Creation of VFR charts for flight simulation

[marc_eddn]

Hello everyone,

I have some experience with TTQV, which is a nice tool for viewing existing maps, tracking, and also scanning and calibrating paper maps. Unfortunately, I found it unsuitable for processing professional raster and vector maps freely available on the internet.

So I have just bought GM to create some kind of VFR chart for flight simulation from freely available sources.
Currently, I center on Australia, and I already made some progress merging Australian Topo 250K maps with data coming from Flight Simulator X (Airport code, -name). I will add navigational aids (VOR/DME) to that and maybe improve the elevation info to something more visible. Target is creating moving maps that can be used while flying, for which I will need to export the vector/raster data to JPG in overlapping tiles.

So far, it looks like I can get what I want from GM. The greatest challenge will be to export the tiles, as the map is not rectangular in shape. Current Idea is to export a rectangular map and throw away the tiles I don't need to keep sizes small. Anyway, this forum seems to be the perfect place to learn about Global Mapper. And it's fun, too!

Best regards

Marc

[global_flyer]

As a pilot, I am very interested to see what you can do with this! Would mind sending or posting a sample? I'd love to see it.

I've played around a little with draping sectional charts on elevation data but haven't experimented with bringing this into Flight Sim X. Maybe I should try. We should try and combine some effort here.

[global_flyer]

Can you point me toward a tutorial for importing and creating maps for Flight Sim X?

[marc_eddn]

"Importing and creating maps for FSX" -- what do you mean?

Stock FSX, as you probably know, does not allow for a good moving map display (just the built-in GPS), but there are a lot of moving map tools (FSMMM, FS MAP, to name just two) for which I create my maps. Those tools usually have instructions coming with them about how to get and make maps.

You can find some pre-calibrated maps on AVSIM.com in the file library, including all US Sectionals re-projected to Lat/Long for FSMMM use (the tools don't do other projections without a lot of calibration points). You will also find a Tasmania map there that I put up, but it is just the calibrated Australia Topo250K, so no airfield or nav info, and no shading.

Since a lot of countries do not have nav charts available online for free, I try to set up a way to use Topo maps with a little extra for that. And since it's for FSX only, I can tap into the FSX files to get all the coordinates and stuff. Information on which files to harvest for such info is available on the net, and I currently get the info bits I need from some good people at the Orbx FTX forum.

Did I get you right, or did I answer a differnt question than the one you asked? Anyhow, feel free to contact me for anything else!

Best regards

Marc

[Matt]

If you have Google Earth you can see all the Sectionals/TACs for the US by downloading this file. They are several years out of date, so for simulation/entertainment purposes only. Something similar is also available for Nasa World Wind.

http://www.gelib.com/maps/Sectionals/Aero_Charts_nl.kml

Does FSM Moving Maps work in FSX? I didnt think it did.

There used to be a lot of charts for the rest of the world online, but I'm not sure where they are anymore and they were not georeferenced so very difficult to import and georeference with any accuracy.

Also, you can download all the US Sectionals/TACs from here for free.

Index of /raw_data/FAA/sectionals

They are several years out of date though.

As for exporting tiles......it's possible to make the side areas transparent

Good luck.

Matt

[marc_eddn]

Hi there,

I thought I'd post an example of what I achieved so far. I will post some questions over the next hours or so in the appropriate forums, since I have some minor issues with integrating some of the data.

I used the Australian Topo250k maps, Aeronautical heights and elevation information, all from Geoscience Australia, and some input from the FSX community to achieve this:


@Matt,

FSMMM does indeed work together with FSX quite nicely if you run it in windowed mode e.g. on a second screen AND you own a registered copy of FSUIPC for FSX. At least that's my configuration, and it works without a flaw. But since FSUIPC is almost the same price as FSMAP, it's probably smarter to buy the latter if FSUIPC is not needed anyway for other purposes.

Best regards,.

Marc