There are 15 maps in Can You Land?, from a quiet island strip to a blue ice runway in Antarctica, the famous beach approach at Maho, the old Kai Tak turn in Hong Kong, an aircraft carrier, the mountain strip at Lukla, the dry lake at Edwards and a base on Mars. New maps open as your landings add up, and a few belong to one special aircraft.
Where everyone starts. A strip on a small island, fog and storms off the sea.
How to fly it. The place to start. A long runway, a straight approach and the sea all round. The lead-in lights point the way; fog and storms come off the water at random, so learn to fly the PAPI rather than the view.
A strip of mown grass between the corn and the wheat, a red barn, a power line across the way in, and cows that do not care about aircraft. The place to learn: slow, short and friendly.
How to fly it. Grass, a short strip and a gentle approach. Lead-in posts across the fields show the way in, and the power line crosses 650 metres before the strip. Touching down on the meadow a little short still rolls on, but costs points.
Rock walls left and right, a valley that narrows toward the strip and a dead end behind it. Drift and you meet the mountain.
How to fly it. A valley that narrows toward the runway with rock on both sides and a dead end behind. Line up early and fight the drift, because there is no room to correct at the end.
The most famous approach in the world: in over the turquoise bay, a few metres above the tourists on Maho Beach, across the road and the fence, onto a short strip that ends in the hills.
How to fly it. The famous beach approach: low over the turquoise bay and the tourists, across the road and the fence. The strip is short and ends in the hills, so the touchdown has to be on the bars, not past them.
You arrive pointing at the hill with the checkerboard. Turn late between the towers, line up in the last seconds, land on the strip in the harbour.
How to fly it. You arrive pointing at the checkerboard hill and turn between the buildings in the last moments. Hold the turn until the runway lights swing into view, then roll level and land immediately.
The Navy lends you a Hornet. Fly it onto 240 metres of steel, catch a wire, no flare, no second chance.
How to fly it. Only the Hornet. 240 metres of deck, a hook and four wires. Do not flare: fly down the glide path onto the deck at a steady rate and let the hook catch.
Bare blue ice on the shelf by McMurdo, in over open water and icebergs, the penguins watching from the bay. The ice does not brake: arm the reverse on the Hercules, or plan for a long slide.
How to fly it. Bare blue ice that hardly brakes. Land on the bars at the right speed, then arm the reverse in the Hercules or plan for a very long slide. The approach crosses open water and icebergs.
527 metres that climb into a wall of rock, starting at the edge of a 600 metre drop into the gorge. No go-around, no flat ground, and the yaks do not move.
How to fly it. The runway climbs uphill toward a wall of rock and starts at the edge of a deep gorge. There is no go-around. Touch down at the very start and let the slope stop you.
Where the X-15 came home: no power, 200 knots, onto a runway painted on a dry lake seven miles long. The compass rose, NASA, the B-52 and the Shuttle watch. Drop the lower fin, then put it on its skids.
How to fly it. Home of the X-15. You are dropped from the B-52 and glide down the racetrack to a runway painted on a dry lake. Follow the gates, jettison the lower fin on final and slide in on the skids.
The orbiter comes in at 260 knots over rust and craters, floats for ever in a third of the gravity, and the dust arrives sideways. The locals come out to watch.
How to fly it. The Shuttle on Mars: a third of the gravity, thin air and dust blowing sideways. It floats for ever in the flare, so start low and fly it onto the runway rather than waiting for it to settle.
A lane of water in a turquoise lagoon. Follow the floating lights left and right between the islands, mind the boats and the water villas, and put the floats down between the buoys. Dolphins watch.
How to fly it. A water lane in a lagoon. Follow the floating lights left and right between the islands and put the floats down between the buoys, wings level.
These open when you buy their aircraft, and only that aircraft flies them. The routes are bent, so you fly through the terrain rather than straight in.
120 knots between walls you cannot climb over: through an arch of the viaduct, round the needles of rock, then into the mountain. The cave is black, so switch the lights on. The strip waits on a tongue of land at the end.
How to fly it. Flown in the Twin Otter. Through the viaduct arch, round the rock needles and into the dark cave with the lights on. The walls are too high to climb over, so the route is the only way.
The strip is in sight, 400 metres on a shelf, but a spur of rock is in the way. Fly away up the valley, round the spur in the basin and back down the gorge. The hardest of them.
How to fly it. Flown in the PC-6. You have to fly away from the runway first, round a spur of rock in the basin and back down the gorge. The hardest map in the game.
Kill Devil Hills, the day of the first flight: ice on the puddles, a cold wind in your face, the life-saving crew and a boy watching by the camp. Glide off the big dune and put the Flyer down on the sand.
How to fly it. The day of the first flight in 1903. Glide the Wright Flyer off the big dune into the wind and set it down on the sand.
The challenge map, open to every pilot, flown in a lent saucer that fights every turn. Weave round five monoliths, go under the bridge because there is no over, dive under the overhang and put it down on 420 narrow metres. It has its own board, and the best three win big.
How to fly it. The challenge map with its own leaderboard. Five monoliths, a bridge you must fly under, an overhang and 420 narrow metres to stop on. Five approaches a day.