Sometimes when I'm using IFR flight plans, the ATC will want to make me land on a runway without ILS. That's okay except I don't want to do that. So I tell the controller to "standby" etc and I request a new approach from the controller, the ILS runway of my choice. I choose "Vectors to final".For exmaple Tonight I was flying into Honolulu in a 747-400. The controller gave me 4R by default, so I requested 8L(ILS) when I was beginning my decent because I prefer an ILS runway for the 747.Why does the approach controller tell me "Cleared ILS Runway 8L, circle to land 4". I dont even know what circle to land 4R means.I get all the way to final approach to 8L, and the controller says to me i'm "Cleared to land 4R". QUESTION: WHY? I selected 8L!!! LOLOther times when this happens, the controller wont clear me to land at all even though I have contacted tower after being steered onto final by Approach controllers and I'm told to "fly straight in" by the tower and tells me I wasnt cleared to land when I touch down. So why is it, almost everytime I change my approach and selected runway, that everything ends up all wrong and muddled? Is FS2004 full of ILS and ATC bugs? Or am I doing something wrong? Only a very few select times does changing approach actually work for me.Thanks for your help!Tim

The circle to land is actually correct. In your example atc is using 4R probably due to wind direction. You as pilot can request any approach-and atc can approve any approach. However, the tower may not want you to land on that runway due to traffic/winds-therefore they would give you the circle to land approach (in real life sometimes with a restriction such as break off the ils approach 1/2 mile out).In your scenerio-you would fly the 8L approach-break it off-then keep in tight and keep the runway in sight-and land on 4.At my home airport-where 27/9 are the prefered,usual, and ils runways ,I often ask for a circle to land for 36. Sometimes this isn't possible due to winds, or traffic, but most often it is. Why would I do this?-my hangar is at the approach end of 36. Doing this will allow me to complete the approach and then then land close to my hangar allowing me to escape taxiing miles across the field.Here is the definition of a circling approach:A maneuver initiated by the pilot to align the aircraft with a runwayfor landing when a straight-in landing from an instrument approachis not possible or is not desirable. This maneuver is made only after ATC authorization has been obtained and the pilot has established required visual reference to the airport.I would suspect that the second part of your question is that you are ignoring the circle to land instruction-thereby landing on the "wrong" runway-this would be a case for a tower chew out or worse. :-)http://mywebpages.comcast.net/geofa/pages/Geofdog2.jpg

Thanks for the info.So it is me simply doing the wrong thing and not a bug.I still dont understand what a cicle to land is, have you got a map or a flight path example?Does it mean I fly the ILS approach of 8L, pull out of it 1/2 mile out, circle back around and land on the runway initially told to me which was 4R??? Seems stupid to me.Could anyone draw me a diagram or something visial to help me?Cheers.Tim

Try this link out:http://www.altairva-fs.com/training/ava_tr..._ifr_circle.htmhttp://mywebpages.comcast.net/geofa/pages/Geofdog2.jpg

That's helpful, thanks Geofa. Looks easy enough in a prop but I don't know how I'll go circling to land in a heavy 747 in 20 knot winds, but will give it a shot. :)In reality though, commercial jets dont circle to land do they? Seems very odd to me. Is it mainly just smaller private planes that perform this manouver and this is what the ATC is programmed mainly for?

When you want to change the approach and runway, you need to make two requests. One request to change the approach. One request to change the runway. If you only ask to change the approach, it will think you still want to land on the same runway and clear you for a circling approach.

Ahhhhhhh!!! That might explain it! I never thought of that. I just assumed by changing approach it changed the runway automatically.Thanks!

>In reality though, commercial jets dont circle to land do>they? Seems very odd to me.Wrong: They do. I've experienced this the last time I flew in jumpseat, approaching Toulon, France (LFTH) in a AFR A320: It was a pattern "D" as descrided in the link above.Here at Lyon St Exup