Okay ... so, in the real world, how do you determine the active runway at an uncontrolled airport? I realize that the active is typically determined by wind direction (with some variances by airport due to airspace, geography, or whatever) .... but how do you actually sort this out in flight? Let's say you are flying from your home airport to an uncontrolled airport that you are not familiar with. At which point, and how, do you determine the proper runway?

When I fly over the field and have a look at the windsock or anything else that gives a clue to the wind situation. Having done that I descend into and join the proper circuit. If nothing else is available I

1. Obtain an airport advisory from the airport's FSS or UNICOM if available.2. Listen for traffic advisories on the airport's CTAF (common traffic advisory frequency) and try to determine the active runway from those.3. Overfly the airport and check the windsock for wind direction.

Here is a trick woth remembering when going into a field where the windsock may be broken or there may be no way of determining the wind.On approach always check your GPS groundspeed against your indicated.Ie you have 80 kts indicated airspeed your GPS groundspeed shows 65 kts showing you that you are flying into wind.You have 80 kts indicated your GPS groundspeed shows 95 kts showing you have a tailwind.Also look for smoke from fires or house chimneys or wind ripples on water masses.Peter

The most interesting situation happens when there is no wind.Then anything can go.The other day I flew to Leesburg, Va. At takeoff time the winds were calm-and since my route of flight was to the north (and I figured the farther I stayed out of Dulles airspace the better) I taxied to the north pointing runway-there was no activity at the field at all. Unfortunately for me,when I called the rco to get my clearance, an aircraft was coming in on the instrument approach the other direction (there was a low ceiling). While I waited for him to land-(4 minutes), 5 aircraft followed my lead and taxied to the north runway. When the approach aircraft landed, and taxied off-I got my clearance to take off the opposite direction-and I assume from that point at least for a while (5 aircraft) the uncontrolled field changed runway direction....http://mywebpages.comcast.net/geofa/pages/rxp-pilot.jpg

In Wisconsin you can look for cows ( "moo" ) and if there is a wind present, strong enough to affect landing the cows will be facing intoit... True story...... :-lol Regards,Roman

In FlightSim it is very easy to get in the habit of not following the normal real world approach method of flying over the field before making the turn for the final approach.If there are aircraft in a pattern, it's pretty easy to see how they are going.I spend a lot of time in the right near the Rwy 35 end of KHQZ. In the summer, the winds, if any, almost always work better for a Rwy 17 takeoff/landing. But in the spring and fall the northerly winds make a Rwy 35 takeoff/landing better.The problem is that Rwy 17 has an ILS (Localizer, GP & DME). Since the airport is just east of the DFW Class B airspace - it is very popular with student pilots and recurrent training.I'll see four or five times a night when some training Cessna or Piper will taxi to takeoff on Rwy 35, and a Citation or some other aircraft will be on final for Rwy 17. I see about one missed approach per night when a student takes off. Without looking in the sky for landing lights.