Giving Self Radar Vectors?

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If your flight plan gives you a route like this to your destination, is there a proper way to radar vector yourself to the correct runway?

Screenshot_20220616-155317
Screenshot_20220616-1553171600Ă—720 162 KB

Do pilots do this in real life at uncontrolled airports? Thanks!

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I don’t know about radar victors but I would position myself to enter a downwind or bass entry into the pattern then just fly the traffic pattern

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I’d say you fly a standard traffic pattern of downwind, base, final.

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It would be better to use STARs rather than having a straight line to the airport…

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I would combine the other answers and say…

If you’re expecting a full visual approach, the typical way (from the early, no navaids time) is to overfly the airport 500ft above pattern altitude, then turn to enter the earliest pattern leg while descending to pattern altitude, then finish the pattern and land. Or follow Tower instructions if manned.

If you’re planning an instrument approach of any type, choose from the destination’s arrivals and approaches, and tune any ILS or other navaids that are used for that routing. Then you’re all set and the airport marker will be the last fix in the flightplan, and usually ignored.

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Not all airports have STARs or they have STARs but no approaches. The OP is asking what to do if the STAR or approach is different like the pic he posted

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I know you were talking about the arrival end of your flight plan, but just in case you weren’t aware…

I used to struggle with trying to plan departures, there never seemed to be the right ones to make a good stable departure, with the smooth curving turns you can see in real life flights.

Then I stumbled on the Direct To function, when you tap on waypoints on the maps. When you click on one, and select the -D-> icon, it gives you options regarding the rest of your flight plan… If you select Keep, that waypoint and all the rest stay as is and you get a line plotted from where you are to that point.

So you can plan the parts of the flight that are after your departure, take off and get around to a heading to that first waypoint, go direct while keeping the rest of your plan, and fly a nice smooth departure every time.

My home field of KMLI has no SIDs, so i do this, take off from whatever runway the wind chooses, turn to the next point, and off I go.

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