| Landing St.Maarten from cockpit 747. After nosewheel landing camera touched windshield causing crackling noise. For those viewers who made comments (or new viewers who are thinking about making the comment) that this approach is too high and/or too fast or whatever else you might think, here some "free flying lessons" from someone who's flying B747's for 20 years: On an approach on instruments a B747 should cross the runway threshold (= the piano keys) with the main wheels at ± 35 ft above threshold. The 747 is so big that at that point the altitude of the cockpit is 35 ft higher, so the cockpit is at ± 70 ft when main wheels cross the threshold. On a visual approach, as is the case here at St.Maarten, we have to have some more margin. Normally the pilot aims to see the runway threshold disappear under the nose at 80 ft (add 35 ft for cockpit height, so when threshold disappears under the nose, the cockpit is at 115 ft) to have sufficient main wheel clearance. If you look at the video and notice the altitude callouts, you'll see the threshold disappear under the nose at the call 50, so actually I am a bit too low in stead of too high. (In fact I am only too low for a visual approach. If you look at my landing at JFK www.youtube.com you will see that I cross the threshold also at 50 ft, which is normal on an instrument approach. Note: the automatic altitude callouts you hear on this video are Radio Altimeter altitudes. The Radio Alt is zero when the main gear is on the ... |
