X-Plane 744
I am a student pilot having fun on the side with the X-Plane 9 software. I have about 35 hours toward my PPL on a Cessna 172 but also enjoy the bigger stuff on the sim, dreaming of one day flying the 744 for real. Part of the fun for me is making it as realistic as I can, so.....
If possible, could someone answer a few technical questions to help me out?
1. There is a lot of info on the web about taking off and it seems too little about landing. "Make your approach and lower your flaps as needed..." The problem is I do not know when they are needed and not needed! Would someone mind shedding light on when you typically use each flap setting on the 744, speed and distance out?
2. When I do lower the flaps, I usually end up with the nose pointing down at 5 degrees. I've flown on 744's in an out of HKG a number of times and watched them on approach a ton, and don't ever remember going in at an angle with the nose down. Any ideas as to what I am doing wrong? I thought maybe going too fast but I have the auto-pilot speed set on 145-150 (this is after the gear is down).
3. On Cathay, what height/distance do you take the plane off auto-pilot and fly by hand? I have tried it at 10m or so (which can be hard to keep steady) and at 300 feet, plus everything in between. What is the norm?
4. Again at Cathay, what height/speed/etc. do you turn the auto-pilot on? My understanding is different airlines have different procedures.
5. When I land, it seems to take a really long time for the plane to slow down, meaning on occasion is simply doesn't! I have the auto-brake system set at "2", which I read was appropriate for a long runway (HKG). I also have the speedbrake armed. I think the braking is automatic with all of that, so I don't understand why the plane seems to go almost to the end of the runway before it stops.
Anyway, believe it or not (and you probably won't with those questions!), I have gotten better and better at it the last few weeks. It's fun to do my real thing but also do this for fun. Any advice is much appreciated.
Alan