Carriers in FSX

[SSI01]

Good evening all and happy St Patrick's Day!

I have two questions relating to aircraft carriers in FSX.

First, how does one go about finding the carrier(s) in FSX to begin with? I checked the "cities" and "airfields" values under "United States" but couldn't find anything. I also went to the "Flights" tab once I got the sim started, thinking I could find a saved flight I could use to get me on the boat. There are a couple of flights in that file, however, they are rather limited in that one is a tutorial and the other is basically a fam hop. In both cases the pilot is limited to the F/A-18. I remember seeing something someone said about the carrier being a moving airfield and therefore not being listed anywhere in the "airports" category. How do you go about finding the carrier in the sim so you can put any carrier-based aircraft on the boat and see about flying it from there?

Second, I have been to FlyingStations and have downloaded the Ark Royal add-on plus all the "Victorious" carrier versions. I've installed the original early-war Victorious and can successfully place any carrier-based aircraft on that ship and fly off/trap. I also tried a second "Victorious" add-on but can not find it anywhere in the sim's list of airfields, either in the "airports" category or in the add-on flights. It is not listed in the add-on flights as the original "Victorious" installation is. Today I picked up the FS Buccaneer S1 pack and would like to try to fly it off the Ark Royal, which is also installed but likewise I can not find it in the sim, either. How do you find the boats?

 

[DaveB]

What's all this 'Boats' about.. they're SHIPS!!

I've no idea about the default FSXA carriers. As you've found, the original Victorious had ship tracks and flights included.. the second 2 didn't as far as I can remember. However, Ark Royal IV does have ship tracks. Check out the readme/instructions that came with the download. You'll find her off Gibraltar and doing a cct in the English Channel
ATB
DaveB

 

[Craig Taylor]

Look under the heading of "AI Carriers" in this link: http://www.simtours.net/defaultaircraftcarrier.php

It has a table that lists the departure locations and times of day for each of the AI carriers in FSX/Acceleration. You have to set your sim clock and calendar appropriately in order to find the carriers. Also, you need to set a minimum amount of ship traffic in your scenery settings. I think it was at least 20%, but maybe as much as 30%. Happy trapping!

 

[erican2]

You can usually find the default carrier with working cats next to the golden gate bridge on Saturday. You should download ai carriers 2 and then you can place a moving carrier of your choice in front of you. Also download the highly detailed FSX Acceleration USS Nimitz Carrier Package Version 2

For flying stations carriers using ai carriers add the following to the aicarriers.cfg

[formation.xx]
title=Ark_Royal
unit.0=Ark_Royal, 0, 15
[formation.70]
title=Victorious_1966
unit.0=Victorious_1966, 0, 15
[formation.xx]
title=Victorious_1964
unit.0=Victorious_1964, 0, 15
[formation.xx]
title=Victorious_1958
unit.0-Victorious_1958, 0, 15
[formation.xx]
title=Victorious_1940
unit.0=Victorious_1940, 0, 15
[formation.xx]
title=HMS Ark Royal (Single)
unit.0=Ark_Royal, 0, 0
[formation.75]
title=HMS Victorious Early WW2 TG
unit.0=Victorious_1940, 0, 0
unit.1=Argonaut_1943, -510, 804
unit.2=Sirius_1943, 150, -140
[formation.xx]
title=HMS Victorious Late WW2 TG - Clear Deck
unit.0=Victorious_1944_normal, 0, 0
unit.1=Argonaut_1944, -500, 804
unit.2=Euryalus_1944, 150, -173
[formation.xx]
title=HMS Victorious (1964)
unit.0=Victorious_1964, 0, 0
unit.1=Plymouth, 005, -1000
unit.2=Ajax, -500, -100
unit.3=Defender, 900, 7000
unit.4=Wessex1, -60, -10
[formation.xx]
title=HMS Victorious (1966)
unit.0=Victorious_1966, 0, 0
unit.1=Plymouth, 005, -1000
unit.2=Ajax, -500, -100
unit.3=Defender, 900, 7000
unit.4=Wessex1, -60, -10
[formation.xx]
title=HMS Victorious Late WW2 TG - Charlie Time
unit.0=Victorious_1944_recovery, 0, 0
unit.1=Argonaut_1944, -500, 804
unit.2=Euryalus_1944, 160, -173
[formation.xx]
title=HMS Victorious Late WW2 TG - Hands to Flying Stations
unit.0=Victorious_1944_launch, 0, 0
unit.1=Argonaut_1944, -500, 804
unit.2=Euryalus_1944, 100, -113
[formation.xx]
title=HMS Victorious (1960)
unit.0=Victorious_1958, 0, 0
unit.1=Daring, 005, -1000
unit.2=Diana, -500, -100
unit.3=Defender, 900, 7000
unit.4=Whirlwind7, -60, -10
[formation.xx]
title=HMS Ark Royal (Single)
unit.0=Ark_Royal, 0, 0
[formation.xx]
title=HMS Victorious Early WW2 TG
unit.0=Victorious_1940, 0, 0
unit.1=Argonaut_1943, -510, 804
unit.2=Sirius_1943, 150, -140
[formation.xx]
title=HMS Victorious Late WW2 TG - Clear Deck
unit.0=Victorious_1944_normal, 0, 0
unit.1=Argonaut_1944, -500, 804
unit.2=Euryalus_1944, 150, -173
[formation.xx]
title=HMS Victorious Late WW2 TG - Charlie Time
unit.0=Victorious_1944_recovery, 0, 0
unit.1=Argonaut_1944, -500, 804
unit.2=Euryalus_1944, 160, -173
[formation.xx]
title=HMS Victorious Late WW2 TG - Hands to Flying Stations
unit.0=Victorious_1944_launch, 0, 0
unit.1=Argonaut_1944, -500, 804
unit.2=Euryalus_1944, 100, -113

using ai carriers just press shift + J when over water and select from drop down menu.
Fsx acc Key carriers

Launch Bar(extend/retract) Shift + U
Attach to catapult (arm/Disarm) Shift + I
Fire catapult Shift + spacebar
Tail Hook (up/down) shift + Q

I think you will find the ARK ROYAL near the Isle of Wight

Dave

 

[gdavej]

Another option is FSX@War Convoy and Carrier Planner. This allows you to place any aircraft (preferably something that should be on a carrier), on any carrier anywhere, and the carrier is moving as well. It can be a bit of a pain to get working, especially with the different timezones, but well worth the effort.