FSX Airport Runways

[rfelger 71]

I have the latest Nav data for the 777. I did a flight to Halifax Canada (CYHZ). The Runways in the 777 were off from the FSX scenery ones. My question is, do I need to do AFCAD files to my airport sceneries or is there a way to get the 777 to recognize the default FSX airports? Thanks

[777simmer 117]

The FMC navdata base will have approaches, navigational aids and runway lay out as they are today.

 

FSX has runway layouts and navigation beacons and ILS installations as they were in 2006.

 

So yes you need to get current AFCAD files, or addon (freeware or payware) airports.

But even with those you might still see that things are not up to date all the time.

The only way to fix that, is to get an addon (freeware exists) to change airports yourself. I have tried it a long time ago and found it to be a lot of work!

 

You can not change the FMC to recognise the default FSX runway layouts etc, unless somebody has made a 2006 or so FMC database for the PMDG.

You could probably also modify the NAV Database yourself to match your FSX airports, but I am not sure how much work that is.

 

I would go with downloading the most recent AFCAD from the AVSIM library!

[rfelger 71]

The FMC navdata base will have approaches, navigational aids and runway lay out as they are today.

 

FSX has runway layouts and navigation beacons and ILS installations as they were in 2006.

 

So yes you need to get current AFCAD files, or addon (freeware or payware) airports.

But even with those you might still see that things are not up to date all the time.

The only way to fix that, is to get an addon (freeware exists) to change airports yourself. I have tried it a long time ago and found it to be a lot of work!

 

You can not change the FMC to recognise the default FSX runway layouts etc, unless somebody has made a 2006 or so FMC database for the PMDG.

You could probably also modify the NAV Database yourself to match your FSX airports, but I am not sure how much work that is.

 

I would go with downloading the most recent AFCAD from the AVSIM library!

 

 

Thnaks! sounds like i have a LOT of updates to do!! <_<

[DaveCT2003 1,820]

Rob,

 

A few things to keep in mind when updating AFCADs / Scenery, that is if you're plan to be flight simming for a while.

 

Different authors format their AFCADs, well, differently.  Some instructions have you dumb the files into the Addon Scenery folder which will allow FSX to automatically adopt them.  This can get you into trouble later on down the line if the AFCAD updated again or you decide to move to scenery for the airport.

 

The best thing to do is reformat your downloaded AFCADs and add them via the Scenery Manager. This allows you to control which is being used and is active.  I covered this in an earlier post located here: 

 

http://forum.avsim.net/topic/445278-eddf-ils-freq-out-of-date-help/

 

 

Hope this helps you!

[rfelger 71]

Rob,

 

A few things to keep in mind when updating AFCADs / Scenery, that is if you're plan to be flight simming for a while.

 

Different authors format their AFCADs, well, differently.  Some instructions have you dumb the files into the Addon Scenery folder which will allow FSX to automatically adopt them.  This can get you into trouble later on down the line if the AFCAD updated again or you decide to move to scenery for the airport.

 

The best thing to do is reformat your downloaded AFCADs and add them via the Scenery Manager. This allows you to control which is being used and is active.  I covered this in an earlier post located here: 

 

http://forum.avsim.net/topic/445278-eddf-ils-freq-out-of-date-help/

 

 

Hope this helps you!

 

 

Great advice! Thanks Dave!

[downscc 1,327]

The easiest approach, especially for an airport that you infrequently visit and no updates are available, is to simply accept the difference in runway numbering,  Although rwy 15 many now be rwy 16 due to magnetic declination variation, it is still physically the same runway. It is helpful to update the magvar.bgl file ( see http://forum.avsim.net/topic/336155-magnetic-variation-updates-for-fs9-and-fsx/) but other than that the true headings are unchanged.

 

Another option is to download Airport Design Editor (ADE) free in the AVSIM library and make your own adjustments. I find that learning how to use this tool went a long way in understanding FSX airports and navaids.  In fact, I will often use ADE just to verify which gates are large enough for my T7 during my flight planning, something that can be done with all default and most addon airports.

[DaveCT2003 1,820]

 

 

Great advice! Thanks Dave!

 

You're most welcome Rob. 

 

By the way, I manage the scenery library for OVPA, and we've built it and kept it updated now for over 7 years and watched it grow to over 60Gb of scenery worldwide. I started with the airports OVPA (the pilots association I'm part of) was making group flights to (plus VATSIM events we flew) and our scenery library just kept growing.  We updated the scenery as airports changed or newer/better scenery became available.  From my experience, I think that's the best way to grow your own library, and formatting the scenery name with the author and date makes allows us to know what we have at a glance. Also, you only need scenery that you're going to fly, rather than downloading everything you can get your hands on.

 

Best of luck my friend!  Lots of great advice here on the AVSIM forums regarding scenery, but feel free to give me a shout should you need a hand or more advice with scenery formatting.

[JRBarrett 3,070]

If you don't want to spend money for payware airports - (and there are some very good ones on the market - but I realize that many simmers have limited budgets), I can heartily recommend the freeware AFCAD updates by Ray Smith. Almost all of Ray's AFCADS are available right here in the AVSIM file library, and his work is of the highest quality.

 

He has done updates for an enormous number of FSX airports over the years, and I have never had problems with any of his AFCADS.