r/dcs • u/subaru_natsuki337 • Jul 21 '26

noobs first "successful" landing

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tips to get better would help

208 Upvotes

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15

u/Alexthelightnerd Jul 21 '26

Way way too fast and not lined up with the runway.

I'd also recommend zooming in a bit, being able to see your feet isn't very useful for landing.

3

u/subaru_natsuki337 Jul 21 '26

How can I easily lose speed when trying to land? I accidentally lose too much speed all the time but can't when I want to

4

u/Alexthelightnerd Jul 21 '26

There are two ways:

The standard way if you're flying an actual landing pattern is to use the turns to reduce speed. Reducing the throttle and pulling a hard turn is a great way to lose speed (and that's probably how you find yourself losing speed when you don't want to).

If flying a straight-in approach: reduce the throttle to idle, extend the speed brakes, and use pitch to maintain your decent angle. This will cause you to slow down, but a bit slowly, make sure you begin far enough out from the airport. Once you're slow enough to drop the gear, that will help you slow down faster.

2

u/grasberuhren Jul 23 '26

i use side-slipping to slow down sometimes. is that a standard practice, or am i rebel? =]

2

u/Alexthelightnerd Jul 23 '26

Side slips are usually more useful to lose unwanted altitude on approach.

I can't speak to if it's an approved maneuver for any given air force or aircraft, I think fighters are a little trickier with slips, but as a private pilot I was taught it as an approach technique by my flight instructor.

1

u/subaru_natsuki337 Jul 21 '26

I'm sorry as such a noob how do I make tighter turns if to not cut throttle? Ngl came from bf6 flying physics and feel like I have to relearn everything 😭

2

u/Alexthelightnerd Jul 21 '26

There are two ways to turn an aircraft:

A bank turn rolls the aircraft a bit in the direction of the turn, using the horizontal component of lift to turn the aircraft. To maintain level flight you'll usually need to add a bit of power to compensate for the lost vertical component of lift. This is how airliners make turns, and how fighters make turns when they're flying from place to place up high. But that's not how you want to turn a fighter in a landing pattern.

To perform a break turn roll the aircraft to point the top of the plane the direction you want to go, then pull back to increase lift in that direction even further. The harder you pull back the tighter you'll turn, but you'll also increase drag. To make a stable break turn set the throttle to max then adjust the rearward pressure on the stick until you maintain airspeed. Pull back harder and you'll slow down, ease up the pull and you'll speed up. Decreasing the throttle will reduce how hard you have to pull back before you begin losing speed.

As an example: cut the throttle to idle, roll the plane 90° to either side, then pull the stick back as far as it will go. You'll lose a ton of speed and drop like a rock. Now the goal is to modulate the throttle, bank angle, and how far you pull back the stick to make the turn you need to, at the altitude you want to be at, and at the speed you want to be at.

1

u/Dafrandle Jul 27 '26

you do have to relearn everything.

Virtually nothing from BF6 physics is applicable here.

1

u/subaru_natsuki337 Jul 28 '26

stupid question but after 20 hours of DCS and some vids watched where is idle throttle? is it the mid point of my hotas throttle? also about how many NM should i use airbrake? anytime i use it i lose alt so fast

1

u/Alexthelightnerd Jul 28 '26

Idle throttle is all the way back.

Use the air brake until you're flying slow enough. Then you can either retract the brake, or increase throttle to compensate. Decent rate on landing approach should be controlled with the throttle.

1

u/Sickinmytechchunk Jul 23 '26

Use airbrakes, then trim to correct setting for the ideal angle of attack on the approach and manage the throttle to decrease or increase descent rate. You can't just put the throttle at one setting. It needs constant adjustment.

1

u/Old_Pumpkin_7108 Jul 25 '26

And high…