NAS Alameda & The Big E

[Woogey]

Hello Gentlemen,

I am well into a project for FSX & P3d that re-opens NAS Alameda as she appeared in the early to mid 1980's. It will support MAIW models of the A-4, A-7, and P-3's primarily, with cameo appearances of F-4's, S-3's, and A-6's. I will also be placing some of these aircraft as statics, so that the scenery may be used in the multi-player environment. I have the AFCAD 90% done, and have place holder hangers positioned while our custom units are being finished. This scenery is designed to be used in conjunction with ORBX NorCal (NCA). This is a freeware project.

The two major items that I would like to accomplish yet, are
1) Finding an MH-53 Sea Dragon Ai helicopter.
2) Creating an Ai route for the USS Enterprise to leave and return 5 days later.

I do not even know if it is possible to program an Ai ship to leave and return in FSX, much less back up, and do a 180 to depart her Pier. If anyone has any ideas that they would like to shoot my way, please reply here.

P.S. If anyone knows of any of the above mentioned aircraft in FSX native format, it would improve the overall experience that much more.

Sincerely, Preston "Woogey" Martin

[John Young]

Woogie, I can show you how to get an AI USS Enterprise to sail away and return - not sure yet what the pier turning constraints are though without seeing the situation. Getting the ship to return in 5 days might also be problematical because it will follow an invisible taxi route and that would require a very long path - about 2400 miles perhaps. Half a day might be more practical and the shorter journey would create more interest.

Another designer here can comment on the MH-53 I think, but I know he's very much pre-occupied with another very big project at the moment.

John

[MIKE JG]

Sea Dragon is def on the 'to do' list once I can get back to that model.

[david.harwood]

Can't wait for this one! At the moment I get the basic FSX scenery with a few F-8's flying in and out!

[Woogey]

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Hey guys this is the only screenshot I could get to "Attach" from my phone. The other pics were too big apparently. I am using placeholder hangars for now borrowed from a beautiful Kaneohe Bay MCAS scenery I found. Our first custom Hangar should be placed tonight. Initial traffic files will be tested tomorrow morning. Still a long ways to go. I am trying to locate AirNav charts from the operational period that would show what lighting system was in use. It would be nice to also attach this file to the README when the scenery is complete and released. I hope you guys like!

-Woog

[hamelers]

I have the FLIP charts from back in 1994 that have it if they will help. Let me know and I will scan and send

Jim

[hamelers]

Here are the TACAN approach charts and airport diagram.

Sorry didn't catch the file size here they are now

[Woogey]

Hey Jim,
Those would help out a lot! Unfortunately, I don't see a link? Not sure what happened there?

-Preston

[Woogey]

Sea Dragon is def on the 'to do' list once I can get back to that model.

Mike,

I would love to add your Sea Dragon model in to the mix one day. It would really add some nice variety to the ramp. I am crossing my fingers that you are able to do an FSX version like John has started to do. I really appreciate The artistic skills that you guys have honed over the years. I really desire to learn how to model, but my Wife would kill me if I devoted even more time to my PC!

-Preston

[Woogey]

Sea Dragon is def on the 'to do' list once I can get back to that model.

Mike,

I would love to add your Sea Dragon model in to the mix one day. It would really add some nice variety to the ramp. I am crossing my fingers that you are able to do an FSX version like John Young has Been doing with his models. I really appreciate The artistic skills that you guys have honed over the years. I really desire to learn how to model, but my Wife would kill me if I devoted even more time to my PC!

-Preston

[Woogey]

Sea Dragon is def on the 'to do' list once I can get back to that model.

Mike,

I would love to add your Sea Dragon model in to the mix one day. It would really add some nice variety to the ramp. I am crossing my fingers that you are able to do an FSX version like John Young has Been doing with his models. I really appreciate The artistic skills that you guys have honed over the years. I really desire to learn how to model, but my Wife would kill me if I devoted even more time to my PC!

-Preston

[Corvette99]

I'm thinking of having Enterprise leave Alameda. Leave the bay and turn sw and go 100 miles or so , then turn north and go about 300 the turn and return to the bay and Alameda. I made my route in boat traffic compiler and Google Earth , but can't get it to compile. Getting unable to compile , null message. Any ideas besides keep trying ? Lol

[John Young]

I just used the old FS9 AFCAD2 program for my AI ships. The route needs to be a 1ft wide so it's invisible. AFX and ADE, if I remember rightly, threw up an error message saying the paths had to be of a minimum greater than that. AFCAD didn't object.

My method is to create a parking spot for the ship and a 1ft apron route the required distance and shape of the "voyage" The path eventually leads back to a very short 1ft wide invisible runway that is closed for take-off and landing. The runway is positioned close to the parking spot. When the ship returns it waits at the hold, but can't go any further. It then disappears after a few minutes.

Your method may be fine, but the route length might be causing the problem. Try a test with a much shorter route to see if that makes a difference.

John

[Corvette99]

thanks John . I'll keep you posted

[RKE]

Keep in mind that AFCAD2 used its own method of compiling, which wasn't entirely according to the SDK, which was why you could/can do those narrow taxiways, runways, etc. ADE uses the compiler from the SDK, which is more limited in what it will accept.

I have no experience working with the FSX boat traffic compiler though, so I have no idea what its limits are. Have you tried emailing Henrik Nielsen, who does the ship traffic packages on AVSIM? Some of his ships go an awful long way, so perhaps he has some tips or tricks you could use.

[Corvette99]

I have Kitty Hawk and Enterprise showing up , not sure if they move yet though . LOL

[Corvette99]

Have my aircraft and ship traffic in and showing up , but nothing moving . ??? Back to the drawing board .

[clickclickdoh]

If it's showing up at all, that means you are on the right track. Try jumping around a bit with the date and time in the sim to see if some of the ships and aircraft disappear. That would indicated the are out on their movements. You can use that to narrow down what time they are departing and see if it matches up with what you have planned. Depending on what program you are using, the times the movement plans start may not match up with local time in your sim.

[Corvette99]

Thanks click ! will keep you updated .

[John Young]

Something Martin discovered when testing one of my ships in FSX - the ship would return to port at the hold line, but after a short pause it would gather momentum again and wander off on it's own track, ie not on the AFCAD path. Martin discovered it was due to the ship being too light in weight (empty weight in the aircraft.cfg file). Increasing the value made it stay put until it disappeared. It may be the weight value is stopping Kitty Hawk and Enterprise moving in the first place. Might be worth playing with it.

John