AFCAD and ADE: which to use, CTD & creeping aircraft

[toocsquatch]

I am about to re-install fs9 because I was having problems with FSDT KORD, the dreaded ctd involving G3D.dll and mfc70.dll. I believe the ctd was caused by an overlap of AFCAD and ADE that I tried to use to get ai aircraft off the runway quicker at departure. I had read a post somewhere that upgrading AFCAD would reduce time ai spent getting off the runway. Too often an ai would get clearance for takeoff, taxi onto the active runway, and then creep....creep....creep....until finally stopping, then begin the takeoff roll. Of course the aircraft arriving, who was 9 miles out on final now has to go around because it took this departure so much time to get going. I see it most with the heavier aircraft, not so much with ERJ or CRJ. Questions:1. Should I use ADE or AFCAD to for airport changes? I am using fs9...2. Will ADE reduce the creeping of departures, or is this a problem solved in the braking section of the aircraft.cfg file?3. By exclusively using either AFCAD or ADE will this eliminate the ctd of G3D.dll and/or mfc70.dll?Thanks in advanceJohn

[Tim_Sims]

In response:1. ADE, no doubt. AFCAD2 is simple to use but now elderly and can cause problems (including CTDs, I think) if trying to edit more recent addon scenery. ADE is much more powerful once you've mastered it anyway.2. No, can't see how this has anything to do with your AF file. I guess it can only be solved (if at all) by editing aircraft.cfg, and I wouldn't claim any expertise in that. But be careful that you don't edit out the realism. I don't think the time that AI spends in preparing for takeoff is that excessive, when you consider the (real-world) need to taxi on, align with the centreline, apply brakes, perform final pre-takeoff checks, spool up the engines to maybe 50% N1, check stabilised and equal thrust on both / all, advance to takeoff power,release brakes, and away you go (and yes, this does take longer with a 747 or A340 than an ERJ...) . It isn't realistic (or if it is, it certainly isn't safe) for most a/c to enter the active at fast taxi speed and depart straightaway. A better solution might be to forget the editing and get yourself a program like AISmooth (search the library here) which tries, reasonably successfully, to manage the flow of AI to avoid multiple late go-arounds and so on. 3. Couldn't say I'm afraid. Best bet might be to delete your addon KORD, including the edited AF file, and see if that fixes it; then reinstall the unedited scenery from the original download or whatever. I guess you'd then only need to reinstall FS9 if there's still a problem.

[ronzie]

For most purposes you should only have one afd type file tht includes runways, etc., active at a time. Multiple afd type files where the airport reference coordinates are different for the same airports will crash FS9. Look for competing afcad type files installed by ai traffic applications.ADE is better for editing afd type filers for the reasons Tim Sims stated. Some of these may have been produced more complex design applications and include objects that AFCAD 2.21, the latest, will throw out or cause it to corrupt the file.Always back up the original file you are going to edit in a safe location. In ADE open a file using the Open Airport from Bgl command. It is important to check if this has the comm frequencies in it using the List command. If not, then you'll need to grab the comm frequencies using the import from .bgl command to find your source or import them from the stock default airport asnd then edit the comm list as necessary especially if importing from stock since the stock import copies all comm frequencies in the FS 'tile' region of more than one airport.Always first save the edited airport as an ade project file since it includes internal object tags not included in the compiled .bgl. This allows you to go back for further editing to change the airport and then recompile your changes. It will also bring up any error situations.

[toocsquatch]

Thank you, gentlemen, for your response. I think I am going to switch to ADE for airport editing. I've used AFCAD from the beginning and I think the files I tried to mix using both is what was causing ctd at KORD. All other sceneries did not cause ctd, but I had not tried editing them yet.I use AI Separation for ai. I think it provides a better sense of realism. Along those lines, however, there still is some overtake with between ai models on final approach that AI Sep doesn't catch or can't keep up with. I've seen where Jan Martin has produced some FDE's for most of the different ai models. Do these FDE's allow for more uniform speeds on these aircraft, such that the spacing of said aircraft is more realistic AND reduces workload on AI Sep? (I'm a retired air traffic controller and am still a stickler for aircraft separation...)

[jvile]

Thank you, gentlemen, for your response. I think I am going to switch to ADE for airport editing. I've used AFCAD from the beginning and I think the files I tried to mix using both is what was causing ctd at KORD. All other sceneries did not cause ctd, but I had not tried editing them yet.I use AI Separation for ai. I think it provides a better sense of realism. Along those lines, however, there still is some overtake with between ai models on final approach that AI Sep doesn't catch or can't keep up with. I've seen where Jan Martin has produced some FDE's for most of the different ai models. Do these FDE's allow for more uniform speeds on these aircraft, such that the spacing of said aircraft is more realistic AND reduces workload on AI Sep? (I'm a retired air traffic controller and am still a stickler for aircraft separation...)

toocsquatchJan's FD's do add some consistancy to the approach speeds. FS9 also has a build in AI seperation that works up to 5 aircraft but again that is based on the speeds during the approach phase since the FD's control that speed.Jan also spent time to give the FD's a better rollout on touchdown. For those of us that write and use the weight restriction code (or use ADE9) for runways Jan set the Empty Weights correctly which is not set correctly with many 3rd party AI Planes. It is not realistic to see a B747 takeoff from a 6500 ft runway because the empty weight used was from a B737-400. jim

[ronzie]

I recommend trying aismooth_v120.zip in the FSX Utilities section. It works with FS9 as well. It nowe comes with a manual and there are several parameters to set such as responding to user aircraft or not.Here's the list:Distance of AI aircraft to landing aircraft [NM]Distance of user aircraft to landing aircraft [NM]Heading range for intercept [°]Global Approach Fix Distance [NM]Minimum Separation Time [sec]User plane response (off or on - reacts to user aircraft)Show ATC messages (caution in setting yes)Minimum IFR Holding Altitude [ft MSL]Landing Release Altitude [ft AGL]Minimum centerline distance [NM]Poll interval [msec]Control BatchsizeCommand Delay [msec]Reduce speed on approachUse dynamic speed tableSpeak ATC messages (caution in setting yes)AI Separation speedily skews aircraft out of your way. AI Smooth slowly moves them into clusters of holding patterns.Where you can't adjust them by FD this might help. I'd download and check the docs.

[toocsquatch]

Again, thanks....like I said I'm now retired with plenty of time on my hands. I'm going to look into all suggestions and probably rebuild from the ground up to make it "as realistic as possible...."John