European Runways For CFS2 ~ Mk. II

Schongau

This scenery package is an authorized update of Mathias Pommerien's classic -- European Runways For CFS2. The Mark II edition adds an invisible Non-Directional Beacon (NDB) entry and an invisible "fuel anywhere" entry to all 66 of the original CFS1 runways. For convenience an extra Fuel-NDB pair of entries has been included for Martin Wright's Castle Camps scenery set as well.

The NDB frequencies and distances follow the ones already established by the RAF662 ADF listings where they are applicable. The remaining NDBs use frequencies between 460 and 464 KHz which to the best of my knowledge have not been used in other European scenery sets. Two listings are provided: one in text format and one in html format.

Although there are a growing number of excellent European scenery sets available for CFS2, the runways included in this package are ideal for mission builders for a variety of reasons. First, they conform to the Mission Builder's airbases.dat entries which means you don't have to worry about creating your own entries. Second, having bare runways to work with is ideal for adding objects to the scenery which can be destroyed during the mission.

Following Mathias' original example, the components for each runway set were created as individual files. This makes it very easy to customize the scenery folder's contents to suite your needs. For example, if you install Martin Wright's "Dover Area" scenery which includes the Hawkinge runway and a corresponding airfield entry, you can easily remove the Hawkinge_RW.BGL and Hawkinge_AFD.BGL files from this set. Yet, you may want to keep the Hawkinge_NDB.BGL and Hawkinge_FUEL.BGL files in this set to retain the navigation and refuelling features because those are not included in Martin's set.

There are four components (ie. files) for each runway set. Each of the four files in a runway set begins with the airfield's name and then has an additional identifier: _RW for the actual runway textures, _AFD for the item that creates the airfield's name in the "Choose Location..." list, _NDB for the invisible beacon and _FUEL for the invisible "fuel anywhere" area. All of the files end in .BGL. So, looking at the *Biggin Hill runway set in this package, the files are:

You may remove one, some or all of them from the scenery folder to suite your needs. Just remember to make a backup of your original files to save you the trouble of having to download them again.

Installation

Adding scenery to Combat Flight Simulator 2 is fairly straight forward but does require a few steps:

  1. If you have the original European Runways For CFS package installed, it's advisable to locate and remove the original files from your SCENEDB folder. If you followed Mathias' original instructions, the files will be located in:


    Your ...\Combat Flight Simulator 2 directory is usually located at C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Combat Flight Simulator 2.

  2. Unzip the "Combat Flight Simulator 2.zip" archive directly on top of your Combat Flight Simulator 2 folder which will automatically place things in the right place.

    If you'd prefer to manually install the scenery folder, then unzip the "Combat Flight Simulator 2.zip" archive to a temporary location then copy the "MP_RR_CFS1RWYS_CFS2" folder contained inside the SCENEDB folder and paste it into your ...\Combat Flight Simulator 2\SCENEDB\ folder.

  3. Launch Combat Flight Simulator 2 then click on the "Settings..." button.

  4. Click on the "Scenery library..." button then click on the "Add area..." button.

  5. Locate and select the "MP_RR_CFS1RWYS_CFS2" folder within your ...Combat Flight Simulator 2\SCENEDB\ folder, leave the "Use this scenery directly" radio button selected then click the "OK" button. You're ready to use the new scenery.

Acknowledgements

One of the great things about the flight simulator community is the way many people are willing to help where they can. For me, it has increased my enjoyment of electronic flying many fold. So, my hearty thanks to everyone out there who is lending a hand big or small. Further, this scenery package would not be possible if it weren't for the work of several other people who I would like to thank very much and acknowledge here.

First, I'm indebted to Mathias Pommerien for allowing me to include his original files with my update. Mathias created all of the _RW and _AFD files using Martin Wright's MkAFD2 utility.

The _FUEL and _NDB files were created with Airport for Windows 2.60 Build 116 by Tom Hiscox, Pascal Meziat, Manfred Moldenhauer and Brian McWilliams. Although these fellows are the main authors of the software, many other people have contributed to that outstanding Freeware project as well.

I would like to extend additional thanks Martin Wright for all his utilities and add-ons which he kindly releases as Freeware .

Thanks must also go out to all those people who work hard at maintaining the web sites we all use for getting the latest news, discussions and down loads.

Finally, I would like to thank my friends at the Virtual RCAF 19 Wing for the idea of adding NDBs and Fuel to the original European runways.

Legal Notice & Conditions of Use

The contents of this package are © Rick Rutherford except for the files ending in _RW.BGL and _AFD.BGL which are © Mathias Pommerien.

I have tested the files included in this package on my own system and they work without problems. However, as a condition of use you accept that I will not be held responsible for any damage or problems you may encounter through the use of the files in this package.

This package is distributed as "Freeware". As a further condition of use, you agree that you may not charge anything for this package under any circumstances. You are permitted to store this package on any media you feel is appropriate for your personal use. You are further permitted to include this package, in whole or in part, for distribution with your own work providing:

Enjoy and happy flying!

Rick (Gunner) Rutherford
rc.rutherford@shaw.ca
http://members.shaw.ca/rcafgunner/

February 2, 2002