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Newbie question regarding airport scenery

Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2019 11:48 am
by Beatle1967
This morning at SFO I was given a taxi clearance to go hold short of RWY 1L at MIKE-ONE. In FSX with default scenery I taxied to the hold short line for RWY 1L as I had done the previous couple of flights without any issue. Upon switching to tower I was chided "Sir, you were told to go to taxiway MIKE-ONE, this is a possible pilot deviation". I told him there is no taxiway MIKE in the stock FSX. His response was something along the lines of you need to tell me what you're doing. I let it go and disconnected at that point in order to regroup.

For what it's worth, I had placed the comment "NEWBIE" in my flight plan notes.

So, after a couple of hours of fiddling around with scenery installs from FlyAway I can now see a taxiway MIKE sign. Looking at the Foreflight diagram MIKE-ONE is directly to the right, however, I do not see a taxiway sign in the scenery.

I'm trying really hard to do the right thing here, and I don't mind laying out some cash for add-ons. But to be honest, setting this thing up is becoming a full time occupation!

How do experienced PE pilots deal with mismatches in airport layout?

Re: Newbie question regarding airport scenery

Posted: Mon Dec 09, 2019 7:44 am
by Marcus Becker
Compare what you're seeing out your virtual windows with what you're seeing on an airport diagram. If it doesn't match, stop and let ATC know. The controllers can't see what you're seeing and don't know unless you tell them. Throwing cash out there isn't required but know that FSX and its scenery are well over 10 years old. Things have changed in many places so it's important to know that you are going to have scenarios like this again. The best thing to do is understand where you are and do your best to follow the FAA or Jeppesen airport diagram. If you can't, let ATC know.

Re: Newbie question regarding airport scenery

Posted: Mon Dec 09, 2019 2:11 pm
by Vincent Meier
Yup,

Always have your R/W airport diagram handy. I always double check the intersections/taxiways in the sim compared to the r/w and use the real world if there is a difference.

Re: Newbie question regarding airport scenery

Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2019 11:10 am
by Scott Medeiros
You can download updated airport layouts (AFCAD files) from https://library.avsim.net/.
Search for the required airport under FSX - AFCAD Files.

If you cannot find the airport you need, or all available files are still outdated you can use this program to edit the airport.
http://www.scruffyduck.org/airport-design-editor/
Adding/deleting taxiways or renumbering runways is quick and easy. If you need to do more, the manual is pretty thorough. If you are looking to edit outdated payware airports, things get a little more complicated, but it's not impossible. I still use it to update my airport layouts (including paywares). You can also update instrument approaches and navaid frequency changes.

If you need help or a walkthrough PM me on Discord "Scott" and I'll do my best to help.