Continuous "Go around" with live traffic

Whenever I play with Live Traffic on, and I want to land at a big (and potentially busy) airport, the ATC is barely able to bring me down, due to the heavy traffic. Almost every time I approach the runway and almost land, I’m told to go around. It’s very annoying. There was a time where I had to go around two times before finally being let to land.

I understand that by switching on Live Traffic I’m essentially forcing myself into the real life schedule. But really, is there a way to avoid all these go arounds? Or do you just ignore it? I once did and nothing happened, the ATC asked if I copied but then I just asked for taxi and the process went smoothly from there. Should I just disregard these requests? Most of the time there’s nothing on the runway to prevent me from landing.

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I just ignore it unless I really like to go around myself.
Sometimes it helps asking for another runway than the one you get assigned if ATC isn’t using it for live traffic, to avoid this situation.

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It is a sim ATC limitation, sim ATC does not work any better than that. I believe it is two problems working together:

  1. ATC gives landing clearance in the sequence aircraft arrive at some spot pretty far out where ATC gives landing clearances, and that is not necessarily the order they arrive at the runway. If you were number two for landing and arrive at the runway before number one has landed you will be told to go around even if the runway is clear (number one is somewhere way behind you). This has been an issue since FS2002 was released twenty years ago and never addressed, ATC cannot change its mind and say “you are now number one for landing” like it can in real life if traffic sequence needs to change for whatever reason.
  2. AI traffic that fails to land (told to go around, or what have you) no longer gets vectored around for a new approach but ends up endlessly circling the airport at high speed and low altitude, and it seems they keep the runway “occupied” when they do that. At that point nobody can land at that airport anymore. This issue is new for FS2020; AI aircraft could successfully complete a second approach in FS2002, FS2004, FSX, and Prepar3D.

For QoL reasons I suggest ignoring sim ATC go around instructions if the runway is clear.

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Unfortunately this is the new reality for live traffic. Until the devs can somehow manipulate the taxi exit speed for even the approach speed for aircraft, I don’t see a fix for live traffic.

I always thought this would be an amazing thing, live traffic that you can see, that’s flying in real time, but the problems it poses makes me want offline, Ultimate Traffic (FS9, FSX) back.

I’ve seen instances where traffic sits on the runway and eventually disappears, if an aircraft is doing a practice approach in live traffic, it sits until Flightaware shows it as a departure. There are pluses and minuses to live traffic, but overall, it’s lost its luster. I’ll take offline, real schedule, manipulated (faster approach, taxi, exit speed) to live traffic.

Thus, you’ll land eventually like you did after a couple go arounds, or if you sneak in before a busy arrival push.

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I believe the main issue is with live ai planes not vacating the runways.

After live ai lands they will crawl towards the nearest exit. I dont believe it always was like this.

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Thanks everyone. Ignoring the ATC seems to be the best workaround for me, I’ll gladly do it. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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It’s best to take landing instructions as advice, rather than an order. Often I don’t reply to a go around instruction as they always seem to come about 200ft off the runway. It’s generally about a 70/30 split between point 1 from FlyingBear and them sitting on the runway. I had one sitting between two exits off the runway, one it missed, and the next one was 100m in front, but a 160° turn back on itself — it just sat there trying to decide which one to take.

Most of the time, it’s ATC getting the wrong order. It is best just to approach slowly and see what is on the runway. If it is a nice long one, you can often land behind the one that has just landed and park behind it until it makes its mind up about which exit to take :¬)

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This is a prime example of there being a need to rewrite the whole of ATC and AI (offline and live) as these are so inextricably linked. For example ATC has to take account of the player’s aircraft and all AI approaching an airport and sequence them properly - with vectors and holdings as necessary, and the AI needs to be responsive to ATC and their enviroment. AI needs to properly decelerate after landing and exit at suitable speeds if a high speed exit is available. Crawling along the runway is just unreallistic. Also, on takeoff, there should be no delay on the runway before accelerating and rotating.

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I ignore, land, get my credit, and move on to the next flight :joy:

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It’s difficult when you have people spawning on the runway, and other ignoring ATC instructions, or not even using ATC. It’s a sim/game where the immerison level goes from 1 to 11 out of 10 — At the end of the day, I can land my plane through 3 sitting on the runway and no one blows up because the aircraft do not interact with each other.
We have to either expect there to be people who are just flying for a laugh and get on with our immersion, or accept there are people flying like an airline pilot while we barnstorm the runway.
This is the community we are dealt with.
There is always VATSIM !

I use Pilot2ATC, and have the same problem. I ignore it ever since I learned my lesson. I did a go-around after being cleared to land at the end of a long flight. After the go around, I had a CTD…I fly for a virtual airline, so I had to restart the sim and do the landing so I could get credit for the flight. (This was back in Feb or so. I had a lot of CTD problems back then)

Ever since then, I ignore the go around…it’s not the fault of ATC…the problem is with how long it takes for the AI traffic to clear the runway.

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I get this too. Honestly, I ignore it and land anyway, same as I had to do in FSX until there was a way to clear the traffic with the touch of a button (I’m not 100% but I believe that was part of GSX, which is being brought to MSFS ASAP by FSDreamTeam. If this feature is not added to GSX, then I definitely think it should be added to the base sim. Whenever approach piled up, you just hit that key combination and the lane was clear ahead.

It’s less prevalent the less AI traffic you display, and also at smaller, less busy airports (like regionals).

At EGLF I usually enter right downwind. ATC then tells me to enter left base. I just ignore it and they don’t bat an eyelid and give me clearance on final.

On mine with live traffic I’ve noticed AI aircraft going around even though there’s no other aircraft or obstructions around. Ive also seen airport trucks driving on the runway even though I was cleared to land.

You are of course totally correct. However, rewrite will never happen.

Microsobo has no interest in IFR or airliners as most ‘players’ seem to be scenery watchers.

So sad when you think what it could have been.

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I also use P2A. Can’t fly without it now, it’s so good…especially when Vatsim is unavailable as it often is when I fly.

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I just did a flight from Stuttgart to Copenhagen and was told to go around at about a mile out which I proceeded to do…… I am a bit of a noob so it took me awhile to set up for a second attempt at which point the screens went black just before being told to go around again. As it was now dark and having no avionics I decided to land anyway but this time there was plane on the runway which I hadn’t seen until I flew through it. :grimacing:…… oooops

I am afraid you may be right. AI traffic crawling to the end of the runway had ruined immersion in FSX for me. It’s frustrating to see the same old problem persist in FS2020. Setting aside all the other ATC problems, which are same old too, never getting cleared for takeoff or landing for AI traffic not vacating the runway renders any AI traffic, live or not, for the birds. Sad.

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Did any of you fund a workaround for Ai taxi speed, thereweremods for fsx but I can’t find a hint of an fs2020 version?

Must be nice. My airports are a ghost town.