Sim Challenge 5: Looks About Right (VFR)

Sim Challenge 5: Looks About Right (VFR)

At night, the runway can be easy to see but still hard to understand.

 

You’ve got a night cross-country coming up, and the extent of your recent night experience consists mostly of remembering where the panel dimmer is located. Three full-stop landings at Santa Monica (KSMO) would check the box, but that would mostly prove you can fly around the pattern at an airport you already know. Tonight, you’ll give yourself a more useful workout: launch from KSMO, head for California City (L71), drop into Burbank (KBUR), and then return to KSMO.

The weather is pleasant, the runways are lighted, and nothing about this flight looks particularly out of the ordinary. At night, that can be deceptive. L71 takes you out of the Los Angeles light bowl toward a narrow runway in dark desert terrain. KBUR brings you back into the city lights, where finding the airport may be easier than getting to the runway. KSMO looks familiar, but Runway 21 gives you a very different picture from the one you just saw at L71.

If this were a real flight, loading an instrument or visual approach to give you a centerline and descent guidance would be a pretty good idea. But since we’re doing this for practice in the simulator, don’t use any of that for runway alignment. Feel free to use the map on your iPad or GPS for enroute navigation though. The objective for this Sim Challenge is to go back to basics and work directly with the perceptions that your eyes provide, without it being supplemented by the magenta line.

Time to Fly: ~60 minutes, ~30 minutes with both optional cruise shortcuts

Aircraft Used: A Cirrus SR22 or similar, a single or twin, in the 160-180 KTAS speed range.

Tasks:

  • Plan your own KSMO-L71-KBUR-KSMO route and altitude
  • Depart KSMO Runway 21 and fly your route to L71
  • Make a full-stop landing on L71 Runway 24
  • Note your perception of the runway picture and descent rate for the L71 arrival
  • Depart L71 Runway 24 and fly your route to KBUR
  • Make a stop-and-go landing on KBUR Runway 26
  • Depart KBUR Runway 26 back to KSMO for a full-stop landing on Runway 21
  • Note your perception of the runway picture and descent rate for the KSMO arrival

Skills Practiced:

  • Night VFR route planning
  • Terrain and airspace judgment
  • Airport and runway identification
  • Night visual approach interpretation

Flight Planning

Plan the KSMO-L71-KBUR-KSMO flight before you launch as if you were actually going to fly it. Use current charts, choose your route, cruise altitudes, and spend a few minutes with the airport data for KSMO, L71, and KBUR.

Note: In the real world (at the time of this writing), L71 is closed to night operations with its runway lighting and PAPI out of service. For this Sim Challenge, assume the lighting will be functioning in your simulator.

Relevant Charts

Sectional Chart (KSMO, KBUR, and L71)

Terminal Area Chart (KSMO and KBUR)

Sectional Chart (L71)

L71 Chart Supplement

KBUR Chart Supplement

KSMO Chart Supplement

Preflight Warm-up: How does this look on paper?

Question 1: Did anything stand out when planning for L71 Runway 24 and KSMO Runway 21?

They both have runway lights and PAPIs, but after that, these two runways offer a strong contrast. L71 Runway 24 is 6027 x 60 feet with an uphill grade of about 0.9 percent. KSMO Runway 21 is 3500 x 150 feet with a 1.2 percent downhill grade. L71 is surrounded by the desert, and KSMO is in the heart of Los Angeles. This is the not-so-subtle hint that your brain is probably going to perceive these two runways a bit differently.

Question 2: Before you fly those two arrivals, what simple altitude, distance, and descent-rate references could help you compare your sight picture with the airplane’s actual descent path?

A normal 3° descent path is about 300 feet per NM, so 3 miles from touchdown is roughly 900 feet above the touchdown zone. For this exercise, that puts a useful 3-mile reference at about 3300 feet MSL for L71 Runway 24. At 2 miles that would be 3000 MSL, and 1-mile final should have you at 2700 feet MSL. For Runway 21 at KSMO, that’s about 1070 feet MSL, 770 MSL, and 470 MSL.

Groundspeed times five gets you close enough for a sanity check on the descent rate: about 500 FPM at 100 knots or 600 FPM at 120 knots groundspeed. GPS distance from the airport gives you an approximate way to identify the 3-mile point without loading final guidance. When you’re on final at L71 and KSMO, and the GPS shows about three miles remaining, make a note of your perception of your position relative to the runway (are you high? low?), your altitude, and descent rate to compare to “normal.”

A Toothpick in the Desert

Your first leg is from KSMO in the Los Angeles light bowl, northeast to L71 in the desert.

CONFIGURE THE SIMULATOR
Airport/Position: KSMO Runway 21, ready for departure

Time: Late summer, 2130 PDT

Weather: Wind 240 at 5 knots, visibility 10 SM, clear skies, temperature 20°C, altimeter 29.92

 

UN-PAUSE THE SIMULATOR AND FLY
  1. Depart KSMO Runway 21.
  2. Fly the KSMO-L71 leg using the route and altitude that you planned. Don’t worry about enroute communications as you transit the mess of controlled airspace that is SoCal.
  3. Manage the airplane normally in climb and cruise. Autopilot is fine if you would use it on this flight.
RECONFIGURE THE SIMULATOR (OPTIONAL)
If you want to skip the rest of the cruise, pause the simulator and reconfigure it as follows. Otherwise, skip this reconfiguration and continue to fly.

Position: Overhead Rosamond Skypark (L00), about 19 NM southwest of L71

Heading: 020°

Altitude: 7500 feet MSL

Airspeed: 150 KIAS

Configuration: Clean, level, cruise power
  1. Continue toward L71.
  2. Plan and fly your arrival to Runway 24.
  3. As much as you’ll want to, don’t load GPS-derived final guidance.
  4. Near your chosen key point on final, note the runway picture and references.
  5. Make a full-stop landing.
  6. After coming to a full stop on Runway 24, pause the simulator before adding power.
PAUSE THE SIMULATOR AND DEBRIEF

L71 Debrief

Question 3: What did Runway 24 look like on final, and did the sight picture agree with your altitude, distance, descent rate, and PAPI?

If Runway 24 made you feel like you were above the normal path and tempted you to cheat lower, you’re not alone. Runway 24 is fairly long and narrow, with an uphill grade. AIM 8-1-5 gives both of those cues their own warning labels: a narrow runway can make the airplane appear higher than it actually is, and an upsloping runway or upsloping terrain can do the same thing. The natural correction based on these perceptions is to descend until the sight picture looks more familiar. However, that’s where the illusion can get pilots in trouble.

The desert arrival gives you yet another nudge in the same direction. Landing in the desert at night is a classic setup for a featureless terrain illusion. AIM 8-1-5 calls this out: darkened areas with few ground features can also make the airplane seem higher than it is. In other words, L71 stacks the deck: narrow runway, upslope, and a black-hole environment, with few surrounding features beyond the runway lights, all encouraging you to fly a lower-than-normal approach.

The earlier exercise of determining the intended altitudes and descent rate on final was to give you unbiased measurements to compare against. If your perception of the runway was that you were above the normal path, but the airplane was actually near 3300 feet MSL, 3 miles out (or 2, or 1, depending on how far outbound you went before turning final), descending around 500-600 FPM at normal approach speed, then you shouldn’t blindly trust your perceptions and descend quicker. Similarly, if you were low at any of your reference points, but you perceived the runway sight picture as looking normal, then you might have been falling into the trap.

This underscores how a GPS-enabled visual approach with a glidepath can be a huge boon at night. You can’t blindly follow it like an instrument approach. Instead, you can use the glidepath like a hard deck you shouldn’t go below, even if the sight picture tempts you lower.

Question 4: Looking back at the route and arrival that you actually flew (or skimmed over) from KSMO to L71, what factors did you account for?

It is easy to focus on the exciting bookends of a flight and gloss over what’s enroute, but this leg has enough going on between KSMO and L71 that the middle deserves some attention.

A direct KSMO-L71 line clips R-2515, the Edwards AFB restricted area. R-2515 is continuous from the surface to space, so authorization is the issue (good luck with that). L71 is also within the bounds of the Isabella MOA (with a cutout for the traffic pattern), which allows VFR flight, but it’s still a pretty good idea to check with ATC before entering.

There is also a more subtle chart item along the way: the Magic Mountain Wilderness Area. AIM 7-5-6 requests at least 2000 feet AGL over charted wilderness and primitive areas administered by the Forest Service. Then, the arrival adds one more airport detail: Runway 24 uses right traffic, which could make it even tougher to keep the runway in sight from the left seat. That note might be easy to read on the ground but easy to forget when you’re trying to find an unfamiliar runway in the dark.

Too Many Lights

The next stop is KBUR, where the visual problem changes. L71 gives your eyes little to work with. KBUR might give them too much.

UN-PAUSE THE SIMULATOR AND FLY
  1. Depart L71 Runway 24.
  2. Get established on the route you planned toward KBUR at cruise altitude
RECONFIGURE THE SIMULATOR (OPTIONAL)
If you want to skip the rest of the cruise, pause the simulator and reconfigure it as follows. Otherwise, skip the reconfiguration and continue to fly.

Position: Overhead PMD VORTAC, about 30 NM north-northeast of KBUR

Heading: 200°

Altitude: 6000 feet MSL

Airspeed: 150 KIAS

Configuration: Clean, level, cruise power

Here’s the scene as you approach KBUR: it’s a quiet evening on the frequency as you call up the Tower to request a landing followed by a departure back to KSMO. Tower assigns you Runway 26 and offers a choice of a right base or crossing midfield for the left downwind. You’re cleared to land Runway 26. Refamiliarize yourself with the area and airport layout, then decide how you want to enter the pattern.

  1. Identify the airport and Runway 26.
  2. Choose either a right-base entry or a midfield crossing to left downwind
  3. Resist the temptation to load GPS-derived final guidance.
  4. After coming to a full stop on Runway 26, pause the simulator before adding power.
PAUSE THE SIMULATOR AND DEBRIEF

KBUR Debrief

Question 5: How did you enter the pattern for Runway 26, and what were the tradeoffs?

Runway 26 is a little challenging from this direction. The airport may have been easy enough to find, but Runway 15/33 is longer and more nearly lined up with your arrival from the north, while you’re approaching Runway 08/26 broadside.

If you chose the right base, the appeal is obvious. It keeps Burbank in front of you and gets the job done quickly. However, the terrain north of the airport could make that not quite as straightforward as it might first appear. You probably needed to delay your descent until you were clear (or pick computer-drawn branches out of your virtual undercarriage). That high approach could make getting down to Runway 26 a bit sporty—especially while trying to visually sort out Runway 26.

Crossing midfield for a left downwind buys a more normal descent and pattern, but comes with its own challenges. For part of the maneuver, the airport is no longer conveniently in front of you. In the dense lights around Burbank, reacquiring the field and then reacquiring Runway 26 can become its own little exercise.

There’s no clear winner here. The right base kept the runway in sight but compressed the descent and added terrain considerations, and the left downwind bought room but made the visual problem harder. And either way you went, you didn’t end up with a friendly Visual Glideslope Indicator (VGSI), like a VASI or PAPI, waiting for you when you turned final.

Don’t Sell It Short

Now, it’s time for the short flight back to KSMO, so you can get in before the night curfew begins. It’s a quick trip. Make sure you familiarize yourself with the route and airport before departing.

Don’t underestimate this short leg. With only about 12 NM between KBUR and KSMO, climbing high can seem pointless with the need to start back down so soon. Check out the lighted obstacles near your route, make sure you choose a safe route and altitude, then decide when you’ll configure for KSMO before releasing the brakes. Also refamiliarize yourself with your key point references from the warm-up. They start at about 1070 feet MSL for a normal descent to Runway 21.

UN-PAUSE THE SIMULATOR AND FLY
  1. Depart KBUR Runway 26 and turn toward KSMO.
  2. Plan and fly your arrival to Runway 21.
  3. Try not to be tempted to load GPS-derived final guidance. Last time, we promise.
  4. Near your chosen key point on final, note the runway picture and references.
  5. Make a full-stop landing on Runway 21.
  6. After landing, clear the runway.
PAUSE THE SIMULATOR AND DEBRIEF

KSMO Debrief

Question 6: What did KSMO Runway 21 look like on final, and did it match your altitude, descent rate, and the PAPI?

If Runway 21 made you feel low, compare that impression with what the airplane was actually doing. At roughly 3 miles, were you near 1070 feet MSL and descending around 500-600 FPM at a normal approach speed? What did the PAPI indicate? More importantly, did the runway picture tempt you to shallow the descent and end up touching down farther down the 3500-foot runway than you planned?

Like L71, KSMO piles several illusions into the same arrival, but this time in the opposite direction. Runway 21 is short, wide, and downsloping, with plenty of city lighting around it. AIM 8-1-5 also warns that a wide runway can make the airplane appear lower than it is, and the downslope can compound that impression. The dense urban lighting around KSMO adds yet another visual challenge by making the runway harder to isolate from all the other lit clutter around it.

Short flights in any situation can be deceptively challenging when the departure, configuration, and arrival are all happening almost at once. Add in night conditions and lighted obstacles up to around 1900 feet MSL near the direct route, and it is easy to fall behind the airplane before the KSMO runway picture ever gets involved.

Wrap Up: Making The Picture Make Sense

California City (L71), Burbank (KBUR), and Santa Monica (KSMO) were a useful reminder that night visual approaches can get weird in several different ways, even when the weather is behaving itself. L71 gave you a narrow, upsloping runway in a dark desert arrival with the perception that you were above the normal descent path. KBUR gave you a descent planning tradeoff for a runway that was hard to pick out. KSMO finished with a short, wide, downsloping runway that could make a normal path seem low.

That is the challenge with night visual flying. Your eyes may not provide enough reliable information, so your brain fills in the blanks from experience and expectation. A familiar-looking runway picture can seem convincing at night even when runway geometry and surroundings have changed what that picture means.

So trust the visual picture, but verify it against something objective. A PAPI is the obvious cross-check when one is available. On a real flight, your avionics can help too: an instrument approach, visual approach, or an extended centerline can confirm your alignment and descent path before the sight picture becomes too persuasive. That can give your brain enough information to work with so it doesn’t have to fill in the gaps—perhaps with the wrong interpretation.

Extra Challenges

Bring back the magenta: Fly the Sim Challenge again, but this time allowing guidance aids for the visual arrivals, like a published instrument approach, a GPS visual approach, or an extended runway centerline. Did the extra feedback change how you perceived the three arrivals?

Two for the price of one: At Greater Cumberland Regional (KCBE), fly visual approaches to Runway 05/23 and Runway 11/29 in the same night conditions. One runway is long and narrow, the other short and wide, so you can compare two runway pictures without changing airports.

Use as directed: Fly the St. Thomas (TIST) RNAV (GPS) RWY 10 approach at night over water. It has only LNAV minimums and the chart has a warning about false illusory indications because pilots have a history of getting it wrong on this approach.

Try flying it with live ATC on the PilotEdge network: You got a pass on enroute communications earlier but, if you were to fly this Sim Challenge for real, you would have a bit more airspace and communications to stay on top of as well. Try using PilotEdge to simulate this in your simulator.

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