Installation

Requirements

• Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 (must be installed)

Steps

1. Extract the ZIP

Unzip LandingGuide_v1.0.zip to any folder of your choice, for example:

C:\Tools\LandingGuide\

The extracted folder will contain:

Landing Guide.exe
Microsoft.FlightSimulator.SimConnect.dll
SimConnect.dll

2. Run

Double-click Landing Guide.exe. No installer required.

The app will attempt to connect to MSFS automatically. You can launch it before or after starting the simulator — it reconnects every 5 seconds.

Landing Guide — Feature Overview

1. Dynamic Flight Data Display

The UI layout adapts based on the aircraft's current flight phase:

• In-air (below 100 ft AGL): Radar Altitude (RA) displayed in large digits to guide touchdown. Above 100 ft, the RA display is hidden and the window height is reduced.
• On-ground: Automatically switches to Longitudinal G-force to monitor braking performance (aim for under 0.3G).
• Toggleable Units: Click GS/IAS to toggle between Ground Speed and Indicated Airspeed. Click the pressure display to toggle between inHG and HPA.
• Altitude Modes: Click the top-center display to toggle between Radio Altitude and Indicated Altitude.
• Wind & Vertical Speed: Wind speed and vertical rate (V/S) displayed on either side of the aircraft icon.
• Drift Angle: Shows the angular deviation between heading and actual track.
• Wind Visualization: Wind speed color changes (Yellow / Orange / Red) based on the aircraft's crosswind limits. An arrow indicates wind direction relative to current track.
• Angle of Attack (AoA) Indicator: Visual AoA bar displayed during approach.
• Mini-mode: Double-click the aircraft icon or click the PIN button to minimize the UI to a small icon. Double-click again to restore. Mini-mode is manual-only — the app does not switch automatically.

2. Landing Performance Overlay

• Landing Rate: Displayed at the exact moment of touchdown as a 300px center-screen overlay for 7 seconds.
• FTM Predictor: Located to the right of the aircraft icon — predicts your landing rate during descent based on current V/S.
• Mini-mode behavior: The landing rate overlay is shown even when the UI is in mini-mode, as long as flight conditions are met.

3. Real-time Alerts

A full-screen alert overlay appears for configurable situations. All alert types are enabled/disabled and tuned via Settings.ini:

AlertConditionDefault ThresholdSTALL RISKAoA exceeds threshold below 2,000 ft AGL12.0°SINK RATEExcessive descent rate on approach (10–1,000 ft AGL)−1,500 FPMHARD LDGHard touchdown detected−600 FPMOVERSPEEDLanding ground speed exceeds limit160 KIAS

• Alerts display in two severity levels: Warning (red) and Caution (amber).
• Alert duration is configurable (AlertDuration in INI, default 5 seconds).
• Alerts appear in mini-mode as well, as long as the aircraft is airborne.

4. Flexible Configuration & Connectivity

• INI-based Customization: Settings.ini controls window opacity, alert thresholds, movement sensitivity, and logging options — no code changes required.
• Auto-Reconnect: Attempts to connect to the simulator every 5 seconds. The app can be started before or after MSFS.

5. Automatic Aircraft Detection

Aircraft weight and engine type are analyzed at connection to automatically apply optimized wind and performance limits:

ClassCriteriaHeavy (Airliners)High MTOW, jet enginesMedium (Turboprop/Business Jet)Mid MTOWDefault (Light Aircraft)Low MTOW, pistonHelicopterRotary engine type

These classifications determine the crosswind limits (WindLimits) used for color-coded wind warnings.

6. Flight Logging

All flight data is stored in the Logs\ folder alongside the executable:

File Contents

landings_YYYYMMDD_HHmmss.csv Per-landing record: FPM, G-force, bounces, speed, wind, AoA, bank angle, crab angle, aircraft type,rating

warnings_YYYYMMDD_HHmmss.csv Alert events: type, value, detail

ssession_YYYYMMDD_HHmmss.txtSession summary: total landings, hard landings, best/average FPM

• A new set of files is created each time SimConnect connects (one set per flight session).
• Files containing only a header (no data) are automatically deleted at session end.
• A maximum of 100 sessions are retained. Older sessions are automatically purged when a new session starts.
• Logging can be individually enabled/disabled per type in Settings.ini.

7. Log Viewer

An integrated log viewer window (accessible from the main UI) displays:

• Landings tab: All landing records across all sessions in a sortable grid.
• Warnings tab: All alert events across all sessions.
• Session count and total landing count shown in the status bar.