On Mar 4, 12:02 pm, Mxsmanic wrote:

The Baron has a CS prop so I can't watch RPM. I guess I could look at
manifold pressure. However, I've been going mostly by sound to determine how
much power I have applied.

I don't know what CS prop guys do, but in my fixed-pitch prop, I
always make my initial power reduction based on RPM, I set it to 1500
and then adjust from there, based on the resulting approach. I
suspect that with a CS prop, some initial RPM/Manifold Pressure
combination is selected.

I have found that flying a normal rectangular pattern in the sim is
significantly more difficult than in real flight. In the real plane,
I compare my actual position to my desired position by frequently
glancing at the desired touchdown point on the runway. I find this
very difficult to do in the sim, I think because of the difficultly in
getting realistic view of the runway from the various legs of the
pattern (?). However, once established on final approach, I think the
sim is quite good in reproducing the sight picture of the approach.
In a light plane, the standard technique is to hold airspeed constant
(usually by trimming to that speed), and then fine tune the flight
path angle with small power adjustments.

But I guess
after a while looking out the window gives me enough clues--as well as
checking instruments, but often I'll adjust power before I see a change in the
instruments.

In a normal approach, started from downwind in the traffic pattern,
once the initial power reduction is made, I make the rest of the
approach mostly without looking at the instruments, except for several
checks of airspeed. The descent to the runway is done visually.
Also, don't forget that in the real plane your attention will be
mostly devoted to looking for and avoiding other aircraft.

I've read about being in a stable configuration on approach and that this is a
Good Thing, but I'm not sure if that applies across the board for all aircraft
and approaches, or just for straight-in approaches, or what. I think it would
be quite a feat to be able to fly a pattern and land without hardly ever
touching the throttles, except perhaps on the kind of windless day that only
occurs in simulators. I can get the aircraft into a stable configuration on
approach if the weather is good and I'm coming straight in, but doing it while
flying a pattern seems unattainably difficult at times.

If you want to be realistic in the sim, then you should try to fly the
traffic pattern for most of your visual approaches. (This includes
instrument approaches to small airports in visual conditions; break
off the approach a few miles out and join the pattern normally.) I
agree about the difficulty of setting up a good approach from the
pattern in the sim. You need to find a set of zero-wind numbers that
works for your sim aircraft, e.g., power setting on downwind, initial
power reduction, time until you turn base, position where flaps are
applied, airspeed on final, etc. (Timing your turn to base may work
better for the sim than the real-life technique of waiting for 45
degrees from touchdown point). You may have to find them by trial and
error, but once you have them, they become your starting point for all
subsequent approaches; fly by those numbers, and then make adjustments
for wind, and other factors of the specific situation.