Is it possible to display a background bitmap in AFCAD2 like you can with Airport for Windows and SceneGenX?Thanks,Thomas

Simple answer....no. But you _can_ display a minimized screen version of a background *.bmp _beside_ a minimized screen version of your Afcad working screen. By having a prominent item like a runway of known length in the *.bmp, you can ascertain the relevant scale within Afcad, for example.

In AFCAD2 some items can now have surface textures but they won't show in the AFCAD display screen. You specify the surface in the item properties and it should show up in the FS modeling. Is that your question?

Howdy,and another option... ;-)I set up a background bitmap in Ground2K4, then load G2K4, AFCAD2, and FS9 together. With G2K4's FSConnect feature, I can slew to the features of interest, then make markers or do the drawing in AFCAD (locked to the aircraft's position). Works best if you have all three programs in windows side-by-side.The alternative is to do a two-step process: outline the features in Ground2K4 (or whichever tool you prefer) as VTP2 polys and lines, then place the compiled bgl files in the sim and trace them in AFCAD2.Cheers, Holger

No, what I am looking for is the same thing that is in AW and SGX, a background bitmap displayed in AFCAD2 so that I can lay out my airport to scale. What I do now is start up SGX, import my bitmap, start up AF2 and FS, move the plane around to get the scale correct on the bitmap in SGX, then move the plane around watching in SGX and lay out the airport in AFCAD. Yes, I know I can create airport data in SGX, but I find AF2 much easier to use for laying out runway/taxiway/apron data.Thomas

OK. You are talking about a reference bitmap.No, I do not think so.How about this workaround.If you know the coordinates you require for some reference points, how about using Runway 12 Object Placer linked to FS to lay down some nice easily visible static objects by skewing your reference aircraft (that nice pointy thing recently uploaded here) to mark those locations. They can easily be removed later since thay can be placed in their own scenery folder.Now that you've got reference objects in place in the FS Scenery, you can use FS and AFCAD2 linked, slew the aircraft pointy thing around to those reference objects to generate the locations you require in AFCAD to lay down the major AFCAD objects. Also, do not forget in AFCAD you can turn on a lattitude-longitude grid. Runway 12 also allows placement by coordinates of each object as I recall.Other options are to find out what size AFCAD grid you require to enclose your airport. Slew in FS to the center position so the AFCAD grid is centered and zoomed correctly.Take a screenshot of the AFCAD grid full-size. Import that into an image editor, increase the contrast and invert, and save. Import your image into your fresh screen image editor. If you know the scale or coordinates scale it to match the AFCAD scale. Now in the image editor import as a transparent object the AFCAD grid you saved and size/scale it to match. You now should have the AFCAD grid image overlaying the bitmap and save that combo. Print it out so you now have the reference grid on top of your bitmap. This will provide the location of the reference points you require in AFCAD2. It is a lot of work but can provide with the location coordinates you will require.You might post your idea in the AFCAD forum on projectai.com. Lee Swordy visits that and your idea of underlaying a bitmap is excellent since he states in his help file he is heading toward adding more airport scenery elements.Here's another idea:If there is an airport diagram for a USA airport at the NACO FAA site, you'll notice the lattitude/longitude grid scale along each edge. You can extrapolate the center and end coordinates of airport elements from that.Another source of info is the NIMA airport information. I have that in Simplates 2004 and this info may be online somewhere. Here's a sample:Runway 27/09 Length 4001 feet Width 75 feet Surface ASPHALT, ASPHALTIC CONCRETE, TAR MACADAM, OR BITUMEN BOUND MACADAM (INCLUDING ANY OF THESE SURFACE TYPES WITH CONCRETE ENDS). Runway 27 Heading 270