Aircraft behaviour - Air Traffic Control

.Air traffic control tips

For Landing, taxiing and steering tips click >> here

Air traffic control Tips

Make aircraft AI only
The way to get rid of aircraft as flyable and use only for AI is to open the air file and change the aircraft type to 2 which is AI. This way it's available for AI but won't show in your Select A/C folder. Delete the panel contents to save space.

No A.T.C. sound
Go to Add-Remove programs and look for windows setup, multi media audio compression.

Changing A.I. aircraft from default to your add-ons
There are three repaints of each of the 3 large Boeings and some of the other planes that are chosen for AI. ATC will recognize only the first three paints of the different planes on the list. They also change flight numbers in the radio call-outs for each plane's situation. The updated program Ttools by Lee Swordy will greatly enhance your AI portfolio and add extra dynamics to your airports.

When the AI situation loads it is looking for (as an example) the following line in the aircraft.cfg file that describes the particular plane:

title=Boeing 747-400 Paint1

For the default plane's aircraft.cfg:

(A given: You can't have double entries. in the title line of any repaint/default.)
title=Boeing 747-400
title=Boeing 747-400 Paint1
title=Boeing 747-400 Paint2

are the three choices in the AI plane selection for the 747-400.

If you have more than three paints then any other ones won't be used.

For adding a totally new plane:

If your add-on plane's aircraft.cfg file reads one of the three title lines and the default 747 aircraft.cfg file doesn't have that line then you should be in business. You can use any title= line from a default plane that is used as AI as long as you don't use it twice in the aircraft folder or omit the line entirely. You can change any other entries in the ATC info or description, but FS2002 is looking for, as an example:

title=Boeing 747-400 Paint1
in any functioning aircraft.cfg file.

ATC to recognize your 3rd party aircraft
This is how to get ATC to recognize your a/c as a Douglas DC-10 for example.

Open up the aircraft editor through the Start-Program Files-Microsoft Games, then open the a/c, select just the name of the aircraft (your-DC_10/Tower Air) then go down to the ATC Info, specify the ATC Type (Aircraft Maker) then Model (A/C Model), save and go fly.

If you want to organize your a/c by Company/Make/Model, you can also do so above in the Aircraft Info section above the ATC Info section.

Renaming default aircraft ATC callsigns
Open aircraft.cfg file of any default aircraft and change string editable=0 to editable=1 then open FSEdit, open that aircraft and just type in the field ATC Information -> airline the desired name from airlines.cfg file. For instance for MD-80 you can change Soar to Air Canada. The same for flight number. So next time ATC will call the MD-80 Air Canada.

Getting Overlay Airport Arrivals to Park Correctly
Firstly one must move the reference points of the two overlaid airports to put the correct point nearest the runway they land at.
For example We tried LEPA. I had one overlay (24LEPA) using 25L, the other (KLAX) 25L. I moved the reference point of 24LEPA to the left of 25L, and the point of LEPA to the right of 25L. Now the arriving aircraft contacted the correct ground control.

Basically, you should move the reference points somewhere near the middle of that overlay's landing runway, which should assure that a plane on that runway (or near it, calling Ground) will be closer to that overlay's reference point than the other one.

To move the reference point, you need to:

1. In the current airport in AFCAD (either overlay), write down the Lat and Long of the two spots you want to put the reference point.

2. Write down the Lat and Long of an obvious location (like a runway node or the connection node between two runways - any node will do).

3. Export the two overlays.

4. Open the text files you just created in Notepad/Wordpad and edit the locations in the line:

Airport location( N13:35.73 E144:56.73 )

to match the Lats and Longs for those new reference points that you wrote down earlier.

5. Import one of the overlays, AFTER MAKING A BACKUP OF YOUR BGL FILE (just in case something goes wrong).

6. You will see that the runways and tower marker are in the correct positions, but the taxiways are offset. Go to Edit/Select All. Then hold down the shift key and click the runways (and the tower marker) to deselect them.

7. Still holding down the shift key, put the mouse over a taxiway or runway node and drag the taxiways over to where they line up with the runways.

8. Still holding down the shift key, zoom in (+ key) until you are very close in to the node you wrote down the position earlier. Drag the node until it is at the exact Lat and Long position you wrote down.

9. Check that everything lines up, click on the white background to deselect everything, and save the airport.

10. Repeat steps 5 through 9 with the other overlay.

11. Save everything and your done!

Restore AI after malfunction
Two files may have been accidentally deleted by some third party extraction programs.
They are the default.dp and default.cdp files. Try extracting them from the FS2002 CD. Simply insert disc 1 of your fS2002 CD set, locate the file AIRCRAFT.CAB in the root directory, you should be able to open this file with Winzip. Now, just extract the file including path names to your main FS2002 directory, thereby restoring the default aircraft to their original state.

Make AI ATC use correct runway departure
The following tip makes AI ATC use correct departure depending on the wind.
In the AFD file, the runways active are the same length. Try setting the length to the shortest runway.

Modifying an AFD data file for LKPR shows an example of how it works:

If there is no wind, ATC will choose the first one in the list.
( rwy06 on LKPR )
If there is soft wind, ATC will choose one of the runways equipped with ILS navaid depending on the wind.
( rwy06, rwy31 or rwy24 on LKPR )
If there is strong wind, ATC will choose any runway, that is not closed.
( rwy06, rwy13, rwy31 or rwy24 on LKPR ).

Runways that are marked "closed" are never used.

ATC callsign aircraft
Getting the ATC controller voice, and the pilot voice, to describe your aircraft the way you'd like involves a few steps. You'll find after you've done it once it'll be no problem for you to "convert" similar aircraft.

You may have had the experience of downloading an aircraft only to find that the ATC bears little resemblance to the plane you are flying, or perhaps you have brought over one of your favorite FS2000 aircraft only to find that you are "experimental". Let's have a look at what is involved in the aircraft.cfg file to control all this.

atc_id=
atc_airline=
atc_flight_number=
atc_heavy=
ui_manufacturer=
ui_type=
ui_variation=
description= (Text describing the aircraft. Will already be provided.)

[General]
atc_type=
atc_model=

The aircraft.cfg file can be edited with Notepad (or whatever text editor you use)
or manipulated with the Aircraft Editor (fsedit.exe) which has been supplied with
FS2002.

In the aircraft.cfg file the first set of ATC information should always be placed just above the "description" lines. The "ui" lines have nothing to do with ATC, but are used to define the aircraft within the FS2002 aircraft selection screen. Anything you like can be typed there. I show them above only to indicate where you will find them and to mention their purpose, so we will no longer refer to them.

Now for the "atc" items. These trigger spoken words that will be articulated by the ATC controller and the pilot, so you cannot type any old thing there and expect it to be sounded out -- there are only certain words or codes that are legitimate, and we will discuss these as we progress.

Let's now take up the various combinations you have available to define your aircraft and its flight.

TYPE and IDENTIFICATION: Controller addresses you as "Cessna N700MS". This is likely to be the setup you would use for most private, civilian aircraft. The fields would be filled in as follows.

     atc_id=N700MS
     atc_airline=
     atc_flight_number=
     atc_heavy=
     
     [General]
     atc_type=Cessna
     atc_model=C172

The "atc_type=" and the "atc_model=" fields must be in the [General] section for this to work properly. (The [General] section is a standard part of every aircraft.cfg file.) These two items are articulated by the pilot to the controller as "is type Cessna Skyhawk" when transitioning under VFR from tower to class B or C airspace. Where did "Skyhawk" come from? Sorry, but this can be a little sticky. The "Cessna" comes from the "atc_type=Cessna"; the "Skyhawk" comes from the "atc_model=C172".

This setup also can be used for a corporate (private) jet, for example. The controller here addresses you as "Bombardier N733T".

     atc_id=N733T
     atc_airline=
     atc_flight_number=
     atc_heavy=
     
     [General]
     atc_type=Bombardier
     atc_model=CL60

The "atc_model=CL60" results in the spoken word "Challenger", by the way.

AIRLINE and FLIGHT NUMBER: Controller addresses you as "Continental 813". This is the setup normally used when flying an airliner.

     atc_id=N655CS
     atc_airline=Continental
     atc_flight_number=813
     atc_heavy=
     
     [General]
     atc_type=Boeing
     atc_model=B734

You must enter a flight number to trigger the use of the airline name.

Where do we find the legitimate names for airlines? The Aircraft Editor program contains a complete list of all the types (Boeing, Cessna, Bombardier, and many others) as well as the models that are recognized by the ATC. The airline list found there, however, is small and fictitious. You can download a complete list, such as one by Richard Taylor (ACCALLS.ZIP), which will replace the rather pathetic default "airlines.cfg" file with 190 airline names. He points out that Southwest has not been included (there are others, such as AirTran). Remember, too, that there are nicknames: British Air is "Speed Bird" and Aer Lingus is "Shamrock", for example. The airlines.cfg file is found in the FS2002\aircraft folder, and it is important that you obtain the complete list. Another list (ATR_AIR2.ZIP), by Erik de Meijer contains all the airlines and their associated names (such as Shamrock is actually Aer Lingus).

Upgrading the airlines.cfg file will not cause it to be displayed in the Aircraft Editor program. The new list will show up, however, in FS2002 when you go to the Aircraft Selection screen, click on the "Change" button by the tail number, and then see the airline scroll box that is displayed.

AIRLINE, FLIGHT NUMBER and HEAVY: Controller addresses you as "Continental 813 Heavy". If you're in one of the large tin cans(747, 767, 777, etc.) merely indicate "atc_heavy=1" and suddenly you are recognized as one of the biggies.

MILITARY AIRCRAFT: Controller addresses you as "Navy 212". The full list of airlines (the new airlines.cfg file) contains the various military services (Army, Navy, Marine, Air Force, Coast Guard).

     atc_id=N93-212
     atc_airline=Navy
     atc_flight_number=212
     atc_heavy=
     
     [General]
     atc_type=Lockheed
     atc_model=S3