Currently we have parking, SE Parking, etc, but this is too narrow of a scope.
Can we get “terminal” “transient” “FBO” “Hangars” “GA” and “Overnight” in addition to the cardinal directions used for ramps and spots? Some airports use a phonetic alpha designator - “Charlie ramp,” etc.
“North FBO parking” “West GA Parking” “Terminal Ramp” are some designators I’ve seen used.
In the same breath, allow parking spots to utilize alphanumeric instead of strictly numeric. For example, Sac Executive labels their tie-downs C13, C14, C15, D1, D2, D3, etc. Transients are often labeled T1, T2, etc.
This could be tied into taxiway signage as well. You often see “ramp” or “transients” signs at smaller airports. All of these concepts are tied together as one idea - improving naming of parking spots and ramps and the signage to go with it.
Again, this all comes from recent experience in the world hub. We’re doing all this work - why not allow us to do it right the first time?
While I really like the idea, I think we inherited that naming scheme from previous incarnations of the sim. Changing it might be non-trivial at this point. I wouldn’t get my hopes up.
Instead of building an endless list of possible naming conventions (incl. localized versions), I would prefer if we just group parking spots and name the group whatever we want. Ofc in-game ATC should use that group name when referring to parking areas.
Regarding the taxiway signs, I doubt anyone would complain if you just used the naming conventions used IRL. Apart from the character limit, we have some freedom there…
You’re right, we can put what we want on signs. It doesn’t look right, though. Fonts are a bit off and can’t stack words vertically like you see at smaller airports. Kinda same thing as the character limit. Maybe that needs to be a separate thread.
Yeah, I wouldn’t mind if it was just whatever we determine. I was going along with the need for a convention, if we can’t get away from it.
Trying to think of a case where it needs to be specific to a preset area for the game engine to work, but I can’t see under the hood.
The code that parses .pln files might rely on the naming scheme. ATC code. Maybe SimConnect code. Also maybe external tools that rely on makerunways or read BGLs.
Just saying it’s probably more complicated than just adding a couple of keywords to a list.
