Hello,

I would like to see one fairly simple addition to the SDK - give us a hook to set the AI aircraft's departure and landing runway.

I would like the program to see if I'm listening for a runway selection event, if I am, ask me which runway the AI should use, and then set that. If I'm not, use the traditional algorithm.

This would give me (and other programmers) the capacity to distribute traffic more realistically around an airport. For instance, at KSEA the runway that is closest to most flights as the approach the airport is 34R/16L. This is also the runway that is closest to the departing aircraft. Some fiddling with the AFD file can close the runway for landing, but what would be ideal is if I could write a small program that followed a simple set of rules specific to KSEA. Landings on all three runways, Departures across the runways as well.

There are plenty of other examples of where this would be helpful. Sending departing aircraft to the Polderbaarn at EHAM or 08R at Honolulu, creating closed-ends, and crossing runway setups (think Vegas, O'Hare, KSFO). And this simple hook would do away with the need to fiddle with the AFD file - my program would just look up a simple text file with the rules for the airport.

It would also reduce the dreaded go-arounds - how many times do we see planes crowding into one runway, simply because that is the runway closest to them.

Anyway - that's my wish. If you add it, my (and everyone elses) AI world will be pretty different and more realistic.

Bryn.

Perhaps. But I would see it more as a simconnect event that I can listen for. That would then give me (the programmer) the ultimate flexibility in creating rules for individual airports (or an alternate algorithm for groups of airports). I could identify the aircraft creating the event, it's size, the current traffic loads, the weather, and the distance to the runway all through simconnect using current variables, then I'd just be able to set the runway for that aircraft.

Another cool thing would be the possibility for a small spotters program, where you can control the airport flow.

It's a small addition to simconnect that would open up a lot of possibilities.

Cheers,

Bryn

Which dll handles the runway allocation for aircraft? I've often wondered, because there are a few different dlls that seem likely contenders. Cheers, Bryn.