Landing heavy iron

Just a couple general rules to try to follow. Most transport category aircraft being swept wing have a difficult time slowing down while flying. Funny thing happens, you pull the power levers back and it's like coasting to a stop, it takes a long time to slow down. So to help slow your aircraft down faster you have to introduce some form of drag. You can use flaps, gear or spoilers/speed brakes to help. But there are times when no amount of flaps/speed brake or gear combos will slow you down. In the end gravity always wins and will pull you down no matter what you try. Big difference between props and swept wing jets is that the props act like giant flat discs that are very effective at adding drag to the aircraft in times of need. So in a prop you can literally point the nose down, pull the power off and it will usually slow down quite nicely up to a point. With "heavy iron" or any swept wing jet you can't get away with that as much.

So just as a general techninque most jets can extend the first third of their flap range starting at about 250 knots. From there, if you need it, the second third of the flap range can be utilized starting at about 200 knots. And finally the last third (30-45 degrees) can be used starting at about 140-160 knots.

Most large jet's landing gear can be extended starting at about 250 knots.

So with those guidelines as start you just have to learn to use the flaps then gear then final flaps at their appropriate times to slow the aircraft in a nice smooth progression. Working a little bit at a time to bleed your speed down.

As a guide, shoot for the following when flying an ILS down to a runway.

3-5 miles from the final approach fix or glide slope intercept aim for a speed of 180-200 using just flaps.

About a mile from the final approach fix or glide slope intercept throw the gear out and maybe some more flaps aiming for 140 to 160 knots.

Crossing the final approach fix or when intercepting the glide slope add your final amounts of flaps aiming for the rough approach speed as determined by you weight. If you don't know the approach speed use anywhere from 130 -160 depending on the size and weight of the airplane.

Just remember in large swept wing airplanes it takes a lot of drag to slow them down so you have to use all available resources to make that happen. The landing gear isn't just for use to land with, it also helps slow the plane down quite nicely.

Hope this isn't overkill on my part. Just nice to share some of my useless airline pilot knowledge for those who are interested.

😳 wOW! You explained it perfectly! 😂

:bow:MJG145CAP

I follow flight techniques pretty close seeing as I am a pilot for real. I don't fly airliners mind you but I watch very closely when I ride airliners. Almost all swept wing airliners have to extend the leading edge flaps first lest they lose roll control and flip over; swept wings stall at the tips first as opposed to strait wings which stall at the roots. Usually the lead edge slats come out at 250 kias then after that, they hang the big flaps out 10 degrees at a time. the gear does'nt come out until 200 kias or less. By that time you are about 2000 to 2500 agl on approach. The last flap setting comes at 1000 agl, usually 30 to 35 degrees. Spoilers are not normally used on a standard 3 degree glide slope. Spoilers are used generally for steep descents to comply with ATC requests and to keep under the FAA 250kt limit under 10,000 feet. Spoilers come out after landing to break lift and to slow the craft along with thrust reversers. Most jets have auto spoilers that are armed during approach. They deploy upon main gear touchdown. On my sim flights I start hanging out flaps at 5000'agl, then advance at 10 deg intervals every 1000' on descent. Complicated, Isn't it? Flying isn't just science, it's art.

P.S. I use 150kts as final approach speed. Cut throttle at 50' above runway.