Departure is great, crosswind is great, but when I turn onto downwind he says "lets maintain
1000ft above the runway" then it seems the minute I drop down there (and he's switched us to cruising mode) then he says "you are too low for cruise altitude" and he just keeps saying both
over and over, it's like there's no 'sweet spot'. What am I doing wrong?

Lastly, should I be switching to landing mode when I turn FROM downwind to base or base to
final, or should I let him do it?

Thanks,

-Brendan

FSFS always detects taxi automatically when you start on the ground.

FSFS always detects cruise automatically when you start in the air.

FSFS always detects taxi automatically after you land and slow down.

FSFS always detects takeoff automatically when you leave the ground. (But you should always tell the instructor yourself   - when you are lined up and ready for takeoff)

Detection of cruise or landing on a flight which starts on the ground can be done automatically if you have their checkboxes ticked at the Automatic Detection Setup section of the Pilots Page.

>> Departure is great, crosswind is great, but when I turn onto downwind he says "lets maintain 1000ft above the runway" then it seems the minute I drop down there (and he's switched us to cruising mode) then he says "you are too low for cruise altitude" and he just keeps saying both over and over, it's like there's no 'sweet spot'. What am I doing wrong?

I can't assume anything about anyone's knowledge on this forum - some folks are experts, some are novices, and some fall in between.

A key point I need to establish is that all the altitudes in circuits are based on AAL (Above Airfield Level). If the airfield is at 435 feet MSL then 1000 feet AAL is 1435 on the altimeter.

So first we have to establish that.

I don't have FSX in front of me right now (yes - it's hard to believe - are there such people??? )
but I see from http://www.flysalem.com/airfield.htm that
Salem Airport Airfield Information says the airfield elevation is 210 feet. Could this be the problem?

Moving on - if you are flying very close to 1000 feet above the airfield the instructor should be happy with your altitude relative to the runway during the downwind leg of a circuit.

The instructor should not be saying that you are cruising too low if you are at 1000 AAL. That kicks in - generally - around 800 feet AAL/AGL. If your ALT says 1000 and the airfield is 210 MSL then you are actually at 790 feet AAL, which makes it all make sense. Could this be it?

>> Lastly, should I be switching to landing mode when I turn FROM downwind to base or base to final, or should I let him do it?

In FSFS if you are about to descend to landing you should indicate landing mode to the instructor. As mentioned in this message you can have this automatically detected if you prefer.
There is no penalty in FSFS (that I can think of...!) if you declare landing a bit to early. The instructor is not going to say "Why aren't you descending?"
Regardless - indicate your intention to land just before you start your descent. This would be right at the end of the downwind leg when you are still actually flying straight and level.

One final note - flying circuits is the hardest test in FSFS. They can be done and you can get some pretty spiffy scores, but they are very demanding. Flying them with ILS would be easier and I would recommend you try some ILS circuits too.

Let us know how you get on!

Jeff Preston ('Squadron Leader') - FSFlyingSchool Publisher & Lead Developer


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