How do I determine which Runway I am landing on?

[T-Renn]

Hey guys, this is my first post on these forums and I figured I would ask the question that concerns me the most about FS2004; How the heck do I find the runway that I am landing on?

I'm pretty new to the game, and I've done multiple distance flights with the 737, 747, and 777. I fly through the whole flight as planned according to the GPS, but when I am near the airfield with landing clearence and runway information, I always have trouble determining which pattern to enter in order to land on the runway given. Is there a freeware program that maybe could help me out with finding out which runway is which on the GPS or something else? Or could anyone explain to me how this works?

Thanks  :)

[who1234]

I always have that problem. What I do is I open the map and go to the airport. Then I zoom in really close. At a certain zoom level it will put the runway names on the map.

Hope that works.

Who1234

[T-Renn]

Open the map and go to the airport? Is that the top-down map, or is there another map that you can open that actually lets you checkout anywhere in the world?

With top-down view, you have to be pretty much right ontop of the airfield in order to see it I thought.

[TacitBlue]

I think I can help. Runways are always named after the heading that you take off and land at. for instance - Runway 34 has a heading of 340* (* = degrees), runway 2 would have a heading of 020*. If the ATC tells you to land on runway 34 rightt, then that means there are two runways at that airport with a heading of 340*, and you are to land on the one on the rightt. When ATC tells you to enter downwind runway 34 right, then you are to enter the traffic pattern to the left (pattern almost always go to the left) of runway 34R going in the opposite direction, so you would fly a heading of 160* parallel to runway 34R, so that when you are cleared for landing, all you have to do is make a 180* turn to the left, and you should be more or less lined up with the runway.

I hope that helps, also you might find these usefull - ftp://63.217.28.218/1misc/manSP3.zip Munuels service pack 3, wich you need to run chart viewer, found here - ftp://63.217.28.218/1misc/airchv50.zip

[beefhole]

Custom has that part pretty much right, except runway 34 could have a heading anywhere between 335 and 344 (it's rounded). But this is the most important part for the jets-are you flying on an IFR flight plan? If you are, ATC will give you vectors that will, eventually (contrary to popular belief around here) get you on a general heading for the runway, all you have to do is make the turn on to final. Also, if you tune the destination airports ATIS (or AWOS/ASOS, it's almost always gonna be ATIS at the larger airports) it will give you a lot of valuable weather information as well as which runways are currently in use. That should cover it.

[T-Renn]

Ah I always create the VFR flight plans, I'll try an IFR flight and see if I have better luck.

Thanks guys!

[beefhole]

I gaurentee you will. Good luck  ;)

[BiggBaddWolf]

A good program, but it is payware, is called FS Nav

http://www.fsnavigator.com/

[T-Renn]

Hey, my flight from Gatwick London to Schipol Amsterdam ended in casastrophe, but ILS definately payed off and I learned how to create the rectangle markers that lead you to the airfield with the NAV radio. I was coming descending at around 1000ft at 150 knots in my 777, going through every rectangle perfectly until I did the dumbest thing I've ever done and activated my spoiler a good distance before the runway, leading to my stall and crash. I'll know for next time to wait UNTIL I hit the runway before putting up the spoilers instead of BEFORE I hit the runway  :D

[beaky]

Hey T-Renn: If you're VFR and you have the airport in sight, you should be able to guess  the (rounded) headings of the runways you see based on your present heading. Other than making sure you're approaching the right airport, there's no need to check the map at all. The next trick is to visualize your pattern, including the heading for each turn.
Maybe you're not going to fly except under an IFR flight plan; as mentioned by others, under IFR you'll either intercept an ILS or be given vectors by ATC right up to your turn to final, so it won't matter. But  I know  it can get more complicated. Like for example an IFR flight, in real instrument conditions, to a field with no tower: the controller may be far away, and only be able to reliably guide you to a nearby VOR or NDB, and leave you on your own  to plot an approach after that, because you'll eventually get too low to maintain radar contact... let's also say there's no ILS glideslope, just a VOR radial or a bearing from an NDB.  I haven't done it in RL or the sim yet, but I know in such a  case, you'd better be able to see and identify the runway at some point , and figure out the headings of your turns before you make them, or you could run into something or blow right past the airport- even if you're a very good IFR pilot.
 

[beefhole]

Also, no reason to manually deploy spoilers-just hit shift+/. This will arm them, and once the plane hits the ground they will automatically deploy.

[wji]

Realworld pilots (and some simulator pilots)  rely upon the azamuth (compass rose). This open-faced instrument (DI) is better than using a compass for the obvious reasons: by looking at one's heading the crew can immediately see where their designated runway is.
bill
p.s. another good practice is to set the CDI (course indicator) to the runway heading as soon as it's received from ATC; this too, gives the crew the relationship of the runway to the aircraft