Landing the BF-109

[Blackdog_kt]

I'm a 190 driver mostly, but when going through the stock single player campaigns i had spent some time in 109s as well.

The way i did this was not the text-book 3-pointer, but rather a "better safe than sorry" type of approach and strangely enough, i found it easy to land thanks to its good low speed handling.

I line up at 200km/h and drop full flaps and gear, then usually approach at 150-160km/h, maybe even 170km/h. I don't fret about getting perfectly aligned early on, since the plane is pretty sensitive to torque from throttle variations and lacks rudder trim to correct the resulting yawing motion. For some weird reason, i find it easier to land while in gunsight view, i just put the Revi on the runway and point at the first fiew meters of it. By going nose low and slightly fast i maintain visual contant long enough, then when i start my flare i can usually see the edge of the runway beneath my wings to the left and right, which helps me be sure i'm aligned properly by judging how much of it is visible on each side.

In essence, i just use a safe speed that won't have me dealing with the nasty torque-induced roll when you advance the throttle at low speeds and then i don't glide it in like a normal landing, but mostly fly the plane down to the runway with the aim of touching down on the main wheels first. Instead of using a smooth, uniform glide, i fly a steep glide to the start of the runway and then pull the nose up to bleed speed, level off for the flare and touch the main wheels down.

Flare happens usually just as the start of the runway starts disappearing below my nose. The entire idea is to keep the glide steep so as to maintain vision of the runway, then pull back to a mild flare after you're positive you're over it. By keeping a slightly higher approach speed you avoid that nasty roll when advancing throttle in case you need to go around, this also makes it feasible to correct your final glide path during flare by applying bursts of throttle. I normally use 30% or so during the 160km/h approach and correct with short, rapid bursts of as much as 60-70%, depending on how fast the ground is approaching

Hardly a scientific or pretty method to look at, but it works and gives you some energy reserve and the ability to apply power fast if you need to. When flying the 109, i forget about the 3-point attitude altogether. Instead, what i try to remember is "main wheels touch the ground more time than the tail wheel"...on takeoff i wait until the tail is lifted before rotating, on landing i wait until the main wheels are rolling down the runway before cutting throttle to lower the tail.

Another thing to try is set it off to the side of the runway and bring it in with a curved approach by sideslipping. However, because of the added drag involved when crossing the controls you still will have quite a steep glide angle and might also need a bit more power to maintain your chosen speed. So, if i go in at a similar speed and similar steep glide, what's the benefit you might ask? The good thing about a curved approach is that the runway is shifted to your side view, which affords an overall better visibility not only of the runway but also of the surrounding ground and airspace. Then, when the bird is over the numbers i straighten it up and fly a flare as described previously.

I'm sure there's much more finesse involved in it, but i'll leave the dedicated 109 drivers to give better tips. Hope it helps