The 737-800 is the workhorse narrow-body of the MSFS 2024 default fleet — and one of the most-flown airframes in real-world short and medium-haul ops. Its landing characteristics are unforgiving compared to the A320 family: more energy to dissipate, tighter pitch margins on touchdown, and a flare technique that rewards patience over pull.
Landing technique
- Cross the threshold at Vref + 5 kt in calm conditions. Real airline SOPs add up to 1/2 the headwind plus the full gust factor on top.
- Begin the flare around 30 ft RA — earlier than most pilots expect. The 737 takes longer to arrest sink than the A320 because of higher wing loading.
- Hold pitch — don't pull through. A pull-through flare bleeds energy fast and produces float; a held flare produces a controlled settle.
- Trim aggressively in the descent so you're hand-flying with very small forces by 1,000 ft. The 737 is heavy on the controls; un-trimmed pitch corrections are big.
- Avoid carrying extra speed. 10 kt over Vref bleeds 400+ feet of float on a normal landing. The 737 has lots of energy at touchdown; don't add to it.
Common mistakes
- Late, aggressive flare — produces float, hard touchdown, or tail strike if you over-rotate.
- Failing to retract speedbrakes / spoilers manually after touchdown when ground spoilers don't auto-deploy in some MSFS variants.
- Excessive nose-up trim during approach leaving you out of in-trim authority for the flare.
Aircraft data
- Manufacturer
- Boeing
- Model
- 737
- Variant
- -800
- FAA approach category
- C
- MTOW
- 79015 kg (174198 lbs)
- Vref reference
- 141 kt
- MSFS source
- Payware (PMDG/iFly)
- FLARE matches
- Boeing 737-800 · 737-800 · 737 -800
Related reading
- → How FLARE grades a landing — the composite formula behind every score
- → What "stabilized approach" actually means — the 1000-ft gate, four criteria, technique
- → Narrow-Body Airliner scoring thresholds — per-category curves applied to this airframe
- → Full scoring methodology reference — complete breakdown in the help docs