a few easy questions...

[gbwnab]

for someone who knows whats going on.

thanks for all the help in the past, i'm new here, but all the help has been greatly appreciated.

1)  what does it mean when i go to land, and i announce myself as "...with "papa"   or ...with "kilo" or...with "quebec" do those words mean something??

What does the word "heavy" represent??

2) when landing, how do i pick which runway in want to land at?

all help greatly appreciated!

[Scottler]

1)  That's the information report you've got.  It is updated periodically...they assign a letter so the tower knows which one you've got.

2)  A heavy is an aircraft over a certain weight.  (I forget what it is off the top of my head...)  It's generally reserved for your 767s, 777s, 747s, DC10s, etc....

3)  If ATC doesn't give you a runway, listen to ATIS and get a wind direction.  Try to land as "into" the wind as possible.

[gbwnab]

thanks hyperion,

i though that there was a way to use the gps to see where/which runways were available. i stumbled across it once, now I can't find it  :(

[Nav]

gbw, before calling up for landing clearance it's a good idea to press the number for the ATIS, and listen to it.

That is the pre-recorded 'Air Traffic Information Service', and it will give you basic information about weather, wind strength and direction, 'runway in use', whether the runway is ILS or 'visual', etc.

The bulletins are up-dated regularly and given a letter code (Papa for P, Kilo for K, etc.).   So if the latest one was bulletin 'P', and you say 'with Papa', the controller knows that you have the latest information.

To get information about the airport, call up the Map (there's usually an icon on the panel), centre it on the airport, and enlarge it.  That will show you the runway layout etc., and clicking on the airport will give you all the frequencies for VORs and ILS systems, and also exact runway directions in degrees, airport height etc.  Height can be important since your altimeter shows height above sea level, not height above any given airport.

[JETGUY511]

1. It's called ATIS (Automated Terminal Information Service)information. It gets updated every hour 15 minutes till the hour. Each controlled field has an Atis frequency and when tuned to it, it provides you with terminal weather info for that field. Each report is given a Alpha-Zulu to let tower know which report you have ie. you have the latest report and not the previous one.

When you go to flight planning, and load up your route, click on the identifier for your destination. When you do, the map zooms up. You'll be able to see glideslope (colored green)for the ILS or the procedure turn for an available intrument approach. Click on it, and it will give you the frequency for the ILS and the rwy that it corresponds to. Read up on ILS if not familiar, most commercial traffic uses ILS when coming to a field, they are easy and nice to shoot. good luck.

[Saratoga]

Every controlled field doesn't have an ATIS. Some have nothing, others have an AWOS (which doesn't tell you runway information). But all of which helps you with landing. If you fly with real world weather, the landing runway is important. If you fly with clear skies in the sim, it doesn't really matter, pick the most convenient and the one that is long enough for your airplane.

On another note, it's a privelage to be able to go on your first flight in a heavy and get on the radio and say "Miami Tower, this is Delta 331 Heavy, ready to go, IFR to Kennedy". Just saying you are in command of a heavy is an honour among airline pilots.

[beefhole]

...others have an AWOS...

Or an ASOS at some of the smaller airfields

[Saratoga]

Yup. I believe they should be standardized. But it would be weird to be at a little grass field with a shack for a hangar and hear an ATIS.

[JETGUY511]

Saratoga, nice correction. I meant most controlled fields do but your right.

Also, I see you have a nice resume of experience in various aircraft. I'm curious on how you came about on flying so many aircraft. I'm a P-3 pilot and I have my commercial and private but I'm looking more ahead into the future of maybe going to the airlines. Any great advice I'll appreciate. Thanks