Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport - KDCA - by Kambiz Agazi
KDCA represents a modification to the stock FSX airport scenery. KDCA was modified using information from airnav, virtual earth, FAA Airport diagram and approach plates, the official Website and personal observations and pictures.
Changes optimized for the MTX 5.2a and WOAI schedules. Some of the major changes include:
1. Airline assignments at Terminals A, B, C and the US Airways Express commuter ramps at the North Hangars per the official Website;
2. While the gate numbers and number of gates per Terminal are accurate, emphasis at KDCA was on Terminal assignments and not gate assignments;
3. AI parking sizes optimized for the MTX 5.2a schedule;
4. ALL Airport Scenery now shows at the normal scenery density level;
5. All Runway markings, lights and approach equipment and lighting per airnav and personal observations;
6. Blastpads added and sized per virtual earth;
7. Additional USAX ramp parking at the USAX ramps;
8. Additional gates and jetways added to Terminal A per the Web page and verified using virtual earth;
9. Additional commuter ramp parking added to the South Hangars ramp area near Terminal A per Website and virtual earth;
10. Many jetways either relocated and/or moved to improve or fix parking and/or jetway/terminal disconnects;
11. Additional vehicle paths and fuel trucks added to facilitate more effective AI service;
12. GA/Cargo ramp area enhanced and optimized for Bombardier Challenger sized GA;
13. All new RNAV(RNP) approaches and transitions for Rwy 1-19 - "Gravelly Point nail biter at Rwy 19 for the locals";
14. All other approaches and transitions w/missed approach holds have been updated and/or corrected to reflect the most current approach plates;
15. Airport spot lighting guides have been included, see note below for installation;
16. Minor land class adjustments north of Rwy 19 at a location the locals know as "Gravelly Point" - this is also a popular location used for spotting; and
17. Red light beacon with tower added on top of the control tower.
I noted that traffic flow can be a problem with AI (IFR) density greater than 75. KDCA has three runways that are active and cross each other at multiple locations. In the future (as time permits) I plan to examine KDCA closely to determine if diamond crossings can be implemented to facilitate traffic flow control.
All airport buildings and objects can now be seen at normal scenery level; jetways begin to appear at the dense scenery level - extremely dense will reveal all jetways.
Note: Airport spot lighting guides have been added; however, to see the lighting you must install fsx_lts by Jim Dhaenens, which can be downloaded from AVSIM or flightsim.
Installation: Place ALL .bgl files in a scenery folder of your choice - don't forget to activate the scenery in FSX. One location could be the Microsoft Flight Simulator X\Addon Scenery\Scenery folder. However, the KDCA scenery should be at a higher scenery priority from that of "other" area scenery including UTX USA and any local or state scenery.
I have tested KDCA using FSX sp2, and while I don't anticipate issues with using the earlier versions (RTM and SP1), I cannot guarantee that the visuals will look the same on every setup. While not needed for the scenery to work, I also tested to ensure that KDCA works with UTX USA, Scenery Tech North America, and FS Genesis 10m USA Mesh.
KDCA was tested with and optimized for MyTraffic X 5.2a and WOAI. Terminal airline assignments are accurate per the official Website. Gate assignments are approximate only. While KDCA will work with "other" AI packages, I can't guarantee that every airline will park at the correct Terminal when using other AI packages.
While every attempt was made to eliminate errors, there's no such thing as "perfect" scenery. Please let me know if you come across any MAJOR errors or problems.
CREDITS: KDCA was modified using the powerful airport design utility by Jon Masterson (ADE V1.40). Please visit here: http://www.airportdesigneditor.co.uk for more information. The approach code was created using FAA approach plates and ADE V1.40. A special thanks to Jim Vile who is a member of the ADE team and is the author of the approach code module of ADE. The approach code to ALL runways would not have been possible without Jim's KIAD approach tutorial and help.
KDCA approach plates can be downloaded here: http://www.airnav.com/airport/KDCA - You will need the RNAV(RNP) and RNAV(GPS) approach plates to fly the RNAV approaches.
Note about the RNAV(RNP) and LDA 19 approaches:
There are two LDA approaches for RWY 19; the stock FSX airport scenery file only has one activated. I have updated both LDA approaches per the most current plates and I have activated the ROSSLYN LDA, which is not active with the stock FSX KDCA scenery. The ROSSLYN LDA is shown as LDA R (R for Rossyln) in the ATC window and LDA-R in the GPS screen. The other LDA is shown as LDA Runway 19R in the ATC window and LDA 19R in the GPS screen. It was necessary to use the R designation to distinguish THIS LDA from the other and more importantly to allow FSX to honor two LDA approaches for the same Rwy.
RNAV(RNP) approach to RWY 19 requireS "RF" (radius to a fix) type legs to correctly draw the circular curved turns; unfortunately FSX did not implement this leg type. I tend to keep things simple and use intermediate points and the TF (track to a fix) leg types to mimic the curves (SEE ALSO MY KPSP scenery). While the curves are not perfect they're close enough for me and hopefully for you as well. I have found that MOST GPS/Auto Pilot combinations are not capable of flying the precision needed for the RNAV(RNP) approaches in general. The RNAV(RNP) to 19 is no exception. If you hope to land on the runway, I suggest you go visual at waypoint WIRSO. Full flaps and minumum approach speed will help.
