[Skybird]

Originally Posted by USNSRCaseySmith

PS: Your picture and the little picture tutorial you just gave me just helped make everything MUCH clearer.

Good, then it served its intention.

Heres another question, whats up with ATC giving me different bearings during flight when I should be following my waypoints?? (Even when Im quite a distance away from the airport)

That happens either when you are at very high altitudes - then they start bto lead you down to lower flight levels so that you can complete your descent before reaching the airport, or when you are entering the control zone where control starts to sort the incomeing and outgoing planes. A flightplan usually does not include all the details like active runway direction, left or right runway, becasue this pretty much depends on cidntions that could change: wind direction, visibility, time of day (noise abatement active after a certain time on the watch). That's why you get the info on which runway to use for takeoff you onmly get very short before takeoff. Same for approaches in reality: your flioghtplan, if done correctly, only leads you to a handover point close to the airport. From there to the proper courses for intercepting the currently active runway extensions, you get lead by control. Ideally. Sometimes they just hammer you with somewhat random course changes only to make life difficult for you. At least the AI does. In reality, these links between runway apporoaches or takesoffs, and linkupo points to the waypoints of your flioghtplan, are standardises, any many airports have a whole catalogue of these, they are fiuctional resept routes that become actiovated according to situational factors. A fully functional Flight Management Computer has them all stored, and you can chose them by nutton clicking, or you just get lead by Control. These stzandardises linking routes are called STAR (Standardised Terminal Arrival) and SID (Standardized Instrument Departure). FSAX does not know these things for real, and Control does a - sometimes poor - job in trying to compensate for that.

PSPS: I also think my problem seems to be that Im trying to do it with autopilot, I think for now, Im going to do all landings manually to get a feel for what I need to be doing / having done. Including ILS landings now that I know HOW they work.

There must be a reason why they teach it in this order in reality as well. A pilot should never be depending on that the autopilot lands the plane, but must be capable to land by himself, like inline skaters should not depend on a lightmast to embrace for braking, but should be able to brake all by themselves.