As you approach the runway try to stay level (as I obviously didn’t) and bleed of speed during your flare. Aim to touchdown by the second or third set of fixed distance markers on the runway. The F-22 in TAW is fairly forgiving of rough handling and bank angles upon touchdown, but there is still a nice feel of speed and balance. Those of you who flew the amazing DID EF2000 remember the very tricky landings and subsequent disasters that could occur if you didn’t settle down in a stabilized fashion. You’ll find the F-22 a bit more forgiving that the old EF2000.
There are more proper radio procedures to go through, and we’ll cover those in later missions, but for now we are just getting an introduction to the aircraft and the sim. Remember after you land to taxi out of the way and find yourself a secluded parking spot or risk getting plowed into by other traffic arriving and departing from the field like these C-17s.
So that’s it. We’ve completed our first flight in the F-22. The nice thing about TAW is that all of the training missions are graded on a pass/fail basis. The training missions are usually short, to the point, and very specific in addressing what is being taught. The system of pass/fail is nice because it makes you feel as though you are investing time and building a career.
Stay tuned for Part Two.
System Specs
- Alienware Pentium 4, 3.4GHz
- 2 GB DDR2 SDRAM
- NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT PCI Express 256MB
- Saitek X52
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