Simviation Forums

Hi all,
I am taking my first steps into the world of AI traffic using AIFP.

I have set up my flight plan fine, compiled the BGL file and moved that to a folder in FSX. This all seems to be fine because when I start a flight at the required airport and time, the AI aircraft is sat in a parking gate in "sleep" mode. Once the time passes to initiate the flight plan, it goes through a couple of stages, but then just sits there in "Push Back 2" mode.

I have checked the airport with ADE and there appears to be valid taxiways, although I would expect that as it is a default FSX airport (KYUM).

Is there anything really obvious that I should be looking for that could cause it to get stuck in that specific mode? For example, does the airport require specific facilities to cater for push-backs?

Cheers for any help,
Lee

Just to try and eliminate some options, I tried a flight plan from Manchester, UK (EGCC) and got exactly the same problem, tried a different aircraft, and that got on its way no problem... so now I am utterly confused.  :-?

Well this is a disappointing response.

A little patience Lee

Sorry, I've been quite convinced that many days have passed this weekend... I thought my question had been on here longer than it really had... my apologies.

Lee,

I'll check it out. I do know that some tail draggers do not push back properly, if at all. Never have looked into 'why?'.

If it's contact points, it's probably fixable. If not, I'll ask Mike (the author) if there is a way.

Dave

Dave,
Just thought of one more thing that might be relevant. When the aircraft is initialised, either when you control it, or as an AI aircraft, it quite often appears to be below the ground and then jumps in the air, and then settles back down. That may be relevant, it may not... it's just the only one I have that does that.

Cheers
Lee

P.s. I would have emailed Michael myself, but I have been asking him a few things over the repaint and problems with his site... so I thought best not bother him again for a while. 

Lee,

Even as a user aircraft the Stinson does not push back, so that is the problem.

I'll ask Mike the next time I talk to him.

There is another Stinson 108, by Paul Clawson, that does push back as user ac, so should for ai. http://www.simviation.com/fsxprops10.htm. Of course, it would need a BushyTail repaint. 

Dave

Dave,
Yeah, I did notice once when I parked in front of the fuel box, that I couldn't push back, but I thought it was just me pressing the wrong key, or maybe that the facility wasn't at that airport. I never thought it could have been a model fault. I've never really delved into the creation side of FSX before, so it's all new territory for me.

As far as I know, Mike is in the process of rebuilding his Stinson 108. I asked him not long back if he could do a version without the air intake on the nose, he said he couldn't because he was in the process of rebuilding. So perhaps it is something he will fix in his next version.

Thanks for investigating though, your help was appreciated.
Cheers
Lee

Lee, found the problem...

Dave,
That's brilliant, thank you.

I sat with the SDK docs last night trying to work out what might have been causing the problem, also comparing to aircraft that did work... even to the point of trying to get a C# simconnect project working to try and pull some variables out of FSX, but that failed from the off with another problem.

The problem is, when you don't know what to look for, you tend to opt for the "clutch at straws" approach, and after changing various values and copy+paste'ing lines from other aircraft, I gave up.

Eventually, I will work out more stuff with all this. Unfortunately, it does have to fit in my spare time in between writing games for a living... so it just won't happen fast. It means I have to rely quite a bit at the moment on people helping. But I can assure you, all help is very much appreciated... so thank you again.

Cheers
Lee

Well, I have just sat here in Yuma airport watching Bushy Tail taxi towards the runway, while it did so, I took off for an aerial view of goings on. It stopped just short of the runway, obviously awaiting clearance, then it was onto the runway and off on its way to Boulder. As it climbed, the ATC chipped in and gave it the required turn instructions and off it went... and I smiled.