Nice takeoff video of C172R from cockpit...

[Alec246]

Lots of real C172 pilots were saying the ground effect seemed exaggerated. But as I'm a C152 pilot, I can't say for sure. I think it floats too much, and I ALWAYS make my approach at the correct speeds.

I'll make a video when I can of my landing technique for others to compare for theirs.

[Sizel]

It takes a lot of practice, but once you get the hang of it it isn't all that bad.

Approach to landing is at 65-70 KIAS. Note that you should be at idle throttle by the time you are on short final and the last setting of 30 degrees of flaps is added.

Glide break to level flight in ground effect is smoothly entered from about 20 feet above the runway. By this point you will be bleeding off quite a bit of airspeed.

Once level over the runway with the wheels about 1 foot over the runway you then proceed to keep the airplane flying by pulling back on the yoke until the you run out of yoke travel and the airplane stalls and touches the runway, do not let it sink onto the runway. However do not pull back too much such that the airplane climbs away from the runway. If it does climb away a little just freeze the stick position wherever it is and continue pulling back once the airplane settles down to the appropriate height. If done correctly, you will not see the runway over the nose. I have to peek a little to the side, just like the real aircraft, to keep oriented while flaring and during touchdown.

I was trained to keep pulling and hold the yoke all the way back even after touchdown for max aerodynamic braking. I'm not sure that this works on a 172R as it appears to result in a tail strike according to the A2A tests.

If you fly the airplane to the ground at 65KIAS, you will never be able to land it as it will still be flying until very close to the bottom of the white arc and you stand a very real risk of landing nose wheel first as you try to force it down onto the runway. The nose wheel on the 172 and even more so on 182s are notorious for getting damaged. The other issue is that you will use a lot more runway than is actually required. I'm 100% certain that I would miss the entire runway at my home airport (N07) if I came in that fast as it is only 2900 feet long. If I were to try to force the airplane down it will probably bounce all along the runway and the brakes will be ineffective as the airplane would still have too much lift.

Helpful info. Thank you very much. I will keep my speeds somewhat lower from now on. Its funny that when flying the Warbirds i use to have the habit of coming in too slow and now i find myself doing the opposite.

[Alec246]

I have done some landings and I noticed some improvement. No more ridiculous float over the runway.

What I changed? Stopped using FS Controller and I'm now using FSUIPC calibration. No Slope, just a full range, linear control calibration. I didn't get any of the float over the runway, made very smooth landings, and after takeoff I didn't get the out of control pitch up at rotate.

The turn coordination issue is my biggest problem with the C172 right now. I will continue doing further tests.

Here's a video showing my latest landing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIFQH8iu ... EIfb8MkLnA

The Stall horn didn't sound. Don't know why, you can see I didn't let it land for a long time. But it didn't land completely stalled either.

[Ron Attwood]

Whatever you do Scott, do not dumb this aircraft down. It takes some learning, but it so rewarding when you've cracked it. i.e., when you stop playing and start simming.

[Neon]

Whatever you do Scott, do not dumb this aircraft down. It takes some learning, but it so rewarding when you've cracked it. i.e., when you stop playing and start simming.

+1 BUMP

Would hate to see this plane nerfed, I don't think I'd fly it again. I love it's
difficulty, where do you ever get that in FSX aside from PMDG

[Alec246]

I also want to have a challenging plane, but only as much as the real plane. Just because it's difficult doesn't mean it's realistic. Real planes are some times much easier to fly than we imagine! I want A2A to do what's right to get it as close as possible. Lot's of real C172 pilots have given their opinions, hope A2A is taking note of them and improving even more their product.

[jcomm]

The more I use the C172, the more I find the DCS P51d effect revealing itself in this simulation.

When I bought that sim ( DCS and the P51d module ) I really felt frustraded at not being able to properly operate it, as I could with similar models on other flightsims. It was not just me - it actually happens to anyone starting to use that sim and particularly that model.

It turned out to be a combination of my total ignorance regarding how to properly "fly" a Mustang, and the use of hardware that was most probably not the best to be used with a precise simulation of the true aircraft flight characteristics.

Although I still would like to see the turn coordinator quirks solved, namely the ball physics, I have learned how to properly operate the C172 on takeoff, cruise, landing, using the excellent representation of the KAP AP, etc...
Well, I till believe that the ground effect ( and probably that newly modelled elevator ground effect ) should be tuned a bit down, because that floating doesn't feel right, although I can't say fom my own experience - never landed a C172... :-/

It was also very important to calibrate my hardware controllers through FSUIPC. I am not definig them through FSUIPC, just calibrating, but another user reports that he got even better results when he simply disabled the controllers in FSX and did it all ( definition and calibration ) through FSUIPC!

For me, just the calibration part was fundamental. No matter how "crowded" I get the C172, taking off with it is now piece of cake, and I really think I could have saved a few coments I've made initially when I started using this Cessna...