Creating and Editing Taxiway Signs in FSX Planner
FSX Planner provides you with tools to easily create and edit taxiway signs.
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Creating a new taxiway sign
To create a new taxiway sign you select the taxiway sign editing tool from the toolbar. Once the tool
is selected, you click at the point where you want the taxiway sign to appear. A taxiway sign is
displayed in FSX Planner as a yellow rectangle with an extra line on the side containing the sign's
text.
You can rotate the taxiway sign by adjusting its heading in the Taxiway Sign Data display. The
justification, which can be either left or right, allows you to flip the text of the sign
from one side to the other without having to adjust the heading of the taxiway sign. FSX allows
for five different sizes of taxiway signs, from the smallest at SIZE1 to the largest at SIZE5.
Note that FSX Planner renders all sizes the same.
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Creating the taxiway sign text
A taxiway sign can display the name of the runway you are about to enter; or the name of the taxiway
you are currently on; or any combination of directions. The current taxiway sign text is displayed
at the bottom of the properties window as it appears in the sim.
The sim uses various characters, each with its own meaning, to determine what should be displayed
on the sign. If you have memorized these characters then you can simply type them into the Label
text field. If you would prefer a simpler method, you can click on the wizard button to the right
of the Label text field.
The Taxiway Sign Wizard presents you with a graphical interface to help you create the text for your
taxiway sign. It is divided into three main areas. The left side shows the different sections that
can compose your taxiway sign. The right side shows the various special characters that can appear
on a taxiway sign. Finally, the bottom displays the current label text along with a graphical display
of what the taxiway sign will look like in the simulator.
To edit the taxiway sign you simply click on the appropriate buttons to choose the type and/or special
characters. To enter letters or numbers you just type directly into the label text field at the bottom
of the window. Note that all types letters should be upper case. As you click the buttons or type on the
keyboard the graphical representation of the taxiway sign will update automatically, allowing you to
instantly view the sign.
After you have completed editing the sign, click the OK button to close the wizard. The taxiway sign
will be updated, with the preview showing the new sign markings.
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Creating back-to-back taxiway signs
A taxiway sign can only have writing on one side of it. However there may be times when you want to
create a taxiway sign with writing on both sides. This can be accomplished using a custom model for
the taxiway sign, or more simply by creating two taxiway signs and placing them back-to-back.
When you do this remember to have the sides that contain the text face away from each other and not
towards the other sign.
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Deleting Taxiway Signs With Exclusion Rectangles
A common problem that occurs when taxiway signs are modified is that the airport ends up with duplicate
taxiway signs. This is because the original taxiway signs are still present at the airport, and your
new taxiway signs are simply added to the airport. Taxiway signs cannot be removed using the delete
tags, but rather require an Exclusion Rectangle.
FSX Planner allows you to draw exclusion rectangles by selecting the exclusion tool and then drawing
the rectangle over the area that should be affected. An exclusion rectangle can remove many items,
however in this instance we are only interested in removing taxiway signs. So once you have created
your exclusion rectangle, you will need to tick the appropriate checkboxes in the properties display
to specify that the exclusion rectangle should only exclude taxiway signs.
All of the taxiway signs at an airport are based off of one single master taxiway sign. If this taxiway
sign is not covered by your exclusion rectangle none of the taxiway signs will be removed. As it is
fairly difficult to determine which taxiway sign is the master sign, best practice suggests that your
exclusion rectangle covers all the taxiway signs at the airport.
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We hope that this tutorial has explained the creation and editing of taxiway signs in FSX Planner. FSX Planner
contains many more features, and we hope that you are able to explore and benefit from them.
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