Dash 8 LOC landings

[chrisrennie 0]

Hi. I am getting to know the Dash 8, and managing to get familiar with most of the buttons, switches, and other controls. The manual is really good. However my landings, even with the autopilot, are somewhat hit-or-miss. My specific question is with LOC-only landings - no glideslope - which of the three VNAV modes is best?

IAS mode seems safest, but the plane pitches up alarmingly when extending flaps

VS gives a smooth descent, but it is hard to hit the threshold

Pitch gives a smooth descent, but there is no indication of glidepath angle on the display panel, so it is hard to know what pitch angle to set.

Any suggestions?

Chris

[KAPTEJNLN 237]

well im also learning this plane to know but one thing i know is that i havent seen a real world pilot uses the AutoPilot down to touchdown Exsept from the autoland.. as many pilots likes to hand fly when ever possible.

[Christian Kopp 3]

Hello

I don´t know the systems of the Dash8, but in real life a loc-only approach (similiar to the VOR-DME or VOR approach) is mostly flown by hand,

or with the localizer captured on the autopilot, and the vertical is flown with the VS (vertical speed) mode of the autopilot.

You can easily calculate the needed vertical speed by multiplying the ground speed by 5. For example with a ground speed of 100kts, you

have to descend with a vertical speed of 500ft/min. That´s a real life rule of thumb.

But, you always have to check your current altitude with the DME distance and the needed altitude given on the charts.

You can fly a very stabilized approach with that.

Hope this helps

Greets Chris

[chrisrennie 0]

Thank you for reminding me about multiplying ground speed by 5: that is much easier and more reliable than what I was doing. I am usually able to hit the FAF accurately, so the final approach, down to the decision height, should now be more straightforward.

It is way too soon for me to consider dispensing with the autopilot, though!

Thanks,

Chris