Hey, guys,I was doing a routine flight from Philly to Bradley, and as soon as I got taxi instructions to RW 26, I was asked to monitor tower. This confused me, as I hadn't even started leaving the ramp yet, and I was actually a little miffed because I wanted to request a longer runway, which you can only do while you're with ground. As soon as I contacted tower, I yelled at for being on the runway. I was clearly still on the apron.However, I was definitely on the line of path of 26. If you look at a map, you'll see that 26 is actually directly to the east of the terminals. I'm not sure how much real-life use this very short runway gets, as it's not very easily accessible from the ramp, it's short, and it doesn't look safe being aligned in such a way that it's lined up towards the terminal and control tower. It almost looks like it's supposed to be a GA runway or a runway at least for very small turboprops.In any case, my questions are as follows:1.) The other active runways were 27R and 27L, so I guess it makes sense that FSX considers 26 to be a valid active runway as well, since it's parallel. What I don't understand is the runway threshold was the farthest from my position compared to the other valid thresholds (27R/L), and by far more suitable. I haven't had this problem before at other airports with similar configurations where there's one very long runway paralleled by a much shorter runway.2.) While I was in a position where I was lined up to the runway, I was about 3000 feet from the runway's end. Does RC only take in consideration how my airplane is positioned in relation to the alignment of the runway instead of the bounds of the runway?My mkrunways.exe is all up to date, I've flown out of Philly before and haven't had this problem; every time I had to take off towards the west, it always assigned me either 27R or 27L and never gave me any grief over my ground movements.Has anyone had this problem before in KPHL and other similar airports?Thanks

Hey, guys,I was doing a routine flight from Philly to Bradley, and as soon as I got taxi instructions to RW 26, I was asked to monitor tower. This confused me, as I hadn't even started leaving the ramp yet, and I was actually a little miffed because I wanted to request a longer runway, which you can only do while you're with ground. As soon as I contacted tower, I yelled at for being on the runway. I was clearly still on the apron.However, I was definitely on the line of path of 26. If you look at a map, you'll see that 26 is actually directly to the east of the terminals. I'm not sure how much real-life use this very short runway gets, as it's not very easily accessible from the ramp, it's short, and it doesn't look safe being aligned in such a way that it's lined up towards the terminal and control tower. It almost looks like it's supposed to be a GA runway or a runway at least for very small turboprops.In any case, my questions are as follows:1.) The other active runways were 27R and 27L, so I guess it makes sense that FSX considers 26 to be a valid active runway as well, since it's parallel. What I don't understand is the runway threshold was the farthest from my position compared to the other valid thresholds (27R/L), and by far more suitable. I haven't had this problem before at other airports with similar configurations where there's one very long runway paralleled by a much shorter runway.2.) While I was in a position where I was lined up to the runway, I was about 3000 feet from the runway's end. Does RC only take in consideration how my airplane is positioned in relation to the alignment of the runway instead of the bounds of the runway?My mkrunways.exe is all up to date, I've flown out of Philly before and haven't had this problem; every time I had to take off towards the west, it always assigned me either 27R or 27L and never gave me any grief over my ground movements.Has anyone had this problem before in KPHL and other similar airports?Thanks

rc chooses runways based on ai activity primarily. if the ai are using the wrong runway, you're going to get the "wrong" runway too.jd

http://avn.faa.gov/pdfs/ne_232_30JUN2011.pdf for your reading enjoyment describes 8/26 restrictions. It is apparently used for smaller aircraft such as helicopters and private and commercial GA. The larger scheduled airline use of terminals is described here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_International_AirportRunway 8/26 has radar reflectors as well which might be surveillance precision radar.I am curious as to how you defined your aircraft in RC general options. Also I'd like to look at the afd file (afcad type) for the scenery you used if an add-on. If freeware can you give me the download link?What I'm looking at is the runway properties which define how ai use them and checking the afcad for faults.This is just for my benefit and maybe it might be wise to make some changes to 8/26 to control AI. 26 does have r/w an ILS so pending headwind component small ai would prefer it by FS AI runway use scoring.Atlantic Aviation is a fixed base operator offering services including terminal facilities for smaller private to medium size aircraft such as corporate aircraft. 8/26 and the apron in that region allows simultaneous landing of these aircraft while airliners use the main runways.

Thanks for your replies.

I am curious as to how you defined your aircraft in RC general options. Also I'd like to look at the afd file (afcad type) for the scenery you used if an add-on. If freeware can you give me the download link?

I confirmed that I was using "Jet" as my aircraft definition. As for the afd, I'm using a sort of "modified" version of the default airport created by Traffic X by Just Flight. As far as I know, TrafficX only adds information mapping each carrier to its assigned gate such that, in the case of KPHL, US Airways have their dedicated terminals (C-F, I believe) while the rest of the carriers have gates in the others. Now, I've had some very odd issues in the past where for some unexplainable reason all of the airports start out OK, but after a certain period of time some airports randomly change. This actually happened to me recently for Charlotte-Douglas, where the entire ramp/apron configuration changes, jetways are missing from the entire airport, and airplanes aren't even parking at the terminal gates, much less at the right terminal gates. I fixed this about a year ago by reinstalling Traffic X, but it very recently started on me again. I really have no idea what's going on, as I haven't installed any addons in many months. Although TrafficX is commercial and proprietary, I doubt they'd come after me if I gave you that one airport scenery file for debugging purposes. Let me know if you agree and if so, the best way to send it to you.

This is just for my benefit and maybe it might be wise to make some changes to 8/26 to control AI. 26 does have r/w an ILS so pending headwind component small ai would prefer it by FS AI runway use scoring.

Yeah, the runway is 5,000 feet, so it's capable of handling at least regional jets. I was flying a 737 with minimal fuel (a hop to Hartford) so I guess it could theoretically take off from 26. I'm not sure how much FSX takes into consideration my aircraft's actual net weight when determining which runway is best for me, though.

Atlantic Aviation is a fixed base operator offering services including terminal facilities for smaller private to medium size aircraft such as corporate aircraft. 8/26 and the apron in that region allows simultaneous landing of these aircraft while airliners use the main runways.

Yep, that's what I figured, looking at the maps.Thanks.

Regarding your 'unstable' scenery:Are you locating scenery on an external removable drive? That might be a factor.Make sure you do not have duplicate afd files or other conflicts.With FSX more ram availability is crucial.Unless you have a very powerful system, don't max all of your sliders.It has been documented that Win 7 will help FSX performance in that complex math calls seem to be directed to the graphics processor when it is available. FSX does normally most of the graphics rendering in the main board CPU. You should be using a separate graphics board in case you are not.I assume you are using FSX and that Traffic X id FSX only.I am somewhat familiar with the Northeast Corridor and from a ground perspective have traveled the routes from NYC, Bridgeport, Hartford, Springfield, and Boston. I grew up in the Bridgeport-Stratford area and other than Boston worked in those areas. As a private pilot I've made two VFR round trips from the Minneapolis area to the Bridgeport-Stratford airport.I am an FS9 user but looked in the FSX libraries in AVSIM and Flightsim and other than KPHL found several sceneries of interest for KLGA (I have ShezA's FS9 version), Bradley, Boston, and others). If you install any of these be sure to disable the Traffic X afd files.As always, be sure you have updated FSUIPC and makerwys.exe from the pinned links and rerun makeryws from within RC again to insure RC accurately locates your user and AI aircraft with respect to scenery.To look at some northeastern airport traffic patterns in real time (but with security fifteeen minute delay) check this out:http://www.passur.com/airportmonitor-locations.htmLGA and BOS might be of interest. You can see any FAA airport via flightaware.com where you can get the free bundled charts and view activity plus filed flight plans. I listened to Final Approach for KPHL on http://www.liveatc.net/feedindex.php?type=all and indeed 26 is busy for smaller aircraft (winds 230@10.) otherwise I'd suggest disabling (closing) 26 using freeware editor ADE but unlike FS9 it can be a bit more complicated. I did notice the Peidmont DHC8 turboprops do use terminal F as you stated.OK - to get back on topic - I think you need to check on your FSX stability. Perhaps browsing the hardware forum here you might find out some solutions. Now in RC prior to starting it after loading your flight plan if you know what runway you wish to take off on you can open the controller page and specify the runway as opposed to having to request it from the RC menu in this case.

Are you locating scenery on an external removable drive?

Nope.

Make sure you do not have duplicate afd files or other conflicts.

When I look at KPHL and KCLT using AFX, I see two airports, the "Modified" version and the "Stock" version which I assume is the original. When I look at the modified version, it looks very much like the ones I'm seeing in FSX right now, while the stock version looks more "accurate" in terms of gate locations and such. I know for a fact KCLT looked much better, just after I installed TrafficX, so there must have been some other addon which overwrote TrafficX's... I don't have any Charlotte-specific scenery packs and the only global scenery enhancements I have are UTX and GEX, and while I can't know for sure, I can't imagine they would overwrite existing airports. Is there any surefire way to know who created what airport file?

With FSX more ram availability is crucial.

Yeah, I noticed. ;) I have 8Gb of RAM, which I'm sure FSX doesn't even use being 32-bit. I'm not sure how low computer performance would actually overwrite a scenery file in such a bizarre way, anyways.

I assume you are using FSX and that Traffic X id FSX only.

'Yes, and it has worked pretty well. As mentioned just now, though, I don't think it's actually TrafficX that's the culprit. I think something is overwriting some of TrafficX's airports, and I just don't have a clue what that could be.

I am somewhat familiar with the Northeast Corridor and from a ground perspective have traveled the routes from NYC, Bridgeport, Hartford, Springfield, and Boston. I grew up in the Bridgeport-Stratford area and other than Boston worked in those areas. As a private pilot I've made two VFR round trips from the Minneapolis area to the Bridgeport-Stratford airport.I am an FS9 user but looked in the FSX libraries in AVSIM and Flightsim and other than KPHL found several sceneries of interest for KLGA (I have ShezA's FS9 version), Bradley, Boston, and others). If you install any of these be sure to disable the Traffic X afd files.As always, be sure you have updated FSUIPC and makerwys.exe from the pinned links and rerun makeryws from within RC again to insure RC accurately locates your user and AI aircraft with respect to scenery.To look at some northeastern airport traffic patterns in real time (but with security fifteeen minute delay) check this out:http://www.passur.co...r-locations.htmLGA and BOS might be of interest. You can see any FAA airport via flightaware.com where you can get the free bundled charts and view activity plus filed flight plans. I listened to Final Approach for KPHL on http://www.liveatc.n...ex.php?type=all and indeed 26 is busy for smaller aircraft (winds 230@10.) otherwise I'd suggest disabling (closing) 26 using freeware editor ADE but unlike FS9 it can be a bit more complicated. I did notice the Peidmont DHC8 turboprops do use terminal F as you stated.

Yeah, I use flightaware quite religiously to see what kinds of STARs and DPs the airlines use. Especially for the busy northeastern airspace.In any case, I think what I'm seeing here is probably not actually related to RC, but like you said is something else. It's a very odd problem because besides the issues I'm reporting, the airport itself works fine with AI. The AI know where the runways are, there are takeoffs and landings, but it seems FSX is telling RC I'm on top of the runway regardless. Very odd... but your brainstorming at least steered me towards where the problem lies.Thanks again.

I am only familiar with AFCAD and ADE. In AFX there might be a file/properties dialog that shows the path to the file used. Also remember that after any scenery modification the RC scenery database rebuild must be run after FSX has reindexed the scenery on a restart so the scenery.cfg has been updated.You can also look at where RC got its scenery data, but first check for currency. In your FSX folder there should be an r5.csv file. Check its properties for the modified date and time. Now go into your RC4\data folder. Check the modified properties for r4.csv and that should be close to matching the r5.csv date and time. The modified property should agree with your running of the scenery rebuild.Here's the way RC scenery build works. If RC and FSX do not reside on the same PC as in a WideFS networked situation you first run makerwys.exe directly in your FSX folder. If RC and FSX do reside on the same pc there is no need for this extra step.Either way when you start RC (with running it at the admin program level as always) and start the scenery rebuild you first give it the path to your FSX folder. It will then (if on the same PC) execute makerwys.exe for you. makerwys creates r5.csv in your FSX folder (along with some others). When makerwys finishes and you click OK, execution returns to RC and copies r5.csv to the RC4\data folder as r4.csv. If asked click OK aghain. RC then creates a4.csv in the same folder from r4.csv.r4.csv contains runway data such as beginning, end, threshold coordinates, etc., and a4.csv is the computed airport coordinates. RC correlating AI and your aircraft positions with scenery depends on those files.In your FSX folder there is a file called "MakeRwys ReadMe.txt". Included is a description of the fields of r5.csv. If needed, look at r5.csv with word rather than Excel (by default) as any file write by Excel will corrupt the data for RC purposes. This is useful if you need to compare stock runway data with add-on runway data if you rebuild the scenery twice or compare it with what you reasd in AFX for runway properties. The idea is to check the coordinate integrity off the r5.csv against the scenery afd file. This is optional at this point. An interpreted version is easier to check in the next step.Now we'll look at how RC saw your scenery:makerwys creates in your FSX folder a file called runways.txt which is a log of its operations interpreting your installed scenery. It is based on scenery.cfg and will scan according to priorities established in it. This file is huge and needs to be opened in word or wordpad. Search for KPHL as an example.First comes the default layer. Next will come paired sections consisting of a deletion section followed by another section with all of the runway elements including navaids, taxiway coordinates, gates, and some items RC will use in the future. If you have another instance of KPHL scenery another pair of sections will be found. It is the last section pair of an add-on airport or afd file that dominates in creating r5.csv and that's how RC sees the airport.Each section has the path to the afd type file it used so that will tell you of you have a conflict among afd data. You can use those paths to resolve any conflict. Remember for other than stock there is a deletion section followed by a another section with the airport data.As far as my mention of your pc RAM, etc., that was in response to your description of scenery changes encountered if occurring as FS runs. It has to do with the way FS caches scenery elements in RAM along with other objects in the active area. I may have misinterpreted your statement here.If an file has been overwritten compare modification dates to confirm your suspicion.All I can think of at the moment other than one instance where incorrect scenery information was used. The RC user had both FS9 and FSX installations which creates two RC folders. When he rebuilt the scenery with the FSX RC version he gave it the FS9 path. He may have also switched it in the FS9 version. Most airport locations have shifted between FSX and FS9 enough to offset accuracy for RC.Thanks for digging into this.

I think I found the problem. It turned out to be TrafficX after all. When I looked in the TrafficX directory, I saw a number of airports had two versions: an AFX_[id] version and an AF2 version. After doing some googling I saw that, in fact, the AF2 versions should only be used with FS9. I'm not sure what they were doing there, but after I removed them, all the airports which previously looked odd are now fixed.Now, I think what RC might have been confused about was, while the correct version of KPHL was being displayed, RC must have had the old AF2 version in its database, which as you said could be off by even a few hundred feet. I haven't tested KPHL in RC yet, but I think I won't have this issue repeated again.Thanks for the help!

I'll bet the AF2_ versions dominated (toward the end) in your FSX folder runways.txt file, the log of makerwys.exe. RC would see those but FSX would use the AFX ones.There is another product, MyTrafficX, that in boxed version supports both FS9 and FSX.Either way, the dual afds of this type could cause confusion. Let us know if that whas your issue.