USED BY Permission and a big thanks to Rick S! ... And of course the author,
Charles Owen.***********************************************************************************************************
Read Me:GCAS (Ground Collision Avoidance System) Gauge, Release 1.00 12/18/2010
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Have you ever just completed a long flight and be heading for your gate when some blind and/or suicidal AI pilot rearends you, causing an aircraft collision? If you are a user of a career simulation like FSCaptain (or any number of other products that log your flights and provide feedback) your choices are bleak - either accept the logging of a crash, or erase the flight (which could have taken many hours of effort to complete!)
Or, perhaps you have had this experience too often and have turned off collision detection.
FS9 and FSX try to protect you from these collisions -- with spotty success. It seems that when you are not under control of the FS ATC system (like when you use Radar Contact) the odds of a crash go up. But even under control of MS ATC I have been hit or nearly hit, sometimes having to lunge off taxiways to avoid oncoming jets or even Cessnas!
This small, simple gauge called GCAS will issue some corrective lenses for the blind (and anti-depressants for the suicidal) AI pilots out there. No longer will they crash into you. You are protected.
How does it work?
GCAS is a small gauge with a simple on/off light that you install in any aircraft, in either FS9 or FSX. It requires a registered copy of FSUIPC to work, even on FSX. When your aircraft is on the ground it will monitor all AI aircraft also on the ground near you, and if any are moving, and they are within 100 meters of your aircraft, and they are on a heading which is within 45 degrees of the bearing direct from their aircraft to you (i.e. you are in front of them) they will be placed in Slew mode by the gauge, stopping them in their tracks no matter what they are doing (taxi, pushback, even takeoff or landing.) Once you are no longer within 100 meters they will be released from Slew to go about their business.
Under FSX, this version does not protect you from ground traffic such as fuel trucks, only from other aircraft. I hope to figure out a method for that in the future.
This gauge is a gift from the FSCaptain developers to you. You may use it and distribute it however you wish. If you are an FSCaptain user this gauge is not necessary: as of Version 1.2.00 any FSCaptain flight is protected automatically by this same method.
DOWNLOAD HERE - MUST BE LOGGED ININSTALLATION------------
Place the included GCAS.gau in your Gauges folder. It will work in FS9 or FSx. You will need to install it into the panel.cfg for it to protect you.
If the aircraft has a VC, it's best to install the GCAS in both the VC and the 2D cockpit, unless it has no 2D cockpit of course, or you *never* fly using it. If there is no VC just place it at the end of the gauges in the [Window00] section.
Use this line:
gaugeXX=GCAS!GCAS,100,200,24,34
You will need to change the XX of course to be a unique number among your gauges, and adjust the numbers to place the visual light where you'd like at the size you'd like. If you'd prefer not to see the gauge but still have it protect you, reduce it to a single pixel with these numbers: 0,0,1,1.
OPERATION---------
Operation is very simple. The gauge is on by default, and the green light should be glowing. If it is not then the gauge has not been able to connect to a registered version of FSUIPC, and you have no protection. If it is glowing, you don't need to do anything else, you are protected.
You can click on the light to toggle it on and off. The gauge has no measurable effect on frame rates as far as I can tell, but this is easy to check by turning it on and off. The gauge is only operative (the green light is only on) when you are on the ground, it does not protect against airborne traffic.
TESTING-------
Testing this gauge can be fun! Using slew, or breakneck taxiing, place yourself in front of AI aircraft, change back from slew to normal, and see if they stop. (Note that the gauge does not work in Slew mode, you must remove yourself from Slew for it to issue stop orders.) How do you know if the GCAS stopped them, or whether the FS AI did? The GCAS will stop them further away, usually, and the stop is instant not the braking action seen when the AI stops them just short of you (if it stops them at all.) Often AI planes will go into slew with their nosewheels about 6 inches off the ground, oddly.
Move your aircraft more than 100 meters away and the AI aircraft should resume their taxi, takeoff, or pushback.)
A dramatic test that proves the magical powers of GCAS is to use slew to place yourself about 2000 feet from the aircraft taking off on a busy runway. Try three things. Leave yourself in Slew you are a ghost -- they will pass right through you. With Slew off and the GCAS turned on, they will halt instantly no matter what their speed before they hit you. With GCAS turned off, they will crash into you. (Note: to provoke the ATC into clearing the AI for takeoff while you are on the runway leave yourself in Slew mode until the AI plane starts its takeoff roll, then take yourself out of slew.)
Some might say this is unrealistic, and to an extent it is -- but so is having airports full of blind crazy AI pilots who will crash into another aircraft directly in front of them in plain sight. I believe this is a step towards making flying more realistic in MSFS -- no longer do you have to turn off crash detection to be safe at airports.
However -- GCAS will *NOT* protect the AI airplanes from YOU. If you crash into them, that's not covered under the warranty. Of course, there is no warranty...
SUPPORT-------
There is no official support for this gauge! It is provided "AS IS" with no guarantee whatsoever. It has been tested and appears to work but I can offer no guarantee.
However, if you have questions or would like any enhancements, post to the FSCaptain forums at
http://fscaptain.proboards.com and I might be able to help you. But this is free software, I can't guarantee prompt responses, or any responses at all. But I will try as time allows.
Charles (Dutch) Owen
dutch@fscaptain.net 
Subject: GCAS Ground Collision Avoidance System FSX 
