Multiple parking codes in AI aircraft

[Guest Ruahrc]

I have a question about aircraft and parking codes:In the fltsim.x section, there is the entryatc_parking_codes=where you can define which airline code to put inIs it possible to put multiple codes here? i.e. EGF, AALX or something?The reason for me wanting ot do this is that I installed my AI aircraft (particularly regional airlines) with specific codes such as SKW for Skywest, or EGF for Eagle Flight, etc. I felt this was a more powerful way to cordon traffic to certain parts of the airport with AFCAD.However, there are many AFCADs out there which make use of the "old style" -X appendage, example AALX or UALX to denote any "regional" sub-airline of a major carrier. When I use AFCADs like this, my regional jets get scattered about the airport into the corners and GA ramps, looking for the best spots but not parking at the gates because it is an AALX gate not an EGF gate.Typically I will manually review every AFCAD I install, making sure it has "modern" regional airline parking codes and will modify uncompliant ones. However, I wonder if I can increase the compatibility of my AI aircraft with existing AFCADs by adding a second generic parking code to the fltsim.x sections. see the above example EGF, AALX.This way, if a specific code is available (EGF), it will be used. But if the AFCAD does not have these updated codes, AALX will be used and the plane will not appear in the cargo area or something.Does this work, and has anybody tried it? PS This is for FS9 and not FSX.Ruahrc

[RFields5421 1]

How do you code the SKW aircraft with different repaints?Currently SKW has aircraft painted in the schemes and operating as part of United and Delta's fleets. Do you wish to park both the UAL CRJ's and the Delta CRJ's side by side with the SKW code?There are four companies which operate American Eagle / American Connection flights.Republic Airways Corporation (Chautauqua) flies aircraft painted in the American Connection, Delta Connection, United Express and US Airways Express colors.The reason common codes were created was the number of different parking requirements for a single airline like Skywest or Chautauqua or Mesa or Transtates or CCM or Regional Europe.FS9 will not use more than one parking code in the individual fltsim.x section of the aircraft.cfg file.However, it does appear that FSX does work properly with more than one parking code.It is fairly easy to hilight all the _X gates at an airport for an airline and add extra codes to the parking spots:AALX = EGF, CHQ, LOF, CEACOAX = BTR, CEA, GFT, CAPDALX = SKW, COM, CHQ, CAA, TCF, FRLUALX = SKW, LOF, CHQ, ASH, AWI, USAX - LOF, CHQ, TCF, ASH

[Guest Lee]

Hi Ruahrc,I also like a little more realism in my airports. What I have done is matched the aircraft config files to the parking codes.In your example with Skywest, you could use EGFU for United Express flights using Skywest planes, and EGFD for Delta. ATC_PARKING_CODES=EGFDThen I use AFCAD and replace the parking codes on the UALX spots that I want the Skywest planes to park with EGFU. I always leave some UALX spots for non-specific United Express aircraft that I haven't modified yet.It really works out well in Salt Lake City where there is a large Skywest hanger for the Delta Connection planes. Only the Skywest planes park there.Remember though, the changes you make will only work for you. If you upload your modified aircraft or AFCAD files, your likely to get a lot of email concerning you not following standard rules for parking codes. But if your just making the modifications for yourself like I have, then this method will let you get as specific as you wish.Enjoy!Lee Steffensen.

[Guest Ruahrc]

SKWU and SKWD is a good idea- although it'd be a LOT of work to re-configure my entire system to that method. For the most part it works out pretty well (many smaller regional airports typically served by regional airlines don't have a rigid parking structure anyways, and you usually only see problems at the major hubs) although you occasionally see an anomaly. It doesn't bother me that much, far less than seeing all the regional jets piled up on the GA apron!What I have going now is just all Delta and UAL planes have SKW- and then I just put SKW wherever it needs to be. Sometimes you can use parking radius to your advantage as well, for example at LAX there are a lot of SKW EMB-120's flying for United, and they are smaller than CRJs. So I set up a number of SKW gates at United but set the radius such that only an EMB-120 fits there.Looks like FSX has improved upon this and will make things more versatile.You mention that it is easy to highlight all the _X gates at an airport and fix the codes... am I not doing it the right way then? What I have to do is go through each one and copy/paste in parking codes. It is not as bad as it sounds- typically you can determine that many parking spots in a given area all will be affected, so you can just select them all- sometimes however I must go to each gate individully (or look at them on the parking spots list) to make sure it has _X codes in it. Is there a utility or functionality in AFCAD that I am not aware of?

[RFields5421 1]

No - I was just talking about selecting a group of spots and changing the code at the same time.Of course you can view most of the parking codes by pressing the P key until they display.How do you determine how many Delta spots need to be SKW and how many need to be CHQ and COM, etc?That was one problem we had when working on the initial AFCAD beta and using the individual codes - the SKW aircraft would run out of parking and start filling GA spots because the empty spots at the Delta Terminal had COM for a parking code.