Hi AllMy question refers to Ryans Tutorial 1 and is a general question.In this this tutorial we plan a flight from EGKK to EHAM and in the turorial the route is input into the FMC from take off to landing.My question.... in normal airline ops would a pilot be aware of STARS and active runways in use before departure or would this be obtained during the flight ?If it's available before the flight is this info available to the simmer ? I understand this could change due to weather etc., but I am more interested in 'everyday' procedure.Loving this fantastic product and thanks for the awesome guides Ryan :-)Kind RegardsMark Lindley

METAR

You could plan based on the winds or simply get the ATIS via ACARS. Knowing your route, you should be able to guess your SID and STAR. You can do the destination on the ground before you leave or enroute. If it's a short flight, it's probably best to load as much as you can before you depart. If you guess wrong, you can always change it. Just remember that if you plan for a long arrival from the other side of the airport, you can end up high if there's a late runway change and you wait too long to fix it. You'd probably know well enough in advance that this wouldn't be an issue.

Hi Mark,In real world you don't exactly know how you will aproach your destination normally. In the tutorial the STAR brings us to RTT either if we land at the 08 or the 26. We could theoretically enter this on the ground before takeoff, however we don't know on which runway we land. We can asume one by looking into the METAR and especially in the wind direction. However at an airport with multiple parallel runways we just can't know. On larger airports even the STAR and the TRANSITION FIX may changes from one runway to the next. And you can't know where you gonna land as long as you aren't near to the airport. In real world, depending on the situation, the last center controller or the first approach controller normals gives you the first real fix information like: "Fedex 111 heavy, descent flightlevel 150. Localizer DME east approach via Rattenberg expect landing runway 08." This just as a little example. It may isn't the correct pharsology but it should give you a little impression. Another big help is the ATIS. It contains very usefull information like runway in use and stuff like that. Like said before the METAR could do nearly the same job. When flying online at IVAO (or VATSIM) I take the time in cruise to prepare myself. I check the ATIS (if available) or the METAR and then I start to think about my approach. I look which runways would suite the wind situation best and which runways are like to be most likely. Then I take a piece of paper and start making notes. I write down the runway numbers which are likely. Each number into a new line. The I look into the charts and I look how I get from my last waypoint to the runways. Then I write beside the runway number the name of the STAR and the TRANSITION to the approach (if there is any). No I enter one of the approaches which I have written down into the FMC. I always try to select the approach which is most likely (e.g.: wind 260°/15kt; RWYs: 10/28, 14/32; most probably = RWY 28). This helps to get the T/D point somewhere near to the right position if the controller advises me this or another runway. So now I started my approach and the controller tells me that I am gonna land on the RWY 32. No problem! I look down to my sheet and enter the new approach which I have written down. If the approach controller tells me to land on RWY 28 even less problem. I am set up already and I don't have to bother anymore what to enter into our FMC. And the flight ends with a (smooth/average/bad) landing. ;)I hope I could help you a little bit. Jonathan

Perfectly described by Jonathan!

Thank you all for taking the time to reply !Kind RegardsMark Lindley