BMS F-16C/D 4.34, Flight Manual

Page: 183 / 234

T.O. BMS1F-16CM-1 BMS 4.34 Change 2.00
BMS 4.34 Dash 1
© Red Dog 2012-2019
Page: 183
So there you are with the runway and PAPI in sight at around 6 Nm, aligned correctly with the
centreline at 2000 feet, gear down and flying around 250 knots.
You know that you have to place the FPM on the runway threshold to land.
You also know that to maintain two red and two white lights on the PAPI you have to fly a 3°
glideslope to the runway; the FPM has to be around the -2.5° dashed pitch line. This is done with the
sidestick controller.
All you have left to do is to understand angle of attack and how to control it with the throttle.
AOA is the angle between the aircraft wing chord line (equivalent here to the airframe longitudinal
axis) and the relative vector of motion of the aircraft. B
asically it’s the angular difference between
where the aircraft is pointing and where it is going.
The optimal touch down AOA for the F-16 is 13° AOA;
corresponding to when the FPM is in the middle of the
AOA bracket. The AOA indexer located on the left of the
HUD will show the middle green doughnut illuminated.
The top of the HUD AOA bracket indicates 11° AOA and
the bottom mark of the HUD AOA bracket indicates 15°
AOA. The range of the AOA bracket therefore is 5° AOA:
from 11° (top) to 15° (bottom).