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How to Use AFCAD to Change Parking Assignments in Flight Simulator

In recent years, one of the most impressive developments in the Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS) series has been the introduction of complex Artificial Intelligence based traffic. There was a time when the airports in MSFS were baron and lonely. Nowadays, however, every major airport is teaming with scheduled traffic. Moreover, third party developers have even made add-ons that use real airline schedules that are updated every few months to stay current.Not surprisingly, however, problems occasionally crop up because of some error in the underlying structure, which causes AI planes to park in the wrong place, or to fill up gates that you would like to use. In particular, this can be a frustrating problem for the members of Virtual Airlines, which, often use pre-assigned gates when flying online. However, there is an easy way to solve this with a software tool called AFCAD. AFCAD, created by Lee Swordy, allows you to go in and edit parking positions, as well as change a variety of other items, relating to the airport layout. This article will only focus on modifying parking spaces.

Things You'll Need

Microsoft Flight Simulator
The version of AFCAD intended for your version of MSFS

Instructions

- 1
  Download the proper version of AFCAD for your version of Flight Simulator. You can find it in the file libraries of major flight-simulator websites such as Avsim.com or Flightsim.com. The software is freeware.
- 2
  Run the installer, and point it to you MSFS installation when asked.
- 3
  Run AFCAD.
- 4
  Click the file folder icon at the upper left of the window, and wait to AFCAD to compile a list of the airports in your MSFS installation. A list of all your airports will soon appear, broken down by country and city on the left side of the window.
- 5
  Select the airport you wish to edit, and double click on the airport's name. This will bring up a map of the airport. You will see all of the runways, taxiways, and parking areas. Each parking space or gate is represented by a colored circle with an airplane icon in the center. Notice that circles are of different sizes. The size of the circle indicates the size of the plane each gate is intended for.
- 6
  Double-click on one of the circles. A sub-window will pop up displaying the properties of the parking spot. Notice that this includes such items as the exact latitude-longitude coordinates, and the direction the parking spot is pointed. Additionally you will also notice details such as the terminal letter and gate number, as well as the size of the aircraft (Small, Medium, Heavy, Cargo, GA). There is even a place for assigning specific airlines to specific gates. All of these items are easily modifiable.
- 7
  Try it. Click on the drop down menu labeled "Area." Notice that a large list of designators are available to choose from appears. With AFCAD you can switch the designation however you wish. Airport layouts change sometimes, and Microsoft also sometimes makes mistakes. If you like to fly online, and use live ATC, then you may sometimes run into discrepancies over where MSFS says a parking should be, and where ATC thinks it should be. Now you can adjust it and solve the problem.
- 8
  Click "Cancel" if you wish to undo the changes you just made. If you wnat to keep the change, then click "OK." And be sure to save the change before you go on to another airport,or before you quit AFCAD.

Aviation