Installing flightplan's on WOAI aircraft.

[RyanForder 2]

Hello everyone, 

 

I am wondering how i would install flightplans on WOAI aircraft. 

 

For example: I Download an AIR FRANCE pack on WOAI, however the flight schedule is from 2007 and i want an updated version because i want them to have lots of A380's like they do now.

 

Where would i find such schedules?

 

What program should i use to install them?

 

Any additional help would be great too thank you.

 

Kind Regards

 

Ryan

[biloo 20]

Here's an example.

 

You can find updated flightplans here:

http://library.avsim.net/search.php?SearchTerm=air+france+flightplans&CatID=root&Sort=Name&ScanMode=0&Page=5

 

In the zip files you will find suggestion for repaints to be used.

I would use AI Flightplanner or AIFP freeware tool to install new repaints, setup new flightplan and compile new traffic bgl file.

[RyanForder 2]

Here's an example.

 

You can find updated flightplans here:

http://library.avsim.net/search.php?SearchTerm=air+france+flightplans&CatID=root&Sort=Name&ScanMode=0&Page=5

 

In the zip files you will find suggestion for repaints to be used.

I would use AI Flightplanner or AIFP freeware tool to install new repaints, setup new flightplan and compile new traffic bgl file.

 

Thank you for your reply. 

 

When installing new aircraft repaints or new aircraft, i.e. Qatar A380. Is that simple enough to do in AI Flightplanner?

[Jimmy RFR 406]

Unfortunately, it's not overly simple.  It's not bad once you get the hang of it, but I wouldn't recommend learning on a large scale such as Air France is likely to be.

 

Here's a basic description of the process for you: 

 

The updated flightplans that you download from somewhere such as the library will have three files: an aircraft file, which contains an entry for each individual repaint / aircraft included in your schedule; a schedule file, which contains an entry for each individual route; and an airport file, which contains location information for each airport designated in your schedule.

 

Basically, it's up to you to match up each aircraft / repaint entry in the aircraft file to one that exists in your FSX installation.  This means that not only do you have to find a repaint that you want to use, but often you have to find a model to use that repaint.  Often the updated flightplans will recommend a repaint and model to use, but sometimes they don't; regardless, it's something that you find, download and install separately.

 

The schedule file you don't really need to touch, unless you make special modifications of your own.  You don't really need to alter the airport file that's included either.

 

Once you have all three files in order, you point AI Flightplanner at them, and let it compile a finished traffic .bgl file for you.  You can then place this in either the regular spot where FSX keeps it's traffic files, or you can place it in a sub-folder marked 'scenery' in a folder of your choice, and add it as you would any other scenery.

 

There's a lot more detail than that when you get right to it, but that should be enough of a description for you to decide if it's something you want to try doing on your own.  After looking at all that WOAI does, it's easy to see why it's valued as such a huge resource. ^_^

 

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, Air France might not be the best choice for learning on; there's likely to be a very large amount of aircraft along with their appropriate repaints.  I've done my own traffic files for a lot of smaller Canadian carriers, they were a lot easier to mess with since they often had only one type, such as a 737, with only 3 or 4 repaints for that type.

[RyanForder 2]

Unfortunately, it's not overly simple.  It's not bad once you get the hang of it, but I wouldn't recommend learning on a large scale such as Air France is likely to be.

 

Here's a basic description of the process for you: 

 

The updated flightplans that you download from somewhere such as the library will have three files: an aircraft file, which contains an entry for each individual repaint / aircraft included in your schedule; a schedule file, which contains an entry for each individual route; and an airport file, which contains location information for each airport designated in your schedule.

 

Basically, it's up to you to match up each aircraft / repaint entry in the aircraft file to one that exists in your FSX installation.  This means that not only do you have to find a repaint that you want to use, but often you have to find a model to use that repaint.  Often the updated flightplans will recommend a repaint and model to use, but sometimes they don't; regardless, it's something that you find, download and install separately.

 

The schedule file you don't really need to touch, unless you make special modifications of your own.  You don't really need to alter the airport file that's included either.

 

Once you have all three files in order, you point AI Flightplanner at them, and let it compile a finished traffic .bgl file for you.  You can then place this in either the regular spot where FSX keeps it's traffic files, or you can place it in a sub-folder marked 'scenery' in a folder of your choice, and add it as you would any other scenery.

 

There's a lot more detail than that when you get right to it, but that should be enough of a description for you to decide if it's something you want to try doing on your own.  After looking at all that WOAI does, it's easy to see why it's valued as such a huge resource. ^_^

 

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, Air France might not be the best choice for learning on; there's likely to be a very large amount of aircraft along with their appropriate repaints.  I've done my own traffic files for a lot of smaller Canadian carriers, they were a lot easier to mess with since they often had only one type, such as a 737, with only 3 or 4 repaints for that type.

 

 

Thank you for the reply, very in depth and informative and just what i needed. It seem's to be a good step by step. I will get looking on YouTube tomorrow to see if there is any tutorial videos for FS Flightplanner and then i will have a crack at it later in the week.

 

However, would it be possible to add an aircraft which is already in the origional WOAI pack to a route?

 

I.e. i change an Air France 777 from Paris to JFK with an A380? Or is it not that simple?

 

Sorry if i am being a pain here by the way but your reply is much appreciated.

 

Kind Regards

 

Ryan

[Jimmy RFR 406]

 

 

However, would it be possible to add an aircraft which is already in the origional WOAI pack to a route?
I.e. i change an Air France 777 from Paris to JFK with an A380? Or is it not that simple?

 

Yep, that's relatively straight forward:

• Browse to your "FSX Install"/Scenery/World/Scenery folder.  (i.e. if your FSX installation is at D:\FSX, then you would browse to D:\FSX\Scenery\World\Scenery)
• Locate your Air France traffic file - it'll look something like "Traffic_000_WoA_Air France_Su09.bgl"
• Copy that file to some other directory for you to work in.  Also, make a backup copy.
• Open AI Flight Planner.
• Under the 'Files' menu, select 'Open Traffic File (.bgl). (Ignore any errors that may appear, mine had a few.)
• Under the 'Files' menu, select 'Save File Set As...'  Pick a spot, and let it default to the same name if you wish, and press save.
• Now you'll have three .txt files.  One that starts with 'Aircraft', one that starts with 'Flightplans', and one that starts with 'Airports'.
• So, now assuming you have already downloaded and installed a suitable A380 model, along with a suitable repaint, you'll want to open the 'Aircraft' file along with the 'Flightplans' file with a text editor.  I recommend Notepad++.
• Best to familiarize yourself with the two files at this point.  You'll notice that the 'Aircraft' file has a list of AC#'s such as: AC#1005,200,"WoA_TFS_B777-300ER_AFR-Air France_NC".  You'll also notice that the 'Flightplans' file has corresponding AC#'s, such as: AC#1005,F-GZND,1%,Week,IFR,1/17:37,2/04:03,340,F,0995,LFPG,2/21:29,3/10:02,310,F,0256,[cut for clarity, it goes on for a bit]
• Basically, each listing in the flightplan file is calling the aircraft defined for that AC# in the aircraft file.  You might notice that although each AC# is defined only once in the aircraft file, it can be used many times over in the flightplan file.
• Now what you're going to look for (to do what you're asking) is whichever 777 has a flightplan entry that includes both KJFK and LFPG. Just a quick perusal of the Air France traffic file I had shows one of the AC#1006 entries with both. So,  then you'll want to replace the definition in the aircraft file for AC#1006 (in my example) with your updated A380. 
• So, if the original definition was AC#1006,200,"WoA_TFS_B777-300ER_AFR-Air France_OC_AFKLM", you'd replace the part in the quotation marks with the title of the repaint you wish to use.  This title is found in the aircraft.cfg file of the model you're using, under the [fltsim.xx] section that corresponds to the repaint, and is the portion that follows 'title=' in that section.
• Once done, then you can start up AIFP once again, and this time chose Files>Open Flight Plan File, point it to your set of aircraft, flightplan and airport files.  In the lower box marked 'Traffic File', you can also choose where to save the new traffic file, and right above there, choose to save it in FS9 or FSX format.  Because you're already using WOAI packages, I do believe you need to make sure you use FS9 format.  It doesn't matter which, but if you have any FS9 traffic files active, it will suppress any FSX files from being used.
• Wherever you choose to save it, you can then copy it back to your Scenery\World\Scenery folder, overwriting the original (making sure you had backed up your original somewhere safe.

Whew.  That ended up being a longer tutorial than I thought!!  Anyway, as you can see, there's lots of steps involved - but once you get the hang of it it's really not that hard to figure out.  There's probably plenty of better tutorials online, and there's a ton more options in AI Flight Planner that might do some of the above steps for you automatically if I knew how to work them (I don't).

 

The thing is, that once you figure out how it works, and how you can start tailoring AI to be exactly what you want, it's very rewarding.  Good luck!

[RyanForder 2]

Yep, that's relatively straight forward:

• Browse to your "FSX Install"/Scenery/World/Scenery folder.  (i.e. if your FSX installation is at D:\FSX, then you would browse to D:\FSX\Scenery\World\Scenery)
• Locate your Air France traffic file - it'll look something like "Traffic_000_WoA_Air France_Su09.bgl"
• Copy that file to some other directory for you to work in.  Also, make a backup copy.
• Open AI Flight Planner.
• Under the 'Files' menu, select 'Open Traffic File (.bgl). (Ignore any errors that may appear, mine had a few.)
• Under the 'Files' menu, select 'Save File Set As...'  Pick a spot, and let it default to the same name if you wish, and press save.
• Now you'll have three .txt files.  One that starts with 'Aircraft', one that starts with 'Flightplans', and one that starts with 'Airports'.
• So, now assuming you have already downloaded and installed a suitable A380 model, along with a suitable repaint, you'll want to open the 'Aircraft' file along with the 'Flightplans' file with a text editor.  I recommend Notepad++.
• Best to familiarize yourself with the two files at this point.  You'll notice that the 'Aircraft' file has a list of AC#'s such as: AC#1005,200,"WoA_TFS_B777-300ER_AFR-Air France_NC".  You'll also notice that the 'Flightplans' file has corresponding AC#'s, such as: AC#1005,F-GZND,1%,Week,IFR,1/17:37,2/04:03,340,F,0995,LFPG,2/21:29,3/10:02,310,F,0256,[cut for clarity, it goes on for a bit]
• Basically, each listing in the flightplan file is calling the aircraft defined for that AC# in the aircraft file.  You might notice that although each AC# is defined only once in the aircraft file, it can be used many times over in the flightplan file.
• Now what you're going to look for (to do what you're asking) is whichever 777 has a flightplan entry that includes both KJFK and LFPG. Just a quick perusal of the Air France traffic file I had shows one of the AC#1006 entries with both. So,  then you'll want to replace the definition in the aircraft file for AC#1006 (in my example) with your updated A380. 
• So, if the original definition was AC#1006,200,"WoA_TFS_B777-300ER_AFR-Air France_OC_AFKLM", you'd replace the part in the quotation marks with the title of the repaint you wish to use.  This title is found in the aircraft.cfg file of the model you're using, under the [fltsim.xx] section that corresponds to the repaint, and is the portion that follows 'title=' in that section.
• Once done, then you can start up AIFP once again, and this time chose Files>Open Flight Plan File, point it to your set of aircraft, flightplan and airport files.  In the lower box marked 'Traffic File', you can also choose where to save the new traffic file, and right above there, choose to save it in FS9 or FSX format.  Because you're already using WOAI packages, I do believe you need to make sure you use FS9 format.  It doesn't matter which, but if you have any FS9 traffic files active, it will suppress any FSX files from being used.
• Wherever you choose to save it, you can then copy it back to your Scenery\World\Scenery folder, overwriting the original (making sure you had backed up your original somewhere safe.

Whew.  That ended up being a longer tutorial than I thought!!  Anyway, as you can see, there's lots of steps involved - but once you get the hang of it it's really not that hard to figure out.  There's probably plenty of better tutorials online, and there's a ton more options in AI Flight Planner that might do some of the above steps for you automatically if I knew how to work them (I don't).

 

The thing is, that once you figure out how it works, and how you can start tailoring AI to be exactly what you want, it's very rewarding.  Good luck!

 

Thank you once again for your excellent reply. I am sure i will be able to do this

 

Kind Regards 

 

Ryan