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FSFlyingSchool PPL
 
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Hi,
a FSX rookie here who attempts to learn flying with FSFS - and it is great stuff. Flight Score is mostly between 80 and 90 but the Landing Score is always 0.
If I compare the following excerpts:
Flight Score:65,22
Flight commended in the following areas:
* Flown within aircraft's maximum speed limit.
* Gentle taxi turns.
* Good take off steering.
* Rotation was not late.
* Smooth braking during taxi.
* No stalls.
* Approach speed not too fast.
* Low altitude speeds not too fast.
* Good clearance of obstacles.
Flight included the following problems:
* Rough turns - your passengers spilt their drinks and have a pain in their necks.
* Steep banking - save your aerobatic flying for some other time.
* Sickening G forces - your passengers feel rather unwell.
* Rough pitch control - that flight felt like a rollercoaster.
* Poor attention to taxi speed - dangerous to yourself and others.
* Loss of altitude during takeoff - climb smoothly.
* Wings not level near ground - danger of clipping a wing.
* Poorly coordinated turns - use your rudder correctly.
* Airspeed too low - you are risking stalls.
* Rapid descent - dangerous and uncomfortable.
* Nose held too high - spilt drinks and worried expressions.
* Nose held too low - we're not in combat.
Definite room for improvement...
... and...
Landing Score:0,00
Landing was successful in the following areas:
* Good glideslope on visual approach.
* Gentle touchdown.
* Good landing speed - not too fast.
* Wings were level.
* Distance from runway numbers (visual approach): 563 feet
* Glideslope held until flare.
* Good pitch at landing.
* Throttle(s) idle.
* Good controlled final descent to touchdown.
* Good steering after landing.
Landing included the following problems:
* Poor alignment with runway on visual approach - line up and stay there.
* Violently pitched down at touchdown.
* Touch down not aligned with the runway - let's point down the runway.
Definite room for improvement...
I'd say I should get at least 70 of landing score (or maybe even less, but certainly something more than 0). I also tried several aircraft with several attempts - and even with just little experience I rarely got less than 60 for flight scores, but always 0 for landing score.
What could be wrong there?
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FSFlyingSchool Developer
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| AndiD: I always recommend FSFlyingSchool pilots start with ILS approaches. If am not sure if you are scoring zero on ILS approaches too? In FSFlyingSchool, it is easier to fly an ILS approach than a visual approach because the NAV1 glideslope and localizer indications can be followed very precisely and you do not have to land on the runway numbers - just near the centreline and without having seriously overshot the glideslope. In a visual approach you have to put the aircraft down very close to the runway numbers (on them if possible) and this has a crucial affect on the score. So - please try it with an ILS approach and let me know how you get on. Remember to set your NAV1 radio to the frequency of the runway's ILS approach and set your NAV1 OBS to the runway heading. Follow the LOC and GS indications and flare at about 20 feet AGL.
Jeff Preston ('Squadron Leader') - FSFlyingSchool Publisher & Lead Developer
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FSFlyingSchool PPL
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SquadronLeader (9/9/2007)
I always recommend FSFlyingSchool pilots start with ILS approaches.
Well, I skimmed through the respective flight lesson - that's a little bit over my head right now. I'm just starting to learn what all the fancy instrumentation and abbreviations are for, let alone I could watch them all at the same time and act accordingly...
Perhaps one can post an example of a good landing and one of a bad landing both with visual approach, and both with score > 0 and maybe I can see from there what the difference could be?
And moreover, it's a strange "Flying School" starting with ILS instead of visual approaches. 
In a visual approach you have to put the aircraft down very close to the runway numbers (on them if possible) and this has a crucial affect on the score.
121 feet is my personal "record" (still landing score of zero with three mistakes) - does this count as close?
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FSFlyingSchool Developer
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| Could you post the text from the landing you refer to so I can look at what went wrong - the landing was pretty close to the numbers. Sure - starting with ILS is not the usual way... The reason I mention it is because flying a highly accurate visual approach can be tricky in FS.  You can track the (imaginary) 'localizer' component simply by keeping lined up with the runway. If you start the flight, lined up, in the air, without wind there is almost nothing to do to correct this, except for the effects of torque etc.  The glideslope is quite a different affair. Runway lights such as VASI will help you, and if you practice the approach a lot you will get the feel of what altitude you should be at as you reach different ground features. But at the end of the day, it is harder than following the glideslope needle on a Cessna or the GS on the HSI on a Boeing.  Now that I mention it - try some landings just as I described above, with the aircraft in the air, lined up with the runway, no wind, about say 1,500 feet above the runway and a good 2 - 3 minutes out to give yourself time. That way you can do half a dozen landings in half an hour and really get the feel of it. Let me know if this helps.
Jeff Preston ('Squadron Leader') - FSFlyingSchool Publisher & Lead Developer
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FSFlyingSchool Developer
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| Just a thought - is your NAV1 OBS set to the runway heading? It has to be set to it precisely. Full instructions are in the FSFS manual. Here's an example of a fair score on a visual approach: Landing Score:69.00 Landing was successful in the following areas:
Gentle touchdown.
Good landing speed - not too fast.
Wings were level.
Distance from runway numbers (visual approach): 201 feet
Glideslope held until flare.
Good pitch control after touchdown.
Good pitch at landing.
With flaps - good job.
Heading aligned with runway.
Throttle(s) idle.
Good controlled final descent to touchdown. Landing included the following problems:
Poor glideslope on visual approach - you can do better.
Poor alignment with runway on visual approach - line up and stay there.
Poor steering after landing - stay on the centre line. Definite room for improvement...
Jeff Preston ('Squadron Leader') - FSFlyingSchool Publisher & Lead Developer
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FSFlyingSchool PPL
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Yes, the OBS heading was the problem - never set it because I haven't touched the lessons mentioning it AND flew an aircraft without OBS gear. Took the Cessna 172 for a spin, set the OBS and it worked (landing score of 10,8  because of unfamilarity with the Cessna and forgot to load flightplan with runway info for glideslope information). But nevertheless, root cause found.
I started to like ultralight aircraft (Tecnam Sierra, Dyn Aero MCR1, the stock Trike) which don't have an OBS instrument. The stock Piper Cub (aircraft file is included with FSFS) doesn't have one as well and I get a 0,00 landing score as well flying the Piper. Is there any way using these aircraft with FSFS for practicing the start, the landing and circuits?
Otherwise, great stuff and many thanks for your rapid assistance.
Two minor remarks:
- Everytime I click on "connect" FSFS seems to try to switch to FSX but all I get is an unresponsive screen at the wrong resolution. Maybe make the automatic switch optional?
- The instructor is always telling me "You need to reset your altimeter" and when I set it to 29.92 he stops but FSX starts complaining. A fix or a switch for shutting up about altimeter setting would be great as well.
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FSFlyingSchool Developer
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| >> Yes, the OBS heading was the problem - never set it because I haven't touched the lessons mentioning it AND flew an aircraft without OBS gear. Took the Cessna 172 for a spin, set the OBS and it worked (landing score of 10,8 because of unfamilarity with the Cessna and forgot to load flightplan with runway info for glideslope information). But nevertheless, root cause found. Excellent result!  >> I started to like ultralight aircraft (Tecnam Sierra, Dyn Aero MCR1, the stock Trike) which don't have an OBS instrument. The stock Piper Cub (aircraft file is included with FSFS) doesn't have one as well and I get a 0,00 landing score as well flying the Piper. Is there any way using these aircraft with FSFS for practicing the start, the landing and circuits? I'm not sure how reliable it is(?), but I believe that if you set the OBS with a different aircraft that has one - such as the Cessna 172, and then switch to a different aircraft which does not have one, FS 'remembers' the setting of the OBS even though the current aircraft does not have one. Then you launch FSFS. In this way you can satisfy the requirement in FSFS that it be set to the runway heading. It's not very straightforward, but it does mean you can fly old/simple aircraft and get good scores. We may change the user interface in future to make this simpler.
I know this works pretty good in FS2004 - not so sure about FSX... >> Otherwise, great stuff and many thanks for your rapid assistance. Glad you like it! >> Two minor remarks:
- Everytime I click on "connect" FSFS seems to try to switch to FSX but all I get is an unresponsive screen at the wrong resolution. Maybe make the automatic switch optional? Not sure about this - FSFS cannot switch tasks by itself (because it has no logic to do this)... This is a puzzle - >> - The instructor is always telling me "You need to reset your altimeter" and when I set it to 29.92 he stops but FSX starts complaining. A fix or a switch for shutting up about altimeter setting would be great as well.
This should only occur if the altimeter is not set to the correct pressure, which is typical when you've decided to fly with realistic weather. But - FSFS and FSX should agree about this - we've had no other reports that they don't. When you say FSX is complaining - do you mean the text tips in FSX?
Jeff Preston ('Squadron Leader') - FSFlyingSchool Publisher & Lead Developer
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FSFlyingSchool PPL
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SquadronLeader (9/10/2007)
>>
I'm not sure how reliable it is(?), but I believe that if you set the OBS with a different aircraft that has one - such as the Cessna 172, and then switch to a different aircraft which does not have one, FS 'remembers' the setting of the OBS even though the current aircraft does not have one. Then you launch FSFS. In this way you can satisfy the requirement in FSFS that it be set to the runway heading. It's not very straightforward, but it does mean you can fly old/simple aircraft and get good scores. We may change the user interface in future to make this simpler.
I know this works pretty good in FS2004 - not so sure about FSX...
Yes, this works. Start flight with the 172, set OBS and switch airplane. Works with the Piper so I guess it will work with every aircraft. Best thing is, the modified OBS setting survives a save after plane change. So still straightforward in a way.
>> Two minor remarks:
- Everytime I click on "connect" FSFS seems to try to switch to FSX but all I get is an unresponsive screen at the wrong resolution. Maybe make the automatic switch optional?
Not sure about this - FSFS cannot switch tasks by itself (because it has no logic to do this)... This is a puzzle -
Maybe FSX / FSUIPC notices the connection attempt and tries to make a switch (and fails).
When you say FSX is complaining - do you mean the text tips in FSX?
Yes, I have text tipps off and still receive them. A minor annoyance, nothing more. Maybe I skip realistic weather for my flight training (which will be a savegame for the time being, anyway, see above).
Again, thanks for your help - a happy customer here.
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FSFlyingSchool Developer
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| OK - sounds like you're doing good and it's always nice to hear of a happy customer! Let me know how you get along and if you have any more questions. Go for those high scores! Fame awaits!
Jeff Preston ('Squadron Leader') - FSFlyingSchool Publisher & Lead Developer
FSFlyingSchool 2023 for Microsoft Flight Simulator
FSFlyingSchool 2023 for X-Plane 12 & 11
FS Instant Approach 2023 for X-Plane 12 & 11 (Windows)
FSFlyingSchool PRO 2020 Prepar3D v 5
FSFlyingSchool PRO 2019 FSX, FSX-SE, FS2004
FSFlyingSchool USA for Microsoft Flight Simulator
FS Instant Approach 2019 for X-Plane 11 (Mac)
FS Instant Approach for Microsoft Flight Simulator
FS Instant Help for FSX, FS2004
Winner of 5 consecutive PC Pilot Magazine 'Classic Product' Awards
Fly like the Pros with X-Plane, Flight Simulator and Prepar3D!
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