Duke Landing at Ardmore

[FlyingKiwi]

Nothing too dramatic today - there was a decent crosswind blowing yesterday at Ardmore so after I got home I loaded up ActiveSky which set the weather conditions up rather realistically and went for half a dozen crosswind circuits in the RealAir Duke. I didn't record most of the flight but I watched back the last landing in replay mode and figured I'd take a few quick screenshots for posterity.











That's all for now - I've spent the last week in FS almost exclusively around Ardmore and still haven't even scratched the surface of visiting the rest of the country yet!

[wolf2]

very nice - and i love the paint job

[lifejogger]

Nice landings Leo, looks like you have had a lot of practice.

[cool7]

One of my favorite things to do with FS is cross wind landings. I like it since messing up doesn't require death or injury, and really lets me focus on the techincal aspects. Now, my setup is no where near FAA approved, but it helps me so that's all that really matters. One of the airports near my home, KIWI (Wiscasset Municipal) is known through out the US (this is what people tell me at least) for it's cross winds. The runway runs 7 - 21 and just about every day there is a cross wind of varied strength. There might be a couple weeks total of every year where the wind runs up and down the runway, no kidding on that, and this is the spot to practice x-wind landings in my neck of the woods. It's a required stop for most student pilots in the area.

Any of you fellow flight sim jocks find yourself in Maine during your travels, make a stop at KIWI. I just love screens of x-wind landings, and these ones nail the reason why. It just looks awesome when you're crabbing a bird all the way down to the runway, straighten her out, and touch down. I do wish you had gotten a video, LoL! That is a beautiful aircraft and paint job btw, love the blue.

[Adam24]

Great blue color! Very good!!

[ZainkhanFS]

Great Landing FlyingKiwi!

That Is Like What Expert Pilots Do Even In Real Life
Ardmore Airfield (NZAR) Is Just By The Airspace Of Auckland Airport (NZAA)
What About Do An ILS Approach To That Airport?
However What Scenery Did You Use?!?

[adamb]

Nice crosswind landing Leo. I like to practice that type of landing.

Aam

[FlyingKiwi]

Thanks everyone. KIWI is an airport ID I can appreciate!

I've found some FS aircraft don't handle crosswinds very well as the rudder authority is not always great (the Carenado Rockwell Commander is one I always struggle with) but the Duke is perfect for them, you can really kick it straight and the ailerons are crisp enough to be able to apply just a little wing down into wind without overdoing it. I'm not Duke rated in real life (sadly!) but I've done 70 hours or so in the BE-76 Duchess and I never found it a fantastic crosswind aircraft, it always felt a bit wallowy in the flare although that could possibly be put down to pilot input rather than design weakness.

The scenery is the FTX/OrbX North Island package - payware but well worth the investment as it makes a dramatic improvement to the scenery.

[HardCub]

Leo, these are lovely shots of this beautiful twin. I hope to get myself a copy of this airplane one day. It looks like it would be loads of fun to fly!

[FlyingKiwi]

Thanks Glenn, you definitely wouldn't be disappointed with it.