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Waypoint - need help

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gsnde
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Waypoint - need help

Post by gsnde »

I have a flight plan tha sends an aircraft to a waypoint. The idea is that after one pass it flies back to the base.

What happens is that it flies to the waypoint, then makes a second pass over the waypoint (which I don't understand, but could do with) and then vanishes instaed of flying back.

This is the flightplan - what am I doing wrong?

AC#13,102,1%,24Hr,IFR,14:06,TNG14:25,001,F,0007,OWP1,14:39,14:58,001,F,0008,OWL1
Cheers,
Martin
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Firebird
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Re: Waypoint - need help

Post by Firebird »

OK there are two things here.
Firstly to make the aircraft do one pass at the location you need to be exact on timings. Hopefully you have got Always use Aircraft.cfg Cruise Speed selected in AIFP.
Then double click on the flight plan in the left hand window, to open the Flight Plan Editor window. Then double click on the leg causing the issue so that it loads into the display.

Now on the right hand side there are two key boxes. One is ETA and the other is Override ETA. ETA will display the time that the aircraft will take to arrive at the waypoint. The Override ETA is the time the flight plan has got it set to arrive there. In an ideal world they should be the same.
You will notice that the ETA is protected, i.e. you can't alter it but the Override one can be overwritten. IF you were to amend the leg you can either alter the override leg to the same time as the ETA field or you can simply remove the time and when you save and compile it will set it to the ETA time.

Now, the reason I mention all this is due to the nature of the TNG leg. This is designed to fly to the destination, in this case waypoint, and do circuits until the arrival time is reached.
This is why it does a second circuit. The arrival time is not reached by the end of its first approach and overshoot.

The second issue is easier to explain and fix.
After a TNG leg you must have a leg to your final destination and that leg must commence within 5 minutes after the arrival time at the waypoint. This is why MAIW always set 2 mins after the TNG arrival time for the following departure.
If the departure time is longer than 5 mins the aircraft just disappears. In you case the 14 mins difference is too large.

Hope this helps you.
Steve
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gsnde
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Re: Waypoint - need help

Post by gsnde »

So very much, Steve. Thank you for the explanation.
I will show with a clip what this is about later.
Cheers,
Martin
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mage
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Re: Waypoint - need help

Post by mage »

Related to this question, presumably the same applies for routing AI through a series of waypoints, using cruise speed from the aircraft to determine the timing of legs?

I was considering mapping out the London helicopter routes via an array of waypoints and flightplanning a few helicopters to use them! No special reason, just tinkering for its own sake! They're mainly to avoid Heathrow and to direct single engined helos to follow the Thames, so a few others would need setting up to get emergency services and twins etc operating in a semi-realistic way. They'd also hopefully help to hold down helicopter traffic to about 1500ft so as not to conflict (badly) with traffic going into EGLC at 2000', as published.

https://webzoom.freewebs.com/theflyingm ... ilanes.jpg

I'll only be looking into this once I have some civilian helicopters running around the country so, for the moment, it's just information gathering.

Also, what happens to AI if there's no waypoint? The reason I ask is that while testing helicopters I saw a Red Arrows formation flying around and decided to follow it in the sim (spot mode on one of the formation) and when they approached Brecon they all dived sharply downward in what I can only describe as the smoking crater formation. I thought that a missing waypoint was like a missing airport, and AI just fly though in a straight line never to be seen again, or just cross back and forth.
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Re: Waypoint - need help

Post by Firebird »

It really depends upon the circumstances here. What where they doing, flying from where to where. How close you were. Other things as well. I have seen AI dive into the ground but it is rare, and normally the issue is to do with the previous leg.

It is difficult to guess without having all the information and quite honestly it can be difficult to work out some times even with it. In answer to your question without a waypoint AI traffic does go ballistic and either crashes or disappears at some time in the future. I have never tried to follow anything in that situation to find out.
Steve
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