Is it just me?

 

When you select an airport to fly out of, how do you select which gate to depart from?

 

I try to select real gate assignments however, most add-on airports don't list true gate numbers and sizes. FSDT is the worst when it comes to gate descriptions in the .bgl

I usually use Flightaware and look up a real world flight. It will usually give you a departure gate and an Arrival Gate. You can get pretty close that way. I even take it as far as programing the flight using the real world data. With the FMC updated they will program with no problem. I fly mainly Southwest Routes and so far it hasn't let me down. Remember the sim is showing its age and many airports have undergone many changes. Sometimes you can find the primary updates have added new terminal and such in the library here and most can be gotten for free. Good luck and happy trails. Cpt out.

Another way is to use ifly.com, where you can look up all the gates an airline uses at a particular airport.

 

As far as the gates actually lining up for real world, that is practically a given with most scenery as rj pointed out.  That said, the Philly SunSkyJet scenery (freeware, and awesome) is practically spot on!

 

 

FSDT is the worst when it comes to gate descriptions in the .bgl

I used up one entire evening to correct the gate numbers on their JFK-addon. Sadly I lost the file to an HDD crash lately.

For FSDT, I always put the airplane on the active runway, then use the GSX menu to warp the plane to a gate. The GSX menu seems to have much better terminal and gate descriptions than what is seen in the Free Flight menu.

 

One drawback is that there could be an AI plane parked at your gate. I use FSUIPC to toggle traffic off, warp to my gate, then toggle traffic back on. I usually toggle AI anyway to make sure it's using the correct weather settings.

Very interesting answers, thanks all.

 

 

One drawback is that there could be an AI plane parked at your gate.

But GSX tells you if it is occupied

 

 

But GSX tells you if it is occupied

 

Correct, and GSX will not warp you to an occupied gate. That's why I toggle the AI, so I can warp to the gate of my choice.

You can do a search for the airport and see who parks where.

As FSDT has been mentioned here, does anyone know why pressing Ctrl+J does not activate any of their jetways? I found the same with FlyTampa's Dubai too. Yet all other default FSX airports work okay. Strange.

vc10man, it's not just FSDT or Flytampa.. also Aerosoft.. It seems that by making the fancy jetways that are true-to-life at their add-on airports, they lose their ability to move (or ask you to purchase AES add-on in the case of aerosoft - http://forum.aerosoft.com/index.php?/topic/79788-mega-scenery-dublin-jetways/

Lo and behold, much to my surprise, discovered that the jetways at FSDT's LSZH(Zurich) do in fact work. Eh? And yet I could not get them to operate at FSDT's CYVR. Odd.

Is it just me?

 

When you select an airport to fly out of, how do you select which gate to depart from?

 

I try to select real gate assignments however, most add-on airports don't list true gate numbers and sizes. FSDT is the worst when it comes to gate descriptions in the .bgl

 

 

I used up one entire evening to correct the gate numbers on their JFK-addon. Sadly I lost the file to an HDD crash lately.

 

FSDT explained how they number their gates.

 

The first number is the terminal, and the rest is the gate number. 806 would be Terminal 8 gate 6.

It's actually an easier and more intuitive system as you can instantly tell which terminal you should start at if you're trying to mimic real world ops and fly out of the correct terminal for your livery.

You can do a search for the airport and see who parks where.

Have you ever done that? The info is not that readily available. Of course I could just be "Google Challenged".

Additionally, at some airports, gate numbers do not match stand numbers, so it's different number for pax and pilots.