anthony_d

December 4, 2019

Hello,

When it's snowing and in particular when I'm in cloud, my Beechcraft B1900 will gradually lose airspeed to the point where it is no longer able to climb and it starts sinking.

There are a number of anti ice switches, and apart from the pitot static, it seems that some of the switches will do something - but only sometimes.

Prop Auto / Manual. I switch both of these on. My torque is still well below what I can normally achieve with these engines. I'd expect the engine to fully deice, but the torque simply doesn't respond. It's stuck around 2300ftlb at 3000-12000feet

WShield Anti Ice. I select these on the normal position

Surface De-ce: Single/Manual. I give this a one shot, and sometimes I try to hold it down. Sometimes this switch has saved my bacon, and other times it does nothing. It seems this should be the switch that clears the wings, but I'm unconvinced that it does.

Fuel Vent, Stall Warn, Alt Static, Brake De-ice. All on. They seem to be ancilliary systems, and I don't anticipate them to do anything to flight surfaces or engines.

Running x-plane 11.40, B1900D Version 1.2

Can someone give a definitive guide on how these antiice switches are actually working in X-Plane.

November 25, 2019

OK that explains that then. I thought for a moment I had missed out on a new art asset hidden in the darkest depths of the library folder structure.

November 24, 2019

Where do you get those tall fuel tanks? I’ve seen the silos, and the small/medium/large fuel tanks, but not those ones,

November 20, 2019

Nearly a month has gone by. So what on earth had happened? Well I was departing from RJNF Fukui in Japan, when I suffered a loss of rudder. Oh dear I thought. This isn't an X-plane induced failure. This is a USB failure. So some quick thinking I plugged my rudder pedals into another USB port. All was fine until around 4000ft climb out I lost all other USB ports except one. It was clearly a failed flight which no abnormals checklist could ever prepare a pilot for (I wouldn't have been able to load up such a checklist since my mouse was wiped out by the same failure.

Anyway, the whole PC failed to power on just two days later. It turns out my motherboard had died. So after replacing my PSU and motherboard, I finally got my machine working again.

So now I'm back in action, I've managed to make it from RJNO (Oki, Japan) to the Aleutian Islands off Alaska.

Oki airport is a small airport by Japanese standards, but one with plenty of detail.

Now continuing on my round the world trip, I'm finding that much of the pacific rim around here has been 3D'ed. So I managed to make it all to way to PATU Casco Cove CGS before I found another 2D airport. This truly is a remote place, and I think it's the westernmost airport in the united states (or easternmost, if you ignore the wiggle in the dateline)

Then onwards to PAAK Akta. Another very small airfield.

So from here I head east to the continental part of North America. There's a lot of gateway airports here already, but I'm sure there will also be plenty more 2D airports that I might land upon.

Here's hoping for no more nasty surprises. Motherboard failure wasn't as expensive as all that, but it's been an expensive year for repairs to my house, so it wasn't so welcome in that context.

October 23, 2019

2 hours ago, Janov said:

Do you use the "numbers with dark edge" (as opposed to clicking on the number until the "no edge" version comes up for a seamless sign) on purpose to save time? I guess it really doesn´t matter and I could easily see you doing this - I have thought about doing that myself.

Generally it's dark edge. It's a time saver.

I map out the markings polygon, Ctrl-Q, Rotate, Copy, paste and move it.

I generally use these X coordinates for number boundaries:
0.003, 0.093, 0.181, 0.272, 0.363, 0.454, 0.545, 0.636, 0.727, 0.8, 0.89

Then it's just muscle memory, rythm and lots more copy/paste. The extremities of the coordinate space tend to tax my brain as the number pattern starts to break down

2 hours ago, Janov said:

but then again the number doesn´t say a lot...one big airport could easily be more effort than 50 small ones

Yes, I have to say that the artist rankings by number of submissions doesn't really illustrate the overall size of the contribution that a particular artist is making. Question is, what would? It's been discussed for at least a couple of years I think, but as such I don't think it's a priority.

October 22, 2019

So here I am on the eastern side of China in the city of Yantai, with a tale of two airports!

I flew into the airport of ZSYT, expecting to perform a hefty upgrade of this combined airport and military base. It was a complicated affair, and bugged with CIFP data errors always showing up. So I called out for help, and Michael pointed out that ZSYT actually has a new home - a brand new airport opened in 2015. They moved the ICAO code as well.

For me it was a serious facepalm moment! By this time I was chest deep into development work on the old airport. However whilst I could request a new airport code, it didn't avoid the fact that there would be an ugly and inaccurate ZSYT superimposed on top of the old airport.

So there was nothing for it but to upgrade ZSYT to the new location, and when I do upgrades, I do not do half measures. This has a fantastic gleaming new terminal building.

Ramp close up of new ZSYT

Terminal Wide view of new ZSYT

Remote Parking stands

Cargo

Big picture

ZSYT is a busy airport. If that was the level of traffic that frequented the old airport, then it would have been very congested on the apron.

Here's the Old ZSYT (given a new designation of XZ0001)

Hellllooooo! Is anybody home?

Back office view

Yes! We're home, come join us for some fighter aircraft companionship!

Needless to say, while I'm flying in fseconomy, the old Yantai airport is still what that application will recognise. It's database hasn't been updated for years.

Anyway, for now it's onwards and eastwards. To Korea, and beyond!

Edit: so that’s now 300 airport submissions to my name on the gateway. I ought to celebrate with a cake or a beer. Maybe a 3d printed cake of a gateway airport..... I wander if an “export to cake” function could be implemented in WED! Sounds like a delicious idea!

October 18, 2019

36 minutes ago, DocBird said:

Any chance we see something like a counter? LM should have that information from the data transferred from the sim...

LR definitely collects the info, and they present it on their online dashboard. But they only present the most popular airports. I’ve shared the same opinion as you about being able to Search info about particular airports.

Would also be useful to determine more statistics such as “busiest 2D airport” and so forth. That could be a great tool for prioritising development jobs for gateway artists.

October 17, 2019

In fact, I'll just submit a new airport code request to the gateway...……..

And I'll muse the possibility of ~~creating~~ migrating the new Yantai airport immediately ~~afterwards~~ before submitting this airport

October 17, 2019

Oh dear, that's definitely a PEBSAK condition, but an unsual one.

I wander then, whether there's a new replacement ICAO code for the airport I've been working on...… It's still serves as a military base according to this info:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yantai_Laishan_Airport

I'm in one of those "I've started, so I'll finish" stages of development.

October 17, 2019

So, my next airport is ZSYT. Unfortunately the airport throws up the "Theshold not within 10m of location" error.

However CIFP data in this instance doesn't throw up the usual magenta circles to show where I'm supposed to place the runway thresholds. So I'm completely in the dark as to where to put my runway.

If I'm compliant with the slippy map, still the same problem.

I've attached my airport, so if someone can reproduce the problem and point to a solution. I've got a feeling that this is an airport specific problem. For now I have to set the export target to the 11.30 rather than the scenery gateway.

ZSYT.zip

October 14, 2019

So one more airport in India. VEMN Dibrugargh is in the north east corner of India. It has a commercial airline terminal that sees around 4 flights a dayh, and an extensive military helicopter base.

Main Terminal

Heli Base

More Helibase

So from India, it's a short hop across to VYPT in Myanmar. Now this involves flying over scenic mountains. Of that I'm sure. However do my FSEconomy flying in real world date and time mode - so the only view of the mountains that I had was at night time when my landing lights picked the ridge of one mountain because I started my descent too soon! It was a narrow miss in what could have ended up being a catasptrophic cancellation of my fseconomy assignment.

But I made it, and here's what I produced!

VYPT Putao

So then it was yet another border and timezone hop. This time into China, and ZUXC Qingshan airport.

Like many airports, this one looks brand new and purpose built for Chinas ever expanding economy. The scenery in Sichuan province is amazing..... on the map at least it's amazing. I got into the night time airport without any near misses:

A smallish terminal by Chinese standards

But it's got a decent sized porch for the entrance!

Cargo offers flexible parking arrangements, with airliners configured to be confused by the bewildering array of parking lines

Bigger picture

So now it's time to explore this vast empire. Most airports in X-Plane are already 3D'd and one I was going to work on was checked out and resubmitted. Maybe India should be next on the gateway campaign list. However onwards and eastwards I fly!

October 12, 2019

“Scrap and build” was a term I first heard in a Japanese version of the Godzilla movie franchise. When I looked it up it is an actual Japanese philosophy when it comes to urban planning, and indeed I’ve heard that it’s a reason why building life expectancy is only 20 years in that country.

I have to say that I find scrap and build is the most efficient pathway to most airport improvements in WED. So I wish you the best prospects for a fantastic upgrade of Orly. It’ll take some time, but I find one beer on a Saturday evening can really help productivity. So if you have an Amazon wish list, then I’ll buy you a beer!

October 9, 2019

So I've continued my journey through Nepal. Two airports required attention in this mountainous country.

VNSK Surket has a 4100foot runway, and I'd definitely recommend landing runway 02, and takeoff runway 20. It's a bit steep going the other direction:

VNGK Gorkha is a grass airfield. Very basic.

Finally I played the dice and I got an Indian assignment. VE44 Hashimara is an air force base just south of the Himalaya Mountains just east of Nepal. It has a disused runway, and a main runway. Like all air force bases, this is more complex than it seems at first. Lot of trees amongst the HAS shelters, all represented here

Disused Runway

Fighter Stands, mixed with remote stands. Some more use of earth embankments here.

From here, my general intention is to carry on eastwards and hopefully into China. It seems like FSEconomy does not like cross border assignments. That is true for India/Nepal as it is for Pakistan/India. It's probably an algorithmic thing, but a first glance suggests very few Indian airports offer assignments into China. We shall see......

October 5, 2019

Continuing my journey in Iran I land at OIKK Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani Airport. Previously known as Kerman, I was expecting this to be a relatively easy WED project, but there's one thing to learn about military bases, they are never easy!

Overview - new runway under construction and decommissioned cross runway.

This is a combined commercial and military airfield. The airport side of things gets a reasonable level of activity, and there's also a strange hotel complex further south that integrated into what looks like a GA apron. A couple of large static display airliners here.

Main commercial apron

Weird hotel complex

The military side of things does not utilise hardened aircraft shelters, but instead a series of circular aprons that are protected by embankments. It's an unusual feature, and I've represented the embankments here.

Military apron

So off over the border I cross from Iran into Pakistan.

OP35 Jessak is a small uncomplicated affair.

OP34 Nok Kundi is 60 miles further east. Another uncomplicated affair.

So now my journey is in the eastern part of Pakistan, and I'm not so sure which direction to take. North to the Himalayas, or east into India.... we'll see!

September 30, 2019

So Syria was my next destination.

OS59 Tabqa is a military airfield that has born witness to some of the worst atrocities in the Syrian conflict. It was taken over by ISIS in 2014 and liberated by US backed forces in 2017. The only buildings left standing were the Hardened aircraft shelters. However imagery shows some temporary buildings on the main apron, and that's what I have depicted. The hard surfaces are in a poor condition. It wasn't nice looking at these images on a satellite view, and what I've shown here is more basic than my usual efforts. However facts are facts even when they are gruesome. That's what gets depicted.

Next is OIAA Abadan airport in Iran. This is just across the border from Iraq. One runway has been cordoned off, so we just have 32L/14R to play with. The terminal appears to be typical 1970's style. I've included taxi centreline lighting, but I have no basis for doing so other than an educated guess as to airport operations. No documentation can be found for this airport.

Next I'm heading deeper into Iran, probably in the general direction that veers south of the Himalayan peaks.

September 24, 2019

Final airport in Egypt. This is HETB Taba Intl Airport. It's just across the Border from Israel and Eilat. This appears to be an old air force based that has been converted into a civilian airport. Indeed a quick wiki search reveals that it was actually built by Israel after the six day war. One old runway has been decommissioned and turned into a storage site for old planes. Another old parallel runway has been converted partially into a taxiway. I've included the old sections that are decaying, but they are polygons and not taxiways so they won't appear on the map.

It's served by two airlines from six airports all in eastern Europe. It's not at all busy. Despite many parking spaces for airliners, there's only one scheduled flight today for instance.

Decommissioned parallel runway, which has not been converted in this segment to a taxiway.

Main terminal building and parking for Cat C aircraft.

Close up of markings.

I'm not sure if the Sinai peninsula is geographically part of Africa or the Middle East, but my journey continues proper into the Middle Eastern countries now. Next stop is Syria.

September 23, 2019

My journey across the Sahara has been completed.

Just one more airport in Libya: HLGL Warehouse 59E. Going by the satellite images, this facility has had a fresh tarmac and paint job, so it's probably in commission.

Then we have Egypt. HE24 Siwa Oasis North is not exactly the most complex airport I've ever built for the gateway. If you want to top up with 100LL fuel, I think you'll be out of luck.

Then right on the edge of the Nile Delta irrigated area, we have HE12 Inshas air base. Now going off the satellite images, there were a handful of fighter jets, but absolutely no parked cars in the facility. It makes me wander whether the base is still in commission. A quick google revealed nothing about the air base, however the Egyptian air force itself is still very much active. In this X-Plane world I've left the runway and some taxiway lights on. It's a very spacious airfield, but there are some small details particularly for the main apron.

So maybe one more airport for Egypt coming up, and then it's time to strike out across the Middle East.....

September 22, 2019

My personal experience of FSE is that European and North American assignments are more likely than not to involve an airport that’s been 3D’d on the gateway.

The rest of the world however is a different story, and I recent completed one project to make sure that every country has at least one gateway 3d airport.

Now my round the world project addresses these less well visited regions of the world in a different way. I’m basically using FSE to roll the dice for me when it comes to choosing the next airport to upgrade. Doing so, limits the bias that exists with most gateway airport upgrades - most airports that are on the gateway in 3d form exist because an xplane user has visited that airport in real life, or lives in the same vicinity of that airport.

So I’ve now travelled across the Sahara, and that region is a bit more lively on the gateway map. Next stop is the Middle East, another rich seam of untapped gateway airports.

By focussing on “the road less travelled”, it might just encourage others to visit and develop these areas even more.

September 19, 2019

3 hours ago, Janov said:

And next vacation shall be to - Lybia!

You know back in 2011 I was getting onboard a BMI flight from Heathrow to Aberdeen, and having a browse through their in flight magazine. They had one article extolling the virtues of Tripoli as a destination, and another extolling the virtues of Damascus. I just thought of the events that happened over the previous two months, and then looked at the date on the magazine - only three months old!

It probably explains why the airline doesn't exist anymore!

September 18, 2019

So I get back home after my Bella Coola holiday feeling much refreshed and find that X-Plane 11.36 versions are now accepted on the Gateway. So a flurry of new airports across the Sahara Desert have been uploaded.

The first country is Mali, where two airports have been uploaded to the gateway.
GAKL Kidal: A new airport to X-Plane. This had an usual feature on the satellite image that was too thick to be a boundary fence. So I've interpreted this feature to be a 3m high embankment.

Next is GAKL Tessalit. A very basic airport.

Next is Libya. HLGT Ghat is a small airport with a terminal. According to flightradar24, there is a single daily scheduled flight to this place.

Next is HL57 Al Wigh. This looks like an airforce diversion airfield. Lots of pavement, but little by way of buildings.

Next is HL79 Waw Al Kabir. Another airfield that has all the makings of a diversion airforce airfield. There's more buildings here, including a small ram shackle compound.

Next is HL50 Zelten SW New. This as a little more intimacy with facilities that almost meet airport grade.

Many of the airfields above are completely unlit, and there's little info by way of lighting status or ATC frequencies. Skyvector is my main source.

I think next I'll take a visit to the real aviation forum and make a post about "Where I went to on my Holidays - CYBD Bella Coola".

August 28, 2019

On 8/26/2019 at 2:00 PM, Janov said:

I really need to install FSEconomy again...as soon as I have cloned myself 🙄.

You know if you still have an account with them, then by now you’re either the richest man on account of the interest accrued, or you’re the most wanted debtor on account of the outstanding fees that have accrued on any aircraft you forgot to sell off!

August 25, 2019

Evening all,

So my latest project is to fly around the world, using FSEconomy. Now it's often the case that fseconomy assignments take me to an airport that hasn't received any gateway treatment. That airport then becomes an airport that I have to improve in WED and upload to the gateway.

Now anyone who's flown assignments with FSEconomy knows that many jobs can take you to some pretty obscure airports. This obscurity therefore becomes the basis for working on WED airports. There are still many airports in less visited parts of the world that haven't received any attention from a gateway artist, and are probably unlikely to unless the regular forms of bias are replaced with an element of chance.

So I wanted to purchase a Beechcraft B1900D, and the two cheapest available were in the USA and Brazil. So I chose the aircraft in Brazil. I'm also due a vacation next week where I fly in one of these planes for real (To Bella Coola no less), so I thought it would be fitting to do my virtual flying in one.

SNPE Penedo is an obscure Brazilian airfield. Why anyone would choose to park a B1900D there is beyond the normal laws of economics. But in the virtual FSEconomy environment there were several assignments out of this airfield.

So I headed in the general direction of Africa, via several airports of course. And then the next undeveloped airfield I landed in was in the country of Mauritania. GQNN Nouakchott was the main airport for this country but it's now closed, but its runway and taxiways still exist. So I upgraded this field to show them. It's unlikely that it will become popular again, and I reckon in time it will become demolished. But in the meantime, I give you......

Next airport was GQNK Kaedi. Not much to see here, but enough to say that the default runway and taxiway was inaccurate.

So then an airport I had an assignment to, before it expired. By which time I came up with GQNA Aioun El Atrouss. Again this is a very basic affair. In real life those roads are really just scratches in the desert etched out by the passage of 4 wheel drive vehicles. It really is an isolated place.

Finally my existing airport. DFFD Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. Probably the best sounding capital city in the world, just rolls off the tongue in the most fluid narrative! Even better than Clackmannanshire!

Main Terminal Buildings

Military Apron

Wide angle of main apron

Next stop: Some airports in Mali, but we'll see for sure which ones before too long.

July 29, 2019

This is all making me want to go and visit Ontario. With my Bella Coola holiday coming up, I suppose at Vancouver airport on the home bound leg I could always get my London’s all mixed up and end up here!

July 28, 2019

On 7/27/2019 at 9:40 PM, Melanie said:

The usual caveats of artistic licence apply no TB3 sadly, the objects library doesn't have one

I have to say, the red silo you’ve used is a reasonable approximation! Nice work.

We could also do with one of those fire training burnt out fuselages in the library. I’m fairly sure most commercial airports have them.

July 15, 2019

Have you seen how it will look without the underlying satellite imagery? I suspect that it will look somewhat odd with just the default textures underneath the buildings. Have a look with this perspective in mind - not everyone has satellite imagery underlysing their gateway airports.

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