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**Mxsmanic**

writes:

When we speak of aligning with the runway, we mean that the _flight
path_ should be straight down the centerline.

This does not necessarily mean (and often doesn't) that the airplane
axis is aligned down its center. Most often you have some kind of
crosswind, and many pilots hold a crab angle (to maintain the flight
path) down almost to the ground, and then "kick it out" (straighten
out) just before touchdown. This is the turning you've seen.

Well, in this case, I'm talking about a pilot coming in to the runway at
almost a 90-degree angle, entering the runway _beyond_ the threshold, and then
turning sharply to align with it. I guess it's an option if the runway is
quite long and the aircraft is small and slow. It's extremely difficult in a
Baron and I would not attempt it in real life. It doesn't help that the times
I've tried it I've been descending as well. I end up overshooting at 140
knots and it's hard to get aligned and down before the runway runs out.

In a Piper Cub, it's easy (although I don't know how well the default Piper
Cub is modeled in MSFS--it seems _too_ easy to fly, so I'm suspicious).

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