• Which the release of FS2020 we see an explosition of activity on the forun and of course we are very happy to see this. But having all questions about FS2020 in one forum becomes a bit messy. So therefore we would like to ask you all to use the following guidelines when posting your questions:

    • Tag FS2020 specific questions with the MSFS2020 tag.
    • Questions about making 3D assets can be posted in the 3D asset design forum. Either post them in the subforum of the modelling tool you use or in the general forum if they are general.
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    • Questions about airport design can be posted in the FS2020 airport design forum. Once airport development tools have been updated for FS2020 you can post tool speciifc questions in the subforums of those tools as well of course.
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    • Questions about SimConnect can be posted in the SimConnect forum.

    Any other question that is not specific to an aspect of development or tool can be posted in the General chat forum.

    By following these guidelines we make sure that the forums remain easy to read for everybody and also that the right people can find your post to answer it.

FSX Planner How-To Guides

R

rf360m

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961
Hi all,

We have created a web page specifically for FSX Planner within our website. The url is www.zbluesoftware.com/fsxplanner.

These web pages are intended to house a variety of useful pages to help people get the most out of FSX Planner and designing airports for FSX in general.

We have included the first of several tutorials for FSX Planner. This first one covers the various ways in which taxiways can be created and edited within the FSX Planner. This tutorial is available here: http://www.zbluesoftware.com/fsxplanner/taxiways.cfm.

We will add more of these as times goes by.

I hope they are helpful!
-Russell
 
Russell,

Great tutorial on taxiways and how to build them. I really found the explainations to be helpful. I do have one question though. What does the hold short orientation do and could you give an example of when they would be used for us newbies. Many thanks.
George
 
Hold Short nodes have 2 characteristics that must be set.

1. The distance from the edge of the runway at the departure taxiway point entrance only
2. Orientation FORWARD or REVERSE

If you look at the visual markings of a hold short on a taxiway there are 4 lines drawn. Two lines are solid and 2 lines are dashed. The solid lines must always face the taxiway side of the runway and the dash lines face the Runway.

This tells the Pilot he can crossover the dash lines on exit of a runway before contacting ground but must stop before the solid lines when reaching the runway for takeoff when contacting the Tower.

In some cases after working on a Taxiway the Hold Short node may have to be oriented in a reverse setting so the lines draw correctly. If you leave the orientation= line completely out of the XML then FSX uses FORWARD as the draw setting by default for all nodes.

All other nodes such has NORMAL or ILS Hold Short/NO Draw nodes do not require a orientation and makes no difference which way it is set (FORWARD or REVERSE). Visually those nodes (if a visual model is drawn) does not have to be oriented in any way.

No 1 above effects User/AI behavior
No 2 above does not effect User/AI behavior
 
Jim, I thank you for this wonderful explanation of the hold short orientation. I do a lot of flying from meetings to other meetings and I knew about the hold short marking, but not about the solid and dashed lines and what the meant. Many thanks for helping out this newbie.
George
 
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Russell

There are several areas of the 1st Tutorial that can mislead designers that don't have a good working knowledge of FSX. We are seeing a whole new generation of User/Designers that do not have a strong background in Airport operation design and aircraft behavior.

Closed: The closed type taxiway is similar to the taxi type taxiway with the difference being that it is closed and won't be used by Air Traffic Control.
Click to expand...

A Closed Taxiway does not stop ATC from vectoring Aircraft (User/AI) ground traffic onto that taxiway. A closed taxiway only means that a "X" is placed on the taxiway using a visual model embedded into taxiway code.

In order to close a taxiway as per the rules of FSX, a break in the link line must occur. FSX by default will normally close a taxiway with the break in the taxiway line and then overlay the end node to another node so it does not show the break.

Vehicle: The vehicle type taxiway is designed for airport traffic. You need to add these to allow your airport vehicles to move around the airport.
Click to expand...

You do not need a vehicle link for animated ground support vehicles to travel from parking spot to parking spot. They will also use a normal Taxiway or Apron link/parking path link. However, it is best that a vehicle link system is designed (attached to the taxiway paths correctly) so ground Aircraft are not held up in their taxi instructions. Also if the User aircraft has Crash Detection turned on then if by chance a animated vehicle runs into a User plane FSX resets.

Note that an ils hold short node requires either a FORWARD or REVERSE orientation.
Click to expand...

NORMAL and ILS Hold Short nodes do not require a specific orientation. There is a line in the XML for orientation= but is not needed by the compiler for any type node. All nodes by default are set to "FORWARD" if the orientation line is left out of the XML. The only exception is a Hold_Short node which may require a REVERSE orientation if the taxiway link line is drawn in the reverse manner.

Maybe some of this can be clarified in the tutorial which can be a powerful tool for increasing the knowledge and skills of the User/Designer when working with the FSXPlanner Utility.
 
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Thanks for the advice Jim. I will update the appropriate sections based on your comments above.

Would you like me to credit you in those sections?

-Russell
 
jvile said:
You do not need a vehicle link for animated ground support vehicles to travel from parking spot to parking spot. They will also use a normal Taxiway or Apron link/parking path link. However, it is best that a vehicle link system is designed (attached to the taxiway paths correctly) so ground Aircraft are not held up in their taxi instructions. Also if the User aircraft has Crash Detection turned on then if by chance a animated vehicle runs into a User plane FSX resets.
Click to expand...

The vehicle roads have to be linked to the taxiways in order for a fuel truck "to dispatch" a flight. A mere crossing without a node, between a vehicle lane and a taxiway (or parking taxiway) is not recognized by the vehicle. And because of this, a taxiing aircraft will sometimes meet with a vehicle at those crosspoints and look like a crash.

BTW, Russell, great tutorial! It's a nice start for what promisses to be an excellent web site.

Jorge
 
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Jorge

I thought I said that when I said

However, it is best that a vehicle link system is designed (attached to the taxiway paths correctly) so ground Aircraft are not held up in their taxi instructions.
Click to expand...

I agree I did not expound on the word "correctly" and the linking node but if you look at all FSX default vehicle paths and any that I have done since last October (KATL was my first), I have a connection node when crossing over the parking path.

If a vehicle path node is not going to be attached to the parking taxiway (many uploaded airports) then it is best not to even build a vehicle road system. This will force the Fuel Truck to use the Taxiway structure that the Plane uses but that is not a good idea except in crowded GA parking spots such as my KSMF, KMIA or KSAV.

Google Earth is a good example that will show the vehicle roads on a Tarmac and Ramp and how they are layed out as per the FAA documents (width, line draw, distance, etc.)
 
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Jim,

My intention was not correcting what you were saying. I was only trying to emphasize the need of a "node connection" between the airport vehicle roads and the taxiways. And I am aware of the excellent job you have done at Savanah (KSAV) related to vehicle lanes design.

Jorge
 
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