General Question about Approach Procedure

[Flightsim Phil 0]

This question is not necessarily specific to the NGX...... I typically use FSBuild or Fltplan.com to plan flights and I fly almost exclusively in the continental US. The approach to many US airports (MCO, DFW, ATL etc...) have variations such as crossing restrictions, speed, etc. depending on which runway you are landing on (e.g. north vs. south landing). My experience with FSX is that I typically pick up the ATIS anywhere from 60-80 miles from the airport. This distance is way too close to program the correct approach procedure into the FMC. Many times I end up with the message "DESCENT PATH UNABLE" because I am way too high for the approach once I enter the runway in use based on the ATIS. In the real world pilots know which runway to expect hundreds of miles out (unless winds change at the last minute) so it is easy for them to program the approach and ILS in advance and have no VNAV or descent-related issues. Any suggestions/advice would be appreciated. I'm tired of having to enter a holding pattern in order to reduce altitude on approach.... Phil

[Cristi_Neagu 134]

If you're using ActiveSky, tune in 122.02 to hear the destination ATIS.

[MrKen 3]

If you're using real-world weather a lot of airports have an automated atis message you can listen to by phone. Flightaware.com will show the atis phone numbers for a given airport at the airport info overview.It's a novel approach to the problem, fun to do once in a while

[Cristi_Neagu 134]

If you're using real-world weather a lot of airports have an automated atis message you can listen to by phone. Flightaware.com will show the atis phone numbers for a given airport at the airport info overview.

That... or you could google the metar...

[vc10man 732]

This question is not necessarily specific to the NGX...... I typically use FSBuild or Fltplan.com to plan flights and I fly almost exclusively in the continental US. The approach to many US airports (MCO, DFW, ATL etc...) have variations such as crossing restrictions, speed, etc. depending on which runway you are landing on (e.g. north vs. south landing). My experience with FSX is that I typically pick up the ATIS anywhere from 60-80 miles from the airport. This distance is way too close to program the correct approach procedure into the FMC. Many times I end up with the message "DESCENT PATH UNABLE" because I am way too high for the approach once I enter the runway in use based on the ATIS. In the real world pilots know which runway to expect hundreds of miles out (unless winds change at the last minute) so it is easy for them to program the approach and ILS in advance and have no VNAV or descent-related issues. Any suggestions/advice would be appreciated. I'm tired of having to enter a holding pattern in order to reduce altitude on approach.... Phil

Hi Phil.Just a suggestion.If you are using FSBuild or another flight planner,why don't you input the ATIS frequency of your arrival airport into your comms and when you are a long way out as compared to the 60-80 miles which you pick up via FSX, you should receive the landing information you want in good time to plan your descent profile and approach? I have no experience of FSBuild as I use the EFB and all I do is input the ATIS frequency and long before I arrive into a STAR, I have my landing Rwy,and thus can re-program the FMC.