Space Shuttle and Apollo manual - X-Plane.com

the screen, labeled SBRK) will likely be required to get the
craft’s descent profile just right. The Shuttle should be slowed
to about 250 knots as it approaches the runway, and it should
be descending on about a 20 degree glide path until the VASI
lights beside the runway turn from white to red. At that point,
raise the nose (this is called the “pre-flare”) and follow that
shallow 3 degree glide path in for the final bit of the approach
for touchdown. Don’t forget to lower the brakes at the last
second!
If the approach is flown correctly, the pilot will
1) follow a 20 degree angle down,
2) adjust the speedbrakes to slow to 250 knots,
3) raise the nose as the lights beside the runway start to
turn red,
4) lower the landing gear,
5) follow a path in that keeps two of the lights beside the
runway white and two of them red (if more are red, the
craft is too low, and if more are white, it’s too high),
6) touch down in a nose-high attitude,
7) lower the nose,
8) hit the brakes, and
9) be stopped well before the end of the runway.
desired angle of attack (thus keeping a proper drag profile)
while slaloming back and forth to get rid of surplus energy.
The Shuttle will be slaloming back and forth through the
stratosphere at Mach 2, trying to dissipate just the right
amount of energy to arrive over Edwards at the right speed
and altitude to land.
Onscreen instruction is given during the flight to help guide the
user through it. This is the orange text found at the bottom of
the screen in the following screenshot.
That is, at least, how the pros do it.
V. Full Approach
The full approach provides a greater challenge than the final.
It starts the aircraft off at 83,000 feet and moving at Mach 2.5,
40 miles downrange of landing. This approach is a bit trickier:
The pilot will need to raise or lower the nose to hold the
In the screenshot, the pilot is commanded to retract the
speedbrakes in order to keep the Shuttle moving at a high
enough speed to reach Edwards.
As the approach progresses, the little yellow shuttle in the
EFIS will glide down the green line to Edwards. If the craft
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