Auto Follow Me Truck Right to Gate

[Mike Phyrio]

Years ago, I used to fly....a LOT.
VATSIM, PMDG 737, FSS 757.............
Now, I'd like to do that again.
In those days, I had FS9 and Win XP.
Now, FSX and Win 7. (groan)
Lots of banging head into brick walls.
I seem to remember, back in those days, I had some kind of setup where I had only to land at an airport and pull off the runway and there was the Follow Me truck that took me to the gate I wanted to go to without having to open a window and go through a long list of gates looking for the right one while trying to pull up flaps and other routines.
Granted, I had AES then.
I can't, for the life of me, remember how I had that set up.
If I can, somehow, set that up in GSX, I'll buy it so fast the deposit will make a whirlwind in the bank.
Whaddya think, eh?

[virtuali]

I'm not sure I fully understand your message. If you are asking if GSX has a FollowMe truck, then yes, it has one.

[Mike Phyrio]

Yes. I know it has one.
But, in order to get it to come out, you have to land, pull off the runway and then access a window which tells the follow me truck which gate you want to go to.
I had some kind of setup where I didn't have to bring down a window. The truck seemed to know not only that I was there but which gate I wanted to go to.
If GSX is able to be set up like that somehow, it's MINE.

[virtuali]

But, in order to get it to come out, you have to land

Well, of course you have to land...but I guess you would have done that anyway, wouldn't you ?

pull off the runway

Same as above, you would have to pull of the runway anyway, regardless if you were going to call a FollowMe car or not. Just to say, it's not an "additional task", because your sentence sounded as if you were saying you must to "all these things"...

and then access a window which tells the follow me truck which gate you want to go to.

That's the only added thing you must to. And of course, there's a sound reason because it's done that way.

The truck seemed to know not only that I was there but which gate I wanted to go to. If GSX is able to be set up like that somehow, it's MINE.

I guess that, if you had another product that did the Follow Me that "knew which gate you wanted to do", the only case this would have worked, is if you used the default ATC and, by chance, the gate the default ATC assigned to you, was exactly the same you really wanted to go, which is hardly the case or the most realistic choice.

GSX asks you what gate you want to go, for the following reasons:

- You might NOT need a FollowMe car, but you need GSX services anyway so, by telling GSX which parking you want to go, it will prepare the parking with vehicles.

- You might NOT go to the parking the default ATC assigned to, perhaps because that parking might not be the most suitable for your airplane kind, your airline or any other reason.

- You might NOT using the default ATC in the first place. Perhaps because you flew without ATC, or because you flew with an online ATC like IVAO/VATSIM, that might assign you to any parking, not necessarily the one the default ATC would have used, so GSX will give you the flexibility to choose any parking, and that will work under any condition, default ATC, no ATC or online ATC.

[Mike Phyrio]

Quote
and then access a window which tells the follow me truck which gate you want to go to.

That's the only added thing you must to. And of course, there's a sound reason because it's done that way.

But the way I had things set up, I didn't have to access the window. The truck just appeared and took me to the gate I always used. And when I got there, all the services were available. Always used VATSIM.
That's my point.
Thanks for your time Virtualli.
Like I also said, this has been a really frustrating experience for me, getting back into flying, but one of these days............
And I'll probably buy GSX anyway.

[Mike Phyrio]

It keeps clawing at the back of my mind that I had a program that allowed me to save the entire flight from beginning to end....including the gates.
Then, next time I wanted to fly that flight, I started at the gate I had started at before, flew the flight from beginning to end and the follow me truck knew the gate I wanted to go to when I got to the destination airport and took me there.
I just can't remember what that program was.
Probably some kind of flight planning program......but I just can't remember. @*&$%^*!!
I was hoping somebody here would say "Oh yeah, I bet you used .............!
But no such luck yet.
Thanks again

[Avwriter]

I do not mean to sound sarcastic, but if you use the same gate every time, then would you not remember which gate it was?  Moreover, in such a case why would you need a follow me truck at all?  Such trucks are not normally used for regular airline operations.  They are utilized more frequently with general aviation aircraft, which of course are not normally going to gates.  Instead just download a gate map of the airport you are flying into from the internet. Follow the map to the appropriate apron, and then as you approach the area, it should be obvious which gate you need, since the airstairs and loader will be parked to each side of the gate.

[omera60]

It keeps clawing at the back of my mind that I had a program that allowed me to save the entire flight from beginning to end....including the gates.
Then, next time I wanted to fly that flight, I started at the gate I had started at before, flew the flight from beginning to end and the follow me truck knew the gate I wanted to go to when I got to the destination airport and took me there.
I just can't remember what that program was.
Probably some kind of flight planning program......but I just can't remember. @*&$%^*!!
I was hoping somebody here would say "Oh yeah, I bet you used .............!
But no such luck yet.
Thanks again

Hi Mike,

Are you talking about FSCommander?

Best,
Omer

[Mike Phyrio]

I do not mean to sound sarcastic

Das iss okay. Ich sprechen der sarcasm.

Are you talking about FSCommander?

It could be. But how would FSC actually communicate with AES and tell it where I was going to go after touchdown.
I am now totally determined to solve this problem.......IF it can be used with FSX and was not some peculiarity of FS9.

[virtuali]

It could be. But how would FSC actually communicate with AES and tell it where I was going to go after touchdown.

This is not the issue. If it's FSC that decides which parking you should go, how THAT ONE can decide the parking ? You must have to select it in some way so, what's the difference compared to having to select the parking in GSX ?

As I've said, while it might be possible a program might automatically read the parking you are being assigned to by the default ATC, if you are not using it, or are flying online with a human controller, no program can't possibly know that information, unless you provide it in some way. Which means select the parking from a list, just like in GSX (or in AES, for that matter)

[Mike Phyrio]

Ahhhhhhhhh. I think I see where I screwed this whole thing up.
The FIRST time I landed at a given airport, I had to use the window (in AES) and tell it what gate I wanted to get escorted to.
After everything was done (engines off, trucks and passengers, hats and horns, I saved the flight.
After that first flight, AES seemed to know which gate I wanted.....as long as it was the same one I took the last time.
Any time I came into that airport after that first flight, I got the truck as soon as I pulled off the runway and it took me right to the gate.
Now, I gotta remember how I saved the flight....which program. It saved it from beginning to end though and next flight, you could start at the beginning of the flight.
I apologize for my lousy communication skill.