9 replies to this topic

[AmericanAirFan]

Hey guys Im working on a Highly detailed AFCAD but I need to know how to exclude certain airlines from certain gates but I do know how to make airlines be at certain gates please help me this is what Im working on.

[AmericanAirFan]

oopd wrong forum mods can u move this to general aviation?

[IBtheSarge]

(Move accomplished, no problem    )  Now for your question:

You can't prohibit ATC from parking an airline wherever there's an open spot; however, understanding how ATC decides where to park which airline will give you a leg up in planning what goes where.

The FIRST thing you need to do is look at your traffic flow -- i.e., if you have 25 aircraft arriving every hour, but only ten departing, you're always going to need 15 gates available for new arrivals.  That means you need 40 gates:

1st hour - 25 aircraft arriving, need 25 open gates
end of 1st hour - 10 aircraft departing, only 10 gates open
2nd hour - 25 aircraft arriving, need additional 15 gates
Original 25 gates + 15 gates = 40 gates

So check your traffic flow carefully.

And NEXT, understand how ATC assigns parking so you can properly identify each gate (and remember, airlines DO share gates; they are leased from the airport and airport management assigns gate usaged based on the traffic flow.  If United has leased gate A-1, but only occupies it 6 hours out of the day, airport management may lease A-1 to Northwest for 8 hours of usage and Delta for another 6 hours, and American for 4 hours, depending on flight arrival and departure times.)

ATC assigns parking by the following priority:

1.  An unoccupied gate of the correct size for aicraft to be parked, airline of aircraft to be parked is the FIRST designated airline for that spot.  If there are no open gates of the correct size for that airline ....

2.  An unoccupied gate of the correct size for aircraft to be parked, airline of aircraft to be parked is the SECOND designated airline for that spot.  If there are still no open gates of the correct size for that airline ....

3.  An unoccupied gate of the correct size for aircraft to be parked, and NO airlines are designated for that gate.  And if ATC can't find a spot using this priority ....

4.  Any unoccupied gate of the correct size for aircraft to be parked, regardless of airline designation.

5.  If none of the above options are available, the arriving aircraft will simply disappear from the simulation upon landing ... and it will remain on the runway after landing for an ungodly amount of time while ATC tries to find a parking spot.

Because of options #4 and #5 above, it is EXTREMELY important that you know how many of what airline are arriving and taking off and WHEN those arrivals and departures are occuring.

Sorry if this is more detail than you wanted, but all of that has to be considered when making/modifying an AFCAD.

[AmericanAirFan]

thanks Sarge but I have a question I have plenty of Southwest gates Asigned to southwest but they all ended up parking at the cargo! ramp which was only assigned for cargo airliners how comes?

[IBtheSarge]

AmericanAirFan, on Jun 1 2005, 01:30 PM, said:

thanks Sarge but I have a question I have plenty of Southwest gates Asigned to southwest but they all ended up parking at the cargo! ramp which was only assigned for cargo airliners how comes?

If your SWA gates are Gate Small or Gate Medium, and you're trying to put one of the big boys in there, you're not meeting the primary concern of ATC logic -- "a gate of the correct size for the aircraft to be parked."  Gate Small will handle a CRJ or ERJ (or similar size), Gate Medium will handle 737's, but it takes a Gate Large to handle the 747, 757, etc.

Remember #4 -- if ATC doesn't find the correct size gate with SWA as the first or second airline for the spot, it will look for an undesignated spot or just park it anywhere it can find the correct sized spot.

Another thing to look at is to make SURE the parking spots are properly connected to the ramp routes-taxiways-runway.  On the AFCAD main toolbar, under Tools, select Fault Finder.  It will check your connectivity to make sure everything is functional.  If the spot isn't connected correctly all the way to the runway, ATC won't use it as the aircraft can't be moved along an unbroken path.

Make sure your cargo spots are set up ONLY for cargo and any aircraft you want to go there have "atc_parking_types=cargo" in the aircraft.cfg file.  Aircraft you want to ONLY go to the gates, "atc_parking_types=gate" in the aircraft.cfg file.  Again, however, if ATC doesn't find the correct sized "gate" for the aircraft you want to park, it will put that aircraft in ANY spot that is big enough to hold it.

Edited by sarge, 01 June 2005 - 01:38 PM.

[AmericanAirFan]

Thank you yes thats what it was I found it out just after I asked lol but thanks for these very detailed posts Ill keep a note of them

[IBtheSarge]

AmericanAirFan, on Jun 1 2005, 02:50 PM, said:

Thank you yes thats what it was I found it out just after I asked lol but thanks for these very detailed posts Ill keep a note of them

No problem ... when you THINK you've got it down, try creating a brand new, fictional airport out in the boonies somewhere, from scratch -- nothing to modify, YOU have to create everything for the first time.  Now THERE'S a learning curve for ya!!!!!    

[AmericanAirFan]

sarge, on Jun 1 2005, 04:14 PM, said:

AmericanAirFan, on Jun 1 2005, 02:50 PM, said:

Thank you yes thats what it was I found it out just after I asked lol but thanks for these very detailed posts Ill keep a note of them

No problem ... when you THINK you've got it down, try creating a brand new, fictional airport out in the boonies somewhere, from scratch -- nothing to modify, YOU have to create everything for the first time.  Now THERE'S a learning curve for ya!!!!!    

thanks I uploaded to avsim its already got about 250 downloads! must be popular also I got bored and made a 30,000 foot by 1,000 foot runway       LOL yes I was bored

[IBtheSarge]

AmericanAirFan, on Jun 3 2005, 04:38 PM, said:

sarge, on Jun 1 2005, 04:14 PM, said:

AmericanAirFan, on Jun 1 2005, 02:50 PM, said:

Thank you yes thats what it was I found it out just after I asked lol but thanks for these very detailed posts Ill keep a note of them

No problem ... when you THINK you've got it down, try creating a brand new, fictional airport out in the boonies somewhere, from scratch -- nothing to modify, YOU have to create everything for the first time.  Now THERE'S a learning curve for ya!!!!!    

thanks I uploaded to avsim its already got about 250 downloads! must be popular also I got bored and made a 30,000 foot by 1,000 foot runway       LOL yes I was bored

Good job ... I d/l'd it around the 290 mark and I see it's at/over 300 this morning.  

Do what I did .... find a spot out in the middle of nowhere.  Flatten your airport area (either add a flatten switch to your scenery.cfg file in FS9 main directory or use Derek Leung's FSSC to create a flatten BGL), create exclusions to get rid of unwanted autogens (if any) and then build a complete airport (in my case, a complete airbase).

You can work on it at your leisure, since it's only a learning project; you set the pace of development.  Put everything in there that AFCAD will let you, then start putting in macros (objects) of buildings, trees, vehicles, etc. and mess around with the process to reduce framerate hits.  By the time you finish it, you'll know as much as you're ever gonna know about the different programs you'll use and have half as much hair as you have now.  

[AmericanAirFan]

sarge, on Jun 4 2005, 08:42 AM, said:

AmericanAirFan, on Jun 3 2005, 04:38 PM, said:

sarge, on Jun 1 2005, 04:14 PM, said:

AmericanAirFan, on Jun 1 2005, 02:50 PM, said:

Thank you yes thats what it was I found it out just after I asked lol but thanks for these very detailed posts Ill keep a note of them

No problem ... when you THINK you've got it down, try creating a brand new, fictional airport out in the boonies somewhere, from scratch -- nothing to modify, YOU have to create everything for the first time.  Now THERE'S a learning curve for ya!!!!!    

thanks I uploaded to avsim its already got about 250 downloads! must be popular also I got bored and made a 30,000 foot by 1,000 foot runway       LOL yes I was bored

Good job ... I d/l'd it around the 290 mark and I see it's at/over 300 this morning.  

Do what I did .... find a spot out in the middle of nowhere.  Flatten your airport area (either add a flatten switch to your scenery.cfg file in FS9 main directory or use Derek Leung's FSSC to create a flatten BGL), create exclusions to get rid of unwanted autogens (if any) and then build a complete airport (in my case, a complete airbase).

You can work on it at your leisure, since it's only a learning project; you set the pace of development.  Put everything in there that AFCAD will let you, then start putting in macros (objects) of buildings, trees, vehicles, etc. and mess around with the process to reduce framerate hits.  By the time you finish it, you'll know as much as you're ever gonna know about the different programs you'll use and have half as much hair as you have now.  

wow thanks for the insite Sarge I admire your long paragraphs of detailed posts Im sure your work is amazing!