What happened here?

[Holger 0]

Howdy all, time for a quiz:The two screen shots were taken on board the CVN-74 Stennis during testing of my AI helicopter/military package - I consider an operational carrier AFCAD file (with 4 gates) the "ultimate test" of AFCAD design, though not necessarily of great interest to the FS community. Anyway, does the unexpected merging of the Hawk51 and Blackhaw result from:(1) two AFCAD gates in the same place(2) one AI aircraft taxiing through another(3) one AI aircraft spawning on top of the other(4) one AI aircraft taxiing through static scenery(5) none of the above/something elseAny votes?Cheers, Holger http://forums.avsim.com/user_files/5361.jpghttp://forums.avsim.com/user_files/5362.jpg

[Guest Captain Barfbag]

I'd vote for (4). AI planes typically do not go through each other unless you've got overlays. Of course, maybe you built a special overlay for the choppers?

[Guest]

I'll go for number 1 :)

[Holger 0]

Well, before the pictures get removed, I better answer the riddle:The correct answer is (3) "one AI aircraft spawning on top of the other".I haven't seen this mentioned or discussed before and always assumed that aircraft that crash (in a mountain or on the ground) or not show up in the first place are lost until you reload the game. Not so; while spending a number of hours watching AI choppers come and go and crash I witnessed many incidents of (re-)spawning aircraft.One type of "spawning" is if there are more flightplans/aircraft than gates. For example, my carrier AFCAD has only 4 gates but about a dozen different flight plans. Since the flight plan loops back onto itself, no more than 4 aircraft can be visible at a time. Sometimes (and I'm not sure what exactly triggers this), one of the missing aircraft will pop up at a gate as soon as the other aircraft starts leaving it (see the screen shot - it's NOT a case of two gates overlapping). On other instances, after all four original aircraft have left the deck/gates, a new set of four (different) aircraft spawns at the gates - quite spectacular!The second type of "spawning" happens if an aircraft crashes near the starting or landing airport. One of my testing airfields sits in a steep valley and aircraft often crash into a mountain a couple minutes after takeoff. In about 1/2 of the cases, the aircraft will respawn at the airport and try again - guess it's a steep learning curve ;-)In other cases, AI crashes on approach and then pops up at an empty gate of the intended airport as if nothing had happened.So, has anybody else seen this happen before? P.S.: To sceptics I can send a AFCAD/flightplan/flight set that has spawning aircraft every single time.

[Guest Captain Barfbag]

I've definitely seen spawning aircraft, but never while another aircraft is in the same position. I suppose, though, that the moment an aircraft starts to taxi that the parking spot is then marked "empty" and available for another aircraft if necessary.How have you gotten the helicopters to work as AI? I've tried that with the Jet Ranger, but it never shows up. Also, do they insist on taxiing to a runway if you start at a regular (non-carrier) airport?

[Holger 0]

Howdy:good to know that I'm not the only one spawning aircraft ;-)The choppers took a lot of work but my co-author and I are getting closer to releasing what we've got. Yes, they are bound to the AFCAD guidance/requirements on the ground and look pretty ridiculous on a regular airfield. What is needed are custom AFCAD "heliports" (as overlays) that minimize taxiing and avoid having a chopper sandwiched between two jumbo jets. Our package will include a number of sample AFCAD files. Below are screen shot from a nice chopper playground in Manhattan's Central Park and one military US-RU meeting place on neutral ground in Abbotsford, B.C. All helicopters are AI.Cheers, Holgerhttp://forums.avsim.com/user_files/6666.jpghttp://forums.avsim.com/user_files/6668.jpghttp://forums.avsim.com/user_files/6670.jpg