Crosswind AFCAD Updated!

[hombrexp]

Greetings fellow KJFK fanatics.   I had previously uploaded my own crosswind FSX AFCAD for the FSDT KJFK to allow multiple "crosswind" runway usage, as well as improved accuracy of parking codes, to this forum.
http://www.fsdreamteam.com/forum/index.php?topic=3000.0

I had noticed that with these multiple runways in use, the AI behavior was not quite right.  For instance, in real life most often with westerly winds (or normal usage), the 31 runways are paired with the 22's, which results in the following scenario:

Departures: 31L and 22R
Arrivals: 22L and 31L or 31R

However, with my previous afcad some AI would depart correctly from 31l, but when AI was instructed to depart using a crosswind runway to ease traffic, instead of departing 22R they would use 4L instead.  With this in mind, I have edited the afcad to create two separate files which correctly pair the runways to simulate real life ops as much as possible given the limitations of the FSX weather engine.   When using either of the two supplied files in conjunction with the prevailing winds, you should notice more accurate AI behavior when using multiple runways.  

There is a caveat:  You must decide BEFORE you load FSX which file is best to use, and only load one afcad at a time.  I.E., with westerly winds use ap_KFJK 31-22.bgl.   When easterly winds are in force, use ap_KJFK 13-4.bgl.  If you do not want to keep track of multiple afcads and keep things simple, ap_KFJK 31-22.bgl would best represent "normal" runway usage.

In addition to this tweak to the runway pairing, I have made some other adjustments to the gate parking assignments for more accurate depiction of real life gate assignments, based on my research from the web including very recent Google Earth, airliners.net and comments gleaned from various forums.

Among these changes:

- Air France A380 parking at Gate A5, I increased gate radius to 40m to fit the AI A380.
- Delta heavy parking at the D gates next to their own older terminal at gates D22-26, which is needed because of the heavy density of their international traffic which they have had trouble finding parking for at their older, more cramped terminals. I also added DAL to the overflow remote stands south of the D Gates, which they often populate in real life.  
- Other airlines parking codes adjusted at the D gates to mimic real life parking as seen in photos from airliners.net and other recent sources.   These include Virgin America, Air India, Virgin Atlantic.
- North American Airlines (code NAO) parking in the Northeast area near runway 22R, as evidenced in recent Google Earth imagery.
- Closed Terminal 6 to Jetblue traffic, as this terminal is being demolished to allow a newer terminal to be replace it.  

I noticed AI departing from 31L at the turn off next to the Delta Terminals, and this didn't seem right.   I have removed taxiway M from that runway entry to force traffic to use the runway entry farther out and closer to the landing threshold of 31L.  

One more thing, in my previous afcad, I had accidentally "shut off" the runway 13l/r lead in lights seen at night. I apologize for that, and have fixed it here.

I do not claim to be an expert on KJFK, but I do feel this is a plausible representation of real life ops at the airport, and after spending countless hours researching and editing, I want to share those efforts with others.  I recommend keeping a backup copy of the KJFK afcad you currently use, just in case.  Then remove that file and replace with one of the two I provide.

As always, if you have any comments or suggestions to improve upon this file, please don't hesitate to comment here.  When I'm not flying, I enjoy tweaking my afcads and addon AI traffic to better represent the real world, and I'm always hoping to improve the excellent FSDT rendition of this gateway to the world.

Happy landings!

A.J.

[theshack440]

Yes!!!! Thank you!!!! I was working on one but I couldn't figure out how to get the international Delta flights at Terminal 3 and Terminal 4 and the domestic flights at Terminal 2. My only question is doesn't Delta own/use more than just those 3 gates? I might be wrong, but regardless, thanks so much it's great!

[hombrexp]

They most likely use (if not own) more than those 3 gates I assigned.   I was only able to confirm those three specific gates from what others said about the gates they bought on a forum at airliners.net.  It's hard to tell which other gates they use (I am assuming they probably use all those gates on that side of Terminal D), but you can always change that yourself easily by opening the afcad in either Airport Design Editor or any other afcad editor and just add the "DAL" code to the beginning of the parking code.

I am hoping people with more intimate knowledge of the workings of real gate assignments at JFK can chime in with their observations/corrections.   But nonetheless, this is a step in the right direction, Delta seems to have the most traffic at KJFK and as recent photos show they frequently use that side of the D Terminal and the overflow spots.

Another thing I did with these afcads is adjust the size of the parking radius for some gates to prevent heavy a/c from parking in spots that IRL it wouldn't make sense for them to park at.   I want to get more specific about parking codes, especially for Delta and American, and find out which specific gates handle the 767 and larger a/c (the heavy gates).   I found the default afcad is pretty accurate in terms of gate sizes, but some parking spots seem too big, with 777's parking in cramped corners with the wings touching smaller a/c or terminal walls.   Does anyone have access to a "blueprint" of parking radius for each gate at JFK?   I have seen charts for Australian airports that are very helpful, they even tell you the maximum a/c size that can fit each gate (see attachment below for Brisbane Intl, I used it to edit my afcad for YBBN and as a result a/c fit at each gate as intended IRL).   I cannot find a similar kind of chart for any U.S. airports, I can only base this info on photos or google earth if lucky.  

Addon scenery developers must have access to this info, but I often find mistakes.   I'm sure FSDT did their due diligence in assigning gate sizes to KJFK, but if possible I'd love to drill deeper and make sure the gate sizes are appropriate.

[theshack440]

Yeah I noticed that some of DL's A332s and 763s were parked in better places. I wish I did but do not have any knowledge of where to find those types of documents but the one for YBBN that you posted is very cool indeed with all of the sizes and types of docking systems. I added DAL to a few more gates but I appreciate the concern of realism. You are up there with my favorite AFCAD designers; thanks for your hard work!

By the way, one more question, my Delta Express jets no longer park at their stands adjacent to Terminal 2, they park at normal gates (so to speak). Did they shut down DAL express's stands? If so, why? I have always liked the idea of Regional Jet stands at JFK.

Best regards

[hombrexp]

By the way, one more question, my Delta Express jets no longer park at their stands adjacent to Terminal 2, they park at normal gates (so to speak). Did they shut down DAL express's stands? If so, why? I have also liked the idea of Regional Jet stands at JFK.

The spots for the express jets at terminal 2 are still there, and sized accordingly (radius 15m), but to have your AI park there, you need to verify two things:

1. FSX uses the ft. wingspan entry in the aircraft.cfg of the AI, divides that number by 2 and converts to m to define what spaces that AI will park at.   Bottom line, if the radius is larger than 15m for your regional jets, they will instead park at the normal gates because they can't fit in the express stands.   

2. You must have either DALX assigned in the airline code for the respective AI models for them to use such stands.   Even if you do have the correct code, it may help to open up my afcads in an afcad editor and change the codes as I had listed to just DALX to ensure better success in having the AI use those spots.   So you would change the codes:

FLG COM CPZ CHQ CAA FRL DALX NWAX

to

DALX

Once that is done and the afcad is saved, reload FSX and have a look to see if the situation improves.   I am thinking that your AI parking sizes for the CRJ/ERJ are either bigger than 15m, or their parking code is DAL, which causes them to share gates with the bigger mainline jets.

Hope this helps

[donaldd]

I don't mean to sound stupid but where to I place these files?

[theshack440]

No worries, it depends, do you mean the AFCAD gate assingments modifications and where to do them or the actual AFCAD that hombrexp posted? The original AFCAD up top that is attached to the post goes in the FSX/fsdreamteam/JFK/scenery folder (after you removed the other AFCAD). The modifications to the AFCAD would be done in a program like ADE (airport design editor) or another program of the same kind. Hope that helps.

Regards

[donaldd]

He said in this post the he fixed T6 still being open to jetBlue and that the AFCAD would close it. Is that file the one attached to this post and where would I place that one?

[hombrexp]

Go to your fsdreamteam folder, open JFK - scenery, then remove (and backup) the file ap_KJFK.bgl.  Then place the ap_KJFK 31 22.bgl file I provided into that folder.  Reload FSX and you the my replacement AFCAD should be inforce.

[donaldd]

Go to your fsdreamteam folder, open JFK - scenery, then remove (and backup) the file ap_KJFK.bgl.  Then place the ap_KJFK 31 22.bgl file I provided into that folder.  Reload FSX and you the my replacement AFCAD should be inforce.

The ap_KJFK 31 22.bgl will close T6 and activate the cross wind runways? What about the other file provided in this upload and what do I do with the original file you uploaded on the other post a few weeks (or months) ago?

[theshack440]

Go to your fsdreamteam folder, open JFK - scenery, then remove (and backup) the file ap_KJFK.bgl.  Then place the ap_KJFK 31 22.bgl file I provided into that folder.  Reload FSX and you the my replacement AFCAD should be inforce.

The ap_KJFK 31 22.bgl will close T6 and activate the cross wind runways? What about the other file provided in this upload and what do I do with the original file you uploaded on the other post a few weeks (or months) ago?

The original file (called ap_KJFK) should be removed from the fsdreamteam/JFK/scenery folder and then backed up just in case you want it again.

The other file included (ap_KJFK 13-4) is if you would like to accurately portray the airport with easterly winds. The ap_KJFK 31-22 is meant to accurately portray the airport with westerly winds but as hombrexp mentions in his post, if you do not want to constantly have to change the AFCAD because of winds, just keep ap_KJFK 31-22 in the scenery folder for JFK and it will do a sufficient job with either wind directions.

Hope this helps,

Regards

[hombrexp]

What a coincidence that theshack440 was asking about the Delta Express spots near the Delta Terminal, after hearing about the real life incident involving an Air France A380 with a Comair CRJ.    I wonder if I should go into my AFCAD and move one of the Delta Express parking spots closer to the adjacent taxiway to runway 31L to simulate a similar encounter in FSX?  LOL!

This is so funny, one of the improvements in my new afcad was assigning the Air France A380 to terminal 1 at gate A5, which it just barely manages to fit in FSX.   It's hard to believe this is where it parks in real life, and judging by the incident, it appears Kennedy Intl offers very little margin for error for taxing this behemoth.   It's always nice to compare our little virtual world to reality, when I saw the video of the incident I instantly recalled the freaky AI behavior of FSX, with AI planes often taxing through me even if I have the right of way.   Sometimes, you can realize Flight Simulator is really as "real as it gets".

[theshack440]

What a coincidence that theshack440 was asking about the Delta Express spots near the Delta Terminal, after hearing about the real life incident involving an Air France A380 with a Comair CRJ.    I wonder if I should go into my AFCAD and move one of the Delta Express parking spots closer to the adjacent taxiway to runway 31L to simulate a similar encounter in FSX?  LOL!

Hahahah yeah that would be very funny to watch it play out just like the real thing but within fsx. You should make a video showing it happen. 

(although I hope it never does happen again in real life; thank god no one was injured)

This is so funny, one of the improvements in my new afcad was assigning the Air France A380 to terminal 1 at gate A5, which it just barely manages to fit in FSX.   It's hard to believe this is where it parks in real life, and judging by the incident, it appears Kennedy Intl offers very little margin for error for taxing this behemoth.   It's always nice to compare our little virtual world to reality, when I saw the video of the incident I instantly recalled the freaky AI behavior of FSX, with AI planes often taxing through me even if I have the right of way.   Sometimes, you can realize Flight Simulator is really as "real as it gets".

That is so true about A5. I hear that they have 4 gates equipped for it and they are all super tight squeezes (not surprisingly lol). But yeah fsx definitely shows ai through a realistic lens, especially when it comes to taxiing through other airplanes lol!

Regards

[donaldd]

It was stated:
"- Closed Terminal 6 to Jetblue traffic, as this terminal is being demolished to allow a newer terminal to be replace it."

What file closes all traffic to T6 so that my AI traffic does not show up there and ATC does not put any jetBlue traffic there?

[theshack440]

Any of the two files included in the provided download at the top of this page will do that.

Regards