Pattern Work: Browser Landing Game

A free retro landing game. Five airports, three lives, one greaser.

How to play

• You start on short final in a Cessna. Land on the runway, softly. Pitch trades speed for sink and power sets how low you go. Use W and S or the up and down arrows for pitch, and A and D, the left and right arrows or Q and E for power. On touch, drag the left half of the screen for pitch and use the right slider for power.
• Read the PAPI lights. Two white and two red means you are on the glidepath, more white means high, more red means low. Hold about 65 knots, and ease the nose up near the ground to flare.
• Your Stratux sees traffic before you do. When the ADS-B box says traffic, the runway is about to be blocked. Deer and geese do not squawk. Press G or tap the go-around button to abort.
• Points come from soft touchdowns, touchdown zone, speed, flare and PAPI bonuses, and streaks pay more. Three crashes close your logbook.
• The Daily Challenge gives everyone the same airports and hazards each day.

Why pilots like it

Almost everything in the game maps to real approach habits: a stabilized approach, a visual glidepath reference, and the discipline to go around instead of forcing a bad landing.

A PAPI shows a safe 3 degree glidepath with four lights. It is usable from a few miles out, and each light changes between white and red as you move above or below the path. Needless go-arounds burn fuel in the game, just as a real go-around costs time, but a late decision costs far more.

Learn more about how ADS-B traffic reaches your cockpit.

Questions pilots ask

What is a PAPI?

A precision approach path indicator is a row of four lights beside the runway. Two white and two red means you are on the glidepath, usually 3 degrees.

When should I go around?

Any time the approach is unstable or the runway is not clear. In the game you are rewarded for a justified go-around and charged for a needless one.

What is a greaser?

Pilot slang for a very smooth touchdown. In Pattern Work a greaser grade needs a very low sink rate at touchdown.

Is this a real flight simulator?

No. It is a simple arcade game, not a training device. It does teach the habits of a stable approach.

More games

• Cleared to Land, an air traffic control game
• SQUAWK 1200, an airplane side-scroller
• Tower Hunt, ADS-B ground stations
• Balloon Launch, a near-space balloon flight
• All of Stratux Arcade