Originally Posted by
eckhard
I remember a training video which showed the PFD of a 747-400 sim being manually flown down the ILS with manual thrust. Of course, being a sim, everything was 'perfect'. At about 400ft the pilot let go of the controls and the thrust levers. The aircraft continued on the GS until about 200ft when the VS started to reduce slightly and the GS diamond began to drop. I think the aircraft crossed the threshold at about 120ft.
I don't know whether or not this is an accurate representation of real life ground effect, perhaps it is. But generally, seeing something in a Sim doesn't necessarily make it so. A sim only does what it is programmed to do. It's programming may or may not accurately reflect more subtle, less quantified effects. Additionally, it may be intentionally programmed to exaggerate certain things for training purposes.
Just as a hypothetical example, a programmer who really sincerely believed in the downwind turn myth, could program that effect into a simulator, then you would be able to "prove" the downwind turn effect in the sim.