Learn how Microsoft Flight Simulator Landing Challenges work, what they score, and how repeated attempts can improve your landings.
Landing Challenges in Microsoft Flight Simulator are short, pre-configured scenarios that place you on approach to a specific runway, often with demanding wind, terrain or aircraft. They let you repeat the same landing quickly and compare scores for touchdown accuracy, smoothness and control during the rollout, making weaknesses easy to isolate.
How do Landing Challenges work?
Each challenge removes the cruise and most approach preparation, putting you close enough to the airport to concentrate on the final approach, flare, touchdown and rollout.
- Fixed scenario: The airport, runway, aircraft, weather and starting position are selected for you.
- Short attempts: A failed or untidy landing can be restarted without flying another circuit.
- Performance scoring: The simulator evaluates where and how firmly you touch down, then considers directional control during the ground roll.
- Repeatable conditions: Because the setup remains the same, changes in the result usually come from your technique rather than different weather or traffic.
In Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, the result normally separates performance into Landing Precision, Landing Smoothness and Ground Roll. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 may present activities and results differently, but the underlying exercise is the same. Available challenges can also vary by simulator release, edition and installed official content.
Where do you find Landing Challenges in MSFS?
Open the simulator's activities or challenges area and look for the Landing Challenges collection.
- Open the activity browser. MSFS 2020 places Landing Challenges under Activities; MSFS 2024 uses a different home-screen layout, so look among its challenge and activity cards.
- Select a scenario. Start with a familiar aircraft and moderate conditions before trying short runways, steep approaches or strong crosswinds.
- Read the briefing. Check the runway, wind, aircraft and expected approach before loading the attempt.
- Verify the aircraft. The state is preset, but do not assume the gear, flap, trim and speed are ideal for the remaining approach.
- Complete the rollout. Stay on the runway and maintain control until the evaluation finishes; restarting immediately after touchdown discards useful ground-roll feedback.
Menu labels can move between simulator updates and platforms. Landing Challenges are built-in activities rather than files installed in the Community folder.
How should you practise with Landing Challenges?
The most effective method is to establish a baseline, change one part of your technique, and use the next score to judge that specific change.
- Keep the setup consistent. Use the same controller, assistance options and cockpit view for several attempts. Auto-rudder and other piloting assists can mask weaknesses, so personal scores are meaningful only when those settings remain unchanged.
- Stabilise early. Before the flare, have the landing configuration set, approach speed controlled, descent path settled and aircraft aligned. If the approach is badly unstable, restart rather than practising a desperate save; during a normal flight, the correct response would be a go-around.
- Use a fixed aiming point. Hold the intended touchdown area steady in the windscreen with small attitude and power corrections. Avoid diving at the scoring marker.
- Flare without chasing smoothness. Shift your vision farther along the runway, reduce the descent rate and let the main wheels touch without holding the aircraft off until half the runway has passed. Our guide to approach control, flare timing and smoother touchdowns covers these techniques in more detail.
- Fly the rollout. Keep tracking the centreline after touchdown. In a crosswind, use rudder to stay aligned and retain appropriate into-wind aileron as speed decreases; apply heavy braking only once the aircraft is straight and settled.
- Correct one fault. Review the weakest score, choose one adjustment and repeat. After several consistent attempts, move to another runway or reproduce the conditions in Free Flight so that you are learning a transferable skill rather than memorising one scenario.
What is each Landing Challenge score telling you?
Each score points to a different phase of the landing, so the total alone is less useful than the breakdown.
| Result | Likely cause | What to change next |
|---|---|---|
| Low landing precision | Touchdown before or beyond the target area | Stabilise the glide path earlier and hold a consistent aiming point. |
| Low landing smoothness | Excessive sink rate, a late flare or reducing power too abruptly | Control the descent before the threshold and make a smaller, better-timed flare. |
| Low ground-roll score | Drifting from the centreline, landing while yawed or braking before alignment | Look farther down the runway, correct yaw with rudder and keep flying the crosswind controls. |
| Smooth landing but poor precision | Excess approach speed or holding the aircraft off too long | Correct the speed before the flare instead of forcing the aircraft onto the runway. |
Why can a smooth landing still score badly?
A smooth landing can score badly because touchdown quality is not measured by softness alone. Floating well beyond the target, landing off-centre or losing directional control can outweigh a gentle touchdown.
This reflects sound operational priorities. A controlled, slightly firm touchdown in the intended zone is often preferable to a prolonged float on a short, wet or crosswind runway. Do not chase the lowest possible vertical speed at the expense of runway remaining or aircraft control.
The score is a useful benchmark, not a complete measure of realistic airmanship. Familiarity with the fixed starting position can also inflate results without improving your ability to fly a circuit, judge a new approach or recognise when to go around.
When should you use Flight Training or Free Flight instead?
Use Landing Challenges for rapid repetition, Flight Training for learning the sequence, and Free Flight for proving that the skill works outside a memorised scenario.
- Choose Landing Challenges when you can already fly an approach and want focused practice with aiming points, crosswinds, flare timing or rollout control.
- Choose Flight Training when configuration, speed control or the landing sequence is still unclear; our explanation of using the built-in Flight Training lessons shows how to work through those exercises.
- Choose Free Flight when you need full circuits, go-arounds, changing wind, different aircraft weights or approaches from farther out.
If basic controls, views and circuit planning are still taking all your attention, set those foundations first with our beginner flight-simulator setup and practice guidance. Landing Challenges become much more useful once operating the aircraft is automatic enough for you to analyse the landing itself.