allardjd 1,853 Posted July 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 7/3/12 Airport Diagrams New: PACD Cold Bay - Cold Bay, Alaska - US Updated: EGLL Heathrow - London, UK (updated) Current Airport Diagram Stats @ Mutley’s Hangar: Uploads 1,255; downloads 1,663 Happy 236th birthday, America! What a puzzle. I discovered two important things today - one about Heathrow and another about my process for making airport diagrams. Working with the stock FSX version of Heathrow, my airport editor produces a third runway in the image of the airport. I didn't notice until well along in the process that there are only the two parallel runways (9L/27R and 9R/27L) listed in the runway table, but the image clearly shows another, 5/23. After some research on the RW airport it turns out that it did exist and still does as far as the pavement is concerned, however now it's just a wide taxiway. It hasn't been used since 2002, before even FS9 was published. Interestingly, the underlying stock bgl file in FSX still considers the entity a runway and the editor, which produces my image from that bgl, displays it as one. In FSX, somehow, it did not appear as a runway, either by its marking or by virtue of being in the runway table. It turns out that I was using two different versions of the airport simultaneously, one open in the airport editor, which is the source of some things, and the other showing in FSX, which is the source of other things. I mucked it up by re-shading and pixel editing the runway markings of that runway in the new diagram to make it look like a taxiway. In hindsight, since my standard is to document the stock FSX version, I should not have done that and will re-do it soon. The update is loaded at MH because it is much better than the old 2009 version, but it's not quite an accurate rendition of the stock FSX airport and that should be fixed. It's interesting to note that MS was including a 2002 version of EGLL at the time FSX was published in 2007. Shame on them. If there is any airport in the world you want to get right it's that one. The other issue I tumbled to today is applicable when I go to FSX to get "building footprints" to bring into the airport diagrams. That occurs more often than you might think. Anytime there's an irregular, library object type of building, the editor does not show the building's footprint in the image. Instead, I have to resort to a top-down shot of the airport in FSX and bring in the complex building footprints from that image. Sometimes that happens even at relatively small airports with only a handful of buildings - one will be L-shaped or some other variation of non-rectangular and the existence of that forces special handling. Probably about one in four airports requires that and virtually all of them that are large enough to have some kind of terminal building - those are seldom stock, rectangular structures. I load the stock airport in the editor, and that's the basic image I get for the diagram, however, where a higher layer of scenery exists for that airport, i.e. where there is an add-on version of it extant in my FSX installation, that's the one that FSX displays. It's no problem unless, a) there's an add-on version of the airport and, b) I need building footprints from FSX. In that case, what I'm getting is the buildings in the add-on version of the airport, not the stock versions. They may or may not be the same. I don't have many singleton airport add-ons as such in FSX, however my traffic program brought in hundreds of them, including Heathrow. While capturing building footprints today it became obvious that the FSX display included Terminal 5 and all sorts of other buildings down at that end that are not in the stock FSX version of EGLL. The solution, now that I'm aware of the problem, is to turn off the scenery layer associated with my traffic program if I need to go to FSX for building footprints. That's not hard, now that I'm aware of the need to do that. You learn something new every day. Today I learned two new things. That makes it a good day. John Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted July 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 7/4/12 Airport Diagrams New: VRMM Male Intl - Male, Maldives FAPP Polokwane Intl - Polokwane, South Africa 01V Aurora Airpark - Aurora, Colorado - US Updated: None Current Airport Diagram Stats @ Mutley’s Hangar: Uploads 1,258; downloads 1,663 Applying what I learned yesterday, I've got the traffic program scenery layer turned off in FSX. Male (VRMM) was a good candidate and had a bunch of custom buildings. I noted no discrepancies between what the editor was showing and what FSX was showing. I still need to get back and re-do Heathrow to get it accurately reflecting what stock FSX shows, but today was not an update day and I opted for doing three new airports. Aurora Airpark (01V) in Colorado is interesting by virtue of the neighborhood it's in. It lies about a runway length to the south of KDEN, pretty much right in line with all those N-S runways there. I suspect that it must have a pretty high pucker factor for takeoffs and landings given all the heavy traffic in close proximity. The paved runway is only 36' wide but is generously long at 4,840'. There's a grass runway too, and it's wider at 75'. John Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted July 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2012 7/5/12 Airport Diagrams New: PABE Bethel - Bethel, Alaska - US UNAA Abakan - Abakan, Russia Updated: EGSC Cambridge - Cambridge, UK (updated) Current Airport Diagram Stats @ Mutley’s Hangar: Uploads 1,260; downloads 1,665 Bethel, Alaska (PABE) is from the MH ATWC IV list, which is coming along very well as we follow the march across the northern US and Canada back toward Southampton. Bethel had just enough named taxiways to cause me to add a second plate - the only one of the three today to need that. Cambridge, UK (EGSC) was the update today - it certainly looks better with the building footprints than the old version did. Abakan, Russia (UNAA) rounds out our selection today. It's a little odd by virtue of having marker beacons and compass locators (i.e. LOMs and LMMs, which are co-located NDBs) but not ILSs. There were two new downloads today, including one of Bethel by a new MH member who grabbed it within an hour of it being posted, on the same day he joined. I'd love to hear the story behind that, e.g. did he come to MH with that in mind, or was Bethel a target of opportunity after he joined for other reasons. John Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted July 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2012 7/6/12 Airport Diagrams New: FWCL Chileka Intl - Blantyre, Malawi 36AK Flyway Farm Airstrip - Wasilla, Alaska - US PAUN Unalakleet - Unalakleet, Alaska - US UHHH Novy - Khabarovsk, Russia OIFS Shahre Kord - Shahre Kord, Iran 1I7 Clinton - Clinton, Indiana - US Updated: None Current Airport Diagram Stats @ Mutley’s Hangar: Uploads 1,266; downloads 1,665 It was an Airport Diagram kind of day - I was in the mood and the lists just kept spitting out easy ones, so we've got a half-dozen new plates today. None of these are airports of any particular renown, but they are what the lists dealt me, in the absence of any requests (ahem...). Two, 36AK and PAUN are in Alaska. 36AK has a water runway beside a pair of crossing grass strips, which made it the most unusual of the bunch. Shahre Kord (OIFS) is in Iran. As near as I can make out the name is Persian and translates roughly to "Unimportant Target". UHHH is in far eastern Russia - it kind of sounds like the noise a teenager makes when he doesn't have a clue. There are some airports I know of named for former US presidents, KJFK for Kennedy, KDCA for Reagan, KGRR for Ford, KIAH for George Bush the elder, even the fictitious Lincoln International (a thinly disguised O'Hare) in the first Airport movie. To date I wasn't aware of any named for former president Clinton, but I guess he finally got one - 1I7, with a 40 foot wide unlighted runway and no fuel pump. John Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted July 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2012 7/7/12 Airport Diagrams New: PAKT Ketchikan Intl - Ketchikan, Alaska - US UHSS Khomutovo - Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia Updated: KCHS Charleston AFB/Intl - Charleston, South Carolina - US (updated) Current Airport Diagram Stats @ Mutley’s Hangar: Uploads 1,268; downloads 1,665 Not such a generous helping of airports as yesterday, but these are reasonably complex. Two of the three had complex buildings and one (KCHS) required a second plate because of all the taxiways. Ketchikan is another from the MH ATWC IV list - the last one in Alaska. There are a few more in Canada and the route dips down into the lower 48 of the US for a few stops too before heading out across the big wet to England, via Iceland and Ireland. John Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted July 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 7/8/12 Airport Diagrams New: UHWW Knevichi - Vladivostok, Russia UDYZ Zvartnots - Yerevan, Armenia KGYB Giddings-Lee Co - Giddings, Texas - US Updated: None Current Airport Diagram Stats @ Mutley’s Hangar: Uploads 1,271; downloads 1,667 Quite a mix, Russia, Armenia and Texas. Vladivostok (UHWW) has some oddities - the longest runway is a not inconsiderable 11,500' X 197'. There are three parallel strips, with one closed and one grass. I don't remember ever seeing an almost 9'000 foot grass strip before in FS, but there you have it. I know that Russian military aircraft are often designed to operate from unimproved runways, so maybe this is an example of what they have in mind. The runway numbering is odd too, with 7/25, 7L/25R and 7R/25L, but the one with no L/R/C designators does not lie between the other two, so it's kind of an illogical way to number them. I shouldn't be surprised - that's not the only place in FS that things like runway numbering don't make good sense. Zvartnots (UDYZ) in Armenia is visually interesting with a number of complex buildings, including a nearly round, ring-shaped terminal with a smaller round building set in the center of it. The Texas entry (KGYB) appears to be a small municipal field with a fairly common layout. It just fell out of one of my lists and more than meets the minimum criteria for a diagram, so now it has one. John Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted July 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 7/9/12 Airport Diagrams New: CYXS Prince George - Prince George, British Columbia - Canada RKTN Daegu International - Daegu, Korea Updated: KLEX Blue Grass - Lexington, Kentucky - US (updated) Current Airport Diagram Stats @ Mutley’s Hangar: Uploads 1,273; downloads 1,668 Today was an update day, so the oldest, KLEX in Lexington, Kentucky was up for a re-do. You may recall that as the site of a fatal air carrier crash a few years ago, when an aircraft used the wrong runway for a pre-dawn takeoff, despite the tower being in operation and the runway they actually used unlighted. There had been recent changes to the taxiway configuration near the point where the two runways were close together and that probably caused some confusion. Though the co-pilot survived, he has no memory of the crash and couldn't contribute much to the understanding of what happened. The two new ones are both pretty decent sized airports, one each in Canada and Korea (South, of course). Prince George (CYXS) is from the Mutley's Hangar ATWC IV list, where I'm hard into producing charts for the going-home legs. Five remain to be done and that list can be retired. I'm still entering airports into the GE map look-up database which will eventually appear on the MH pages. I officially broke through 50% done last night. One thing I've noticed is that there is, more often than not, a marked difference between what I see in FSX and the way the real airport looks in GE. Time marches on and airports expand, re-configure, close, etc. I'm not just talking about buildings, but pavement, and not just at the large internationals. I see many small and medium sized airports with construction work in progress or some radical change from the way the airport looks in FSX. It appears to me that the airport construction and renovation business might be pretty lucrative these days. As for the fidelity of FSX to the RW, plausible is about the best you can hope for in the sim, unless you've got some recent add-on scenery. I guess that's an added value to these airport plates. The RW inevitably changes and if you fly with RW charts, sooner or later you're going to find some major discrepancies between the what's in your hand and what you see in FSX or FS9. John Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted July 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2012 7/10/12 Airport Diagrams New: UUDD Domodedovo - Moscow, Russia 78D Tuscola Area - Caro, Michigan - US CYEG Edmonton Intl - Edmonton, Alberta - Canada Updated: None Current Airport Diagram Stats @ Mutley’s Hangar: Uploads 1,276; downloads 1,668 Domodedovo (UUDD) is, I believe the fourth of the major Moscow airports to be included in this collection of diagrams. This is the first one in a while that has required more than two plates. I managed it in three, the third one mainly needed because of all the Locators (LOM and LMM) that are associated with that airport. The third plate is entirely text, which is not unusual for the airports that exceed two plates - often the last one is text only, with radio frequencies, navaids, ILS mini-table and the runway table. Edmonton (CYEG) and a place you've never heard of (78D) in the thumb region of Michigan rounds out the three for today, all new. Edmonton is from the Mutley's Hangar ATWC IV list. Will be vacationing for a week, beginning the 13th, so there will be no airport diagrams produced during that time. Data entry into the Google Earth app is going well - I've busted my 40 per day target for the last two days and have 780 of 1,276 done - better than 60%. John Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted July 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2012 7/11/12 Airport Diagrams New: RJOB Okayama - Okayama, Japan UAFL Ysykkul - Tamchy, Kyrgyzstan Updated: EGMD Lydd - Lydd, UK (updated) Current Airport Diagram Stats @ Mutley’s Hangar: Uploads 1,278; downloads 1,668 Ysykkul (easy for you to say - UAFL) in Kyrgyzstan, isn't much to write home about. It has a mile-long paved runway and little else, but lies at over 5,400' elevation, so I guess there's that as a claim to fame. Go in the day - it's not lighted. For that matter, I don't know if Kyrgyzstan is lighted. Okayama, Japan (RJOB) required two plates, only because of their silly method of designating taxiways, where each segment of a long, continuous parallel taxiway has it's own identifier. All those would have cluttered up the main image unacceptably, so I put in a second plate for the taxiway designators. It's a decent sized airport with an almost 10,000' runway and an ILS but shouldn't have needed an extra plate. The update for today is Lydd (EGMD) where the English Channel bends the corner 'round, on the side that was NOT invaded in WWII, of course. John Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted July 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2012 7/12/12 Airport Diagrams New: E77 San Manuel - San Manuel, Arizona - US KFAR Hector Intl - Fargo, North Dakota - US PGUA Andersen AFB - Guam I, Guam Updated: None Current Airport Diagram Stats @ Mutley’s Hangar: Uploads 1,281; downloads 1,668 New Feature: Beginning today I'm now including a list of the associated approaches found in FSX for those airports that have them. This will be on all new and updated plates for which FS approaches exist. I've found a fairly painless way to get at the data and get it into a table format without a lot of hand-editing. It will be in the form of... Approaches ILS R18 ILS R36 NDB R18 GPS R09 GPS R18 GPS R27 GPS R36 RNAV R09 RNAV R18 RNAV R27 RNAV R36 VOR R36 This data is from Hector Intl at Fargo ND (KFAR) from today's batch. The columns will line up better on the actual plates than here. Also in the new plates today is Andersen AFB (PGUA) on Guam, where many a heavily laden Vietnam-bound BUFF launched from in the early 70s, and scene of the only known operational loss of a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber a year or two ago, to a moisture accumulation in an instrument line, which confused an air data computer into a steep pitch-up and stall at lift-off. The crew ejected and survived. Rounding out today's group of three is San Manuel (E77) in Arizona. No, I've never heard of it either, but now both of us have. This is the last batch of airport diagrams for about a week. I plan to be back into production on or about July 20th, and no, I'm not taking a week off to celebrate Bastille Day. John Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted July 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2012 7/22/12 Airport Diagrams New: KGEV Ashe Co - Jefferson, North Carolina - US CYZF Yellowknife - Yellowknife, Northwest Territories - Canada Updated: LFOH Octeville - Le Havre, France (updated) Current Airport Diagram Stats @ Mutley’s Hangar: Uploads 1,283; downloads 1,674 I'm back in production, after nine days away. The new Approach List feature is bringing up some interesting approach types in today's batch, including one Localizer-only approach, one Localizer Backcourse and one NDB-DME approach. All three of the airports in this batch have published approaches in FSX. The localizer-only approaches, which are not as common as full ILSs, are sprinkled through FS and mirror the real world. Encountering those in my FS flying is what lead to the inclusion of the ILS mini-table in these diagrams. I had several experiences with flying to small airports that showed an ILS feather on the charts but which had no glide slope. Not knowing that ahead of time caused some distractions while fiddling with the NAV radio trying to get the non-existent glide slope to come alive. I decided to include something in my airport diagrams to make Localizer-only approaches obvious and the ILS mini-table (only present where the airport has an ILS listed) was the way I chose to solve the problem. I've been including these mini-tables where appropriate on all new and updated diagrams for quite some time. Here are two examples from today's diagrams illustrating that, one with and one without a glide slope... The two new diagrams in today's batch, Ashe County in North Carolina (KGEV) and Yellowknife, in Canada's Northwest Territories (CYZF) are a request from one of my subscribers. The latter is famous as the base for Buffalo Airways, who are featured in the "Ice Pilots" television series. The update today is Le Havre, France, which has a single complex building. If you'd like to become a subscriber (free) and have all new and updated airport diagram files e-mailed to you, contact me at allardjd@earthlink.net with a Subject Line of "Airport Diagram Subscription". John Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted July 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2012 7/23/12 Airport Diagrams New: OAIX Bagram - Bagram, Afghanistan CYBD Bella Coola - Bella Coola, British Columbia - Canada KPBH Price Co - Phillips, Wisconsin - US Updated: None Current Airport Diagram Stats @ Mutley’s Hangar: Uploads 1,286; downloads 1,674 By the luck of the draw, all of these were pretty easy. Bagram (OAIX), the major military field in the "A" place, is surprisingly simple in FSX - no navaids, no buildings except a tower, no published approaches and not even a Microsoft fuel pump. I suspect that the real deal may be a bit enhanced from this version, given what's been happening there over the past few years. It's a reasonably long runway at nearly 10,000 feet long, but is only 90 feet wide. It lies at nearly 5,000' elevation and I suspect the surrounding terrain would qualify as "interesting" in anything but good WX. Bella Coola (CYBD), in British Columbia is a fairly uncomplicated place too. It has a handful of buildings, some published radio frequencies, and has a ramp and connecting taxiways, and the usual MS fuel pump but no published approaches and no nearby navaids. The third new airport today is Price County (KPBH) in Wisconsin. This one is from the MH ATWC IV list as the route dips down into the northern tier of US states on its eastward trek. This airport has two paved runways, an NDB on the field and a handful of published approaches, but is uncontrolled and has no ILS. If you'd like to become a subscriber (free) and have all new and updated airport diagram files e-mailed to you, contact me at allardjd@earthlink.net with a Subject Line of "Airport Diagram Subscription". John Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted July 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2012 7/24/12 Airport Diagrams New: WADD Bali Intl - Denpasar, Indonesia VYMD Mandalay Intl - Mandalay, Myanmar Updated: LFOP Rouen/Vallee de Seine - Rouen/Vallee de Seine, France (updated) Current Airport Diagram Stats @ Mutley’s Hangar: Uploads 1,288; downloads 1,674 Today's offerings are a bit more complex than the three in yesterday's selection. All three have an ILS and at least one published approach and all appear to be pretty decently equipped airports. Mandalay Int'l (VYMD) has a runway over 14,000 feet long and 200 wide. Who knew? That's a pretty respectable strip in anyone's book and it isn't there by virtue of being at an extreme elevation - it's only 300' MSL. That one required two plates because of the taxiway IDs, mostly 3 characters long and they would have cluttered up the main view unnecessarily. Bali Int'l (WADD) isn't nearly so large but seems to be a decent-sized place with good navaids and a respectable list of approaches for its single runway. The update in today's batch, Rouen/Vallee de Seine (LFOP) was an eye opener when I compared it to the original version, which was created in July, 2009. I'm seeing many differences that really bring home why the updates are a worthwhile thing to do. Among the improvements in the new plate for this particular airport... - 50% higher resolution - "Lighted" label - Magnetic variation - ILS mini-table - Improved, standardized nomenclature for navaids - Taxiway and ramp edge and center line markings - Taxiway designators - Building footprints, including complex (non-rectangular) buildings - MS fuel pump location - Date of creation/update - Source (FS version) - Improved, standardized shading to differentiate paved runways, unpaved runways and taxiways and ramps - Approaches list - Standardized layout, better "eye appeal" John Link to post Share on other sites
mutley 4,498 Posted July 24, 2012 Report Share Posted July 24, 2012 Good to see you back John after your vacation. Please keep up the good work, I know you get little thanks here but I am sure the FS community are thankful for your hard work. Cheers, Joe Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted July 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 Thanks, Mut. I think most of the die-hard users are subscribers, so they get these e-mailed directly to them. Those are not refelcted in the download stats. Those who use them seem to find them useful, as I do - I use them myself for every flight - can't imagine doing it without them. We're homing in on 1,300 total and very close to finishing off the entire ATWC itinerary. John Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted July 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 7/25/12 Airport Diagrams New: CJE4 Snow Lake - Snow Lake, Manitoba - Canada CYOW Ottawa/Macdonald-Cartier Intl - Ottawa, Ontario - Canada NZDN Dunedin - Dunedin, New Zealand Updated: None Current Airport Diagram Stats @ Mutley’s Hangar: Uploads 1,291; downloads 1,674 If you'd like to become a subscriber (free) and have all new and updated airport diagram files e-mailed to you, contact me at allardjd@earthlink.net with a Subject Line of "Airport Diagram Subscription". The airports that fell out of the lists today cover the whole range, one that just barely made the cut to be included at all (1 building), one middle-of-the-road airport and a large international that took three plates to do properly. I almost said "...all over the map..." but that wouldn't be true - two of the three are in the Great White North. Snow Lake (CJE4, not to be confused with CEJ4 - that one has already been done) in Manitoba, Canada, is all gravel, including runway, the short taxiway and miniscule ramp. Being unpaved, it only made the cut by virtue of having a single generic building. With no published radio frequencies, approaches or nearby Navaids and no MS fuel pump, it gives the impression of being a rather desolate place. Surprisingly, it is lighted. Dunedin (NZDN) in New Zealand is pretty well stocked with navaids, which makes me think it might be a little difficult to get into. Its single 6,224' X 151' paved runway has full ILSs at each end and a bunch of Navaids strung out like stepping stones in both directions along the extended centerlines. These include an LOM for Runway 21, three NDBs, a DME and a VOR/DME. All these support four published approaches, including the two ILS approaches. This one looks like an interesting place to visit in poor visibility, a sure way to get some valuable "experience". Ottawa/Macdonald-Cartier Intl (CYOW) in Canada's capital of Ottawa is a good-sized international airport. This FSX version has four runways (one closed) and all the earmarks of a robust and busy place. It has two ILSs, a total of eight approaches of various kinds and a decent set of associated Navaids. This one required three plates to capture all the required data. It is one of the last few MH ATWC IV airports on my list - only two more remain to be diagrammed. John Link to post Share on other sites
mutley 4,498 Posted July 25, 2012 Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 An interesting update John, thanks! Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted July 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 This is getting to be a blog, isn't it? John Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted July 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2012 7/26/12 Airport Diagrams New: ZUUU Shuangliu - Chengdu, China KMCI Kansas City Intl - Kansas City, Missouri - US Updated: KGYH Donaldson Center - Greenville, South Carolina - US (updated) Current Airport Diagram Stats @ Mutley’s Hangar: Uploads 1,293; downloads 1,675 If you'd like to become a subscriber (free) and have all new and updated airport diagram files e-mailed to you, contact me at allardjd@earthlink.net with a Subject Line of "Airport Diagram Subscription". These were quite a handful. All are multi-plate, and one, KMCI, needed three. Shuangliu (YUUU), under a slightly different name, was used by the US Army Air Forces during WWII, primarily by P-47 Thunderbolt fighter-bombers and P-38 photo recon planes. I suspect it looks quite different now than it did then. I don't quite know how Kansas City Int'l (KMCI) escaped me for so long, but it's safely in the bag now. This is Kansas City, Missouri, by the way, not Kansas City, Kansas. KMCI required a serious effort and I'm not entirely happy with the quality. It's one of those airports of a certain size that is just difficult to pound into a crisp, clear diagram. I think my techniques are improving and there's a lot of good data there, but I'm not pleased with the "look" of it - it's OK, but not great. The Kansas City terminal buildings are kind of interesting - three identical pairs of buildings but each set is oriented in a different direction (so much for copy and paste). Each set consists of a square building with another in the shape of a ring segment around it. The ring portion is about 300 degrees of arc, so each one almost completely surrounds the central structure. Kansas city has a generous helping of radio frequencies and published approaches in FSX, adding to the data that had to be fit into the diagram. For the first time I had to structure the newly included Approaches list into two columns to get it to fit in the available space. Donaldson Center in Greenville, South Carolina (KGYH) is the updated airport diagram today and it desperately needed it. Looking at the old ones next to the new ones these days never fails to make me cringe. The original KGYH dates from July 2009. You may see a couple of days with no activity here. Newsletter work is hanging over me like a sword and I must begin that on Saturday. John Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted July 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2012 7/27/12 Airport Diagrams New: CYAW Halifax/Shearwater - Halifax, Nova Scotia - Canada XBEL Bellows AFB - Mokapu, Hawaii - US VDPP Phnom Penh Intl - Phnom Penh, Cambodia Updated: None Current Airport Diagram Stats @ Mutley’s Hangar: Uploads 1,296; downloads 1,675 If you'd like to become a subscriber (free) and have all new and updated airport diagram files e-mailed to you, contact me at allardjd@earthlink.net with a Subject Line of "Airport Diagram Subscription". Now this batch was a little more like it. these are the kind I enjoy - complex enough to be interesting but not all that difficult to do. Halifax/Shearwater (CYAW), in Nova Scotia, has a pair of runways but the longest is closed and there are no published approaches. I found that a little surprising until I figured out that there is another, larger airport at Halifax. I'm sure I'll get to that one too, by and by. This is the next to last airport needed to finish the MH ATWC IV list, but don't worry - I have three more lists ready and waiting in the wings. One of those will take the place of the ATWC IV list when I wrap it up. Bellows AFB (XBEL) in Hawaii, is apparently a closed-down facility. This field, owned by the Army in those days, is one of those attacked by the Japanese on December 7, 1941. What it lacks in taxiways, it makes up for in runways - there are six of those, all closed. Bellows has no published radio frequencies and no approaches and was clearly already out of the AFB game by the time FSX was published. Phnom Penh (VDPP) in Cambodia seems to be a nice looking airport with a single runway of nearly 10,000'. It has a couple of decent-sized ramps accessed by taxiway stubs off the runway - there's no parallel taxiway. According to Wiki this may not have been a good place to be hanging out in the '70s. It lists a whole series of incidents where aircraft, mostly DC-3/C-47 types, were destroyed in rocket attacks. John Link to post Share on other sites
brett 2,315 Posted July 28, 2012 Report Share Posted July 28, 2012 I think I remember seeing and stopping off at Bellows one time. It was close to the coastline and had many long strips at different angles and they were all X'ed out. I thought it very odd at the time but never followed up on looking it up to garner more info. It was a pretty site and area, thanks for the memory. Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted July 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2012 Brett, It is right on the coastline. I saw it on Google Earth tonight. Apparently it's still in use for something but not aviation any more. Were you enroute to/from the "V" place? John Link to post Share on other sites
brett 2,315 Posted July 28, 2012 Report Share Posted July 28, 2012 You got me on that one John, not sure what the "V" place is except as it pertains to my wife. I think I was flying a non-default mission and came across it. After sucess I went back to check it out because it was so odd looking and all X'ed out. I did go back to it after posting to check it out and make a flyover in an ultralight. http://militarybases.com/hawaii/bellows/ http://airportnavfinder.com/airport/XBEL/ Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted July 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2012 I thought you meant real-world and was referring to being on the way to or from Vietnam. I think a lot of flights to and from touched down there enroute. John Link to post Share on other sites
brett 2,315 Posted July 29, 2012 Report Share Posted July 29, 2012 Ahh..that "V". Lucky for me I was too young for that political nightmare. To many young lives lost. I am a veteran though, serving from '78-'85 as a Marine. Japan was the only place I have been overseas with the rest of my time served in N.Carolina and Virginia. Good times. Link to post Share on other sites
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