When you come across a parking spot which has 3 lines like this:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/186741.jpgI'm just curious to know, which one do you stop at, regardless of gate type (heavy, small, medium)?Also, what is the difference between Gate Small and Gate Medium? Which A/C would park in which?Thanks!

It depends on aircraft type.Real airports would have type designations written next to each.They indicate the place to put the nosewheel so the jetway can attach well to the correct door for the aircraft type.In FS it's a bit hit and miss. Best to aim for the middle one with most aircraft I guess :)Gate sizes are related to aircraft size.Large is for things like 777s and 747s.Medium can take 767s and the like.737s and MD80s can take small gates.

Thanks!What I always did was if my aircraft was longer, I would park up more so the tail wouldn't stick out into the taxiway.So would an A321 go into Small or Medium?Thanks again,

I'm not exactly sure, but I'm going to guess medium, along with a 737. The 747,777, and A380 would go to the heavies, and an MD-80 or CRJ would go to a small. MD-80 only because it's shorter.

321 is about the size of a 757.That would make it a medium.It might fit in a small space though as its wingspan is relatively small.

It might have to do with height though, as the jetway might go up to a certian height only. For instance, for fun, I parked a CRJ700 in a Heavy zone and the jetway wheels disappeared into the ground.

On actual airports (might be slightly randomised in FS) aircraft parking spots are assigned by size (as well possibly airline or origin/destination of the flight).The parking boxes are designed to fit aircraft of a certain size as closely as possible together in order to get as many of them on the terminal as possible. More parking spots means more flights handled means more income.These parking spots may well have jetways of differnt designs to meet the size requirements of different aircraft (for example at Schiphol there are special jetways for 747s that have 2 connectors, one on the front door and one on the rear door behind the wing.Those same can also be used by other heavies (though often using only one door instead of two). They'd likely be too large to fit smaller aircraft like 737s.CRJs I've never seen parked with jetways attached. Passengers are either shuttled to them using busses or if they are parked at a gate the doors are opened and passengers walk across the tarmac to enter using airstairs.

Many airports use jetways for regional Jets- Terminal E at KPHL for example (been off of a CRJ through a jetway numerous times)Most airports don;t use jetways for small jets though. You might exit the terminal through the jetway, only to take the stairs to the ramp for boarding. It all depends on teh airport and the equipment available.When I flew to Paris and London from Boston a few years back, only one leg used a jetway (LHR-CDG) every other flight was boarded via stairs at a remote stand after busing to the aircraft.

At Schiphol the smallest I've ever seen using jetways are Fokker 100s.And the smallest after that are 737s and DC9s :)

Thanks for the replies everyone,I just saw an Airbus A330 parked in a Medium gate at LEMD Barajas. But it was not a jetway, it was a finger lot. Too bad FSX doesn't have airstairs. Anyways, I thought A330s were Heavies?Thanks again,

FS does not know, or care what type of aircraft it is to determine if it's a heavy or not, or where it parks.The entry in the aircraft.cfg file atc_heavy=1 means the ATC will call the aircraft heavy. You can put it on a C-172 if you wish.Aircraft Empty Weight is important for AI aircaft for runway selection. Most AI aircraft have empty weights way too light. All non-RJ passenger jets need to be above 93,000 lbs in the aircraft.cfg to be directed to runways longer than 5,000 ft for landing. But that is not a setting you want to change because it can very adversely impact the aircraft flight.Parking in FSX is based mainly on the aircraft size - and the setting is in the airplane_geometry section of the aircraft.cfg - wing_span= the value needs to be in feet.Here are the settings for most passenger aircraft - http://www.flightsim2004-fanatics.com/Flig...gSpanValues.htmA great many AI aircraft have the wrong settings which puts the aircraft into spots too small for their size.The atc_parking_types= entry still works pretty much like FS2004 as does the atc_parking_codes= entry.However, FSX does work with more than one entry in the parking codes line of the aircraft.cfg file.You could use something like SCX,CHTR for Sun Country - parking the aircraft at dedicated gates - SCX - at some airports and at gates shared by several charter airlines - CHTR - at other airports.Also remember the number of jetways you see at the airport will vary depending upon your scenery density slider setting. The default airports usually have 20-33% of the jetways display at DENSE, 40-66% at VERY DENSE and 100% at EXTREMELY DENSE.The spot at LEMD could have had a jetway, but it not be displayed due to your scenery slider setting.

The default T_Offset settings in FSX are:GATE_SMALL - 7.92M in front of the parking spot center.GATE_MEDIUM - 7.92M, 12.19MGATE_HEAVY - 7.92M, 12.19M, 17.83MRAMP_CARGO - 12.19MRAMP_GA_SMALL - 0.82MRAMP_GA_MEDIUM - 1.87MRAMP_GA_LARGE - 3.96MThe parking connector link from the parking spot need to have a centerline enabled and needs to not be exactly at the parking spot heading for the T or any T_Offsetsto be displayed.

Thanks for the link and the info, actually my slider is at Extremely Dense since it doesn't sacrifice much performance at all.I thought the spot depended on the Model of the A/C, but I now see I was wrong. Thanks!