EDIT: Can´t land the BF-109 (I Had "brake" wrongly attaced!)
 

Yes.....I HAD to try flying some "blue planes" today. I have flown a lot the Spits, Mustangs and some I-16. I land and take off with them all. I would said I land without any damage 8/10 times. (Depends on damage).

Ok, I tried the BF-109G2 just to see how it was landing with it. I don´t know why I never fly blue side, it may be because I like the look of allied planes better. I consider myself above the "newbie" stage as I have flown this sim for nearly 2 years now. That´s why it frustrates my when I can´t land a BF-109. It´s kind a embarresing for myself, so therefore I seek help! Feel like a complete newbie again! :-P

This is what I do. I have made a quick mission where I am lining up with the landing strip. (Concrete). I set full flaps down and lower gear at around 280 km/h. I try to make a good glideslope so I do not come in to fast or sinking to much. I try to land at around 170 km/h. The problem I have, is the stick is shaking due to landing gear down. ( I have MSFF2 with force feedback). This shaking is bigger than in an allied plane. I think I "wobble" to much, but everytime when I think I have the plane fine and level and speed is fine, I tip over! I always flare, but the narrow gear under my vulnerable BF-109 just can´t stand it! Anyone fancy to upload a track where you land this freaking plane? :cool:

What am I missing? Do I need to land at slower speed? I feel my plane stalls when under 170 km/h. Hard to keep level then. I also have trottle at around 20-30% when landing. I saw the training video of the AI landing, and I see he lands on the two wheels a long time before the backwheel comes down. I also think I may be sinking to much. Maybe I will try to start the landing from more far out. Any tips?

Coming in at 170 is probably your problem for a new pilot in the 109 - try landing it at around 200-240 and you'll ntoice you can "fly" it onto the runway rather than the "plop" I expect you are doing right now
V

Salute

The 109 is one of the most controllable aircraft at low speed there is. There is absolutely no wingdrop at stall, you just start sinking, and then finally you fall out of the sky when the speed gets really slow. But you have tons of warning.

You just need to set a shallow glide path at around 180 kph, full flaps, keep your power up so you fly onto the runway.

Then you have the issue of the narrow undercarriage. If you are coming at the runway crabbed, ie. sideways, you will have a problem. You need to be lined up straight. This is not a Fockewulf or a P-47 with their wideset undercarriages and stability, which will straighten out on their own. The 109 will get nasty right away if you are sideways. When you touch down, you need to avoid using the brakes initially, let it roll on its own for while, and keep some back pressure on the stick to keep the nose up. When you feel you are rolling nice and straight, and under control, then very gently start to apply the brakes, but only in short bursts.

I also find the 109 is the hardest to land: narrow undercarriage plus a more nose high flare needed than in many other a/c if you want to three point. Also since it is so responsive to throttle and control inputs at low speed it can feel out of control if you start making large adjustments too late.

My method: (flying F2 - Gs may need another 10km/h throughout)

1)Flying in the opposite direction to the landing direction parallel to the runway reduce speed to 300km, prop auto, runway about under the wing trim tab, height 500-700m, too high better than too low.

2) After end of runway appears behind wing, count to 3, throttle to idle then start turn to left, aim is one big semicircle all the way round. Speed will fall off in the turn to 220-200kmh, add tail heavy trim all the way - takes about 40-50 taps

3) Now you are about 30% off the runway line, still with plenty of height so that the runway is visible, 220-200 kmh, drop gear, then set flaps to TAKE OFF. Another ten taps of tail heavy trim. Throttle up to rpm in the 1,500-1,700 range to control rate of descent. Do not let speed drop below 180 km/h until you are over the runway properly lined up.

4) Continue curving descent and then just fly the aeroplane down the runway line gradually levelling out. As you level out speed will drop off quickly - I drop flaps to landing at about 170km/h when I am just a few feet over the runway and properly lined up. These things are more of an airbrake really and make direction changes much harder to control: actually you can land perfectly well with only the take off setting. Try it.

4) You will either flare out and three point or do a little bounce and roll on the front wheels depending on your height. Either way, throttle to idle, stick fully back. Short stabs on brakes are OK one everything is on terrafirma.


In summary it looks like a carrier landing with a turn and steep approach to keep the airstrip in view but instead of plonking it down at the end with a constant rate of descent you fly along the runway bleeding speed until you stall.

I admit I still occasionally mess up a 109 landing: but If I follow my own rules this is very rare now.

Hope this helps!

PS I have made tracks of this but I cannot get them small enough to fit the zipfile limits on this site even chopping the landing into bits - sorry.

One thing that helps me: Once you get below about 280-300 kph, turn off the auto-prop pitch feature, and simultaneously reduce the throttle to 0. Run the prop pitch all the way up to 100%, then adjust the throttle as necessary to maintain 170-190 kph until touchdown. Keep in mind, it's pretty much like putting a car in 1st gear, so it's real easy to overrev the engine. If you need to do a go around, unless you're experienced with adjusting the prop pitch manually, you'll want to re-engage the auto-prop pitch feature.

Just a method of mine, take it or leave it.

Never, Ever, take prop pitch off auto in a 109 you WILL fry the engine ;)

Thanx for all suggestion folks! I just couldn´t understand why I couldn´t land the damn thing while I has been flying this sim for nearly 2 years! (I also plays a lot of Lock On and some MSF X so I am very familiar with flying on the comp!). So, today I watched a replay of a track. I came in on an almost perfect glidepath and touched the ground with my plane almost perfectly and suddenly once I touched the runway with the wheels, I flipped over. This can´t be right I thinked....something is very wrong! Yep! Something was indeed very wrong. I have bought a new mouse with a PS2 connection to free up USB connections. And guess what, my Saitek Quadrant suddenly had wrong ID on the prop pitch. I discovered my proppitch was brake! And the leveler was on max! I did not discovered this in the 109 because I can´t use proppitch in this aircraft because it´s on auto! :mrgreen:

So, I just attaced the brake to rudderpedals and sat proppitch correctly to the Saitek Quadrant and perfect landings! I am so happy! :cool::-D

I thought I had just lost it, but now I know 2 years practise plays off! :)

Just don't slow down too much. I think I land at about 200 - 180 or so kms..I dont even look anymore. Once youre down there's really nothing else to worry about. It's very tail heavy so you can really jam on the brakes when the tail is down

my method to land the 109 is to fly the final at 170 km/h flaps full down, gear down with 30 - 35 % throttle, proppitch of course auto. Speed corrections are done with the elevator and glide path corrections with the throttle. When i reach the threshhold at 3 to 5 m altitude i chop the throttle and hold the nose high to hold the altitude. At 120 to 140 km/h the plane has lost enough lift to settle in a nice 3-point landing. Brakes may be applied right away but the tail might still try to lift.

I beg to differ there are situations when you can take it off, you just have to reduce the settings right away so the prop doesn't run away with you...

I take it off all the time when landing especially if I need to bleed speed on a quick straight in. As long as you don't pop it off while at 100% throttle and you are ready to reduce the prop % it can be done without engine harm..

Never say never..

S!

Taco