Diamond Point

[Hans_Petter 1]

Occasionally I see some tiny runways in FU3. Then I forget all about it. Yesterday I landed at Diamond Point. I spotted a windsock floating in the air which is a bad sign. Once down on the tarmac I looked at the runway and the perspective looked right... for a B747. I was sitting in a Baron.I tried to look up Diamond Point in FLED. There's no package as far as I can see. I tried to spot the location but I guess I missed it. I wanted to wiggle an object or two and make them all snap to the elevation.What does your Diamond Point look like?Hans Petter

[Guest R_Driscoll]

Several packages for Diamond Point (and Protection Island) have been released. The earliest Diamond Pt package was a bit strange - you start at the water's edge! But later versions seemed OK and a very busy little world was created there, with boats etc moving around, and I have landed there many times. This was a good start point for going on to Fairchild (Port Angeles) and this whole north coast region was done in great detail by someone - properly placed houses, trees etc, and not just for the airport. And I would be surprised if Chris hasn't got a package for Diamond Pt too. He would certainly do it carefully and avoid 'Jumbo' mistakes. If you like I can send you my version of Diamond Pt by email - I forget who created this package. but it was some time ago.RobD.

[Guest Motormouse]

I'd guess that the package was by either Frank Betts, under the pseudonym of 'Kim Wermer',Jure Dolenec,or Naji....but there again I could be wrong !!:-wavePete

[Hans_Petter 1]

I finally found the airport in FLED. It's in my default scenery -- not within a package. I wiggled the runway a bit and it looked bigger the moment I "touched" it. However, it seemed to shrink again the moment I let go of it. Then I wiggled a couple of houses, saved and exited FLED. Then I launched another flight.The image shows my 747ish view of the runway. The red arrow points at the windsock in the sky. Why is this happening?Hans Petterhttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/87559.jpg

[Guest R_Driscoll]

It looks like you are at the correct altitude for Diamond Point (which is on a headland), but all of the scenery has been placed at the wrong altitude (possibly 0), so I would use a text editor, find the fbo2.cfg file, and look for the line 'fbo_center', and change the last entry to the height of Diamond Point runway. Or edit the package in FLED, move the airport identifier (the blue square when you first start editing the airport), and move this square to a point at the same height as your runway (i.e. a point close to the runway). I will try this tonight myself and check in case I've remembered wrong as I don't have my flightsim with me here at work. I forget who did the Diamond Pt package - remember that in the old days after the sim first came out there were over thirty people writing packages for the region - but the Protection Is, Diamond Pt, and the area just west of that was superbly done. Except in those days they wouldn't have know so much about getting taxiways right etc. Many early packages simply added scenery and moving objects to what was already there. But it sounds, Han Petter, like you're working with the LGS default scenery anyway.RobD.

[Christopher Low 5,331]

Hans,Every time that I have to install FU3, I have a checklist of default objects that need to be removed, or shifted in position. That windsock at Diamond Point is one of them. I assume that I added another windsock in my Diamond Point package, but I cannot remember for sure.One day, I will have to populate Protection Island again. I did this for my first Diamond Point package, but then I decided to rebuild the package from scratch, and Protection Island didn't get the "treatment".The reason that you are getting a "747 view" is because the runway is only 20 feet wide. You will get a similar view at Spanaway, and not much better at Whidbey Airpark. I hate those narrow runways (the San Francisco region ones are much nicer) :-)Chris Low.

[Hans_Petter 1]

When a 20 ft wide runway looks strange how about replacing it with a wider one? Alternatively, one might accept the width and make the tarmac look more like a bush strip. Correct me if I'm wrong but I wouldn't expect a white center line and trim lines on a runway being this narrow. Hans Petter

[Christopher Low 5,331]

Hans,You are probably correct, but that's the default runway that LGS provided. It is more likely that Diamond Point has a less defined strip, but changing this would involve everyone deleting the runway model using FLED.Chris Low.

[Hans_Petter 1]

I just checked Diamond Point in FS 2004. The location and the runway size/width/heading were reassuringly similar. However, according to Bill Gates this is an unmarked strip of asphalt out in the boonies. I see lots of trees but no white paint.This makes sense -- a narrow strip wouldn't get the same "paint job" as the runway of an international airport. We might replace the narrow runway's textures and get weathered asphalt with no graffiti :-)Hans Petter

[Guest effyouthree]

Yes it does - just in miniature.I posted this photo some time ago but it appears people may not have seen it or have forgotten ;)http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/87720.gifHere's all the info I can resonably post here too:FAA Identifier: 2WA1 Lat/Long: 48-05-33.333N / 122-55-42.620W48-05.55555N / 122-55.71033W48.0925925 / -122.9285056(estimated) Elevation: 262 ft. / 80 m (estimated) Variation: 21E (1985) From city: 8 miles NE of SEQUIM, WA Airport OperationsAirport use: Private use. Permission required prior to landing Sectional chart: SEATTLE Control tower: no ARTCC: SEATTLE CENTER FSS: SEATTLE FLIGHT SERVICE STATION [1-800-WX-BRIEF] Attendance: IREG Wind indicator: yes Segmented circle: yes Lights: DUSK-DAWN Beacon: white-green (lighted land airport) Nearby radio navigation aidsVOR radial/distance VOR name Freq Var CVVr203/12.2 PENN COVE VOR/DME 117.20 19E PAEr272/28.1 PAINE VOR/DME 110.60 20E NDB name Hdg/Dist Freq Var ID LOPEZ ISLAND 160/23.2 356 21E OPZ --- .--. --.. FRIDAY HARBOR 151/26.4 284 20E FHR ..-. .... .-. SKAGIT/BAY VIEW 201/30.4 240 21E BVS -... ...- ... KITSAP 329/36.7 206 20E PWT .--. .-- - Airport ServicesAirframe service: MINOR Powerplant service: MINOR Runway InformationRunway 10/28Dimensions: 2335 x 20 ft. / 712 x 6 m Surface: asphaltLENGTH HAS 5 FT GRVL SHOULDERS ON EACH SIDE. Runway edge lights: low intensity RUNWAY 10 RUNWAY 28 RWY28 preferred in windy conditionsTraffic pattern: left (10) right (28) Displaced threshold: 100 ft. 200 ft. Obstructions: none 15 ft. pline, 300 ft. from runway -------------------------------------------------------------------So folks, center lines are in, edges are out. Would someone like to do a new strip model for it? It needs center lines, 20ft asphalt width and a 5ft gravel shoulder each side. Total = 30ft wide x 2335ft. No piano keys or other markings. Anyone working on a package should also add my segmented circle to the windsock. As you can see from the photo, this is a real pretty place (when not bathed in fog...) and the strip is kept in really good nick by the owner-occupiers at the airpark there. The Swift Association also uses 2WA1 as their meeting place (someone want to do a Swift model?).:-waveRegards,**************Jonathan Point**************"I'd rather be down here wishing I was up there than up there wishing I was down here"

[Guest effyouthree]

Actually, I've just done it (the strip). I'll post it next week though as I'm out of time here ;)Have a good weekend, All :-waveRegards,**************Jonathan Point**************"I'd rather be down here wishing I was up there than up there wishing I was down here"

[Christopher Low 5,331]

Hmmm....I might have to modify my Diamond Point package. That info indicates low intensity runway edge lighting here. I have removed ALL of the lighting in the latest version of this package, so I guess that this needs to be reinstated :-)I will also add your "segmented circle", and I will probably sort out Protection Island at the same time. You can expect a serious number of trees on this island after I have finished ;-)Chris Low.

[Hans_Petter 1]

Regarding "a serious number of trees" this seems to be exactly the thing that we're missing. The Seattle region is abundantly forested yet most of our airports come out with a few nicely pruned park trees.However, there are two good reasons for this:First of all, a flight simulator is no fun when the fps grind to a halt. Lots of single trees do have a significant impact.Secondly, most of the original and "early" tree models were indeed pretty park trees.Things have changed for two other reasons:Computers have come a long way since FU3 was created and most of us get decent frame rates with quite heavy polygon counts.Then we have all the new trees. Most of them have been made in Australia and they look a lot more realistic than the stock trees. Jon also made the composite tree models where we can plant an entire grove as one model. I would suggest Jon's groves to fill in larger areas and then some select single trees to round it all off.Still, since lots a trees may be too much for some of the Jurassic computers still being used, how about setting up a separate tree package? Then those of us who can't handle all those trees will simply elect to skip the tree package.Hans Petter

[Christopher Low 5,331]

Hans,I suppose that I could create a separate Protection Island package. As for the "groves of trees", I am generally not in favour of using stuff like this in my packages. I like to "hand plant" every single tree, since this makes them look more natural. I only add trees where there are dark patches on the texture map, and this is something that I could never do with "groves of trees" :-)Chris Low.

[Guest R_Driscoll]

Jon, I know the Kitsap NDB and I think I've used that a bit, but I don't think I've ever seen or used the other three (LOPEZ ISLAND, FRIDAY HARBOR, SKAGIT/BAY VIEW). Are they new NDB's, and have they been put in the FU3 beacons file? Which is the main NDB for navigating to Diamond Point, and are any of them located at the OM or MM? Also, is Diamond Point a relative? ;) RobD