Just came across this picture and *wow*. That's crazy.Look at the top picture (!):http://www.swaviator.com/html/issuejj01/Bush.htmlFS2004 currently features a flat airport model. This is also why some airports sit on mesas etc.Most runways in real life do slope to some degree and I think it's time that FS moves to an a more flexible airport system to allow sloping runways. This is especially important for bush airstrips but even bigger runways can slope.

Woooow! Yea we definately need sloped airfields.

I notice every time I've flown out of KATL that the runway seems to have a slight gradient at both ends, being lowest in the center. I wonder if any pilot familiar with KATL could tell me why, and whether that was by design or simply a concession to the landscape.This feature would be nice to see implemented in MSFS, I think...-John

While the runways in FS9 may be flat and level a lot of the roads aren't. I use them frequently to practice landing techniques. Look for sections of road that slope and/or have rises or dips, then select two landmarks to delineate the ends of the "runway." It can be a real challenge getting the correct approach speed, glide slope, and flare. David

Just to adhere to landscape. It is nearly impossible, and not necessary to get a runway completely flat end to end. And a 10,000 ft runway, remember, is 2 miles long. A 1+ degree slope does not make any measurable difference in takeoff power, etc.

Hi,You should check out some of the sceneries featured here :-)http://perso.wanadoo.fr/paneva/la_page_du_paneva2.htmlCheersPeter

LOL....how on earth do you land on a strip like that without breaking your u/c in calm weather, never mind the strong likelihood of the presence of cross winds and updrafts? Would certainly raise the fun factor by a few bars!Mike

"how on earth do you land on a strip like that"I have no idea :-lol Maybe they have a shorter, flatter runway on top of the hill for landings? I can't believe anyone would be able to land there. I mean, how would you do it? Flare to the vertical? Even if you hit the flat section in the middle you'd continue straight into the next incline. Landing downhill would even more imposible.That takeoff looks scary too. One mistake and he would tip the plane over or take off prematurely or anything. :-lol

I am afraid the depicted runway looks so "bad" only because it was shot with a telephoto lens. It's a known trick. Sure there is sloping but nowhere near so crazy.Michael J.http://www.reality-xp.com/community/nr/rsc/rxp-higher.jpg

Hello All,Well, telephoto lense or not, LOL, I have seen some much more extreem runways in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam conflict. The Air America guys, (now talk about a group of 'bush' pilots), could land those Porters just about anyplace they so desired that a runway was hewn out of the jungle.I remember a scene in teh Mel Gibson movie of one such slope and I can attest that such runways, (could we really call them runways?) did exist and the pilots who landed and took off from them were about the greatest you could ever fly with. Lots of brave guys with stones the size of basketballs.And, it's not out of the ordinary for 'jungle' hilltop strips, as the up slope slows you down to the crest and the downslope helps in the takeoff . . . er . . .ah, but you didn't make too many mistakes, as the price you paid was oh, so dear. You sort of flew into the hillside, and best be havin the right descent angle of attack..Best to all,Clayton T.DopkeMajor, USAF (retired)"Drac"

There are a few sloping airfields recreated (as addon scenery) in FS. The one in Courcheval France is one of the best known and there are several sceneries depicting it available. Look here:http://www.dangerous-airports.com/airports/l/lflj.htmhttp://www.dangerous-airports.com/Later,Brew

Good subject Jimmi,Up untill FS2k4 one could make hard landable sloping runways using the old style meshwithtex commands and we could use nice highres ground textures of less tham 1m p/pix, but there were many other problems that the current sim does not have. If only they gave us the ability to use 512x512 or larger textures for the ground then decent sloping runway would be no problem. :-(

My instructor flew for the MAF in Papau New Guinea just after he finished with me. We kept in contact by email and he showed me a few photos of the strips he flew into and out of. The description above from the movie "Air America" is very real :)He also flew VFR through an opening in the clouds to a hillside runway one time. He said he had to circle a few times before an opening appeared.

Years ago (40-45 or so), Piper had a promotional film of an average (heh heh) family picking up their bright new Comanche at Vero Beach for a North/Northwest vacation. The scene went all the way across Canada from the East, and ended up in Alaska. Of course Piper included appearances of their entire fleet as the film progressed. In Alaska somewhere, they had films of a bush pilot in a Supercub landing on the side of a mountain. The slope was of a degree one wondered if the plane would just fall off (Sideways, not just forward)

I remember seeing some photos - a few years back - of a very short "runway" somewhere in the Himalayas that had about ( my guess) 20 degree up gradients culminating in a sheer rock face . You landed toward the rock face (uphill) and took off downhill. The aircraft using this strip were Pilatus Porters.Dave