I have set a flight plan on a cessna plane to go from Gatwick to Heathrow.
For VFR, Is direct GPS the best to choose for beginners
Do I need to select IFR low-altitude airways
Also noticed there is a problem for runway alignment
After selecting the flight plan I do get the orange circle indicator on the horizon with a gradually descending distance for the destination airport - but once I arrive there its very difficult to land as the runway is never directly in front of me to descend and land. I have to rotate the plane several degrees to try and land and its very difficult to land
When requesting to land from ATC, the markers in game will direct you to the entry point of the airports traffic pattern; which for the most part will require some left turns before youâll be lined up to land.
If youâre not using ATC, your GPS will direct you in a straight line to the airport, meaning youâll have to line up to land yourself when you get there.
A little tip - if you can find out what runway number youâre landing on, it will tell you what direction you need to be facing for a straight in landing. Just add a zero to the end of the runway number (e.g runway 24 will require you to be heading 240 degrees). You can use your compass to see how you need to turn to set up your landing.
Also you can add waypoints in the flight plan screen to line your GPS route up for a straight in landing. Just click on the map and select âadd waypointâ.
I have tried your tip but it doesnât seem to work. I am landing at runway 27 at Heathrow
At what point do I need to set my compass direction of travel to be at 270 degrees to land on the runway.
I am travelling towards the orange circle indicator of Heathrow after setting the flight plan but when I set the direction to 270 degrees it does not line up to the runway I want to land at and I travel away from the Heathrow runway.
Also how do request to land from ATC
How do you interact with ATC
My navigation aids are all on in assistance options
What that means is you have to approach (in this case Heathrow) on a course of 270 degrees.
Most airliners when approaching the runway will be10 miles out from the airport and at that time they will be on a course of 270 degrees.
You must position the airplane so the 270 degree course ends at Heathrow.
You can access ATC from the on-screen toolbar, using the airport tower icon.
ATC will be available if you have made a flightplan from the world map planner.
Airplanes are quite difficult to land. It does involve a lot of maneuvering and course corrections to line up with the runway.
If flying VFR, you want to visually spot the airport (this is the most important part) and then make sure you approach it heading towards the correct bearing (270 in your situation). This will involve looking at what bearing youâre currently heading, keeping an eye on the airport and adjusting your route accordingly. This may mean you have to fly past and around the airport, you might need to do a few turns, you might just need a tiny adjustment if youâre lucky.
For example, Iâm heading towards Heathrow and my current bearing is 180 (South). I know that I will have to be heading at a bearing of 270 degrees to land at runway 27 at Heathrow. Therefore, I know I need to do a 90 degrees right hand turn (180 + 90 = 270) to be correctly orientated with the runway at Heathrow.
My only job now is to spot the airport and time that 90 degrees right turn correctly, the rest is done by looking out the window.
Donât forget VFR doesnât need a reliance on your instruments, just a reliance on what you can see visually out the window.
If youâre in external camera you can see the compass and which way youâre heading at the top left of the screen.
My flight is from Gatwick to London Heathrow runway 27
Heathrow being roughly north of Gatwick which equates to bearing of around 0 degrees
Say I am 10 km off from Heathrow now.
If I now align the compass 270 degrees in order to land at Heathrow runway 27, my plane flies in a direction away from Heathrow - to the west.
I donât know when I should apply this 270 bearing in order to land at runway 27.
In an ideal situation - after applying the flight plan for Gatwick to Heathrow and I then get the orange circle icon indicating me towards the direction of travel - I ideally want the runway to be right under me when reaching the destination - but this is not possible
What I find is that the icon does direct me to Heathrow but once I am over Heathrow, I have to fly way out past the airport - do a massive turn in the air to get the runway below me, and then to try and land. Even at this late stage the alignment of the compass to 270 degrees does not get me directly towards runway 27
So, what you do is when about 5 miles before Heathrow, fly a heading of 90 degrees (directly away from the airport on the reciprocal heading to 270).
After 7-8 miles on this heading (in a smaller plane) turn 90 degrees to a heading of 360 degrees.
When you are about to cross the 270 degree radial from Heathrow, turn and fly towards Heathrow on that 270 degree heading.
O degrees is due north
90 degrees is due east
180 degrees is due south
270 degrees is due west
So when I am about 7km away from Heathrow, fly due east which is 90 degrees
After I travel on this bearing for a short while, if I turn anticlockwise 90 degrees, the direction will now be due north ( which is 360 degrees on your definition and 0 degrees on mine )
The last stage would be turn another 90 degrees anticlockwise which will now make my direction 270 degrees and due west
I think this is right
Hopefully this should align to runway 27 - itâs just knowing when to make the turns
It will be close, it depends on your timing, and whether you are on the 270 degree bearing from Heathrowâs runway when you turn to final.
This is the standard way to approach an airport.
The initial turn to 90 is called the downwind leg.
The turn due north is called the base leg, and the towards the runway is the final.
You must be in visual contact with the airport for this to work.
You cannot see the runway when you make the first two turns - that is 90 degrees east and 0 degrees due north as you are several miles away from the airport
Does the airport have to be visible before you make the first two turns ? I guess this is right
Only when you make the last turn going 270 degrees west and after a short while does the runway become visible
I guess the opposite would apply if a destination runway was a number 90 - you would fly 270 first, then 0 degrees north followed by 90 degrees east on the approach to the runway
As you get more proficient, the closer you can make these turns.
The recommended is to commence your turn when you are at about a 45 degree angle from the airport.
Hello - in a previous post you mentioned âcrossing the 270 degree radialâ
What does this mean ?
Flying to runway 27 at Heathrow. I have made the first turn 90 degree east a few miles from the airport and then going 0 degrees due north after another turn. My compass is showing 0 degree due north now
How will I know when I have crossed the 270 degree radial when I am flying due north, that is when do I make the final turn going 270 degrees due west on the approach to landing ?
Does this just come with experience ?
I intend to fly Gatwick to Heathrow runway 27 over and over again to get the practice.
Not to worry about other runway numbers for now- just get runway 27 right - but the same principles will apply to other runway numbers too
You will know when your view of Heathrow lines up with 270 degrees on your HSI (Horizontal Situation Indicator - looks like a compass, right in front of the yoke, also has many other names)
Hello - in a previous post you mentioned âcrossing the 270 degree radialâ
Thereâs a good explanation of crossing the radial near the end of this video. You might well benefit from also watching the prequel video which explains VOR in easy terms for beginners (like me).
In the example you gave, youâd want to cross the radial several miles from the airport because when you cross it, youâll have to turn to âget onâ it and then maneuver back toward it.
But the most efficient way to do it is simply to circle the airport when youâre within sight of the runway and enter a downwind landing pattern â i.e., forget about VOR navigation in this situation if youâre flying VFR. Youâre not going to get a straight-in approach without some maneuvering that would be a little more complicated than just doing that.
I donât know if there are any tutorials on flight sim on navigation - for example how to land at runway 27 when flying in from the south
I had a go at landing tutorials yesterday and I managed to do them OK The problem for me it seems is approach at a runway when flying at altitude, rather than the landing itself
In theory flying from Gatwick to Heathrow 27 - if you fly east 90 when you are 8 km from airport, followed by North 0 after a short while, and finally west 270 - for this last turn runway 27 should be directly below approximately in theory.
Its a case of experience I think and after making this last 270 turn - using your eyes to see where the runway is and making the necessary corrections - speed, altitude and slight changes to direction to hopefully safely land
A couple of recommendations for you as a total beginner: Turn off these navigation tooltips, orange circles etc. Donât create a flightplan. Use a single airport, take off, fly a circuit/pattern, land. Practise this, learn how to handle the airplane during these phases, learn how the world looks from above. It might sound ridiculous but this is how youâre being tought to fly. You donât start with complex cross country navigation skills.
When you can fly a circuit start unplanned flights. Go to a region where there are many airports (london is fine I guess) and fly around. No plan, just look outside. If you spot an airport, enter downwind (aka fly a circuit) and land.
What you attempt to do there is complex radio navigation without using radio navigation. That wonât get you anywhere. Take it slowly and enjoy the flight
On the assistance options - if I set everything to easy that should be OK hopefully - but not sure
I have included a screenshot of the assistance options- and not sure what needs to be on or off within each sub menu
Itâs just that I have heard some people say that if you have all the assistance options on - because there are bugs in flight sim - it might not be the best thing to do.
If you can tell me what to have on and off in the assistance options, bearing all these factors, and the fact I am a total beginner - to make things for me as easy as possible- that will be great
Actually, you want just the opposite, set all assistance settings to hard in the Assistance Options.
You donât want any of the artificial assistance taking over and flying the aircraft.
They donât work well at all, and it can lead to a lot of confusion.
