Tegucigalpa

The Wife is super difficult to approach usually with a painful departure !

🤣

The approach that I find the most difficult of the ones that I have tried is the runway 28 approach at TNCM St Maarten.

I didn't know approaches to TNCM runway 28 were allowed. New challenge for me.

If you want some ideas, there are two more:

• SKMD runway 02, coming from the north.

• SBRJ, any of the 02 runways. The reason why Boeing developed the SFP for the 737-800.

Do we need a chart to fly a circling approach?

Sometimes I see circling minimum on the approach chart and some notes like ; circling not authorized south of the airport.

In that case no specific chart for circling?!

I guess a chart is required for specific track circling due to terrain or prohibited area?

LSZB Bern also requires a circling approach at one end of the runway. I have only done this once, but I am now looking forward to trying it again. Then there is LIPB Bolzano, which includes a rather dramatic turn and approach over the city, and restricted on almost all sides by high mountains.

That is such a tight turn really close to the runway that I have only ever made one acceptable landing there in the PMDG 737, and even that was far from perfect.

VR is the tool take make these kind of approaches not only much more realistic but also much more precise (and easier). Here are two YT videos I did showing fantastic approaches in the Swiss Alps, which I could never have done without VR. With VR you sense the angles where the runway is much more precise (i.e. like in real world) by the direction where you have to turn your head:

MSFS - Ulrichen Airport - LSMC

MSFS - LSFR - Frutigen - TBM 930 - Spectacular approach

Edited May 19May 19 by fsiscool

LSZB Bern also requires a circling approach at one end of the runway. I have only done this once, but I am now looking forward to trying it again.

Bern does have straight-in approaches to both runway ends though, as far as I can tell? Plus I can't find any circling minima on the charts?

Are you thinking of a different airport maybe?

Then there is LIPB Bolzano, which includes a rather dramatic turn and approach over the city, and restricted on almost all sides by high mountains.

I'll definitely have to give that a try! I've only ever flown the straight-in to runway 01, in a King Air where the steep gradient is doable. (I still made a bit of a hack of it though...)

Do we need a chart to fly a circling approach?

In general, no. If circling minima are listed for the approach, you can fly a circle to land. Stay within the protected area for the circling, which will guarantee obstacle clearance if you're at or above the circling MDA.

Here are two good articles on circling:

Pilot Institute

Circle-to-Land: The Complete Pilot’s Guide - Pilot Institute

Master every phase of the circling approach; planning, maneuvering, missed, and night ops. Succeed in your circle-to-land procedures.

https://skybrary.aero/sites/default/files/bookshelf/1430.PDF

Bern does have straight-in approaches to both runway ends though, as far as I can tell? Plus I can't find any circling minima on the charts?

Are you thinking of a different airport maybe?

I was definitely thinking of this airport. I just remember using the circle to land option for this runway (which is apparently only used when the wind is coming from a specific direction). I wonder if it was because I could not get one of my standard circuits (generally up to 6000 feet above the airport altitude) to work properly with the ILS 14 approach? I am fussy like that

Edited May 19May 19 by Christopher Low

LFKC Calvi St Catherine

This is a cracker....

Well, after watching that one, I feel a bit better about some of the overshoots that I have done in situations like this. If real world pilots do it, then I guess what matters is how you correct it to line up with the runway at the correct height.

Now I need to find a decent version of this airport, because I fancy trying that approach!

Edited May 19May 19 by Christopher Low

I always find visual approaches into "aircraft carrier" type airports a challenge.

By "aircraft carrier" airports I mean airports on a hill/mountain/mesa or on a canyon-side or hillside. Places like Sedona (Arizona, USA), Mountain Air (North Carolina, USA), Pasto (Colombia), Madeira (LPMA I believe).

Well, after watching that one, I feel a bit better about some of the overshoots that I have done in situations like this. If real world pilots do it, then I guess what matters is how you correct it to line up with the runway at the correct height.

Now I need to find a decent version of this airport, because I fancy trying that approach!

simMarket: Flight Simulation Add-Ons - MSFS, P3D, FSX, XPLANE

simMarket: LFKC CALVI ST-CATHERINE MSFS24

Welcome to Calvi Sainte Catherine Airport for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 It is located in the northwest of Corsica It is managed by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Bastia and Haute-Corse

Edited May 20May 20 by aerostar

There is another version from France VFR that I was looking at last night. I do not think that it has any terminal interior modelling, but it is relatively inexpensive, and I also really like the France VFR version of LFKB Bastia Poretta that I purchased earlier in the year.

I have seen a few planes do missed approaches on Flightradar24 and divert to LIEO - Olbia Costa Smeralda - further along the coast (bad weather, wind I guess)

.... Of course I meant to say the divert was to - LFKB Bastia Poretta.....

I don't know what the FranceVFR version is like but I'm happy enough with this one... it comes with a few little document extras and a chart for the VFR approach.

There is a - FranceVFR - package with a few airports inc LFKC available too.

Edited May 20May 20 by aerostar

For me the hardest ones are the visual arrivals where the runway shows up late and the terrain tempts you into chasing it. Madeira is the classic example, but even shorter coastal approaches can get messy fast if I let the approach become reactive instead of stabilized.

What the video really shows well is that a go-around is not the failure. Trying to salvage a poor setup usually is. In the sim I’ve had much better results since I started treating an early go-around as the smart option instead of the embarrassing one.