STAR query

[c.r36156636]

Hi all, just a quick question. Why is it that some STARs rout you near to an airport such as the HEME1B for Birmingham, and some take you direct to the airports Navaid such as the BRI1C at Bristol and the CDF1A at Cardiff. There is probably a simple reason but I can't find anything about this.

 

I don't fly online or with FSX ATC in the AS A320 so I am trying to figure out how to program the flight plan in to use the BRI1C and CDF1A but this seems to cause an unusual loop in the flight plan which I know does not happen in real life as I fly into these airports regularly returning from holidays.

 

Is there a specific way this is programmed, or are the aircraft vectored from the final waypoint of the flight plan ?

 

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

[TextRich]

I'm no expert, but I believe the point of STARs is for the ATC to get you close to the airport in a standardized way so you can then be vectored to the runway. I'm not quite sure what you meant by a loop in your flight plan but if you use STARs then the arrival airport should be the last waypoint in your flight plan right after the last STAR entry. Cardiff has a holding pattern in the end, for example (looking at my Navigraph chart), but if things aren't busy the ATC can quickly vector you in like what probably happened when you flew there in holidays as a passenger.

 

I may be wrong - others can feel free to correct me. FSX isn't famous for playing well with STARs and SIDs in its default state.

[lnuss]

The STARS (and SIDS) for each airport are devised locally, so there's nothing really standard in the sense you mean. The whole idea is for ATC to be able to give you a short-hand clearance to put you in position for an approach and landing, and to do so in a "standard" (for the area) way. So the terrain, any other airports in the vicinity, the runway layout, how busy the airport is, the normal patterns of air traffic in the area and likely other factors go into the development of STARS.

 

I'm not sure what "an unusual loop in the flight plan" means, but FSX and its ATC often don't handle ATC chores well, and I suspect the database in the GPS (and its programming) are not well done, either.