SOLOMON ISLANDS
===============

Basic scenery to create 19 new airstrips in the Solomon Islands. Plus AFCAD files for the 17 stock FS9 airstrips (including elevation fixes/workarounds for AGGP Parasi and AGGT Santa Anna). Plus 100% accurate AI flightplans for Solomon Airlines' domestic services using two DHC-6 Twin Otters. Made using current data from Australian Defence Force Regional En Route Supplement and Tactical Airfield Guide. New Airstrips: AGAF Afutara, AGAR Arona/Ulawa, AGAT Uru Harbour/Atoifi, AGBA Barakoma, AGBR Barora, AGBT Batuna, AGEV Vella-la-vella/Geva, AGGI Babanakira, AGGJ Haimaru/Avuavu, AGGU Paruru/Marau, AGGY Yandina, AGKG Kaghau, AGKU Kolombangara/Kukudu, AGKW Kwailabesi, AGNA Nana, AGOK Gatokae, AGRC Vila/Ringi Cove, AGRM Ramata, AGVH Viru Harbour.

FOR AIRPORT INFO, SEE APPENDIX AT END OF FILE!

CONTENTS:
=========
New Solomons Airstrips - the scenery and AFCAD files for the 19 new airstrips
Stock FS9 Airstrips - AFCAD files for the 17 stock airfields, plus a few files to correct errors at AGGP, AGGT and AGGK.
Landclass Files - landclass files, required for the new airstrips
File Fixes - more elevation fix files, required for the stock airstrips
AI Flightplans - AI flightplan files, Solomon Airlines domestic schedules as per Jul 25 - Oct 30, 2005.
Solomons Timetable.pdf - Solomon Airlines domestic schedules!
Solomons Map.jpg - a map of the Solomons showing stock FS9 and new airstrips.
AG??.jpg - a couple of screenies
Readme.txt - this file


Textures for the Solomon Airlines DHC-6 Twin Otter are available as:
dhc6-ht-solomonairlines.zip by Daan "dustEagle" Callaerts at Avsim (for Henry Tomkiewicz's model)
OR
Texture.SOL-Solomon Airlines DHC6 SOLOMON.zip by Vladimir "Cesmina" Svoboda at the PAI Library (for the PAI v1 model)

Solomon Airlines international flights are operated by Boeing 737 of Air Vanuatu. Most of the flights listed in the Solomons Airlines timetable are included in the Ultimate Traffic Summer 05 schedule update under Air Vanuatu.


SCENERY INSTALLATION:
=====================

Note: 
Installation is complicated slightly by the need to correct elevation errors at the stock FS9 airports Parasi (AGGP) and Santa Anna (AGGT). There is a well-documented mismatch in FS between lat/long coordinates and actual geographic features, which means that most airports are slightly out of position in relation to their surroundings. This is noticeable in the Solomons at Gizo (AGGN) particularly, where the stock airport appears on entirely the wrong island even though its lat/long coordinates are correct. (I have NOT corrected Gizo! It would have meant either redrawing a lot of islands, or moving not just the airstrip but also the associated waypoints for the GPS approaches.) 
At Parasi (actual elevation 28') Microsoft placed the airport at 100' in a 300'-deep hole! I have moved the airport some distance to the west where the land is at the correct elevation.
Santa Anna (actual elevation 10') was placed at about 130'. I have corrected this and flattened the surrounding area.

To install:

1. Unzip this file to a temporary location.

2. Move the 3 .bgl files from the folder "Landclass Files" to wherever you keep your landclass files. (Or create a folder "Landclass" in ...\Flight Simulator 9\Addon Scenery, create a subfolder "scenery", and put the bgl files in there. (NOTE: DO NOT create a "texture" subfolder!!)) These files are needed for the new airstrips to display correctly.

3. Move the entire folder "New Solomons Airstrips" to ...\Flight Simulator 9\Addon Scenery

4. Move the 2 .bgl files from the folder "Fix Files" to ...\Flight Simulator 9\Scenery\World\scenery. These files override the stock runway elevations at AGGP and AGGT which otherwise take priority even over the changed elevations in the AFCAD files. If these files are not installed, your aircraft will "land" 100' or so above the runways! In fact these files are just renamed copies of the AFCAD files, but this is a much safer way to tackle the problem than editing any default FS9 files. Thanks to Peter McLelland at http://www.fsaddon.com/download_instr_1.htm for this tip!!

5. Go to ...\Flight Simulator 9\Scenery\Ocen\scenery and rename/remove or otherwise disable the file FL991350.bgl (I just renamed mine to "FL991350bgl.bak"). This removes the flatten areas for the stock Parasi and Santa Anna. (It also removes the flatten at AGGK Kirakira, but I have included a new one.) If this file is not disabled, you will have at 300' hole at the old site of Parasi airstrip, and Santa Anna will be in a 100' hole.

6. Move all the .bgl files from the folder "Stock FS9 Airstrips" EITHER to wherever you keep your AFCAD files (usually ...\Flight Simulator 9\Addon Scenery\scenery), OR you could just put them in your new ...\Flight Simulator 9\Addon Scenery\New Solomons Airstrips\scenery folder with the rest. I only kept these separate in case you want to keep your existing AFCADs for the stock airfields!

7. Start FS9. From the start-up screen, go to Settings > Scenery Library >Add Area, and add the scenery areas as usual. (If you have created a new Landclass folder, be sure to Add this first!!) Then OK out and exit FS9.

DONE! You can now install the repaints and flightplans as usual, if necessary.


EXTRA STEPS FOR ULTIMATE TRAFFIC USERS:
=======================================
The new airports that are included in UT's database must now be assigned in UT as follows:

8. Launch FS9 and let it rebuild its scenery database, then exit.

9. Go to \Flight Simulator 9\Flight One Software\Ultimate Traffic and run CollectAirports.exe to create a new Airports_FS2004.txt file.

10. Launch UT, go to Utilities > Airports, search for each airport in turn (by name and/or IATA code, see below) and enter the 4-digit ICAO code (listed below, e.g. AGRM for Ramata, etc.) in place of the four asterisks **** in the "FS2004 Assignment Identifier" box at the bottom. Don't forget to hit "Save" after each one!  

IATA ICAO Airport Name | Town (as given in Ultimate Traffic)

AFT AGAF Afutara|Afutara|Solomon Is
RNA AGAR Ulawa Apt|Arona|Solomon Is
ATD AGAT Atoifi Apt|Atoifi|Solomon Is
BPF AGBT Batuna|Batuna|Solomon Is
GTA AGOK Gatokae Aerodrom|Gatokae|Solomon Is
KGE AGKG Kagau Apt|Kagau|Solomon Is
RBV AGRM Ramata Apt|Ramata|Solomon Is
RIN AGRC Ringi Cove Apt|Ringi Cove|Solomon Is
XYA AGGY Yandina Apt|Yandina|Solomon Is

While you are there, check the existing assignments of the stock FS9 airports. For some reason, UT has the following airports unassigned, even though they DO exist in FS9:

BAS AGGE Balalae Apt|Balalae|Solomon Is
MNY AGGO Mono Apt|Mono|Solomon Is
PRS AGGP Parasi Apt|Parasi|Solomon Is
EGM AGGS Sege Apt|Sege|Solomon Is

11. Run the Compile function in UT to rebuild the traffic file.

12. Finally exit UT, go to \Flight Simulator 9\Flight One Software\Ultimate Traffic\PalmSpotter and delete the 4 .dat files. Then launch UT and let it rebuild them. 

It's now a good idea to run ScanAFD by Eliot Rogers (file scanafd.zip at Avsim) to make sure that you don't inadvertently have duplicate Afcad files for any of the airports. 

You should now have full Solomons Airlines traffic according to the schedules in UT's database.
HOWEVER, UT's schedules (summer 05 at least) bear little resemblance to the real thing. UT uses eight (read my lips, E-I-G-H-T) aircraft to serve fewer destinations. For this reason, you may wish to compile a traffic file using TTools and the flightplans provided (deactivating UT's version of Solomon Airlines, see the TTools documentation for details on how to do this), or to Import the airline using UT's Import function.

If you choose to Import, please note the following:

1. Create a new airline ("Solomon AL", IATA "SOL", callsign "SOLOMON") on the Aircraft assignment screen, and deactivate UT's Solomon Airlines (IE) when compiling.

2. You will have to enter the data for AGNA Nana airport, as follows:

IATA Code: NAZ
Airport Name: Nana
Region: Oceania
Country: Solomon Islands
State/Territory: [blank]
City: Nana
Timezone Information: [make sure "Check if Airport observes Daylight Savings Time" is unchecked]
GMT Offset: +11


NOTES, PROBLEMS, SUGGESTIONS, ETC.:
===================================

Timezones:
I STRONGLY recommend installing FS Real Time With Accurate World Time Zones by Joshua Robertson and Dennis Thompson (latest version realtime_169948.zip at Avsim) - or at least Dennis Thompson's freeware timezone files (tz30.zip + updates - search the Avsim library for the words thompson timezone) to iron out the timezone discrepancies in this area (and elsewhere in the world!). The whole of the Solomon Islands should be GMT+11 (no DST).

Airport codes:
The airport ICAO codes are as published in the Australian Defence Force En Route Supplement Regional and Tactical Airfield Guide Regional, with the exception of the code for Barora (AGBR) which was not listed, and is fictional.

Rwy12 scenery:
I have added some airport buildings (well, OK, huts) to several airports using Rwy12 Object Placer (files XXXX_R12.bgl). As these are default FS9 library objects, there is no need to have Rwy12 installed for these to appear ... I hope.


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
=================

Airports created using:
AFCAD v2.21 by LEE SWORDY
Ground2K4 v5.4 by CHRISTIAN FUMEY 
Rwy12 Object Placer by SEEV KAHN and ISRAEL ROTH
ScanAFD by ELIOT ROGERS
LWMViewer by JIM KEIR


Primary references:
Solomon Airlines website - http://www.solomonairlines.com.au
Great Circle Mapper - http://gc.kls2.com/
Royal Australian Air Force Aeronautical Information Service - http://www.raafais.gov.au
Literally dozens of info sites, travelogs, photo albums - too numerous to list!


Adrian Wright
Thessaloniki, October 2005
apwright@otenet.gr

My other files available at Avsim (some also available under different names at Flightsim.com ... inexplicably! I never put them there!):
c212_airfast.zip - Casa 212 repaint for Airfast Indonesia
c212_atsak.zip - three Casa 212 repaints for Arctic Transportation Services of Alaska
c212_dirgantara.zip - Casa 212 repaint for Dirgantara Air Services of Indonesia
c212_panam.zip - two Casa 212 repaints for Pan Am Clipper Connection (Boston-Maine Airways)
c212_satena.zip - two Casa 212 repaints for SATENA of Colombia
c212_village.zip - two Casa 212 repaints for Village Air Cargo of Alaska
china_airports.zip - 29 new airports in China
fiji_airstrips.zip - 11 new airstrips in Fiji
png_airstrips.zip - 33 new airstrips in Papua New Guinea
marshall_islands.zip - 21 new airstrips in the Marshall Islands
... next stop Kiribati!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

APPENDIX - AIRPORT INFO:
========================

NEW AIRPORTS:

ICAO IATA Airfield|Location
Latitude Longitude, Magnetic Variation, Elevation, Rwy direction, Rwy dimensions, Rwy surface
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AGAF AFT  Afutara|Afutara
S9*11'28" E160*56'57", magvar 9E, elev 16', rwy 06/24, 1700x131', grass
Landing 06 Take-off 24

AGAR RNA  Arona|Ulawa Island
S9*51'12" E161*58'27", magvar 10E, elev 15', rwy 11/29, 2800x66', coral
  
AGAT ATD  Uru Harbour|Atoifi
S8*52'24" E161*00'41", magvar 9E, elev 17', rwy 13/31, 2700x49', gravel
Ldg 13 T/O 31

AGBA VEV  Barakoma|Barakoma
S7*54'40" E156*42'14", magvar 9E, elev 9', rwy 14/32, 3734x125', sand

AGBR RRI  Barora|Barora
S8*00'00" E157*34'30", magvar 9E, elev 4', rwy 11/29, 2600x59', coral  
(ICAO code not listed - AGBR fictitious!)

AGBT BPF  Batuna|Batuna
S8*33'18" E158*07'06", magvar 9E, elev 7', rwy 17/35, 2000x49', grass

AGEV GEF  Vella-la-vella|Geva
S7*34'10" E156*35'47", magvar 8E, elev 123', rwy 16/34, 2200x82', gravel

AGGI MBU  Babanakira|Babanakira [aka Mbambanakira]
S9*44'52" E159*50'23", magvar 10E, elev 74', rwy 17/35, 1900x72', grass
Ldg 35 T/O 17, right-hand circuit on 17

AGGJ AVU  Haimaru|Avuavu
S9*52'05" E160*24'37", magvar 10E, elev 27', rwy 14/32, 1700x79', grass
RHC 14

AGGU RUS  Paruru|Marau
S9*51'43" E160*49'32", magvar 10E, elev 43', rwy 05/23, 2001x98', coral
Ldg 05 T/O 23

AGGY XYA  Yandina|Yandina
S9*05'38" E159*13'06", magvar 9E, elev 66', rwy 12/30, 3600x98', coral

AGKG KGE  Kaghau|Kaghau [aka Kagau]
S7*19'51" E157*35'14", magvar 8E, elev 10', rwy 17/35, 2400x49', grass

AGKU KUE  Kolombangara|Kukudu
S8*01'10" E156*56'50", magvar 8E, elev 20', rwy 13/31, 1800x66', dirt

AGKW KWS  Kwailabesi|Kwailabesi
S8*21'38" E160*46'28", magvar 9E, elev 52', rwy 08/26, 1800x66', dirt
Ldg 08 T/O 26

AGNA NAZ  Nana|Nana
S10*39'18" E162*12'24", magvar 9E, elev 20', rwy 12/30, 2600x66', dirt

AGOK GTA  Gatokae|Gatokae [aka Ngatokae]
S8*43'54" E158*12'06", magvar 9E, elev 29', rwy 07/25, 1900x121', gravel

AGRC RIN  Vila|Ringi Cove
S8*07'07" E157*08'32", magvar 8E, elev 27', rwy 01/19, 2400x75', grass  

AGRM RBV  Ramata|Ramata
S8*10'06" E157*38'34", magvar 9E, elev 34', rwy 13/31, 3000x(width unspecified), coral

AGVH VIU  Viru Harbour|Viru Harbour
S8*30'08" E157*41'24", magvar 9E, elev 103', rwy 11/29, 2100x75', gravel
Ldg 11 T/O 29

END OF FILE