OK first things first!

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DECIDING WHAT SERVICE YOU WANT AND WHERE: PLANE-
MAKER:
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Go into Plane-Maker.
Go to the STANDARD menu, then the VIEWPOINT item.
Go to the LAST tab: LOCATION.
Here, check the little boxes for the type of service your
airplane like to get.
Enter the LOCATION that the ground traffic cars should drive
to when servicing this airplane.
If you make the window extra-wide, then you will SEE these
points on the airplane as you move them, which makes
things a ton easier.
So, enter all the service parking-points for ground-service
trucks for your airplanes there in Plane-Maker. Very easy.

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DECIDING WHAT SERVICE YOU HAVE AND WHERE: WORLD-
EDIT:
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NOW, if you go into WED (World-Edit) for X-Plane, then you

will be able to add a number of ground traffic trucks at the
AIRPORTS!
These trucks are:

pushback -can push ANY type of plane

fuel_prop -can fuel recip engine aircraft only
fuel_jet -fuels jets and turboprops
fuel_liner -fuel HYDRANT truck, which takes fuel from ground
hydrants to fuel the liners
food -catering for the liners
belt_loader -belt-loaders for bags for the liners
bag_engine -baggage train engine for the liners
bag_car -baggage train cars for the liners
crew_BMW -crew car
crew_limo -crew car
crew_458 -crew car
GPU_engine -ground power unit engine for any plane
GPU_car -ground power unit car for any plane

You can add these trucks all about the ramps as you see fit.
I have added comments next to each truck type above.
You add the parking space for each truck type, and they will
be parked in their parking spot when the sim starts.

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DECIDING HOW THE TRUCKS WILL GET TO YOUR PLANE:
WORLD-EDIT:
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Now here is where it gets really interesting: ROAD GRIDS!

You can make all the little PATHS that the car follow all over
the airport!
This, of course, is to keep cars from careening across
runways, through terminals, etc.
Build the grids that the cars will follow.
You should generally have grids that go from pretty close to
the parking spot of each truck to pretty close to the parking
spot of each airplane.
The trucks will bee-line from their parking to the nearest bit
of the road-grid they can find, and bee-line from the road-grid
to the aircraft parking spot,
so it is a good idea to have the road-grids go pretty close to
the truck parking and aircraft parking to minimize the
tunnel-vision bee-lining the trucks will do.
Trucks will service your plane, and the AI planes flying about
as well.

Now here is something cool: You can add PIT-STOPS for each
type of truck!
This way, even if there re not many planes about demanding
service, the trucks will be buzzing about with something to
do to keep things from getting boring.
Trucks will randomly pick pit-stops to drive to from time to
time.

Here is another cool thing: MULTIPLE GRDS!

Whenever a plane demands service, he will only accept a
car if that car is closest to the same grid that the airplane is
closest to!
Here is what I mean:
You might have a single road-grid for AIRLINER parking.
Trucks nearest that grid will ONLY service airplanes nearest
that same grid as well,
so any aircraft parked closest to that airliner grid will only
ask for service from trucks that are ALSO closest to that
SAME GRID.

Then, on a DIFFERENT part of the airport, you might have a

GENERAL AVIATION grid.
Any plane parked closest to THAT grid will ONLY demand
service from trucks that are also closer to THAT grid than
any other grid.

There might be a military aviation grid on the same airport,

or helicopter, or individual FBO, or any other break-down you
can imagine.
The rules are simple: Cars will NOT go from one grid to
another, and a plane at a given grid will only demand service
from cars on that same grid.

Knowing this, you can put cars and grids in nice little groups
as you see fit to keep push-carts from general aviation from
coming over to the airliner
side of the field, wandering across runways, and things like
that… just make the grids that you want to keep the traffic
on… cars will only leave the grid for
close-by truck and aircraft parking spaces, not some other
grid.

(NOTE: IF you make a grid that crosses a runway, that IS

legal. But trucks avoid other airplanes by creeping out of the
way at 10 miles per hour when
an airplane gets too close. That will NOT be good ebnough to
avoid a conflict on any taking off or landing traffic).

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DEMANDING SERVICE: X-PLANE:
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Now, in X-Plane, go to the JOYSTICK BUTTON ASSIGNMENT

in the settings window at the upper right of your X-Plane
screen in flight
and hit any button you want and for that button hit the EDIT
button and type in SERVICE or PUSH-BACK.
Assign the buttons to demand service or push-back as
desired.

Now, when parked on the ramp, when you demand service or

push-back, then:
->IF your plane has been configured to demand a certain
type of service in Plane-Maker,
->IF your airport has been configured to provide a
certain type of service for that ramp area in WED,
then you will get service!

As well, if you go to the FLIGHT menu, and select AI FLIES

YOUR AIRCRAFT, then the little AI pilot that I wrote will
demand service as he sees fit before he goes flying.
The AI will only demand service available at that airport. No
service trucks of a certain type available? THEN WE FLY
WITHOUT THEM!
We’re not cancelling the flight over a lack of peanuts, OK?

austin