FSDT's AFCADs?

[vc10man 732]

16 hours ago, Drumcode said:

Could someone please explain the reason why FSDT's afcads have all gates set to RAMP GA?

Very good question, as I too thought it was weird and then having to 'hunt' around for a gate to slot a 747 in, when gates set to that. I had to resort to EFB's airport chart to find a suitable gate.

[Ray Proudfoot 8,903]

1 minute ago, vc10man said:

Very good question, as I too thought it was weird and then having to 'hunt' around for a gate to slot a 747 in, when gates set to that. I had to resort to EFB's airport chart to find a suitable gate.

2nd para of this reply....

For me the drawbacks outweigh the advantages. Why not provide 2 BGLs and allow the user to decide which system to use?

[Drumcode 1,892]

I also want to see an option in their Live Updater to disregard AFCAD file overwrites. 

[vc10man 732]

Thanks for that, Ray, but how come I don't see the same issues using GSX at other airports? Surely, if there was going to be a conflict as Para 2 states, then logic tells me it'd apply at other non-FSDT airports too, unless I'm totally missing the plot here.

[Ray Proudfoot 8,903]

FSDT implant their own custom vehicles around their airport gate replacing the default stuff. They have to tell P3D / FSX the gate is a General Aviation ramp to prevent the sim populating the area with default vehicles.

But why don't I have this problem at LSGG and LSZH? Maybe they haven't created custom vehicles for those airports so can use a standard game name.

[vc10man 732]

1 minute ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

don't I have this problem at LSZH

Good point, Ray. Me too, as I can park my 737s, or the MD-11s there with no 'search-for-a-gate'.

 

[cmpbellsjc 2,960]

1 hour ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Thanks Neal. That sounds like a real dog's dinner. 

Has anyone tried editing the AFCAD and changing the names for more suitable ones? Just changing a couple should show whether it's going to be a major problem or not. I haven't noticed any problems at LSGG or LSZH. Has anyone else?

Ray, it doesn't need to be difficult.

Say for example your flying the PMDG 737 with the American Airlines paint. If you edited the planes cfg file with the appropriate airline parking code under that paint, then create a flight for your staring airport at the runway. When the flight loads and you open the GSX parking menu and select gates, it will automatically list the gates for your airline and you can select the warp to gate feature. This works provided your airport has the correct parking codes in the parking spots and you edit all your airlines cfg paint sections with the correct parking codes.

Its super easy to just start a flight this way at the appropriate gate. Plus, if the airport has SODA jetways it will reflect in the GSX parking spots with a (J).

[Ray Proudfoot 8,903]

30 minutes ago, cmpbellsjc said:

Ray, it doesn't need to be difficult.

Say for example your flying the PMDG 737 with the American Airlines paint. If you edited the planes cfg file with the appropriate airline parking code under that paint, then create a flight for your staring airport at the runway. When the flight loads and you open the GSX parking menu and select gates, it will automatically list the gates for your airline and you can select the warp to gate feature. This works provided your airport has the correct parking codes in the parking spots and you edit all your airlines cfg paint sections with the correct parking codes.

Its super easy to just start a flight this way at the appropriate gate. Plus, if the airport has SODA jetways it will reflect in the GSX parking spots with a (J).

Well maybe if I was flying a 737 that procedure would work but I'm flying Concorde and although it has a few liveries I only use the Landor and Chatham ones - both BA of course.

Given Concorde is classed as a Medium or Heavy I would be restricted to only a few airports where BA visit. I tend to pick gates at random rather than follow the airline codes as I like to see different parts of the airport. For example, at EGCC I'd only use gates at T3 - probably 44 or 45. That get's a bit repetitive. So sometimes I start at T2.

I appreciate your suggestion but for most airports choosing a suitable gate isn't a problem. Just for some of the FSDT ones.

[vc10man 732]

23 minutes ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

For example, at EGCC I'd only use gates at T3 - probably 44 or 45. That get's a bit repetitive. So sometimes I start at T2.

I appreciate your suggestion but for most airports choosing a suitable gate isn't a problem. Just for some of the FSDT ones

Ditto for me too.

[Indy511 686]

Maybe airport scenery developers should list what gates are useable with GSX, etc. and with what aircraft type in their manuals and we wouldn't have go by guesswork. Oh... wait how silly of me no one reads manuals. Nevermind!

 

[captain420 3,099]

Yes  I wish there was a better way for gate selections. Where we can visually see the gates with an airport diagram in the P3D menu. Kind of like what X-Plane 11 has... and it whatever plane we pick, it will then dynamically filter out the gates that are valid for our aircraft. This will take the guesswork out of having to look at Airport charts and online to see what gates are realistically suitable.

[duckbilled 310]

3 hours ago, Drumcode said:

Is there ADE version that actually works in v4? Could someone please link to the download?

http://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/threads/ade-1-75-6400-release-candidate-1.440522/

[FalconAF 213]

If you have Little Nav Map installed and the database is current for all your addons, it is easy to just open LNM before starting your flight sim and going to the airport(s) you are interested in.  You can zoom in, hold your mouse curser over any parking spot shown, and it will LIST everything contained for that parking spot in a popup window.  The graphic circle for the parking spot is also a different size depending on the size of the spot, so it's easy to "find" the size you want.  The popup window shows the info directly from the AFCAD....type of parking (gate, ramp, cargo, etc), size (small, med, large, and actual meter size), assigned airline parking if assigned to the spot, and even if there is a JETWAY at the spot, etc.  Pick your departure and arrival parking spots, then just close LNM before starting the sim if you want.  Select the same named parking spot from the starting point list in the sim's GUI dropdown list and spawn at the parking spot.  Don't have to worry about your choice already being "taken" by spawning on the runway first, which also works a whole lot better for people using P3Dv3 as it won't mess with adding extra VAS usage by loading things twice.

PS - Little Nav Map is free.  I switched to using it after having used FS Commander for YEARS.  It's a full fledged moving map flight planner.  Works great for solving all the problems listed in this thread.

 

[captain420 3,099]

thats kind of inconvenient having to install and load up another app just to pick a gate to start at. If this can just be added into P3D's menu, then it would be the best way. We already have enough apps to load when using P3D. We don't need any more.

[duckbilled 310]

2 hours ago, Drumcode said:

I also want to see an option in their Live Updater to disregard AFCAD file overwrites. 

+1