. Every so often I find myself dive bombing in and go back to the automated approaches to get the visual back.
Actually, I just tried some NDB approaches for the first time today and noticed how much smoother my landing have become... Albeit a bounce or two when I'm being lazy on the basics.
Nitpick: The airspeed indicator is in MPH not kt's :)
Do you have the duckworks improvement mod installed? I think this is pretty much mandatory nowadays unless you are on Xbox. The key takeaway is stabilised approach: 700-1000 fpm/100-110 MPH, flaps 1/2+ on (short) final. Never go below 1000rpm on your engines until the tail is down. You demonstrated this nicely on your third landing (15:15). Thanks for the video!
Yep. The most important part is to keep the RPM up - otherwise you lose rudder authority.
Trying not to slow down too soon and too quickly made a huge difference.
The real challenge now is landing with a crosswind. For that I'm finding that you need to try to touchdown with the wheels square to the runway (meaning you'll need to rudder the opposite the direction of the wind just as you touch down). Once you're down, the wind will blow your nose towards the direction that it is coming from (because it's blowing against the vertical stabilizer which is at the rear of the aircraft; this forces the nose towards the direction the wind is from). So you then need to rudder towards the direction the wind is blowing (seems paradoxical, but it makes sense when you understand that the wind is mainly pushing on the rear of the aircraft).
With regards to the tailwheel lock. Yes, it is more realistic to land and take off with it on. BUT, in real life, you have access to pedals that control both rudder and differential brakes on an analog scale, as well as differential thrust. Unless you have an awesome setup on your pc, your differential brakes are likely "all or nothing" which makes it more difficult to control. Plus no differential thrust from the engines. Better to keep the lock off...
Good stuff. Wouldn’t having the tail wheel locked on landing help from turning until nearly stopped.
Yep, tail wheel is supposed to be locked for both take off and landing, I keep it locked, get the main wheels down, and put a bit of forward pressure in as the tail wants to come down so by the time it is down I’m going slower, and that’s worked out better than this landing, less wiggling around.
I'm showing the EASIEST way to land it (which of course needs more runway) :)
Thank you very much for these two videos about DC-3 👌
No problem!
There is another fix. The guy who made the flight model posted it on his channel community. Look up "dc3 flight model" and you'll find his video and thus his channel. Besides the center of gravity is a bit off. So should be tweaked manual before flight. All these things including in your video will make everything a bit easier.
Yes, I found the weight was off-centered so I always adjust it before takeoff.
I've never had a problem with the weight - but then I hand fly most aircraft, most of the time :)
Thankyou. Very useful. I spent last week playing with the DC-3 and wasn't able to figure out the proper way to land. Also the fact it's a bird able to fly so slow it's kinda misleading. You can really take off at 60 while landing at 100... I'll apply your suggestions next flight.
You can land much more slowly than I demonstrated - but the faster you are, the easier it gets.
this is the most difficult plane to land on MSFS, agree?! I dont know if that is really simulated... saw real pilots telling the dc3 was abble to land in any short fields (in the WWII), but that dont seems possible in the sim... Great vid btw, unique!
It's more realistic than many of the planes in MSFS :) And yes - a couple of real pilots have told me that you had to dance on the pedals in the real thing to keep it pointing the right direction :)
@@jonbeckett thank u so much 4 the feedback bro!! Good to know! 😁👏👏👏
Going to give her a few more laps. Will definitely follow and hope to ace the landings. Thanks for the video.
This the vanilla version?
Have ductwork’s myself.
Thanks again Jono
It's the vanilla version.
@@jonbeckett Must have the pilot mod installed. That's a hard one to find. Still working on it myself ;)
The Dc3 should have the tail wheel locked for taking off and landing
and once the tail wheel is on the ground and locked the aircraft shouldn't swing like it does in the sim light differential braking should
keep it straight. The sim needs adjustment you could never land it in a crosswind.
No - the sim does NOT need adjustment. It requires more skill from people flying it. I'm showing how to make it EASY to land it - not how to land it correctly.
@@jonbeckett Ok, i still can't see whey at the end of landing the aircraft with tail wheel locked and after landing becomes uncontrollable and wants to ground loop and can't be controlled by full opposite rudder and maximum differential braking. As a real world pilot albeit a long time ago light singles and twins but no tail dagger experience i think this sim needs adjustment.
@Jonathan, any chance u could teach us fly VORs on the DC-3 "classic" version?! :) Cheers bro
I thought I might have done - did I not do a navigation video with the DC3?
@@jonbeckett oh did u? I searched but didnt find it... ill check again and let u know ok! Thanks have a good 1
I would have liked if you showed how it looks from outside, some simmers like me prefer flying in 3rd person. Nice video anyway :)
Sorry about that
Good throttle that isn't the Honeycomb Bravo? (desk/space issue)
The Airbus quadrant is good - there are lots of others too though.
@Jonathan Beckett Which airport is this?
Nice!
Power on landing - balancing c/g over main gear is the easiest technique to learn for a taildragger. Drawback is runway used. Heavier aircraft, such as DC3 eats up runway like B707 on roll out.
There are other techniques , such as 3 pointer, more difficult to learn. And there is a reason why tailwheel lock is installed, but maybe it is not properly simulated?
Yep - as I've replied elsewhere - this was all about showing those having trouble how to make it easy for themselves. As you obviously know - the slower you get, and the shorter the field, the finer the margins - and more skill required to dance on the wheel brakes, the rudder, and the throttle - while also locking the tailwheel, and then unlocking it again :)
@@jonbeckett Correct - Lower speed means less rudder authority. Differential brakes really helps. I do not have pedals, A toggle switch is a nice substitute. Or at least bind a couple of key for l/h - r/h brakes. It is bound to swerve (physical law) - You have to be very active and alert on roll out .
You don't do 3 pointer on a DC-3, unless you want to kill the tailwheel. That's what's written in the manual.
There is a little mistake about the IAS. It is in mph instead of knots. So, the 100 (mph) are just around 87 knots. Beside this, thank you for the tips!
"Go around frontier flight zero" as a shadow passes over you at 1:00 should be a lil bit more concerning, lol.
What do you do to keep the tail down whilst landing so when you brake you don't topple her over? Thanks.
I brake gently :) Also - as with all tail draggers, hold the stick back - to force the tailwheel into the ground.
Thank you SO much !!
You're welcome!
Good work Jon ! Must give it a try, finish India to Australia Tour first
Can you do a tutorial on crosswind landing cus it seems nigh on impossible?
Cross-wind landings are going to absolutely require power on - to maintain airflow over the rudder - otherwise you'll be in danger of a ground loop.
🎉
Almost run out of runway, hardly safe.
Only because I was demonstrating that you can still control it under power :) I've spoken to real-world DC3 pilots about this - power on landings are the safest, easiest method - but they require a lot of runway. Stalling the aircraft onto a three-pointer requires less runway, but is more difficult for all the reasons we've all seen :)
@@jonbeckett Do you think you can do this in a DC-3? I never saw this, I believe the structure might get damaged.
You talk about "Knots" when referencing to your ASI (Airspeed Indicator) however the ASI is marked in MPH which is not the same and stands for statute mile. So please say Miles, not Knots!
Yes - force of habit. You would be amazed how many tiny details I get essays about in my email :)
We never unlocked the Tail Wheel unless turning when taxing & no more than 85kts over the fence.
On a side note if you opened a side window in the air (We NEVER opened the Storm Windows) anything close could be sucked out from Flight Plans to Pens & Chicken Salad which left Beetroot & mayonaise stains down the side cabin windows (Alegedly) :o)
Hahahaha - that's too funny :)
I thought the vid shows over-the-fence speeds a tad high.
Hello Jonathan. This video helped me a bit. However whenever my DC3 begins to pick up speed and the tail lifts off, the whole plane begins to shimmy without any rudder pressure applied, is there a manoeuvre to stop or limit this?
No - it's up to you to dance on the rudder pedals :)
@@jonbeckett ok thank you :)
Hi Johnathan, love your videos and tutorials. After much practice and experimentation with the DC-3 (xbox),
With retrofit, or classic, tail wheel locked and unlocked, I've cracked it.
On final, 90mph , just before touch down, idle throttle, as soon as you've landed, apply full brakes straight away, keeping her straight don't pull back on stick. It'll do it all by itself. Perfect landings every time.
Power on landings are the way to go :)
I have nothing but fun flying this beautiful veast
Very useful instrucions how to land. When you push the yoke even more forward during the roll out, you can keep the tail in the air, giving you rudder authority, till you're almost stopped.
Of course - it's a fine balancing act - the shorter the field, the finer the margins, and the games you play with the plane wanting to swap ends as the centre of mass shifts.
I've been yelling at the screen YOU'RE too fast! on every one of your landing attempts, and you are still landing way too fast. quick google tells me, landing should be done just above stall speed at around 60 knots, you're still putting it down at over 90 knots, but even without a specific number, old aircraft like that always land with a nose high attitude, if it feels like you're flying the aircraft into the runway and that you have to pitch down to get it to touch, you're too fast.
A part of the reason for coming in so fast (90mph on indicated air speed is 80 knots) is to give me time to talk. Also, faster actually means the plane is more stable. I had a long runway too :)
MPH indicated.
What in the world is with all of these vehicles crossing runways so often in MSFS (right at the beginning)???
They are just dumb AI traffic.
@@jonbeckett Indeed so! Not that I have not seen a few like that in the real world, especially at JFK (albeit not on runways, but rather on the ramp). Unfortunately, those of us who use these simulations as augmented training for some real world flying may form a bad habit or two as a result of ignoring and running over that A-not-so-I traffic!
No flaps for landing ?
I used no flaps for one landing, and full flaps for the next. The second landing was a good example of how fine the margins become if you approach with flaps, and therefore more slowly.
Jonathan here's a silly question....is there ap on this plane❓
Yes - it's called the giropilot.
The real ones used to have a primitive A/P but nowadays I believe you have to hand-fly the plane. Not even the Super-Constellation we had in CH had one. It had been removed along with wing-de-ice, pressurisation et al. I think it depends how you want to fly it. I prefer the modern way, with the MSFS scenery being up to date.
Always, always, always adjust trim for take off, both in the sim and real aircraft.
Here's the funny thing - I have no issue with the trim. It's broadly correct out of the box. I've seen several instructors tell students never to fly the aircraft through trim - rather fly with the stick, and then trim to remove the stick once you're established in a given situation.
@@jonbeckett the problem happens on some planes when they might have been heavy trimmed on last landing and not set back neutral. There have also been cases when maintenance staff set the trim full - and the pilot didn't check on take off - there was a King Air crash for this exact reason. Because I fly both sim and real, I burn the trim check into my run up procedure, even in the "sim". How you train will dictate what you do in the real situation, especially under pressure. Just my two cents worth.
@@rinzler9775 In the real world - absolutely - in the sim, very few aircraft save state.
@@jonbeckett for me though, I approach the sim with the same real world procedures. I absolutley dont want a bad sim habit "translating" over to the real world.
Nice landings but don't follow his power settings, you woudn't idle the engines on approach.
The biggest help is reducing your rudder sensitivity to as low as 80%, then adjust the extremity dead zone to fix the curve. 100 mph approach is good 20" MP & 2000 rpm, reducing to 15" MP over the threshold then touch down at approx 80 mph.
And how would they do that in the real thing? I've had two real DC3 pilots get in touch - this was based on their advice :) The truth? The real thing is difficult to land.
@@jonbeckett well I'm using plastic pedals with digital sensors, not mechanical linkages connected to an actual rudder. It's still difficult enough with no wind. That guy on RUclips teaches people how to fly them all the time, his plane tracks fairly straight with minimal effort.
No one flies this plane better than you. I've been using the mod for the DC-3 now and it's getting updated almost daily. I no longer crash after takeoffs but it's now, I feel, under powered. I need more runway to take off and they have adjusted the sounds, quirks and fixed some knobs inside the cockpit such as not being able to turn off the fuel to the right engine. They are working on a more realistic takeoff. I feel the plane has too much drag when the wheels are dropped. Jonathan, what do you mean and how do you "keep thrust over the tail?" I'm also wondering how I'm able to do ILS landings when I don't see a localizer switch like you do on the PMDG's DC-6. I'm using the pulldown menu GTN 750. I prefer the classic over the retrofit as the modern avionics doesn't play nice with the GTN 750. Despite this, it's my favorite plane right now.
I don't actually think there is anything wrong with the stock aircraft - it behaves as you might expect it to in real life... It's odd that so many have problems with it.
@@jonbeckett Then the issue of "thrust over the tail" the first poster mentioned? I took you to mean use of power all the way down and not trying to close it as one rolled down the runway. But I could be wrong.
Thank You for this video but that panel I just don't fancy
The classic version does the trick, mate. When selecting livery, you will see it stated if it is classic or retrofit.