ATC choice of active runway - and real weather

Does the FS ATC ever adapt to downloaded real weather?

Half of Denmark is buried in snow after a blizzard last evening and night. I
decided lastnight to take a small trip in my MD-83 around Copenhagen airport
(EKCH).

The airport has three runways - 4-22 L, 4-22 R and 12-30. 12-30 is normally
never used, except in severe weather conditions, since it brings planes
under approach (or take-off) directly over central Copenhagen. Last night we
had strong eastern winds (30 mph) and the airport was running at only 30%
capacity (snow, wind, de-icing capacity etc).

When I approached EKCH (it was VFR) and asked ATC for a full-stop landing
they rejected and informed that the airport was only IFR-rules. That makes
sense since visibility was worse than poor due to low clouds and snowfall. I
changed to IFR and repeated my request. I was cleared for landing on 4L.
That surprised me since it would mean an approach in strong cross-wind. I
had expected landing on 12 which would give me more or less direct headwind.

Actually, when I think about it, they (FS ATC) always use 4L and 4R. I have
never landed on 22 - in real life they are used more or less fifty-fifty,
depending on the weather.

Hence my question above. Has anybody experience in this? Real weather has no
meaning if ATC does not take the actual weather into consideration.

Regards
Drus

Drus wrote:
> Does the FS ATC ever adapt to downloaded real weather?
> had expected landing on 12 which would give me more or less direct headwind.
>
> Actually, when I think about it, they (FS ATC) always use 4L and 4R. I have
> never landed on 22 - in real life they are used more or less fifty-fifty,
> depending on the weather.
>
> Hence my question above. Has anybody experience in this? Real weather has no
> meaning if ATC does not take the actual weather into consideration.

The short answer is yes and no. FS ATC will change runways depending on
weather, but it has a lot of limitations that real-world ops don't. Most
glaring among these is that FS will _never_ use runways that intersect
other runways (as does 12/30 in the case of EKCH). It will simply take
the longer of the two (or the runway with a twin, as in 4L/R), and use
it to the exclusion of the other. FS is pretty lazy about using opposite
runways when you change the winds around; I've set up to 50 knots direct
headwind and still seen a tailwind approach given (might be related to
having traffic already in the pattern for the original runway).

My home airport, KLGB, has a 10K foot runway that most jet/heavy traffic
uses, as well as a pair of shorter 5K foot runways used mostly by light
GA/helicopters (with a second pair perpendicular to the first, for
really strange weather). In FS, only the long runway is ever given,
regardless of wind or aircraft, and taking a clearance on the shorter
runways is not an option. I can only surmise that the ATC would be
overwhelmed in making sure that conflicting runways don't overrun each
other, so they kept it out of the programming.

I have, however, seen FS change runways on, say, KLAX, to the sea-bound
runways for approach (so that takeoffs occur over the land). In reality,
they never, ever, ever, for any reason, change those runways around (the
neighbors would be in fits if they did, plus the airspace isn't designed
for approaches and takeoffs in that direction). So, YMMV.

TheSmokingGnu