• Which the release of FS2020 we see an explosition of activity on the forun and of course we are very happy to see this. But having all questions about FS2020 in one forum becomes a bit messy. So therefore we would like to ask you all to use the following guidelines when posting your questions:

    • Tag FS2020 specific questions with the MSFS2020 tag.
    • Questions about making 3D assets can be posted in the 3D asset design forum. Either post them in the subforum of the modelling tool you use or in the general forum if they are general.
    • Questions about aircraft design can be posted in the Aircraft design forum
    • Questions about airport design can be posted in the FS2020 airport design forum. Once airport development tools have been updated for FS2020 you can post tool speciifc questions in the subforums of those tools as well of course.
    • Questions about terrain design can be posted in the FS2020 terrain design forum.
    • Questions about SimConnect can be posted in the SimConnect forum.

    Any other question that is not specific to an aspect of development or tool can be posted in the General chat forum.

    By following these guidelines we make sure that the forums remain easy to read for everybody and also that the right people can find your post to answer it.

FSX Trying to replicate flight schedules from the 50's

P

PhilK

Messages
128
Country
france
When still flying FSX (now moved to P3D4), I did build some traffic files based on US airlines flying DC-3's in the early to mid 50's.
For sure, in these years, you probably did not need too much time to taxi from the runway to the terminal or parking spots.
If I want to get the connecting flights at some airports, or even keep the arrival times mentionned in these old schedules, I have to manage my DC-3's to to be able to fly at 180kts to fetch the schedules.
As I am not a "pro" on AIFP, which settings could I change to shorten the time on ground, and possibly avoid unconsistent cruise speeds?

Thank you for your attention and any advice to a complete noob / barefoot

Blue skies
 
tgibson

tgibson

Resource contributor
Messages
11,338
Country
us-california
Hi,

Generally when I create local service airline "bus stop" routes (i.e. multiple stops with short dwell times), I don't worry too much about the plane keeping time over the entire route. I usually give them a 5 minute stop at small airports (unless specified in the timetable), and have them arrive and depart at the time(s) specified in that timetable. When I load myself at a specific airport and watch them arrive, they are often a bit late (due to FS ATC delays when landing), or close to on time. After arrival they will wait for a few seconds (if late) or the specified dwell time if on time, then depart. This is realistic for small airports - they often spent almost no time on the ground.

Now if you sit at an airport for a long time and wait for a plane that is coming from another small airport (often within the 108 NM radius AI aircraft load into), then the plane will often be quite late, due to the extra taxi and ATC time, as compared to the early days. But the number of times this actually happens to me is very low - I've usually taken off and flown somewhere else by this time. So you can either make your planes fly faster to compensate, or just not worry about that, which is what I do.
 
tgibson

tgibson

Resource contributor
Messages
11,338
Country
us-california
PS. I assume you are aware of my 1957 worldwide traffic package. I realize that it is not the early 50's and the planes are not P3D4 compatible, but there might be something there you could use. :)
 
P

PhilK

Messages
128
Country
france
Tom, thank you for your answers and suggestions. Yes, I know your site (I started with MSFS5...) which provided me with many useful information and various files, but I have never been going up to a worldwide traffic package. Anyway, I will have a look at your traffic file(s), and possibly return to my old projects...
I did work, and check for future work, on timetables of regional airlines, likes Allegheny, Bluegrass Airlines, Bonanza, Ozark, Frontier, Lake Central, Mohawk, Piedmont, Trans Texas Airways, Wisconsin Central, Chicago & Southern, etc... I still have the old spreadsheets to prepare the flight plans, but few came to real life into my sims, as many airports were to be altered to get one or more parking spots to accomodate DC-3's, my favourite aircraft. And some of the timetables were including transfers from one flight to an other flight at some local hubs, thus the relative importance to be able to have relevant aircrafts fetching the next flights.
But I must say that was a hell of work, but who knows, perhaps I could be crazy enough to go back to that work...
Blue skies
Philippe
 
G

gadgets

Resource contributor
Messages
9,388
Country
ca-britishcolumbia
Phil, just so you are aware, AI aircraft only "fly" at their defined cruise speed are controlled by aircraft.cfg and .air file parameters while being observed. However, don't confuse cruise speed with the apparent rate of flight along the route while not being observed. The latter will always be (ETA - ETD - 15 min.) / distance, which simply governs when the AI arrives at sequential sector boundaries.

Just specify desired ETA and ETD and let AIFP handle the rest.

Don
 
P

PhilK

Messages
128
Country
france
Don,
Thank you for the information. Will keep this on hand when returning to my old timetables!
Blue skies
Philippe
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top