Courchevel landing in 737NG

1st Official Post

    So I managed to do it, but after some attempts (I believe 4).

    The interesting thing was I tried a go around maneuver on the 3rd and it didn't go well, so I then forced me to learn how to survive a go around (barely) after many attemps when really close to touch down at under 150 kts. That was much more difficult than landing and stopping.


    Here's the footage on the landing. Regretably I don't have the one of the successful go around (but too so many attemps to suceed... ).

    (Link is valid for the stream only for 48h as I uploaded it as a guest)

    Courchevel landing in 737 NG
    streamable.com


    If anyone wants to give it a try.... It's worth it as a training but very difficult.

    Aviate, navigate, comunicate. Keep the blue side up! (wink wink)

    Edited once, last by fighter_pilot21 (December 18, 2023 at 6:26 PM).

    • Official Post

    It's not easy and it took me a dozen attempts to nail it just right. It's a highly dynamic maneuver and it's better to too a smooth flare and touchdown than it is to just plant it down.

    The key is to land with positive vertical speed and touch down just before the slope really ramps up. The additional downforce during that transitional curve to the steep slope significantly increases the downforce and with full brakes or parking brake set this additional downforce prevents wheel slipping and thus a great portion of the deceleration can happen before the steep slope even kicks in. RIP nose gear of course :D

    It's more important to not bounce than it is to hit the exact spot. As long as you can plant the wheels down and keep them down you also can slow down before reaching the crest. It's very difficult to slow down if you fly over the top. But I'd recommend approaching as slow as possible. Don't aim for 135kt, try it with 110 to 115kt, this makes the stopping distance a lot shorter. You may have to cancel the A.FLOOR a couple of times though :D

    Add nose up as long as you roll up the hill and about half way down the runway aim to keep the nose on the ground, so push forward as the aircraft rolls over the top.

    Regards,

    Jan

    Almost exactly the maneuver I did.

    Except for the 110 kts you suggest. At that speed the 737 will go down as a rock without any possibility of flying anything haha.

    In my case I touched down at around 142-143 kts and 10 kts of tailwind (so even much more difficult)

    It needs to be treated as an emergency landing and as soon as the plane touches down, full force on nose down and full brakes including the speed air beakes etc.

    I finished within meters from the wall at the end.

    Taking off was done at the first try without a sweat (in comparisson)

    Aviate, navigate, comunicate. Keep the blue side up! (wink wink)

    It might be a bit off here, but here is a similar landing on a grass airfield in Af2023 with the lowest landing speed aircraft in the simulator. Let's not ask how it will be possible to turn the plane around. :)

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