OnCourse Software

1. Is there a way to insure that I get assigned a specific runway for t/o without also having every ai plane at the airport assigned the same runway and causing a massive backup? I flew out of LAX, which has four westbound runways, 24L/R and 25L/R. My flight plan included a SID using R25R. In the runway usage box I entered T for R25R and left the rest as B. I got assigned R24L.

2. Is there any way to request a different runway for either departure or arrival? I see on the list of PFE commands that I can request a different runway for arrival, but not until I've contacted tower, which means I'm already on final. It would nice to be able to request it from approach.

For KLAX, you could try leaving 25R as "B" and setting the other runways to "X" or "L" because the settings apply only to you, and not the AI. You would then only be assigned to take off on 25R. Per the manual:

"To the left of each runway number you will see a small text box, which defaults to the letter ‘B’, meaning that runway is designated for both landing and takeoffs. You can changes this to an ‘L’ for landing only, or ‘T’ to designate it for takeoffs only or even enter an ‘X’ to marked the runway as closed. Please note, these settings will have no effect on AI traffic."

Regarding your second point, I think you can hit Ctrl+Shift+W to request another runway, immediately after you are assigned a runway for either take-off (from Ground) or landing (from Approach).

1. Setting a runway to 'T' ensures that runway would not be used for landing, it doesn't actually mean it's the only one available for takeoffs.

2. You can request another runway whilst talking to approach BEFORE contacting tower. Perhaps you've found a typo.

As an addendum to my earlier post, I should have mentioned that when you request a different departure runway from Ground, I think you need to do it immediately, before the TGS becomes active. Once the TGS is active the Ctrl+Shift+W key sequence has a different function, so I'm not sure how one would go about requesting a runway change after that time.

Thanks Dan and Dave. I missed the bit in the docs about the runway settings not applying to ai. That certainly simplifies things. As far as requesting a runway after TGS is active, I can try toggling TGS off, making the runway request, and toggling TGS back on. Dave, I haven't tried requesting another runway from approach...I may have made an incorrect assumption based on the order in which the tower commands are listed.

All is well. Once cleared to taxi by ground and TGS is switched on, I can toggle TGS off and request another runway. Once the new runway is assigned, TGS toggles itself back on. On arrival, once approach tell me to "maintain heading X, expect vectors for runway Y", I can request the runway of my choice.

Also, I was mistaken about the purpose of requesting an instrument approach. I thought it was to get permission to fly an IAP, but it's actually a request to get vectors to a runway that has ILS. "Request cleared to final at pilots' discretion" is what to use if you want to fly an IAP or make a visual approach.

At this point I think I've got PFE working pretty well. The only remaining glitch is that with some planes neither the TGS gauge nor heading bug will work. I still get voice guidance, though. I'm assuming this is just another case of incompatibility between add ons. If someone has any tips on how to get around it, though, I'd be grateful.

Thanks for the suggestion to toggle TGS and request another departure runway. I hadn't thought to try that.

Some 3rd party addons are not quite compatible with the TGS,this usually requires a reload in FS of the aircraft that you are using..

I was hoping for a more elegant solution than having to reload the plane, though that will do as a last resort. I find that with some planes you will lose some of your settings when you reload. Also, I have a couple of planes that have a cold/dark start option and I like to use that...if I want to reload the plane after TGA is activated, I'll have to disable the cold/dark option. Dave M., is it possible to have the gauge somehow reload or goose itself when TGA is activated? Or to have another, invisible gauge that will do that? You're a genius, and I'm counting on you.

Unfortunately I gave up on the gauge years ago. I'm not a gauge programmer and had someone else do it for me but they were never able to iron out all the issue. That's why I wrote the standalone app but that's only useful if you have two monitors.

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