McCarran International Airport (November 2011) - KLAS by Kambiz Agazi
KLAS V2 represents a modification to the FSX stock Acceleration airport - may work with FSX Sp2.
Version 2 Changes to McCarran International Airport include all changes below including those in previous releases:
1. Updated all approaches including transitions for all runways per November 2011 plates;
2. Updated all DPs and STARs per November 2011 plates;
3. Added or updated all holding pads including the Allegiant pad at Concourse D;
4. New land class in and around the airport perimeter;
5. Updated taxiway layout and signs per November 2011 airport diagram and VE;
6. New Terminal 3 added with 14 gates - Terminal currently under construction; Gates are static objects until Terminal opens in 2012;
7. Updated Terminal assignments at T1 and T2 per the official airport Web site;
8. Apron pavement type reworked per VE - rehabilitation continues and additional concrete apron and taxiways likely to be added in 2012;
9. New Cargo ramp area plus updated Janet ramp area; Janet parking assignments based on ICAO of WWW, JAN or JNT;
10. Some jetways at some gates are currently offline due to rehabilitation work; Offline jetways are shown as static objects - parking currently unavailable; and
11. I'm including two options for the user see below.
***Two Options for the User***
As you may have noticed, KLAS is surrounded by high terrain on two sides making for a difficult approach and decent to some runways especially when arrivals are from the North and NW. AI also struggle as the default approach (visibility more than 3 miles) is a hard coded visual. This is especially true for AI with incorrect values in the FDE regarding weight and drag.
In order to alleviate AI plowing through the mountains while on approach to 19R, I'm including one version that contains a "fake" ILS for Runway for 19R. 7R/L are closed for landing in this version. The "fake" ILS will not show up on the map or in the GPS and is intended for AI only. The ILS's are designed in such a way as to allow AI to navigate the high terrain on a base leg approach with a "curved" turn to final at 3 NM out - this techique was first developed by Jim Vile and can be seen in several of his airports including Kai Tak and KLAS. ONLY USE ONE OPTION AT A TIME!
The two downsides to the fake ILS option are:
1. If you're tuned into the same com frequency of an AI that is given clearance to land you will hear ATC clear the AI to the ILS at 19R - 19R does not have an ILS approache and this may be a negative for some who prefer to keep things as real as possible.
2. It's possible that under certain circumstances (depending on your approach vector and direction) the user will also (initially) be vectored to the ILS at 19R. In this case, using the ATC dialogue window, ask for an alternative approach and select either the RNAV to 19R or choose the many options that come with 25L and request it from ATC.
If either of these two conditions prove to be a greater distraction compared to AI potentially plowing through the mountains on approach to 19R then I suggest that you install the no fake ILS option.
***IMPORTANT*** In order to see the Terminal and apron spot lighting you'll need to install the wonderful lights from Jim Dhaenens. I'm including his light files with this package.
To install Jim's lights, place the lightobj.bgl file in your
KLAS Installation: The preferred method is to create a folder called KLAS with a scenery subfolder. Place the three KLAS bgl files in the scenery subfolder. You will need to activate the KLAS scenery subfolder once in FSX. I suggest placing it at or near the top of the scenery priority list - above ALL regional, state or national scenery including UTX USA.
There is a known bug in Win7 when it comes to adding scenery in FSX. This bug can be googled for the simple solution. I'm providing a link to one such discussion.
http://www.fsnb.ca/fsxscenery.html
I have tested KLAS v2 using FSX Acceleration on Win7 64bit. I have only included a few Acceleration scenery objects; users who do not have Acceleration installed will not see the extra objects. All other scenery objects are FSX SP1/SP2 default and should be visible to all users. I believe this scenery will work with FSX Sp2 and Acceleration, but I can only provide support for users with Acceleration.
While not needed for the scenery to work, I also tested to ensure that KLAS works with UTX USA, Scenery Tech North America, and FS Genesis 10m USA Mesh.
CREDITS: KLAS v2 was created using the powerful airport design utility by Jon Masterson (ADE V1.50.18 Pro). Please visit here: http://www.airportdesigneditor.co.uk for more information. The approach code was updated using FAA approach plates and ADE V1.50.18. 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. None of my approaches would be possible without Jim's coding.
A special thanks to Jim Dhaenens for use of his lights with freeware packages.
***Special Note***
KLAS is currently undergoing rehabilitation and new construction work. This airport represents (to the best of my ability) KLAS as of November 2011. An update will be provided when the new construction is complete and T3 opens in 2012. Also, some gates at Concourse A, C and D are currently unavailable due to rehabilitation work. I have used the information on the KLAS official Web page to remove the offline gates. The jetways at those gates are static objects and parking is unavailable. This will be revised in the next update.
I have also fixed (fingers crossed) an issue regarding the calm wind runway usage at KLAS. KLAS is unique in FSX as the calm wind runways are the 25s as opposed to the lower number runways, 7s. It's obvious that Microsoft provided some additional code to make this happen. Unfortunately, when you use Jim Vile's technique to activate the crosswinds, this coding gets changed. Therefore, crosswinded runways at KLAS use the 7s as the calm wind ruwnays. In this version of KLAS, I have used a few techniques to reverse the calm wind runways so that the 25s will be the active calm wind runways when crosswinded with the 19s.
Real World Preferences adapted in this version:
- 25R open for departure only
- 25L open for departure and arrival (I left it open for departure so the user plane as an additional choice)
- 19R open for arrival and departure (In real life most departures are from 19L, but some due depart from 19R so I kept it open)
- 19L open for departure only
- 7L closed (necessary to manipulate calm wind coding)
- 7R open for departure only
- 1R open for departure and arrival
- 1L open for departure and arrival
Report all major errors to: kambiz_agazi@hotmail.com
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Two changes since the last release of KLAS:
1. In this version of KLAS, the "curved approach technique" is for the AI plane only. The LOC symbol/Freq. has been removed leaving only the ILS header info with a hard floor Final approach fix for AI to use. The ILS info has been placed at the end of the approach list and in theory should not be offered to the user. There's no ILS symbol or freq. The benefit of this new option is that KLAS runway IAPs are preserved per real world specifications and AI will have an added benefit of the hidden "curved approach" when the 7s/19s are active. This added benefit will prevent AI from flying through the mountains on approach to 7R or 19R.
2. Gate numbers at the new extension to the D gates at Terminal 1 have been updated per the offcial Web site. Thanks to user feedback!
Installation: Only 1 KLAS should be active at any given time. Remove other versions before installing and activating. There are several ways to activate scenery in FSX. My preference is to create a folder called KLAS with a scenery subfolder. Place the TWO KLAS bgl files in the scenery subfolder. You will need to activate the KLAS folder once in FSX. I suggest placing it at or near the top of the scenery priority list - above ALL regional, state or national scenery including UTX USA. Report all major errors to: kambiz_agazi@hotmail.com
All other changes to my previous version of KLAS are shown below and are included in this version as well.
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KLAS represents a modification to the default FSX scenery. Some of the changes include: New or reworked - taxiways, vehicle paths, holding pads; cargo parking; aprons and ramp parkings; new extension to the D gates at Terminal 1 (based on google maps and the web page); airline Terminal assignments per web page; runway lighting, markings and approach lighting, blastpads and more per airnav and google maps; all runways active; full airport scenery (except jetways) at the dense setting; landclass at the airport based on FSX stock; all new IAP's with missed approach procedures for all runways per the most current plates - it was necessary to redo the final ILS and RNAV(GPS) approaches for all Rwy's as well; Tower view set per specifications; and new airport buildings near the cargo area per google maps.
FSX stock KLAS contains incorrect runway specifications for all runways including a hold short issue at 19R due to an incorrect indentification of a blastpad extending the final length of the runway up to the runway start location. Per satellite images and personal observations this should have been an offset threshold. Other issues relating to Rwy's 7R, 1R and 1L regarding hold shorts and aircraft entry points (start locations) were also modified based on current runway specifications and improve AI ground traffic flow for aircraft taking off from 7R and landing on either 1L or 1R. In order to improve traffic flow and reduce the number of "go-arounds", I also closed Rwy 7L-25R for landing (take-off only). All other Rwys are open for both landing and take off. Also, per the latest IAP charts 19R and 19L RNAV(GPS) are offset and require a turn to final.
19R and 19L contain directional holds. The user plane will be required to make one turn prior to lining up and continuing to final.
Acknowledgements: KLAS was updated using the powerful airport design utility by Jon Masterson (ADE v1.47.7). Please visit here: http://www.airportdesigneditor.co.uk for more information.
The new approaches were created using the latest official plates (IAPs) and ADE v1.45. 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 IAPs, final approaches and missed approaches to all runways would not have been possible without Jim's KIAD tutorial, KLAS_ils_JV file (please see avsim for the file) and help.
Special Notes:
KLAS includes 5 diamond/overlay crossings (2 at 7L/25R and 1 at 1R/19L) to improve ground traffic flow during peak traffic times. If you keep your traffic settings below 50 you probably won't notice any difference.
The overlay crossing technique was first developed and introduced by Jim Vile. I used Jim's KMIA scenery located at avsim as an example to introduce this technique at KLAS.
KLAS also includes a base leg approach for AI Traffic to runways 07R and 19R with a left turn to final. These non-published approaches (vectors to final) were first introduced by Jim Vile and are known as his "curved approach" technique. This technique can be seen in his KLAS_ils_JV scenery located at avsim. Please see the readme file in Jim's scenery for a more detailed explanation regarding this curved approach technique.
The purpose for this approach at KLAS is to prevent AI from flying into/through the high terrain located mainly to the north and west of the airport while on final to Rwys 07R or 19R (based on winds). The Las Vegas Control Tower will clear all AI Traffic (IFR FP only) landing either on 19R or 7R (based on winds) to fly a left base leg to these runways and then the AI Planes will make a left turn (curve) on a short 1.5 nm final. I used a 1.5 nm turn as I observed MOST MTX 5.2 Planes were able to fly the curve and land on the runways (results may vary based on x-winds and FDEs).
In this version, the user will not be offered either of the ILS "curved approaches".
