Mega Airport Heathrow Professional AI Runway Usage

[PilotGW 3]

Hi!

 

Just tried the new version of Heathrow and it's fantastic! However, I noticed a small problem with the AI Traffic.

 

Over a 20 minute period I watched some takeoffs and landings. Almost all traffic took off and landed on 09L. 09R was left mostly unused (only 1 aircraft took off from 09R). Of course this resulted in 09L getting a bit crowded to the point where traffic was despawning due to the wait time.

 

I was under the assumption that at Heathrow, one runway is dedicated to takeoff and the other is dedicated to landing.

 

Any help would be much appreciated!

[OPabst 2091]

Yes, there was the flag für closed for landing set on the south runway.

First start the EGLLConfig Tool in the main folder of Heathrow and doublecheck that the checkbox for the Europier is not set (this is default)

Then unzip the Attached file to the Scenery Folder of Heathrow Pro.

Restart the EGLLConfig Tool, if you want to enable the Europier Version

 

(removed as not realistic, fix follows on sunday)

 

I am not shure, but I think the runways are used different over the day,

- North Takeoff, South Landing

- North Landing, South Takeoff

but in FS the usage can't be configured timerelated. So we only can provide different Afcads, which needs to be activated before you start the FS, what is also not very realistic.

 

[PilotGW 3]

Hi Oliver,

 

Thanks for your reply. Just tested the new file this time with runway 27. Unfortunately the attached file now causes simultaneous departures and approaches on both runways which doesn't normally happen at Heathrow. I never saw this in the previous version of Mega Airport EGLL.

[OPabst 2091]

Yes, I know, but I did not find a info in the charts, how the usage roles are.

Today the north runway is used for landing, if that is the norm, we can change the afcads to that.

[PilotGW 3]

Hi Oliver,

 

If I remember correctly the previous version had the north runway for landing and the south runway for takeoff.

 

But you are correct, Heathrow changes the runway in use halfway through the day and then alternates that every week so it's a tricky situation. http://www.heathrow.com/noise/heathrow-operations/runway-alternation.

[OPabst 2091]

Thanks for the link.

But it looks like, they don't keep there roles. When I checked Flightradar this morning, the north runway was used for landing, when i look now after 3pm, it is still the runway for landing

 

Will try to implement all options selectable into the config tool, alittlebit complex, because of the Europier ON/Off options we get 4 variations.

But that both runways used for landing/takeoff at the same time, seams not on option, so I remove the fix above.

[mopperle 4162]

To implement this wouldn't be possible with an automatic switch depending on the date
http://www.heathrow.com/file_source/HeathrowNoise/Static/Runway_Alternation_Programme_2017.pdf

To be serious, when reading this, a solution could only be a rough approximation

Quote

How does runway alternation work

In practice runway alternation is more complicated than the simple explanation above. At any given time, our choices of runway and flight direction also have to take account of the six factors listed below.

• Daytime patterns of runway alternation are different to night-time patterns: at night there are only a handful of landings and very few take-offs (see full explanation below)
• Aircraft land and take off into the wind, so the wind direction has a big effect on flight patterns
• Government policy currently favours aircraft taking off towards the west. Even when the wind blows from the east, aircraft could still fly in from east and take off towards the west. This is because we have a westerly preference
• A historical restriction means that aircraft cannot take off towards the east from the northern runway; this is because of the Cranford Agreement
• The hour between 06:00 and 07:00 is the busiest time of the day for arrivals so we are able to use both runways for landings
• Occasionally we have to suspend runway alternation for airfield maintenance, in response to bad weather or when air-traffic control want to avoid a build-up of arriving aircraft

source: http://www.heathrow.com/noise/heathrow-operations/runway-alternation

[OPabst 2091]

To get the best flexibility, so that everybody can select the Landing/Takeoff conditions as he want, attached an Update of the Configtool and the diffent Afcad Version,

 

- Unzip the attached file into the <P3D>\Ecosystem\Aerosoft\Mega Airport London Heathrow Folder and replace the existing tool and Afcads

- Start EGLLConfig and select the Conditions you want to use.

Please login to display this image.

 

Give a short feedback, then we will include it into the installer next week.

 

EGLL Pro Update Selectable AFCADs.zip

Note: Files replaced 2017-10-06: Gates 601-606 Rotated 180 degress to normal face in position handling (AI and GSX related)

 

[PilotGW 3]

Hi Oliver,

 

Just tried the new Config Tool. Only had a chance to test the North Landing, South Takeoff config but it works perfectly!

 

Thanks for your help!

[OPabst 2091]

Thanks for the feedback, will close this issue