Landing the i-153?

[Crashbangwallop]

It's a lovely, cheeky, wee plane – easy to take off, quick to twist and turn, and pretty simple to operate. A great addition to the game.

 

But... I find myself using up half the runway to land it.

 

Come in even very slightly fast and this plane sits on a buoyant cushion of air for way too long, and the lack of trim means I'm pulling the stick quite far back very early on the approach, so I've only got the barest idea of where the runway is.

 

Any hints or links to tutorials anyone?

[migmadmarine]

I mean, given your username, it sounds like it was made for you. 

[BlitzPig_EL]

Your approach speed is too fast.  The I-153 will fly at amazingly low speed, try your approach at no more than 140kph, slower if possible.

[AlexandreCosta]

It doesn't have a pitch trim control, correct me if I'm wrong. What is happening is that it is "pre" trimmed for a higher speed than the approach speed, so if you want to run less on the runway you have to approach pulling back a little to maintain a lower speed than the trimmed one. I'm not sure about the exact speeds, but try to hold it back to mantain a lower speed and you should be fine.

[150_GIAP-Red_Dragon]

I have the same problem, but I believe the reasons are different. When I make an approach, I fly too fast to have a lower angle of attack and to see the runway. Otherwise, if I fly slower, the front of the plane rises up and completely covers the beginning of the runway. This way, I can be exactly above the beginning of the runway and at the same time quite low. But as you can see, the speed is too high. At this moment, the situation with the runway view completely changes. Now the front of the plane doesn't bother me. I can see the runway very well from the side. I am very low. I can land the plane precisely. But the speed is too high. And now I'm flying half the runway or more, just to get the wheels to touch the ground.

[BlitzPig_EL]

You could try the Fleet Air Arm Corsair trick, slide slip it in.  It will bleed speed better and perhaps give you a better view of the runway.

[jollyjack]

I cheat .. land in arcade F4 view.

[Jaegermeister]

8 hours ago, BlitzPig_EL said:

You could try the Fleet Air Arm Corsair trick, slide slip it in.  It will bleed speed better and perhaps give you a better view of the runway.

 

Or try a curving approach instead of straight in. Get your sink rate set up on the base turn once past the runway like a carrier landing and straighten out once you are over the runway, where you would chop the throttle 

[geckoSOH]

Stall the aircraft with wings level at 1 G and note the speed at which the stall occurs. Multiply that airspeed by 1.3 and you have a good approach speed. You could cheat towards 1.2 for more precision once you're comfortable. Fly a curved final approach to keep the runway in sight longer. Control speed with the elevator and descent rate (and thus the spot on the runway where you will touch down) with the throttle.

Edited June 6 by geckoSOH

[Crashbangwallop]

Thanks for the input guys

 

That curved approach is very productive, and the attitude/speed, and throttle/height relationship is a pretty good tip all round. I wish the i-153's engine was a little bit quicker to respond – or is that just me

 

The low speed attitude thing is maybe complicated by the stick needing to be so far back – at that tension I'm finding smooth micro-movements very difficult. The attitude/speed tip does help with that, though – find that low speed while turning in for final and wheels down, keep that position, and make minor, fine adjustments with the throttle - which involves no micro-movement problems at all. Taking a lot of concentration, but helped by setting the time and season for practice sessions to a clear sunny evening. That lets me see the aircraft's shadow ahead and to the side - giving me a clearer idea of how high I am.

 

Practice pays off – circuit and bumps now result in mostly reasonably smooth landings where I want on the runway. (that 'reasonably' doing a lot of work there, though).

 

And, I'm probably a slightly better desk pilot for it generally, and can see how those techniques will directly benefit my ruinous landings of the Flying Circus planes too...

 

Cheers again

[BladeMeister]

On 6/5/2025 at 12:48 PM, BlitzPig_EL said:

You could try the Fleet Air Arm Corsair trick, slide slip it in.  It will bleed speed better and perhaps give you a better view of the runway.

This. With a little practice this works like a charm. Hard on the port rudder for me mate! AARRGGH! 

 

S!Blade<><

[czech693]

Well, the U S Navy Corsair landing approach was a curved approach keeping the landing point always in view until the last moment when you straigten out.  Slipping is going to lose altitude so you need to compensate for that in your approach altitude.  I use a forward slip when I find I'm high on short final.

[geckoSOH]

Note that a slipping curved approach is a pretty dangerous manoeuvre. It opens you up to a low altitude stall-spin if you get slow. Remember your stall speed is going to be higher in a turn than it is in level flight. It's not a great practice to make slips your norm, though it certainly is fun. Having to slip is an indicator that you planned or flew your approach poorly.

 

Something that will help with the complaint about the engine being slow to respond is to have a known approach power setting that you go to right off the bat instead of hunting for what feels right. While you're at it, do the same for your pitch attitude by finding the spot where the horizon crosses a specific part of the aircraft when you have set your pitch attitude to produce your desired approach speed. Doesn't matter if it's a spot on your cowl, wing, gun sight, cockpit framing etc. Just be consistent and precise.

 

You can try this by setting up a long descent from a few thousand feet up, and not worry about actually landing at the end. Just get pitch and power references dialed in. Find a combination that seems to work for you. About 500ft/min (~2.5 m/s) is a good target descent rate at the approach speed an I-153 is going to use. It will take some experimenting to get it dialed in, but from them on, all you have to do on approach is go straight to your known pitch attitude and your known power setting. From there you can make adjustments and evaluate your your progress. On a calm day, if you have picked your descent point well, you can set that pitch and power at the outset of your descent, and not touch them until it's time to pitch up to the landing attitude as you pull the throttle to idle when it's time to touch down.

 

BTW, this technique can be used on any aircraft, and for any phase of flight. Initial climb, cruise climb, level cruise, cruise decent, etc will all have a known pitch attitude and power setting. You can also add elevator trim settings for those aircraft which have it available. Suddenly, flying becomes a lot easier and more predictable.

 

Pitch plus power produces predictable performance.

Edited June 16 by geckoSOH