Use these MSFS 2024 landing tips to fix floating, bouncing, hard touchdowns and crosswind drift, with flare cues and practice advice.
The best MSFS 2024 landing tip is to make touchdown the result of a stabilised approach: fly the aircraft’s published approach speed, trim away control pressure, hold a constant descent path, and go around if unstable. Reduce power smoothly, look towards the far end, flare gently, then steer accurately through the rollout.
How do you make smoother landings in MSFS 2024?
Smooth landings start well before the flare; correct speed and a stabilised approach matter more than any last-second control movement.
- Calculate the correct speed. Use the aircraft checklist, flight manual, EFB or FMS rather than copying a generic number. Configuration, weight and wind can all change the required approach speed.
- Stabilise before short final. Be in the landing configuration, on the correct path, aligned with the runway, trimmed and holding a steady speed. For visual practice, 500 feet above ground is a useful minimum decision point; many airline procedures use an earlier gate. Go around if the aircraft is still being chased into position below it.
- Hold an aiming point. Choose a point in the touchdown zone and keep it nearly stationary in the windscreen. If it moves upwards, the aircraft is undershooting; if it moves downwards, the aircraft is overshooting. Two red and two white PAPI lights normally indicate the correct glide path.
- Use pitch and power together. Avoid treating one control as responsible only for speed and the other only for descent. Make small, coordinated corrections, wait for the aircraft to respond and retrim when necessary.
- Look along the runway during the flare. Moving your vision towards the far end makes height and sink easier to judge. In a light aircraft, progressively raise the nose and let the main wheels settle. A jet normally needs a smaller flare and should not be held off like a Cessna.
- Correct crosswind drift. Remove the crab with rudder as required, use into-wind aileron to stop sideways movement and touch down with the longitudinal axis aligned unless that aircraft’s guidance permits a crabbed touchdown.
- Keep flying after touchdown. Lower the nose under control, confirm spoilers or other deceleration systems where fitted, brake progressively and maintain the centreline. Avoid large rudder or nosewheel inputs at speed.
Our complete approach-to-rollout landing procedure covers the underlying sequence without tying it to one aircraft type.
What approach speed should you use?
The correct MSFS 2024 approach speed is the figure calculated or published for the specific aircraft, weight and configuration, not one universal target.
| Aircraft type | Best speed source | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Light piston aircraft | Aircraft checklist or flight manual | Adding unnecessary extra speed, causing a long float |
| Turboprop | Flight manual, checklist or aircraft EFB | Arriving fast or selecting beta/reverse before touchdown |
| Jet airliner | FMS or EFB VREF/VAPP calculation | Adding an improvised speed margin or closing thrust too early |
Follow the aircraft’s stated wind-additive method where one is modelled. Adding speed “for safety” often creates a different hazard: the aircraft floats beyond the intended touchdown zone and leaves less runway for braking.
Why does the aircraft float, bounce or land hard?
Most poor touchdowns come from excess speed, an unstable descent or an abrupt flare rather than from the runway or scenery itself.
| Problem | Likely cause | Best response |
|---|---|---|
| Long float | Too much speed, excess power or an early flare | Hold the correct attitude without forcing the aircraft down; go around if too much runway has passed |
| Balloon | Flare input was too large or too abrupt | Do not push the nose down; stabilise a minor balloon with appropriate power or go around |
| Bounce | High sink rate, excess speed or poor landing attitude | Do not force the nose down; go around after a significant bounce or any developing porpoise |
| Hard touchdown | Late flare, rapid power reduction or unstable descent | Correct the approach rather than trying to rescue it in the final few feet |
| Sideways touchdown | Crab not removed or insufficient crosswind correction | Use rudder for alignment and aileron to control drift |
| Veering on rollout | Over-sensitive rudder, conflicting bindings or uneven brake input | Check axis calibration and make smaller directional inputs |
A low landing-rate number does not automatically mean a good landing. Touchdown position, centreline control, aircraft attitude and remaining runway matter more. For detailed diagnosis, see our guide to correcting floating, ballooning and firm touchdowns.
Which MSFS 2024 settings help with landing?
A consistent cockpit view and predictable control response help more than aggressive sensitivity changes.
- Set a realistic pilot eye position and keep the same zoom level throughout the approach and flare.
- Disable piloting or landing assists that move the flight controls for you. Visual approach guides can remain enabled while learning.
- Use only enough dead zone to remove genuine hardware jitter. A large dead zone makes the flare and crosswind corrections difficult to judge.
- Check that brake, rudder and steering axes are not duplicated across multiple controllers and that neither brake is registering when released.
- Prioritise steady frame pacing around detailed airports. A stutter during the flare delays visual cues and encourages excessive control inputs.
Control and assistance labels can vary between platforms and simulator updates, so verify the result in the cockpit control indicator rather than relying only on a menu toggle.
How should you practise landings?
The fastest method is to repeat the same approach in calm conditions before adding wind, short runways or heavier aircraft.
- Choose one familiar aircraft, a long runway, daylight, dry conditions and light wind.
- Keep fuel, payload and flap configuration consistent so the sight picture and speed do not change between attempts.
- Fly circuits rather than repeatedly spawning only seconds from touchdown; this teaches configuration, trim and approach stability.
- Add a modest crosswind, gusts and shorter runways only after calm-weather landings are repeatable.
Our guide to building a repeatable landing-practice session explains how to remove unnecessary variables. MSFS 2024 precision exercises can then test touchdown accuracy and centreline control, but learn what Landing Challenges actually score before treating the final points total as a complete measure of landing quality.