Best way to start at the proper gate for realistic IFR flying?

[captain420 3,099]

I am trying to make my flights a bit more realistic. I fly mostly 777 and 747. But before starting my flight, is there a method you guys use to determine what the most realistic parking gate is for your plane, considering the airline being used at the airports?

For example if I'm flying Thai Airways 777-300, and wanted to start at  RCTP, how can I find what the right gate to use? I always have problems when trying to choose a gate to start off at because I don't know what the real world uses. Is there a website somewhere that will have all this information compiled for quick reference on which gate to use?

[Gregg_Seipp 565]

I get gates from flightaware.com.  Some flights have them...some don't.  You can also hunt down airport maps that show which airlines use which gates on the web.

[speedyTC 194]

A search of Wikipedia for the airport will yield a detailed description of the airport including information on which terminals are used by various airlines. The appropriate gate choice can then be made (depending on the aircraft you are flying, e.g. super, heavy, medium).

More detailed information can usually be found on the airport home page on the web (in your case: http://www.taoyuan-airport.com). Then search the Flight information page by inputting the airline and flight number either for departure or arrival and you will be shown (usually) the gate the airline is using for that particular flight; in your case, I found that Thai TG635 to Bangkok (777-300), for example, would be departing from Terminal 1 and Gate B4. If you use Navigraph's subscription charts it's very easy to find B4.

Cheers.

[cmpbellsjc 2,960]

You can always open the airport using ADE and check all the parking codes that correspond to your airline.

Or, if you have GSX, you can start the flight from the runway, open the GSX menu and open the gates section and it will tell you which gates are available for your airline, provided you have the correct parking codes in the PMDG 777/747 cfg file for those repainted. You'll have to edit the cfg file manually as they only have the atc_parking_types=GATE entered. You'll have to make it look like this for each repaint for the 777/747.

atc_parking_types=GATE, RAMP
atc_parking_codes=UAL (enter the three letter airline code here your that repaint)

The nice part about adding that additional line is that when you land at your destination airport and request taxi to gate, if the airport has a gate available for your airline and has the correct parking code in the AFCAD, ATC will direct you to the proper gate for your airline.

[captain420 3,099]

ahh interesting I didn't know that cmpbellsjc... I will check my aircraft.cfg file to make sure that RAMP is also added. I didn't know GSX only allows you to park at specific gates only. But I find it hard to choose a gate to park at using GSX because most of the time the gate is occupied. Which is why I don't usually use GSX menu to select my starting gate.

UPDATE: I believe you are wrong in adding RAMP... that is for GA planes only. I just checked FSDT's forum regarding this. For planes like 737,777,747,CRJ,A320,A380 and so forth, you must only assign GATE.

[captain420 3,099]

Is it possible to use the free version of ADE to fix AFCAD files for certain airports so that they reflect the correct airline operator and parking size for the right aircraft sizes?

[cmpbellsjc 2,960]

11 hours ago, captain420 said:

ahh interesting I didn't know that cmpbellsjc... I will check my aircraft.cfg file to make sure that RAMP is also added. 

You dont have to put RAMP, but some AFCADS have the airline parking away from the gates marked as RAMP, but you can either use it or skip it. 

The most import line is the one under that, that I mentioned in my first post to put the airline parking code, i.e. AAL, DAL, etc for that airlines paint.

 

11 hours ago, captain420 said:

 I didn't know GSX only allows you to park at specific gates only. But I find it hard to choose a gate to park at using GSX because most of the time the gate is occupied. Which is why I don't usually use GSX menu to select my starting gate.

GSX will let you park at any gate, but when you open the parking spot menu it will say which gates are available for your airline, but it also has the option to click to show all gates. It only knows which gates are available for your airline if you put the parking codes in the aircrafts cfg file for each paint. It's handy to have them installed anyway so ATC can park you at a gate for your airline code.

 

8 hours ago, captain420 said:

Is it possible to use the free version of ADE to fix AFCAD files for certain airports so that they reflect the correct airline operator and parking size for the right aircraft sizes?

Yes, you can use the free version, no need for the Pro Key. I've been using the free version for years. Just make sure that when you compile the new AFCAD you rename it to the original name of the one your replacing otherwise if you have a custom GSX file set up for an airport, GSX won't read the file for the new AFCAD. Just rename the original ACFAD your replacing as example from AP_KDFW.bgl to AP_KDFW.off and install the new one with the name of the original AP_KDFW.off.