OK, I'm sure everyone else knows the trick, but I'll be darned if I can find the runway once I'm in the air. RealFlight has a view mode that tries to keep some of the gound in view, but FMS and AeroFly do not.

If I take off, and fly back towards myself I invariably wind up coming in to the runway at the wrong angle. I've tried flying with one eye and watching the compass heading with the other, but I'm not a good enough pilot for that.

It seems like it would be a simple matter for the simulators to display a little half-inch strip along the bottom that's a ground view, but none of them do.

Can someone teach me the trick to this? I'm just not getting it.

Thanks!

1. Stay closer to the ground.
2. In AFP, try to increase the field of view. First, go to "view 1" then "view options" then move the slider until you can see the ground.
3. You can hit the F10 key to bring up the small window in the follow mode to orient yourself to the airfield.

Hope this helps.

Aerofly Pro has 2nd window mode. Just set 2nd window to follow mode (see pic). Also since you new you just don't have "it" yet. But you will the more you use AFP. What I'm reffering to is knowing where the runway is from the position of the clouds and other reference points. The more you use AFP, the more you will have "it". You'll see what I mean soon. Use the desert scenery for a while. Since you fly in a big bowl you have more reference points that way.

Do what you do in real life - use landmarks for visual reference. For example in FMS there's various trees dotted about the horizon - learn where the various (indentifiable) clumps are in relation to the end of the runway then turn the plane before/above/after the trees and you'll be on the centre line every time.

Cliff