I use pro ATC X... Also have a habit of listening to the ATIS very often.

At least I don't programme the STAR till I am close to my T/D.

I use OPUSfsi and around 200 miles or so from destination airport, it tells you what rwy are in use for landing or departure. Of course you have to put the destination first in opus weather.

 

 

200 miles or so from destination airport

 

For what it's worth, you're almost never going to get an actual runway assignment that far out. You might be able to guess that the runway in use will be similar to what you'd head that far out, but keep in mind that actual runway assignments are a lot closer in. This occurs about 50-70nm out, and can change.

 

As an example:

I could pick up a text version of the ATIS 200nm out to help set the direction of the STAR (some STARs have different altitudes depending on the runway configuration), but I'd avoid selecting the approach that far out. Closer in, the first controller you talk to in the TRACON will usually be the one to assign a runway. This may actually change, if the controllers find an advantage to it, but in general, you'll get the assignment 50-70nm out, or about mid-way through your descent.

I use the arrival ATIS for wind and choose an appropriate runway from that. Put a suitable STAR in fmc and away you go. I use ASN to get the weather and tune radio to 122.00 as I get close. If you're high or fast just use the fmc to hold at a fix on the flight plan. Also dont assign a STAR on departure - you just waste time deleting it  later and get in a right mess with discos etc

 

 

For what it's worth, you're almost never going to get an actual runway assignment that far out. You might be able to guess that the runway in use will be similar to what you'd head that far out, but keep in mind that actual runway assignments are a lot closer in. This occurs about 50-70nm out, and can change

 

I've found that the High Altitude arrival sector with Center will normally give me the current SID if it differs from my flight plan.  I've had runway changes just prior to the OM.  Approach is real understanding in these last second changes, take the change or be turned out of the sequence and vectored to Last. :smile:

 

blaustern

 

 

I've found that the High Altitude arrival sector with Center will normally give me the current SID if it differs from my flight plan.

 

I know we're getting more runway-dependent STARs over here, but the way you wrote that sounds distinctly like the European STAR system. If so, we don't really have similar over here. Center does help set the sequence into the TRACON, but the TRACON is the one assigning the runways. The best Center will know is directionality (e.g. "Descend via the X STAR, landing North").

 

 

 

I've had runway changes just prior to the OM.  Approach is real understanding in these last second changes, take the change or be turned out of the sequence and vectored to Last.

 

Yep. Gotta love flying into busy fields.

 

 

The best Center will know is directionality (e.g. "Descend via the X STAR, landing North").

 

I agree.  :smile:

 

A bit of trivia, the Center owns all the airspace within it's boundaries and allocates certain airspace to the TRACONS through a Letters of Agreement.  This may have changed, but I'm sure some of your FAA buddies would know for sure.

 

blaustern

 

 

A bit of trivia, the Center owns all the airspace within it's boundaries and allocates certain airspace to the TRACONS through a Letters of Agreement.  This may have changed, but I'm sure some of your FAA buddies would know for sure.

 

Nah, it's still the same. If you look at each airport's entry in the A/FD, it will list the ARTCC it's part of. It's a way of establishing positive control from top down (ARTCC > TRACON > LOCAL).

 

 

For what it's worth, you're almost never going to get an actual runway assignment that far out. You might be able to guess that the runway in use will be similar to what you'd head that far out, but keep in mind that actual runway assignments are a lot closer in. This occurs about 50-70nm out, and can change.

 

You are right. That's why I double check the weather report at 50 miles from airport.

With many flights connected to atc or your company via acars, a simple message telling you expected arrival runway and approach to plan for is not unusual if you are still a long distance from destination. Most airports do not change runways so quickly and have normal operations based on forecasts and many other things besides weather unless winds get high. Like KLAX, it takes a lot of winds from the east to change operating runways. Unless you are coming in after midnight. New York and Chicago airports all have to plan with each other and runway changes are a very big operation.

 

For me, I check either liveatc.net if the airport has a feed, or flightaware and flightradar24 to see what aircraft are arriving with. The routes I fly are real routes picked from great sites like flightaware and stars would be based on the filed plan and runways on what the airport is doing in real life at the time. - David Lee

Just use the current METAR. You will get a very good idea of what runway you will be using. At that point, you just gotta know what each airport has set up for their arrival flows. You should receive your actually runway assignment when you check into your first TRACON frequency.

 

If you are wanting to know what runway transition to use in order to fly the correct arrival transition in terms of which downwind to get set up for, you'll have to use the METARs and use the winds to make the best guess.

It's how we do it in the real world.

 

For example, in Chicago, East flow is 27L, 27R and 28C. They depart 28R/N5 or full length airport and 22L.

 

West flow is 9L, 10C and 10R. Departures are 9R and 10L/DD or full length.

 

 

For example, in Chicago, East flow is 27L, 27R and 28C. They depart 28R/N5 or full length airport and 22L.

West flow is 9L, 10C and 10R. Departures are 9R and 10L/DD or full length.

 

For those of you who aren't sure about stuff like this, have a look at the airport's page on a site like FlightAware.

FSX ATC can only ever call you off plan to bring you into the area that allows you to approach with a 90, 60, 30 degree pattern. The final 30 degree turn is preferred to allow for latency in the AP. There's no other option, so STARs are simply ignored. As such, the subset of optional runways mentioned are those only for the correct direction with respect to the winds and so on.

 

Those mentioning ATC choosing the 'wrong' direction for runways I'm not used to that. Could be ATC has already assigned runways before the weather engine has set the actual weather conditions perhaps before the aircraft enters the area or something like that. Seems odd though, to have to work around that.

What a great topic.

Love adding realism to my flights.

 

Pawel Grochowski