How do you choose a runway?

[M_Harleman]

[color=#0000ff]When approaching an airport, I wondered which runway I should choose.

[Brett_Henderson]

If you run real weather, you can check the surface winds at your destination.. that will give you a good idea of what runway to plan for. ([i]try to land as much into the wind as possible..

[-Crossfire-]

Always try and land into the wind, if possible. 

Make sure you choose one thats long enough for your airplane to take off from.  Never land anywhere you depart from (takeoff distance is always longer than landing distance).

[jlab58]

i personnaly resolve that problem of choise by calling the tower and asking where i can land. you could be surprise by the callenge it represent when you crank up the air trafic , sometimes you have to wait your turn , i love that little impression of realism.when i land on non controlled airport i take a few seconds to check the map and generally go for the longer runway, i'm still a novice. and yes the weather conditions are a must if your game is settle in a more realistic mode.

[flaminghotsauce]

Alt/W/M will bring up the map so you can look at the airport you're approaching. When you have the wind info from the ATIS, you can pick the runway most closely aligned into the wind.

[M_Harleman]

[color=#0000ff]Thank you for your responses.

[Brett_Henderson]

I wanna meet the instructor who turned you loose in an airplane, before teaching you what a runway number is

[flaminghotsauce]

AND when you get the ATIS and know what the winds are, and what runways are available, you can look at your heading indicator and visualize what runway is what and how it will work with the wind.

Runway example: You're flying south, on a heading of say 170 degrees. Your runway 12 comes up as a potential landing option. If you look at your heading indicator, you can see the angle that runway 12 is from your current heading. 170 - 120 = 50 degrees offset from your current heading.

Wind example: You get the winds for this same airport and they are 270 degrees at 12 knots. Looking at your Heading indicator, you'll see that the wind would be at your back if you tried landing on runway 12 (120 degree heading).

The heading indicator lays it all out for you. Hope this helps.

[olderndirt]

09 and 27.

No 'zero's' at civil airports - runways 9 and 27

[Brett_Henderson]

09 and 27.

No 'zero's' at civil airports - runways 9 and 27

[olderndirt]

09 and 27.

No 'zero's' at civil airports - runways 9 and 27

[M_Harleman]

Hey Thanks a bunch.  That really helps.  By the way, the map also helped.  I can zoom in on the airport and the runways are marked.  But knowing that the heading * 10 will give me the runway number helps even more.  Now I don't even have to look at the map to know where the runway is.  This is great!  Thanks a million.  You're right.  A real pilot would be in serious trouble if he didn't know that.  I was in serious trouble.  That's why I asked.  Thanks for your answers.

Mike

[Capt.Propwash]

trying not to confuse you with what the other person told you of how to figure out what the runway number is,

[M_Harleman]

Thanks for the additional help.  I'll take all the help I can get.  I appreciate your comment. 

Mike 

[SilverbugXO]

Actually, it's not that hard to land with a Tailwind. I play on utter complete realism, and have landed a 747 at Honolulu Intl with a 10 knot tailwind. You just have to wrangle with the flaps, a little.