Approaching an unfamiliar airport VFR can present a challenge even in CAVU conditions, particularly if you don’t have a glass panel in your cockpit. But your heading indicator can help you quickly visualize the orientation of the runway, which makes it easier to find the airport and figure out the best way to enter the pattern. As long as your HI is properly adjusted, this technique helps prevent you from lining up for the wrong runway if there is more than one, which technically there always is – one in each direction.
Look at your heading indicator and imagine the runway extending across the instrument from each cardinal runway heading. When you look outside, you will see the runway in the same orientation as it is on the instrument.
