Can I convert aeroplanner maps to Fly!II maps?

[zfehr 1]

I have downloaded the ecw plugin so that I can view the Fly maps within paintshop pro. What I would like to be able to do is convert all of the maps I have from Aeroplanner (sectionals, TAC's, Hi/Lo IFR enroute for entire US) which are in the .geo/.nos format to the .ecw/.map format used by Fly. Is there a way to do this? I thought I had seen a tutorial by RW a while back but cannot find it now... maybe just looking in the wrong places. Any help would be greatly appreciated.Zane

[zfehr 1]

I located a program called Global Mapper v6 that claims it can open both the geo/nos as well as the ecw type files. They do have a free download to try it out but the ability to export to a different format is disabled. So far it opens the geo/nos files without any difficulty, interesting to see just how they are handled. When I try to open the ecw/map files from within Fly!II's map folder the program states that there is information missing, mainly the projection and datum information. I entered identical information as used for the geo/nos files and am met with an inverted (vertically mirrored) map that is not stretched to compensate for latitudinal distortions, that is also interesting. I had hoped to be able export the geo/nos charts which are of much better clarity over to the ecw/map format but am not sure now that I will be able to do that and further am unsure that Fly!II used a true ecw format but instead their own version of it. There's gotta be someone that knows more about this than I do and I'd sure love your help making this work.Zane

[zfehr 1]

Found a tutorial over at the simvol site, fortunately translated from French to English. Hopefully will have the entire US covered with clear, readable sectionals, Hi/Lo enroute IFR, TAC's and if I can find a reasonable free source some approach plates.Zane

[Guest Eagle]

Zane, check out this site for approach plates:http://www.myairplane.com/databases/approach/index.php

[zfehr 1]

Still have the problem of opening and converting the geo/nos format over to anything. The chartviewing program (Softchart) I've got will open them but has no ability to export to a different format. So far GlobalMapper is the only other program I have found that will open them and allow for export to a different format including ecw, just don't know if the ecw format they use will also work within Fly. I know that when I try to open the ecw files in GlobalMapper they don't look right.Zane

[zfehr 1]

Finally found a program to convert .nos files to .tiffThis allows me then to open the tiff within Paintshop and convert them to .ecw files.Fly!II uses the ecw file but doesn't use the associated file (a .pr* something or rather) but instead uses its own .map file with information for position awareness within the sim. I will be monkeying around with these ecw files because they tend to be much larger than the nos files from which they came, ie the L-1 Lo-alt IFR enroute after converting is 149MB in size! Have a feeling that they are shrunk down even further for use in the sim.I will let those that are interested what I find.Zane

[zfehr 1]

In my ongoing research and contribution to my own question/help inquiry I now have been able to shrink the size of the ecw files and they are now about 20-25MB in size... better. I am now trying to allocate the map types so that you can select which type map you want shown instead of everything being a sectional like is presently available. I have been able to deduce the following map type associations:Type Map1 Sectional2 Terminal Area Chart3 Doesn't appear to function4 Arrivals (STAR)5 Airport diagrams6 Topographic7 Misc8 Departure (SID)9 IFR Lo altitude enrouteIn the menu selections there is a place for IFR Hi altitude enroute but so far "3" which would be the logical choice given the above doesn't work, nor does "0" so what does work? I have no idea so far, just that there are supposed to be 9 map type associations. If someone knows the file that controls these associations I could see if there was a typo error for number 3, also could change the name of "Topographic" or "Misc" for "WAC" or "ONC."Also in the .map file there is a value for "grid" of which I don't know the function but it is different with various maps. The example .map file available from simvol just uses 2 and 2 for this value but it is set up only for displaying airport diagrams per the tutorial.Looking for someone who has already been there and can offer some advice... :-zhelp anyone?Zane

[zfehr 1]

And yet another update...Found a tutorial by Rob Westhouse (curiously didn't show up in the avsim forum search, must be archived) which explained the grid settings. Now to just get the IFR Hi altitude enroute to show properly.Zane

[zfehr 1]

7th in my continuing series... I have the L1 lo alt enroute working beautifully. The L2 is not a square (actually not a rectangular) projection and is canted off to the left, this gives numerous problems with readability as well as lining up the reference points so I'm gonna remake it with the image rotated and see how that comes out, the corners will reveal the rotation but the overall chart should work much better. Still no luck with getting map type 3 to work or find the file or entry that controls map types and their descriptions. Any beta testers or original Fly development team that have a clue about this please pipe in.Zane

[Guest Fly II Pilot]

Zane,I look forward to "flying" your maps.Keep it up!Regards,http://www.avsim.com/hangar/fly/dfdg/banneraa.jpg

[zfehr 1]

Hello Alejandro,Nice to hear from you. Your expertise might not be in this part of the Fly!II sim but do you recall the file and its place within the file hierarchy that controlled these map settings? None of my futzing (which is usually how I figure things out!) has been successful at getting a map to show as a Hi alt enroute.I did notice however that when there are grid entries indicating alignment located at the southern and eastern portions of the map I don't get as many graphics errors (the dreaded map bug!) so I have to futz with that a little further and make sure it wasn't just a fluke.Regards,Zane

[Guest Fly II Pilot]

Zane,Unfortunately, my home PC is down so I can't even look into what I did some time ago. I did play around with the maps and was able to create one after a while. I can't remember who's tutorial I used.Once I get my PC up and running, I'll be able to take a look at the file layouts and see if I can redecipher how it works.Sorry,http://www.avsim.com/hangar/fly/dfdg/banneraa.jpg

[Guest Rob Westhouse]

Map Type:What exactly are you trying to have happen with a map type of 3 (Enroute Chart)?It has been a while since I ran Fly2 or done any work with maps. As far as I can recall, the map type entry had little effect within Fly2 and no effect in Fly1.If memory serves me correct, the only thing this entry does in Fly2 is to allow you to list maps of the same type in the menu window when selecting a map to display.Rectangular Maps:Fly expects all maps to be rectangular with north oriented at the top of the map. As maps get further and further from the equator towards the poles, you will notice on a flat map that the grid lines for longitude become curved horizontally and closer together at the top (North of Equator) or bottom (South of Equator).This was the reason for the grid references. It allows Fly to figure out where on the map corresponds to a specific lat/long location. If the grid lines were perfectly vertical/horizontal, you would not need so many grid references.For the L2 map you are trying to do, it would be best for Fly to have it displayed with the grid lines vertical/horizontal although if they are not, sufficient grid references should allow Fly to place the airplane icon reasonably accurately on your map.If I were doing the L2 map, I would create a large square/rectangular image with the L2 map placed in the middle, with the lat/lon lines hor/vert. With a map such as the L2, you would find your plane icon flying outside the central map image when you are flying past the extents of the central L2 map image.I would then extend the grid lines on the L2 map manually with an image editor to give additional grid references for areas outside the map image. I did this quite often when creating new maps to quickly and easily add additional grid references for my maps other than those grid references on the map where lines intersected.These lines I added allowed me to easily move the cursor on the image to the locations I needed for the corresponding x,y pixel in the image. My final map image would not have these lines, I simply used them as an aid tabulating my grid references. My maps generally were farther north from the equator than most and required more grid references for greater icon mapping accuracy.Hope this helps...http://members.shaw.ca/fly2/images/snoopyace.gifRob Westhouse, VE5VKSaskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada"Land of Living Skies"

[zfehr 1]

Hello Rob,And many thanks for the tutorial ( http://members.shaw.ca/fly2/ ) that I found very useful. Yes, the only use for the numbering of the charts is so Fly!II can organize them for faster selection manually. Since I have several charts (105 I believe) this makes it much easier if I am manually trying to sort through say just the lo alt enroute IFR ones. The finding I had was that when the number 3 was entered in the *.map file it did not put the chart into any category, instead you could only find it if show all maps was selected. The selections listed in reply #6 goes over what does work. The file I am looking for is the one that would handle these map assignments, this would allow me to see if there were a typographical error rendering the selection #3 unusable and also possibly change the names of the misc and topographic listings to WAC and ONC (maybe more useful for flying).I had already come the conclusion that I will have to rotate the L-2 chart to make it readable... even making the graphic size larger doesn't compensate for the way the chart is rendered at its normal angle and in Fly!II it is nearly illegible. Your advice on adding some additional lines for plotting will certainly get used... thanks.Best wishes,Zane