Open for business - but no takers?

Quick question please.

HOW do I 'invite' the AI aircraft to start using my completed airfields?

All the marshallers, ramp agents and terminals are ready but NO TRAFFIC?

Thank You :)

If you just want random GA aircraft to use your new airports, I would suggest downloading GA Traffic and trying that. If you want something more complicated, I would suggest downloading AI Flight Planner, and use that instead/in addition. Both have manuals that explain creating new AI traffic or re-routing existing flights to your airport.

Hope this helps,

You should realize that just by making nice looking, juicy and complete airfields, it is not the way to "attract" AI traffic. You actually need to create AI flight plans which include your new airfields and in this respect in addition to what Tom advises, I would also like to recommend a freeware program named "Traffic Tools" (TTools) for making such flight plans. Take your pick.

Another thing: Normally new and so called "addon airfield sceneries", are automatically installed "on top of" existing default airfield sceneries via their Afcad or ADE files. This is necessary so that underlying default approaches, ATC, vectoring, and many other processes, remain intact and active for such new airfields.

If however, your new airfields have no underlying default versions, it's best to make only VFR AI flight plans because in such cases there are no default approaches, nor any ATC vectoring. However, you can also create such approaches yourself by using another freeware program called "Approach Creator".

FS9 has many default AI flight plans, which are initially only active between default airports/airfields so, if your new airfields have no underlying default versions, you will never see any default AI traffic there.

I must also assume that your new airfield Afcad or ADE files have no technical errors and have ample parking positions of the correct sizes in order to be able to cater for your (planned) AI aircraft.

Good luck and regards.

Hans

Hi,

For new airports when you create an ILS in ADE it gives you the option to create a simple approach as well, which can then be used by ATC - all automatic. Then VFR and IFR traffic can use the aiport in all weather. And ADE can also create more complex approaches, albeit almost entirely manually.

Thanks Tom,

I've tried ADE a few times and I must admit that it can handle a lot more than my far older and simpler Afcad program can but it's also much more "fiddly" and patience consuming. Not only that but an Afcad file contains pure Airport Facility Data, while an ADE file can also contain scenery objects, excludes, taxiway signs, etc. etc. and as you say, even approaches.

Handy and compact yes but keeping all those different functions in separate file categories, maintained by their own dedicated programs, also has it's merits.

Thanks again for the reminder.

Hans

Thank you Hans ans Tom very interesting reading!

Yes Hans, I always do a 'fault check' on my airfields and create appropriate aprons for them, I always thought that once a new airfield was added into the 'Global Directory' that some sub routine in FS would allocate some flights to it? Now I know!

That is a very useful build tool ADE has. Having the fault finder as sometimes a simple 'orphan node' can stop a file compiling. I used to use AFCAD & ADE together which cused conflicts so now I only use ADE and had forgotten the power of this program!