• Guide

How to find the right runway - Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020

Tired of landing on random runways and not knowing where you should be? Here's how to find the correct runway in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020.

Bill Lavoy

August 20, 2020 11:40 AM

3

If you’re like me you’ve been struggling to find the correct runway to land on in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020. All too often I see the airport in the distance and wait to hear the air traffic controller call out the correct runway, but then I must spot it from the air and circle into position. Thankfully, there’s a much better way to find the correct runway to land on, and it’ll make you feel accomplished to pull it off.

Find the correct runway - Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020

Thanks to the fine people at GameRevolution, we’ve learned of a cool trick to finding the correct runway in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020. Actually, two cool tricks.

The first trick is to use a website called SkyVector to find the airport you’re landing at and view the diagram of that airport. This will allow you to plan out your approach long before you get near your destination. It does require you to tab out of the game (unless you use a tablet, phone, or second PC), so it’s not my first choice in how to approach this problem.

The far cooler solution is to understand runway numbers. If you know you’re supposed to land on runway 23, you only need to add a 0 to the number and you have the compass heading for the runway. In this case it would be 230 degrees. You see, the number isn’t random. The number of the runway will always be the compass heading if you add a zero to the end. If you’re supposed to land on runway 07, the compass heading would be 70, which you can easily check as you’re flying the plane.

The letters in the runway can be L, C, R, or nothing at all. This stands for Left, Center, or Right. If you’re supposed to land on runway 07R, you’ll approach the runway following a 70-degree heading, and you will land on the right-most runway in relation to that heading. The letter will only be in the runway number if there is more than one option to land on for that heading.

Now that you have some tools to choose the correct runway to land on, be sure to visit the Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 tag on Shacknews for more help.

Bill Lavoy

Managing Editor

Bill, who is also known as Rumpo, is a lifelong gamer and Toronto Maple Leafs fan. He made his mark early in his career through guide writing and a deep understanding of editorial SEO. He enjoys putting in the work to create a great content, be it a wild feature or grinding out an in-depth collectible guide. Tweet him @RumpoPlays if you have a question or comment about one of his articles.