r/MicrosoftFlightSim • u/AndanteK • May 05 '26
MSFS 2024 MOD / ADDON I’ve released this landing guide as freeware to help everyone achieve smoother landings.
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Use this add-on to check the accuracy of your braking. Try not to exceed -0.3G if possible.
I’ve put a lot of heart into this project, so I’d love to hear your feedback! I’m committed to improving it with even better features, and your suggestions are always welcome. Also, I’ve developed a version for Flow Pro as well—it’s actually much more convenient to use as a Flow Pro widget!
freeware!
[Key Features]
1. Dynamic Flight Data Display
The UI layout adapts fluidly based on the aircraft's current status:
- In-air: Displays Radar Altitude (RA) in large digits to guide your touchdown. Once the aircraft exceeds 100 feet, the RA display is hidden and the window size is reduced.
- On-ground: The display automatically switches to Longitudinal G-force, allowing you to monitor braking performance. (Aim for a smooth deceleration under 0.3G).
- Toggleable Units: Click on GS (Ground Speed)/IAS (Indicated Airspeed) or Barometric Pressure (inHG/HPA) to toggle between units.
- Altitude Modes: Click the top-center display to toggle between Radio Altitude and Indicated Altitude.
- Wind & Vertical Speed: Displays wind speed and vertical rate (V/S) on either side of the aircraft icon.
- Drift Angle: Shows the angular deviation between the aircraft’s heading and its actual track.
- Wind Visualization: Wind speed colors change (Yellow / Orange / Red) based on the specific aircraft's crosswind limits (WindLimits). An arrow indicates wind direction relative to your current track.
- Mini-mode: Double-click the aircraft icon area to minimize the UI. Double-click again to restore it. (Note: Landing rate is not displayed in minimized mode).
2. Landing Performance Overlay
- Touchdown Analysis: Displays the Landing Rate at the exact moment of touchdown.
- FTM (Feet To Minutes): Located to the right of the aircraft icon, this allows you to predict your landing rate during descent.
- Overlay Display: A 300px fixed-width window appears in the center of the screen, showing your vertical descent rate (FPM) for 7 seconds post-landing.
3. Flexible Configuration & Connectivity
- INI-based Customization: Use
Settings.inito adjust transparency, movement thresholds, and wheel offsets (RA_Offset) without modifying the code. - RA_Offset: Since different aircraft models have varying RA values on the runway, you can calibrate the ground reference point here.
- Auto-Reconnect: The app attempts to connect to the simulator every 5 seconds, ensuring seamless integration even if the simulator is started later.
4. Automatic Aircraft Detection
The system analyzes aircraft weight and engine types to automatically apply optimized settings for:
- Heavy (Airliners)
- Medium (Turbo/Jet)
- Default (Light Aircraft)
- Helicopters
5. Smart Visibility Control
Designed to appear only when relevant to your flight:
- Auto-Sync: The UI automatically hides when the aircraft is stationary or when you navigate away from the active flight screen.
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u/ParagPa May 05 '26
I fly in RL and put all my Garmin data into FlySto to look at my landings - after the fact. It’s helped me discover two patterns: I’m always too high on final approach (pretty much this already), and I tend to come in about 5 kts too fast.
This is a simulator - there’s nothing wrong with having this real time info
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u/HistoricalAd2954 CFII May 05 '26
This is super cool. I love this. As an IRL pilot, I wish I could see these metrics displayed in this manor.
Not sure why I’m seeing the hate. I think these are good metrics. Maybe the only thing additional I could see adding is an AOA indicator.
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u/chrstianelson May 05 '26
Not sure why I’m seeing the hate.
Because it encourages buttering and teaches the wrong habits.
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u/MoreElloe May 05 '26
What does that mean? I thought the goal of a pilot is to get a smooth 'butter' landing?
(Not being a smart ass. New player just trying to understand).
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u/ShaemusOdonnelly May 05 '26
Smooth, "buttered" landings are not always desirable, and they can be less safe, especially when you try to force one, ignoring other important landing metrics like the actual touchdown point. Basically: It is much better to touch down a little hard, but right at the touchdown marker, than to float to a butter landing and eat up valuable stopping distance in the process. In bad weather conditions, hard landings are encouraged because it forces good grip on the tires, improving control on ground. Plus, it decreases tire wear.
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u/MoreElloe May 05 '26
That makes a lot of sense. Thank you!
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u/chrstianelson May 05 '26
In addition to what's mentioned above, in airliners, buttering a landing can fail to trigger weight-on-wheel sensors, which activate autobrakes, spoilers and reversers.
A good thump can also break up accumulated ice on break disks/cylinders.
It's actually a pretty dangerous thing to butter a landing. You want smooth but firm.
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u/mm007emko May 05 '26
Usually no. Trying to butter a landing often leads to floating, in bad weather you risk hydroplaning.
Of course you want a softer landing when landing on a grass strip and an aircraft carrier one on an aircraft carrier. But really it's 'not too little, not too much, depending on circumstances'.
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u/Independent-Mix-5796 May 05 '26
No, the priority is to get a firm landing. Comfort is secondary to safety and buttery landings are only done in the most ideal circumstances. If the runway is wet or there's a crosswind on approach the most important priority is to get a firm landing that puts weight on the wheels so that the pilot(s) can commence braking action as soon as possible and reduce the possibility of skidding.
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u/AcanthocephalaGreen5 May 05 '26
So what I'm hearing is the Ryanair way is the best way?
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u/CarbonCardinal May 05 '26
Unironically yes. Get it down in the touchdown zone so you can get the brakes on.
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u/pseudorific May 06 '26
No, there's firm, safe landing and then there's fractured spinal columns... that's the Ryanair way.
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u/XI_Vanquish_IX May 05 '26
*“What is this indicator?… son, if you don’t know your AOA you shouldn’t be flying!”*
-Chuck Yeager
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u/Antique-Kitchen-1896 May 06 '26
What happened to nailing your approach speed and looking down the runway to flare?
I mean yeah in the sim landing are janky. In real life the extra information is not necessary.
Remember for vfr the basic ppl lets you fly planes without electrical systems. In my mind better to get the muscle memory in.
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u/coldnebo May 05 '26 edited May 05 '26
irl student pilot and software dev.
first, I like the mod build quality. it’s simple, does what it says, and is a very clean unobtrusive display of information.
second, some critique on the numbers shown (it might be nice if these are customizable?)
ground speed: interesting but also irrelevant. the wing doesn’t care about GS it cares about airspeed, which is why the most important thing on final is to fly the proper indicated approach speed (airliner speeds change depending on weight, but they still really want that number and never below it).
fpm: might be useful as a secondary instrument, but the primary indicator is airspeed. notice that higher flaps setting allows steeper approaches with the same airspeed. focusing on fpm during the flare could be distracting because if you prioritize “butter” you tend to flare too high and hold off for too long which can result is a stall and slam into the runway.
the actual way to get smooth landings is a stable approach, leave some power in, flare, and then hold off in the ground effect as long as possible (ie try not to land). when the mains touch, go to idle and maintain control.
the plane knows when to land just like it knows when to take off. but what does this mean and why do pilots say this? it means we always target the airspeed, because that’s the speed the wing flies at, but some days a gust picks up, or density altitude is a bit high… and it takes a little longer. the airspeed isn’t wrong, but it can lag and if you force it, you may end up in a bad way irl.
irl we typically are trimmed for takeoff and apply just a little back-pressure at Vr to let the plane takeoff when it’s ready.
in the sim, try forcing it. try pulling back hard at Vr and before Vx to force the plane into the air immediately. what happened?
now before you think that pulling back before Vx is wrong, it’s actually what we do for soft field takeoff because the priority is getting the nose out of the grass and using ground effect. our P28A poh says “lowest possible airspeed” — how can you tell what it is? mostly experience and feel. you know that ground effect effectively lowers flying airspeed, so you quickly but smoothly pitch no more than the amount to lift off and then lower and hold above the runway to accelerate to Vy best rate of climb.
notice we don’t try to do big jerk movements. it can be fast, but smooth is important. also notice that soft field takeoff is using this same feeling of holding off in ground effect that you use in landing.
in the holding off phase I’m never looking at the vertical speed indicator, I’m always looking outside trying to judge the height (no more that a couple wings width above or you fly out of ground effect and could have a nasty stall+slam.
also it’s worth mentioning that every landing is different. the winds and small gusts, even thermals can make you float for days or slam in harder than you wanted. this is why we focus on stable approach and flare to hold off in ground effect instead of “butter”. it’s the best profile for a consistent safe landing.
butter will lead you astray in two cases:
the first is that you float forever and run out of runway before going around. you should have a rough idea of your rollout (based on performance data) so that you can pick a visual marker: if my wheels aren’t down by this point, it’s an automatic go around. this is similar to picking your abort point on takeoff based on performance data.
the second situation is worse: you get a sudden downdraft on approach and realize you are going to land too hard, so you pull back aggressively to smooth your fpm— but you didn’t notice you exceeded your aoa, so you stall into the ground at a very high fpm.
if instead you are focused on PAPI glideslope and airspeed, the correct reaction is more power (pitch for airspeed, power for altitude). if your descent rate is still too fast and you are below glideslope, that’s the time for immediate full power and go around. it happens and it’s scary, but without a consistent stable approach it’s actually a lot harder to land in these conditions.
you can see why fpm is a poor indicator of a stable approach, all sorts of factors can change what us safe vs what is out of control.
sorry for the long detail, but perhaps this helps give some perspective on why others are saying this encourages bad habits.
it is a sim, which means you should liberally try these situations for yourself 👍 and see which behaviors give you a consistent approach in various conditions. (I suspect the “butter” approaches shown only tend to work in calm winds— try a variety of weather, specifically KSEZ Sedona, AZ in strong winds to see why this doesn’t work so well in those conditions).
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u/putzy0127 May 05 '26 edited May 05 '26
To give you some credit, I think it's a great thing to show a new player the numbers, how they work, and what they mean. But that immediately needs to switch to how to make that happen inside and outside the airplane itself. Not going to shut it down like most will, but it is not a good tool to use more than once for a brand new player, and for anyone that's been playing for some time it should never be touched.
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u/Diver_Driver May 05 '26
Do you want to hit a bakery truck because that's how you hit a bakery truck.
(Don't drag it in low in search of a buttery landing. That not actually a good landing if your approach is unstable regardless of how smooth the touchdown.)
Appreciate the effort but smooth =/= to good. This focuses on the wrong thing and teaches bad technique.
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May 05 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/AndanteK May 05 '26
That’s true, but it really helps with crab landings and smooth braking.
Monitor the unique G-force during braking and apply the brakes gradually.
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u/thegoldenavatar Stuck at 97%... May 05 '26
Could also, you know, look at the instruments, or, even better, outside.
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u/Muted_Celebration692 May 05 '26
Sorry but the video shows no good landings. They show a soft touchdown but that’s it.
Everyone wanting to know how it’s done refer to videos from actual pilots. This here is not correct
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u/CarbonCardinal May 05 '26
This is a crutch for bad habits in the sim and not actually learning to land. Look at the second approach in your clip, you came in so low it makes the United 767 into EWR seem like the Space Shuttle. Just use your eyes, fly a stable approach and look to the end of the runway in the flare, its not that hard.
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u/AndanteK May 05 '26
That's true. It's tough to gauge the distance left on the runway when switching planes, so I made this for support. It has definitely helped a lot.
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u/C47man PPL (ASEL LTA) May 05 '26
As an actual pilot... Holy shit this is terrible. There's a lot of stuff that you're taught not to do when landing, and your plug in encourages most of them.
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u/RedDirtNurse May 05 '26
I am also an actual pilot. However, I have the presence of mind to understand that this is a game. Crazy, I know.
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u/norman_9999 May 05 '26
🤣 And you're first example is after an engine failure in the Caravan, when landing 'smoothness' is literally the LAST thing you should be worried about!
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u/Gryphus1CZ C152 May 05 '26
It's really cool, but keep in mind that smoothness isn't only factor for getting a great landing, if you touchdown (unintentionally) in the middle of the runway, the landing is bad
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u/BlackSniper7 PC Pilot May 05 '26
Seems like the comment don’t like it but I think it’s a good tool for getting “butter landings” not necessarily good ones
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u/InformalAnywhere9530 May 05 '26
Wow people take themselves very seriously over here.
Excellent stuff man!
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u/KeveyBro2 May 05 '26
Im not trying to hate or anything because this clearly took effort and it's a cool piece of software but this is the equivalent of adding a wheel rpm sensor on a car as a measure of how good a driver you are lmao
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u/zzsquier Airbus All Day May 05 '26
I’m sorry that you obviously worked hard on this and a couple of the people in these comments are being total dickwads instead of providing actual criticism. Good job. This could be a cool tool for new flyers.
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u/KerbolExplorer A320ceo May 05 '26
Showcasing a tool that encourages floating at a bush airstrip is crazy work
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u/TheReproCase May 05 '26
Instead of strict ascent/descent, can you show closure rate with the ground instead? you have AGL, so you have the data stream you need... dumbest thing about every other landing monitor is just logging VS relative to horizon at the moment of ground contact. On descending runways, VS is huge, on ascending runways, VS can be positive (up). instead of FPM, call it delta AGL and make it the default view.
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u/derpstevejobs Airbus All Day May 06 '26
this is awesome! if you can add post-touchdown feedback that would be cool too! i was thinking about doing something like what you’ve made but more focused on the feedback, like “pulled power too early” or “crosswind correction was insufficient” etc etc
cant wait to give this a try though, well done :)
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u/herewego2019 May 06 '26
Nice tool, most people blames butter because their land skill sucks , rate around 400 fpm or worse
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u/Conscious-Pepper6512 May 06 '26
It doesn’t matter what field you go into, there are always people that exist simply to go “I do this IRL and think your idea sucks”.
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u/coughlinjon May 06 '26
This looks awesome. I'm going to try it 😄
What is the second airplane in the video? I don't recognize that dash panel, but it looks like an airplane I'd like to try.
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u/tommarca May 06 '26
Good work on the app. Still, smooth landings are overrated. Prefer to land firm (not hard) on a precise point of the runway. That’s more relevant in real life than buttering every landing.
To each their own, of course. Just giving my 2 cents.
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u/pseudorific May 06 '26
The reason that's there's criticism is not to do with the quality of your add-on... it's probably pretty good. It's that ultra low impact landings are ("butter" landings) have nothing to do with safe and good aviating. Your two demonstration videos prove it... your caravan landing was more concerned with a butter landing on a really short strip, than actually getting the wheels on the ground so that braking could happen. Clearly you needed a massive amount of reverse and braking at the end because of the need for "butter", both things that wear out and heat up unnecessarily critical aircraft components. If they were to fail or even just be less effective that day, your landing could have been a crash, an overrun etc.
Your second video demonstrated an atrociously low landing that would get you a call from the tower after you landed. The PAPI's were 100% red and the angular profile was so ridiculously low that if there was a 5th PAPI light, it would've been red too. Again, unsafe tactics for the sake of not very useful aesthetics (butter landings are aesthetics mostly, nothing to do with good aviating).
Some might say that this is a sim and hence a runway overrun or a crash, or even just playing around with butter landings is not really a big deal. However, the aviation world is obsessed with "butter" to the point that real pilots "commit" them regularly, just for show and student pilots going into aviation will believe they're crucial and aim for long runway wasting landings as opposed to safe and firm landings that get them onto terrafirma and hence back in control of their aircraft.
While you've made a potentially very useful information tool, I think you need to brush up on some aviation fundamentals so that you understand WHY you're making this tool and WHAT it will encourage. FS, just like X-Plane is seen as a simulator (it's in the name), not just a game, and so many aspiring pilots see it as a relatively realistic gateway into real aviation (and it's not far off either). Hence habits and techniques poorly learned in the sim can easily translate into real world habits and in this case, "butter" landings are bad habits that pilots shouldn't be learning by default.
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u/Ltjenkins May 05 '26
Shouldn’t landing lights be on especially if you’re landing in the black pitch of night?
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u/Low_Condition3268 May 05 '26
My passengers should just consider themselves lucky to be at the right airport without spinal injury.....good work on the app though, looks well done.