Taxi Tuner - Best Practices

Courtesy of PilotGuy9853

Taxi Tuner Best Practices and Standards.
V 1.0 - 07/20/25
The purpose of this document is to give taxi tuners a standard that will ensure correct and consistent handling
of aircraft using Say Intentions. We will start at the runway and work back to the parking points.
Things to keep in mind when tuning an airport using Taxi Tuner:
● Always use the real world charts and base satellite image within Taxi Tuner as your guide.
● Avoid using custom scenery as your template as it may not match the default Asobo airport that most
all people will fly with.
● Be careful with airports that have had recent real-world construction. These airports may not match the
default Asobo airport scenery.
– Taxiways –
Two Taxiways Leading On To A Runway- In this example there are two taxiways that converge at the
runway end.
Two Taxiways Leading On To A Runway (Not at the end of the runway)- In this example there are two
taxiways leading on to the runway, but unlike the example above, these connect to the runway at a point along
the runway, not at the end.
One Taxiway Leading On To A Runway- In this example there is just one taxiway that leads on to the
runway.
– Hold Short Lines –
There are two types of hold short lines (or points) that you will create. The normal hold short line can be found
on a taxiway just before the runway. The I.L.S. critical area hold short line can be found further away from the
runway. Say Intentions will use these points to hold aircraft at the proper location before entering the runway.
Normal Hold Short Line - Create a point in Taxi Tuner where the taxi line intersects the hold short line on the
base image. Give it a name of ‘Hold Short Line’ and a type of ‘Holding’. It should then create this yellow pin
shown below.
I.L.S. Critical Area Hold Short Line - Create a point in Taxi Tuner where the taxi line intersects the hold short
line on the base image. Give it a name of ‘I.L.S. Critical Area’ and a type of ‘Holding’. It should then create
this yellow pin shown below.
Those are the only two types of hold short lines (points) that we will need to create at this time.
– Taxiways –
Taxiway Names - Taxiways should always follow the real world name. You can find this information in the
various published charts. They should also follow the real world lines on the base satellite image.
Taxiway Width - Taxiways should use the default width of 82 feet unless otherwise requested.
Taxiway Intersections - Taxiway intersections should be created so as to match the underlying base image
as closely as possible.
– Commercial Airline Gates –
Taxi line approaches from taxiway to parking points - Try and follow the real world markings on the base
satellite imagery if possible. You can also make an angle such as in the green circle if needed.
Taxi Tuner uses the taxi line leading up to the parking point as the basis for the direction the parked aircraft is
facing so it is vital to get the line in the correct orientation.
Commercial Gate Parking Points - Parking points should be created at the end of all gate taxi line
approaches. These points should be placed at the end of the taxi line using the base satellite image. If one
stop bar exists on the taxi line, place the parking point there. If multiple stop bars exist as in the image below,
place the parking point midway between the first and last stop bar. The system will calculate offsets based on
the aircraft type.
Parking Points with a lead in and lead out taxi line instead of a parking point at the end of a taxi line as
in the example on the previous page - Create these types using 3 steps. Step 1 is to create the taxi line
leading up to the parking point. Step 2 is to create the parking point and Step 3 is to create the taxi line leading
away from the parking point.
Parking Point Information - There are 4 things that you should set for each parking point.
Name : Should be the gate number/name as found on airport charts.
Terminal : Should be the terminal number/name as found on airport charts. Use “Terminal 1” instead of just “1”.
It helps with AI routing.
Type: See next page for more detailed information on ‘type’.
Airlines: Enter each airline that services that gate. This information can be found on various internet
resources including the website of the airport itself, etc.
Parking Point Type - There are several types of parking points that you can create. Below is a rough guide of
which you should use for what type of aircraft.
Ramp GA - Ignore / Do not use
Ramp GA Small - For small G.A. aircraft such as Cessna 152/172/182, Piper Cherokee, Warrior, Light Sport
Aircraft, etc.
Ramp GA Medium - Diamond DA-62, Piper Malibu/Mirage, Honda Jet, Vision Jet, etc.
Ramp GA Large - King Air, PC-12, Cessna Caravan, etc.
Ramp Cargo - Use for all cargo aircraft.
Ramp Military Cargo - C-130, C17, C5, A-400, etc.
Ramp Military Combat - Fighter Jets, Military Helicopters, etc.
Gate Small - CRJ’s, ERJ’s, ATR’s., etc.
Gate Medium - 737, A-320, E-190-195, etc.
Gate Large - 777, 747, A-380, etc.
Dock GA - Used for floatplanes, water parking points.
Ramp GA Extra - Ignore / Do not use
Gate Extra - Ignore / Do not use
– P.O.I. (Points Of Interest) –
There are 3 types of P.O.I.’s that can be created. A.T.C. will use these points for taxi instructions, hold short
points, etc.
Ground - Will show on the Taxi Tuner map as a green pin. These are locations known to A.T.C. that the user
can request taxi to, such as ‘GA Ramp’, ‘Apron Kilo’, ‘F.B.O.’, ‘Fuel Point’, etc.
Holding - Used to create hold short points. ATC will use these to hold A.I. aircraft at the appropriate location.
Reporting - VFR Reporting points used by pilots and A.T.C. as known ground locations, visible in the air, that
can be referenced to indicate the pilot’s location. Currently not used but may be in the future.
Common Mistakes To Avoid
Unconnected taxi lines - Taxi lines must always connect. You must not leave two unconnected lines as this
will interfere with the flow of aircraft.
Orphaned or unconnected parking points - Parking points should always be connected to the taxi line
leading up to the parking point like the example circled in green.
Taxi nodes too close together - Avoid placing the taxiway nodes (green dots) too close together. If you do,
Taxi Tuner may flag you with these red circles. Move the nodes further apart to fix this.
Always write out cardinal points and similar (North, Inner, Link, ...) in taxiway names, etc.
Never use abbreviations such as “N” or “E”, use “North” or “East”, etc.
Add De-Icing Pads as a Ground POI (Point of Interest) on a taxilane of the de-icing area for
future support.
If the taxiway is unnamed on airport charts, use an unnamed taxilane in Taxi Tuner to
represent these. These should appear in blue within Taxi Tuner.
Always describe the parking point in detail. For example: According to the charts, the terminal
is called "Terminal 1" and the parking stand "A1".