Skip to content
View in the app

A better way to browse. Learn more.

The AVSIM Community

A full-screen app on your home screen with push notifications, badges and more.

To install this app on iOS and iPadOS
  1. Tap the Share icon in Safari
  2. Scroll the menu and tap Add to Home Screen.
  3. Tap Add in the top-right corner.
To install this app on Android
  1. Tap the 3-dot menu (⋮) in the top-right corner of the browser.
  2. Tap Add to Home screen or Install app.
  3. Confirm by tapping Install.

Why "S" shaped approaches?

Featured Replies

Hello, I'm addressing flight plan professionals, and more specifically, those who specialize in approaches with transitions. 

What is the purpose of "S"shaped initial and final approaches? 

Example: LEBL - APCH 06L with RUB2E transition 

7vQZLfL.jpg

Thank you in advance.

Config : AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3DMSI PRO B850-S WIFI6E - RAM G.Skill 2 x 32 Go DDR5 6000 MHz CL30 - MSI GeForce RTX 5080 16G VENTUS 3X OC PLUS - 2 WQHD (2560x1440) screens and only one of which is for MSFS

Because the Europeans like you to go on a sight seeing venture. 🙂 Never see those in US. Right or wrong or indifference. Like 14000mft runways..

Usually, those are traffic flow based. I clear you to RUBOT and don't have to say anything else to you for a while. Similar to the holding stacks you would see for approaches. Yeahh, reminds me of those back in the day early mornings arriving into Frankfurt. You would be in a stack over Rudesheim and they would work you down until cleared the approach.

At busy/popular airfields atc use them for spacing. You may not use the full procedure but will get pulled off and vectored. Usually though you get vectored to the ILS quite early on and don't go anywhere near the full STAR and transition. At EGLL flying the Initial App from Lambourne it keeps you away from EGLC London City arr/deps.

Rob Jones.

2 hours ago, jonesrob said:

You may not use the full procedure but will get pulled off and vectored.

So, if I request a "cleared to final" in PF3, I don't need to feel like cheating anymore 😂

Too bad FSHud does not have that function and forces me to do the whole STAR.

Best regards,
Luis Hernández 20px-Flag_of_Colombia.svg.png20px-Flag_of_Argentina.svg.png

Main rig: self built, AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D (with SMT off and CO -50 mV), 2x16 GB DDR4-3200 RAM, Nvidia RTX 5060Ti 16GB, 256 GB M.2 SSD (OS+apps) + 2x1 TB SATA III SSD (sims) + 1 TB 7200 rpm HDD (storage), ID-Cooling SE-224-XTS air cooler, Viewsonic VX2458-MHD 1920x1080@120-144 Hz (G-sync compatible), Windows 11. Running P3D v5.4 (with v4.5 scenery objects as an additional library, just in case), FSX-SE, MSFS2020, MSFS2024 and even FS9. XP11 and 12 installed, just for curiosity.

Mobile rig: ASUS Zenbook UM425QA (AMD Ryzen 7 5800H APU @3.2 GHz and boost disabled, 1 TB M.2 SSD, 16 GB RAM, Windows 11 Pro). Running FS9 there for airliner ops. FSX-SE also installed, just in case. Lossless Scaling in al my rigs. What a godsend...

VKB Gladiator NXT Premium Left + GNX THQ as primary controllers. Xbox Series X|S wireless controller as standby/mobile.

  • Author

Thank you @G550flyer and @Jonesrob  for this informations. 

The "S" route would therefore only be used for sequencing in the event of an excess number of aircraft seeking to land. 

It's true that in reality (I'm looking at flightradar24) almost all aircraft fly straight ahead, but there's no traffic jam.

Config : AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3DMSI PRO B850-S WIFI6E - RAM G.Skill 2 x 32 Go DDR5 6000 MHz CL30 - MSI GeForce RTX 5080 16G VENTUS 3X OC PLUS - 2 WQHD (2560x1440) screens and only one of which is for MSFS

  • 2 months later...
On 4/8/2025 at 10:52 PM, G550flyer said:

Usually, those are traffic flow based. I clear you to RUBOT and don't have to say anything else to you for a while. Similar to the holding stacks you would see for approaches. Yeahh, reminds me of those back in the day early mornings arriving into Frankfurt. You would be in a stack over Rudesheim and they would work you down until cleared the approach.

The "S"-shaped initial and final approaches help align the aircraft safely with the runway while avoiding obstacles and managing traffic flow smoothly during transitions.

Create an account or sign in to comment

Account

Navigation

Search

Search

Configure browser push notifications

Chrome (Android)
  1. Tap the lock icon next to the address bar.
  2. Tap Permissions → Notifications.
  3. Adjust your preference.
Chrome (Desktop)
  1. Click the padlock icon in the address bar.
  2. Select Site settings.
  3. Find Notifications and adjust your preference.