Classic AI at Kai Tak

[speedbird591]

Just a few screenshots to show how my classic AI project is going. So far I've found 55 aircraft of the 70s/80s of reasonable quality - but there are still a few more I want to download! I've written 'unrealistic' flight plans (they visit regional Chinese airports) so that I can have regular aircraft movements without having to send them off all over the World. There is one take-off and one landing scheduled every 5 mins (one movement every two and a half minutes) and I have managed that through 72 flight schedules, each one involving four one-hour stopovers in Kai Tak every 24 hours. :roll: The excess slots are filled with extra Cathay and Air China flights to make the balance more realistic. Even with that many working aircraft, it only leaves me with a dozen on the apron at any given time, so I've also programmed a couple of dozen semi-static aircraft to make it look busier.

There will be no flying on Sundays and I have a backup flightplan that will send most of the aircraft away early on Sunday morning. This is because at some stage, I want to create a museum on the airport with older (prop) aircraft that can do an airshow and joyrides every Sunday

FPS? Do you really have to ask? Down to about 15 on the apron but still fairly smooth - and I still have all the sliders maxed out.

Next thing is to get to grips with AFCAD. The cargo aircraft are out of control and even though their aircraft.cfgs only say CARGO they often nick prime gates and ramp spots leaving the pax out in the boondocks. I expect I'll have to do something with AFCAD to send them where I want them.

[TSR2]

Thats bloody beautiful!! Great work, the best I've seen

[DaveB]

Indeed Ben.. most impressive

ATB

DaveB :tab:

[Garry Russell]

Brilliant Ian

Garry

[Paul K]

I agree, that really looks impressive.

[petermcleland]

Next thing is to get to grips with AFCAD. The cargo aircraft are out of control and even though their aircraft.cfgs only say CARGO they often nick prime gates and ramp spots leaving the pax out in the boondocks. I expect I'll have to do something with AFCAD to send them where I want them.

Ian,

I just followed the BOAC Cargo B707 G-AVPB into Kai Tak tonight (on that RTW Flight Plan)...She parked very nicely in the dark on Ramp Cargo 42 :flying:

[speedbird591]

Thank you for your kind comments, gentlemen I wasn't sure how it was going to work out but I have to admit that I'm quite pleased with the first draft - there is plenty of opportunity too for improving it (or screwing it up ) I think what makes it so appealing is that the 70s/80s was an overlap from early passenger jets to the ubiquitous 'mass transport' jumbos. So there were still plenty of 'minis' around to give variety. And with most international airlines flying into Hong Kong you could see almost any livery at some time or another. Although not all the liveries overlap accurately, the general atmosphere feels just right for that time.

Confession time I wanted to settle down and do some aircraft spotting so I printed out a timetable to catch particular aircraft. When the wrong ones started appearing, it slowly dawned on me that I'd forgotten to program the flight plans in UTC and used local time instead. D'oh! Never mind - only 72 flight plans to modify

Concorde is a bit of a worry. It's not a great model but nice to have around. It taxis, takes off and flies OK but landing is a bit of a worry. I followed it on a Rwy 13 approach using Traffic Toolbox and it ignored the ILS and made a straight-in approach from 10 miles out - flying through the middle of a hill in the process - when it touched down the screen went blank for a moment and it appeared on a stand :o I might try using another air file (or change it to Air France colours!)

I just followed the BOAC Cargo B707 G-AVPB into Kai Tak tonight (on that RTW Flight Plan)...She parked very nicely in the dark on Ramp Cargo 42 :flying:

It doesn't behave as well for me, Peter. I haven't your authority! It seems to prefer Gate Heavy 32 :roll: I think I might have an overabundance of freighters and they may be a bit short of choice. I think I'll reclassify the Gates Heavy 48-52 as Ramp Cargo and see if that helps. Before I do start meddling with AFCAD, could you give me a pointer as to the original FlyTampa airport bgl so that I can back it up, please?

Regards

Ian

[speedbird591]

I finally got to do a little bit of spotting and watched the AI version of DM's VC10 making an impeccable checkerboard approach, co-incidentally just as Concorde was waiting to take-off. A masterclass for the AI Concorde pilot in how it should be done?




Perhaps not :roll: ....



Ian

[petermcleland]

I just followed the BOAC Cargo B707 G-AVPB into Kai Tak tonight (on that RTW Flight Plan)...She parked very nicely in the dark on Ramp Cargo 42 :flying:

It doesn't behave as well for me, Peter. I haven't your authority! It seems to prefer Gate Heavy 32 :roll: I think I might have an overabundance of freighters and they may be a bit short of choice. I think I'll reclassify the Gates Heavy 48-52 as Ramp Cargo and see if that helps. Before I do start meddling with AFCAD, could you give me a pointer as to the original FlyTampa airport bgl so that I can back it up, please?

Ian,

Here is the file you want to mess with:-

X:\..............................\Flight Simulator 9\Addon Scenery\FlyTampa-HongKong\scenery\af2_VHHX.bgl

Right drag it to one side and let go the mouse button...Choose "Copy here"...It will make a copy down at the bottom of the list called "Copy of af2_VHHX.bgl"...Do NOT under any circumstances leave it there like that of it will STILL load into FS9. You MUST rename that file so that it does NOT end with ".bgl". I rename it like this "Copy of af2_VHHX.bgl.ORI"...That .ORI tells me that it is the original and it also prevents the file from loading.

BTW you can always find from AFCAD where the file is located...Start AFCAD and do the airport search by clicking the First Icon (an open folder). Key in VHHX and click the Search button...Here is your first SHOCK, HORROR...You have THREE files listed instead of the usual TWO. You would normally have just one Mod and one Stock, but in the case of this airport Fly Tampa have had to do the approaches and they have done it with an AFCAD file. The approaches file is in this case the top one listed but please do nothing with this file...Certainly do NOT resave it, because that will simply destroy all the approaches. You will recognise this file if you open it by accident as it will just have the Red Cross airport datum mark in the centre and nothing else...go back and search again and this time select the second one from the top of the list of three...Bingo! now you will see that you have the right file.

While that file is open, you can find its location by clicking File at top left and then choosing "Properties"...In the window that opens you will see the file's name and address down in the bottom slot called "From File:"

BTW...If you go Lists > Parking then you will see by scrolling down that there are only 11 Ramp Cargo places and three of those are limited to 125 feet radius and one of those is 42 where my B707 was sent.

[petermcleland]

Ian,

I'm taking this opportunity to explain a little bug that could cause you a lot of grief in Traffic flightplanning and watching...It is not strictly a Bug but it relates to a problem well know to real navigators that have used a sextant (particularly when crossing the Pacific). The problem stems from the fact that FlightPlans and Sight Reduction Tables do not just need the Time in GMT...They also need the DATE in GMT. When you are in the Large Longitudes, like when crossing the Pacific Ocean, it can be quite mind boggling to work out what the present GMT Date is especially when you are not too far from the International Date Line.

This problem rears its head quite high at Hong Kong and will certainly cause you to look in vain for your carefully FlightPlanned Traffic. The problem arises in FS9 for the following reasons:-

1. Weekly FlightPlans use a day of the week number...0 is Sunday, 1 is Monday etc.
2. FS9 > World > Time and Date displays both Local and GMT time windows, so you can set either.
3. That window also displays a calendar with the day of the week and the date in the month.
4. Unfortunately the day of the week and date in the month do NOT change at GMT midnight...They change at LOCAL midnight.

Take the case of my RTW B707...It is FlightPlanned to arrive at Kai Tak at 18:59 GMT on Tuesday...So I go to my saved Traffic watching flight at Kai Tak and change the time to 18:52 GMT (7 minutes prior to arrival time make sure it is near enough to avoid the AI Crash) and I change the date to Tuesday 22nd July 2008 (yesterday). The flight reloads and I start Tools > Traffic Toolbox > Explorer...I then start search for Speedbird 77. I will look for a long time, because it will NOT be there...Why is it not there?...The answer is shown at the very top of the Explorer window...It is showing MON 1852 (the wrong day of the week)...So I go back to Time and Season and advance it a day to Wednesday 23rd July and click OK...The flight reloads and I start Traffic Toolbox > Explorer again and BINGO! the date at the top is Tue 22nd and a quick click on the "To" column to sort it and a scroll down to VHHX will reveal Speedbird 77 Enroute...I right click it and choose View and close the explorer window. I'm now viewing G-AVPB in Full Screen Mode on the approach to Kai Tak...A Shifted Z reveals that she is descending through 6000 feet...Of course it is pitch dark but I will soon start to see the lights of the city...

I hope that explains just how to get round this snag...Just be sure to check the day of the week at the top of the Explorer window is the correct day of the week for your FlightPlan...If not then advance or retard your FS9 to move it to the correct day :flying: