This topic was addressed in a thread from last August, and someone helpfully provided a comprehensive list of water runways and airports with water runways.
Sometime last summer or fall, I know I flew the Junkers float version from the water near PHNL all around Oahu before landing in Pearl Harbor. However, these days I can’t seem to see any water runways to spawn from in Honolulu. I thought it might be one of my mods conflicting so I even tested with an empty Community folder, but that made no difference.
So my question is, can anyone confirm that PHNL is missing its water runways? And if so, do we (the community) know why?
Secondarily, does anyone else think it would be great for sim immersion if we were allowed to spawn floatplanes on any body of water we wanted? Or for that matter, shouldn’t we be able to spawn bush planes on a creek bed or desert floor or whatever?
I do 99.9999999% of my MSFS flying in and around O’ahu. (I happen to live here!) I’m planning on hopping on the sim in a bit here and will check it out.
PHNL I did a tour of the islands last week did not see a water rwy . That is a good idea .Compile a list of water rwys in sim. Or maybe a a payware add on. Put where you want. Like KSAN or KSFO bays.
The thread I linked in my post above listed all the airports with water runways in the sim as of August 2021. I KNOW I’ve flown the Junkers float version around Oahu, and that linked list has PHNL on it (the download link in that thread is still active).
So somewhere along the way, PHNL appears to have lost its water runway spawn points.
The horribly mouse-drawn highlighter bits are where the two water runways are. The 4W one - the road that parallels the two 4/22 runways is “Lagoon Drive.” There used to be a seaplane operation there about 1/2 way down the runways on the ocean side (lol of course). They had a little wedding chapel and their (2?) planes tied up to a dock. I donʻt think they survived the pandemic though.
This chart is from Navigraph. If you donʻt have it, you really should consider getting it! I literally use it on every flight, even if my tiny runways arenʻt in the database. As you can see - yeah, 4W and 8W are listed!
Thank you! So somewhere along the way in one of the subsequent sim or world updates, 4W/22W and 8W/26W have been deleted. I know I’ve used 4W in the past in the JU-52, so I guess I should log a bug under the “Airports” category.
Thank you for confirming!
EDIT: I’ve added a bug report here:
Anyone else who enjoys floatplanes and misses flying around Oahu, or would like to do, please add your voice.
First off, you’re welcome! Having declared myself the unofficial Hawaiʻi Ambassador for MSFS, I feel it is my solemn duty to help when I can!
Just making sure - you know you can click on the map and select it as a departure point, yes? (Honestly I have never tried, but will do so shortly!) - I was thinking that could be a workaround for now. I’m guessing what you’re flying isn’t an amphib, eh?
As you can see - yeah, 4W and 8W are listed!
Having declared myself the unofficial Hawaiʻi Ambassador for MSFS, I feel it is my solemn duty to help when I can!