Basics of Landing in DCS! | Basic Landing Tutorial In the F-16C Viper! 

Hey pilots! I was also thinking of making a video on how the HSI in the F-16C Works, would anyone be interested? Also let me know what other bare bones basics type tutorials you guys would like to see!

I'm retired, with time on my hands. Both my Uncles died as British pilots in WW2....I'd like to honour them by learning how to fly a serious flight simulator to gain some vague idea of their experiences on the flying side (as good an excuse as any for spending serious money on computer tech). This video is my first introduction to the serious world of flight sim ....ok, you got me.... I'm hooked...I have the Oculus and a (old) joystick ..the new gaming computer (3080) has been on a ordered... I will watch your other tutorials while I wait to join your world. ...thanks for doing this.. I appreciate your style of teaching. cheers from a small fishing village on the west coast of Canada.

AOA determines airspeed in both the Viper and the Hornet. No idea why you'd concentrate on airspeed on the Hornet. The entire reason why AOA indicators are used as a reference is because on speed AOA is a constant value that allows for proper touchdown speed/hook angle regardless of the weight. (Which can vary depending on your loadout and fuel) The IAS that corresponds to that AOA is going to be higher if you're heavier. This relationship is explained in the Aerodynamics for Naval Aviators book on page 350.

Good to see this one, my F-16 landing success rate is currently running at about 20% ;)

perfect timing i was just about to hop in the f-16. lol

Nice video. Enjoyed it. Few comeback, though: you only trim the falcon pitch-wise if the FLCS is damaged. With a good plane, you don't need to, not even while landing. Also, you fly straight until the runway threshold falls to the 2.5-degree dashed line, then place the velocity vector/ Flight Path Marker there, and manage speed until top of staple creeps up to the fpm. Maintain it till flare time.

Really liking all the videos you do. I am learning a lot from your tutorials. Keep them coming especially the F-16C. Thanks

Thank you Spudknocker🙏🏼, you make these videos such a blast to learn from!

13:36 AOA is literally how the Hornet catches a wire... Not sure what you're talking about there, but airspeed and AOA are directly related.

Just some notes regarding the FLCS and how it affects landing technique: The landing gains in F-16 FLCS introduces AOA feedback when AOA exceeds 11 deg, and the aircraft tends to hold the AOA if manually trimmed above 11 deg. F-18 landing techniques (aka throttle for glidepath, stick for airspeed) can be used in such cases. When below 11 deg AOA, the FLCS is just a pitch-rate command system, so that it's more suitable for the stick to control glidepath. From real life Dash-1: Two distinct techniques may be used when landing. One technique is to trim for approximately 11 degrees AOA and to fly that airspeed throughout the final approach. Attitude/glidepath is controlled by the stick, and airspeed/AOA is controlled by the throttle. This technique allows better pitch control, better over-the-nose visibility, and a more stable HUD presentation. In gusty wind conditions, the aircraft wallows less, and during the flare, the sink rate is easier to control. The aircraft floats approximately 800-1200 feet from flare initiation to touchdown. Another technique is to trim for 13 degrees AOA and to fly that airspeed throughout the final approach. The throttle is used primarily to control glidepath, and the stick controls airspeed through control of AOA and direction through bank angle. This type of approach primarily allows better control of touchdown point and more efficient energy dissipation; however, since the aircraft is already at 13 degrees AOA, the flare is more difficult, and care must be exercised to avoid scraping the speedbrakes or landing firm. The aircraft floats approximately 500-700 feet from flare initiation to touchdown.

Probably THE BEST explained video out there! The F-16 is my personal favorite so thank you so much.

As I understand the F-16 was formally named the Fighting Falcon, but pilots called it the Viper. In the 80's there was a show called Battlestar Galactica that was quite popular, the small fighter aircraft were known as Colonial Vipers and F-16 pilots at the time thought the F-16 kinda resembled them. The nickname kinda stuck.

thanks, I learned so much, especially about using the body as air brake.

Excellent landing! Great video.

Spot on thx . . every bit of info helps . .lot harder than landing a paraglider

I am new to DCS and chose to start with the F-16C. I am going through the struggles of someone who is new to this flight sim and found this video to be VERY helpful of the explanation of the marker lines in the hud when lining up for a landing.

Thx so much!!! I did it perfect from the first try. thx again mate!

Late reply haha but this was a really good tutorial. Your real pilot experience really helped explain AoA. one of the better landing tutorials for the F-16

Nice video! Let us have a follow up on this: Tacan, ILS/ICLS, heading and beacon instrument landing. -At night, with heavy rain and fog.

yessss i needed this video

That was a good landing! 🙌🏻

Thx Spudknocker, for being our ‘concrete’ compass (5:25). 🙂 You, sharing your experience and know-how is helping me a lot! As I’m sure it does lots of others. Keep up the great work. Thanks again for all you do for us flight simmers. 👍👍 Very nice landing by the way!

I used to try landing the F16 when I had Falcon 4.0 and in the beginning it was a hard jet to land. Great vid thnx so much! Be good to see some take offs aswell as rendevousing with tankers.

nice tutorial keep it up and thanks

I never knew about that aoa bracket at the bottom of the HUD. I can still usually land the viper just fine, I'm guessing I just flare enough or do whatever I need to do right before I get to the runway to get the geometry good enough. Thanks for the video!

Hey spud I’ve seen a lot of real viper pilots talk about landing and they use the dashed line that appears at about -2.5 degrees and set it in front of the start of the tarmac and when they get slow enough they pull the velocity vector onto where they need to land this gives them a shallower attack and is better on the gears.

Nice landing! I've blown up tires a few times 😅😅

Thank you for this mate!

very nice Bro

Would have been sweet to have seen a spectator view afterward so we could better appreciate the AOA approach and brake flaring down the runway ;)

Hello Spudknocker, Watching your controls' input display, I guess you use analogue wheel brakes mapped to rudder pedals. But I noticed, when I simply press "W" key, the plane tends to turn left or right, does not stay at the centerline. Do the wheel brakes put an assymetrical force to wheels (not equal to left and right wheel)? Or is it caused by minor weight differences between plans's left and right side? Before I bought pedals, I had to use a "pulse braking" method with constantly correcting direction.

Nice.

exactly video that i needed.. been crashing my f16 since I bought it :D

Its a very very nice video 🙃

I’ve been a flight simmer for a long time, but since when were runway numbers corresponded with their heading! I never knew!!

I just took my first flight yesterday on the F16C. I am CRAZY behind my jet. Lol. I need to re-examine some control binds and also my movements. I was rolling way to far when turning. Also first landing was attempted wheels-up 😆🤷‍♂️

Having a extreme roll problem when I maneuver the f16. Especially during landing. I'm constantly checking the trim and that doesn't seem to be the problem. Wondering if it has anything to do with the force trim setting?

Nice video mate.. may ask you, i see that you are on CAT III loadout.. so in which Knots the front wheel touched down, or make a rotation in takeoff??

Sweet. Most of the time I'm running off the runway, though without actually destroying anything. It's very touchy.

I recommand using L/D Gear Down at below 250kts and using NWS below 80~90kts. Its the official manual for f16

Nice video! It sounds weird though when you spell out the acronym FOD... we just say "fod"

at 2:18 maybe ruler measures true course and number of the runway is given according to magnetic course.i think this fact modeled in the game by developers

If you don’t mind me asking what are your reshade settings?

Can someone bring me up to speed on the "zoom image" in the controls display in the upper left hand corner? Is that a mod or a feature? How does it work? Thanks.

what's the button for airbrakes? cuz I use the B key like the other planes have, but mine don't open

Hey there Spud! If you don’t mind me asking what are your reshade settings?

hit Uncage button to declutter the HUD a bit (remove the roll/adi indicator and move the heading tape up) when gear is down

When I first began flying in DCS, it was all about getting missiles off the rail and seeing them smack a Russian Tu-160 or a Tu-95. Or drop a CBU-97 on a column of trucks lined up in a neat row. I would start in the air, do my target practice, then just end the mission and back to the editor. And then I tried to fly with some friends on a public server and when you're actually in that environment, there's no shortcuts. You must take off, land, taxi, etc. I embarrassed myself. So now, whenever I run a mission, even a simple target practice, I always begin cold and dark on a ramp, arm and fuel like a real milsim, takeoff, fly the mission, use the TACAN, ILS, plan the landing and execute the landing. The whole shebang. Because sometimes in a mission you must land to refuel, rearm, and to do that you must know how to shut the jet, whatever it is, down and restart it. So don't shortcut yourselves when learning. Treat every training mission like the real deal and always finish with a landing. The practice and experience will help you in the long run. And it's actually one of the fun parts.

Can not use altitude hold with gear down on auto pilot after last update is this a bug

About a minute in and damn I wish I saw this tutorial video first. It took so damn long for it to click that the runway numbers were their azimuth.

I prefer the Falcon name as well. Prob because I’m old enough to remember when they came out and I love the image of a predatory raptor more than a crawling snake :D.

Could you do a short mission but use it as a tutorial and talk your way through it in detail?

Thanks Spuds, excellent as always! Do you have a tutorial on how the capture video from the perspective of a person on the tarmac while you're flying?

Just bought the F-16C this evening....ran off the runway twice on my first attempts at landing.....decided to watch some vids to see wtf i was doing wrong..lol. Now i know i'm no longer in the A-10C II. lol

I found it easier to land than the Hornet. Grease it every time. But as my wife would say "You're (me) are a freak of nature"🤷🏾‍♂️ lol.

1. the correct glidepath is with the 2.5 degree line on the threshold. 2.the FPM should be on the top of the AOA indicator(you transition to the middle of the FPM during flair) the flare/ rollout procedure was correct

Wow, I'm early!

I did not know F16 pilots adjusted their seat height for landing as you did in this sim. Interesting as it seems to make vision far better.

How do you pause the simulation like that? Still haven’t figured that out lol

where can I find this skin for the f16c?

Nice vid, Is it just me or is the anti-skids broke in the F16? .. Works fine in the FA18, but I am skating all over the place in the F16??

hey spud, would you mind making a video on what aoa is and how when to consider how its used? thx bro, love yur vids

I do find the F-16 is one of the hardest planes to land, especially with a cross wind, I believe it's because the landing gear is so narrow and it tips so easily. The Mirage is right behind it though, lol!

how do you bring the seat up? And the box in the lower left of the screen?

I figured this was the best place to drop an F-16 question. I'm getting into flying the Viper and got some stuff to build a switch panel. If flying the plane involves something I do on the ground, I prefer to go ahead and use the wonderful in-game panels the developers created; however, when in the air, I'd like to avoid having to reach for the mouse. My question is: which collections of switches would you say are the most important ones to have "at my fingertips"? I can take it from there. Thanks in advance.

Wish I could see the HUD better in this video. Anyways, it was a sweet landing.

It does in fact matter if you can't see the HUD on the runway. You pitch for 13 degrees to airbrake, otherwise you might tailstrike.

I'm a new a10c pilot and could use some tips on landing it

Great Video Bro. Question...how do you set your game resolution to 2560x1080p? All I see is 2560x1440p

The Korean say: Entering the overrun, adjust your aimpoint from the threshold to a point 500 to 800 feet down the runway. Use the FPM to assist you, but do not fixate on HUD symbology at the expense of aircraft control. Rate of descent decreases slightly when entering ground effect. Smoothly flare to decrease descent rate (but avoid leveling off), and fly to the desired touchdown point. Power can be reduced to idle in the roundout when making an 11-degree AOA approach. Transition to 12 to 13 degrees AOA during roundout and touchdown at a maximum of 13 degrees AOA. Airspeed control is always critical during landing. If starting the flare with less than 11 degrees AOA, the aircraft tends to float a considerable distance, resulting in a long landing. If slow, you may land hard and/or short. Be very alert for high sink rates if above 11 degrees AOA with IDLE power approaching the overrun. If this situation occurs close to touchdown, engine response may not be fast enough to prevent a hard landing. Also, guard against the tendency to cushion a probable firm touchdown by pulling back on the stick if above 11 degrees AOA (a balloon will result). Obviously, try to avoid the situation, but if it develops, increase power and maintain landing attitude (11 to 13 degrees AOA). At 15 degrees AOA, the low-speed warning tone comes on. Touchdown at 15 degrees AOA or greater will result in a tail scrape. Hard touchdowns between 13 to 15 degrees may also result in a tail scrape. Do not hold the speedbrake switch open in the override position during touchdown as you might scrape the speedbrakes. Do not touchdown with brake pedals depressed.

So basically just like the F-15C but with a AOA index, gotcha.

I'm with you Spud. It's a bird of prey, not some belly crawling reptile.

Hey Spud, thanks for this tutorial! I watched the F-18 one, but the F-16 is the module I have. Also - this is off topic - but I wonder if anyone can help. I know DCS opens in a partial window and you have to switch to full screen manually. Mine was working fine, and then then next day when I tried to run DCS it would go thru the loading screen (the one of the sky as the loading bar displays) but then the start screen is a narrow strip (about the width of a quarter of the screen, but centered) from top to bottom of the screen such that I can't get to any the setting icon on the top or the icons on the right to chose what you want to do. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I'm watching this even though I have to wait about 5 months for my PC to arrive and during that time I have to get a monitor. I'm gonna have to wait a little while longer to get a HOTAS and even longer to buy a single jet

Alright I really need to finish my taxi/TO/Landing video. Sure this is good enough for getting on the ground but there are a lot more details to it than this especially if you want to keep your jet in tact.

Hey Spudd..im noticing that everyone who helps us with their vids are really far away from the screen or the screen is smaller when recording. Anyway u can redo this video where we can see ur airspeed up close? Thanks in advance

My frustration is air refueling. Landing is a bit of a breeze compared to that.

Could you do the jf17 next?

I feel like overall weight has a bigger impact on Viper's performance on landing than other planes... Might be my impression though.

A lot of infromation.. And a lot of humplense..! That is the key of success... Thanks a lot

Falcon for the win

Have you ever done a night landing ?

Haha, old DCS brakes were pretty effective

The AOA is always the same, no matter what the landing weight is. That is why speed is not a factor to look for. Just focus on the flight path marker and the bracket. I f those line up, your landing gear will be thankful.

The control setting is confusing with f16, i searched for gear steering and couldn't find it, it turns out the name was NWS stand for nosewheel steering. Then the gear control is named as "LG lever" wtf

The hardest to land was a Concorde in X-plane its big you barely see nothing and the gear is way back its very easy to slam that plane down.

The Fighting Falcon indeed Sir, I like that one better as well.

14:35 who gave you clearance to taxi?

anyone remember F-16 Multirole Fighter by novalogic? that's when i fell in love with the fighting falcon.

Relevant information starts at 11:05

Landing on R altimeter? You have a death wish? I'm not IRL pilot, but as far as I know, this is one of the most deadly mistakes you can kill yourself with on approach. Radio altimeter is not indicating your altitude above the runway, but above the ground at this particular moment. As long as the area is not flat and level with the surface of the runway, the radar altimeter readings have nothing to do with the altitude above the runway. Unless you are just flying directly above one, but that would be missed approach. Regardles - great video, thanks!

dont wanna be rude or something, but your information about landing is not correct. you dont use pitch trim at all in the viper, and you also dont use your throttle to pitch up/down. this is just a hornet thing. in the viper you use the stick for the pitch and the throttle for AoA. btw, AoA and airspeed are directly corelated.

If anyone questions you why you call it a Fighting Falcon, then they have no idea what the actual name of the F-16 is.

there are a lot of tools to help a airplane to land quick. real quick

Two of the most difficult to land aircraft in DCS: MIG21 & Huey... Everything else is cake...

block 50 in that camo pattern? lol not from Nellis it isnt.

Try the jeff

Not supposed to trim to bracket in f-16. That's the f18 only

Do you adjust your seat at every landing?? Now you can not see your guncross how much pitch you pull. as you mention already (not good) >15deg is buying your ground chief a case of beer *Glide slope 3deg. *AOA 'optimum' 13deg. *Fly the bracket *Do not flare with power!! messes up your landing parameters, and not to speak about your braking distance😉 (do not flare to soon) *After NLG touchdown, extend max board's and when needed pull pitch gentle, to aid in braking (max surface area) F18 does not flare... there is no need to flare. F18 different gear-game😋 Try again, and next time with 2x mk84, and 2 filled bag's ill await you vid. Current video, not to bad.

This is okay as a "good enough" guide, and it is more accurate than your Hornet landing tutorial.