A320neo V2 jetway docking

[WernerAir]

Hi there,

I have noticed something that should be easy to fix, but I find it pretty annoying.

Jetways on the A320neo V2 seem to dock at a strange angle to the fuselage - see the attached screenshots for reference. I have observed this behaviour at many different airports, so my guess is that it probably requires some tweaking of the model.cfg file - unfortunately I cannot access that file, as this is a MSFS marketplace install and it seems to be in the encrypted part. Could you please consider this for the coming update?

By the way: The A310-300 exhibits similar behaviour, though there the jetway is usually skewed in the other direction. It would be great if this could also be fixed...

Thanks for an otherwise great aircraft!

[Eddie]

Hi Werner!

I see that you're using GSX, could you please double check your profiles and the door definitions for said profiles? GSX natively supports the 32N; remove any custom profiles (if any are installed) and try again. And I'm glad you're enjoying the aircraft, upcoming AAU3 update should make it even better! 😊

 

Thank you 

[WernerAir]

Hi Eddie,

thank you for your reply.
Yes, I use GSX - sorry for not mentioning that.

I am pretty sure it has nothing to do with the aircraft profiles, because I have tried with different profiles (I am using the standard one as it is), and I have also tried to edit the door definitions in the profile manually. What I have observed is that the door definition in the GSX profile changes how any GSX stairs dock at the aircraft, but it seems to have no influence on the jetways. It seems to me that the standard MSFS animation is used here, and this should be driven by the model.cfg file.
In addition, I have also tried to dock jetways via the EFB and via the comms menu (i.e. without activating GSX), and the result is the same.

It's pretty much the same experience I made when I tried to improve the jetway docking on the A310.

I hope this helps...

And yes, I am looking forward to AAU3 very much!

[Eddie]

Hello again,

I understand. Very odd. We attempted to reproduce the issue however been unsuccessful on multiple occasions. Jetways align almost perfectly on each test we did (image attached). Is it only the 320N & A310 that you experience said issues with? No other airliners? 

I would suggest waiting until AAU3 is released and perhaps it resolves the issue. I've attached screenshots and this is us using the latest (non-public build). No issue.

 

Thank you!

[WernerAir]

Hi Eddie,

thank you for your efforts. Yes, so far I have encountered this issue only on the Inibuilds A310 and A320 V2. I have done some additional testing at Inibuilds EGLL, gate 224, and it is completely reproducible, no matter the method for moving the jetway or the graphics settings or any other thing I have tried to change. (in the past I have observed some strange interactions between jetway animations and Nvidia graphics drivers, for example, but that doesn't seem to be the case here, as I tried the same on the FlyByWire A320nx and the jetway docks fine there).

I was sure you would be able to reproduce the issue. Since you haven't been, I will do some more systematic testing and produce screenshots and videos - maybe that will give us a clue as to what is going on. It will take a few days before I can do that, though...

If AAU3 is released in the meantime, maybe it will help. But I am not so sure about that.

[WernerAir]

OK, It has taken a while, but I have done a test series at Inibuilds EGLL gate 221. GSX was completely turned off, i.e. I stopped the couatl engine. The procedure was always the same:
- load a new aircraft from the main menu
- turn on batteries and external power
- open the ATC menu and request ground services
- request jetway connection
- observe the result through external view and drone cam positioned on the tarmac under the main door
- make a screenshot of the result

I tested for the following aircraft:
- Asobo default A320neo
- FlyByWire A320nx
- Inibuilds A320neo V2 * (here I had to toggle the jetway through the EFB, as the ATC menu did not give me the option somehow)
- Inibuilds A310-300
- Asobo B787-10

The first two screenshots show a general overview at the gate. The subsequent screenshots show the resulting jetway position at the door for the aircraft in the order listed above. As you can see, the positioning generally looks good, except for the two Inibuilds aircraft. All sim and graphics settings are the same in all cases, and as stated GSX is not active. Results are reproducible if I toggle the jetway several times.

So, any ideas what could be the cause?
 

 

[Eddie]

Hello,

Apologies for the delayed reply. I have followed your steps to the tea (as well as disabling GSX) and still unable to reproduce, at least not to your level. Observing the A310 jetway-connection, there is indeed a gap similar to yours, however, it is not major at all and the overhead protection still connects seamlessly so I believe this is fine, as far as I can tell. 

As for the A320, it seems to connect perfectly and nowhere near the results your screenshots show. Albeit the version I'm using is the latest build of the 32Nv2. I don't see how that could be a factor, but it still could, so I would wait with that one and urge you to check again once it releases to the public; hopefully sometime this month (MS said a September release for AAU3 if I do not recall incorrectly). 

 

Anyway, apologies for the inconvenience and I do hope it will be resolved for you sooner rather than later. Thank you!

[WernerAir]

Hi Eddie,
thank you for checking!

On the A310 my feeling is the gap is bigger on my system than it is on yours - but I'm glad that you could at least partly reproduce that.

Of course as a next step I will wait for AAU3 to be released to see if it changes anything. If not, I guess it will be difficult to find out what exactly is different on my system that is causing this issue. The only thing I can think of is the graphics card / graphics driver, because I have already come across issues like this where jetway animations work differently depending on whether you're running an AMD or a nVidia driver. I am running a nVidia Geforce RTX 4070 TI, and my driver is up to date, but in the past nVidia has seemed to cause more difficulties. Is it possible you are running the sim on an AMD card?

Regardless of this however, changing the graphics settings (e.g. turning off DLSS) has had no noticeable impact so far. So I honestly wouldn't know where to start...
Is there perhaps a way to put a model.cfg file somewhere to play around with the aircraft interfaces even if it is a plane installed through the MSFS marketplace?

[WernerAir]

So, here is the analysis after the release of AAU3.

For the A320 neo V2, I find it much improved. There is a reference to a "fixed jetway alignment" in the release notes, and indeed the angle at which the jetway meets the fuselage corresponds better to the actual airframe contour, as can be seen in the screenshot below. It's not perfect, I would say - in fact, I think it's a little bit open towards the front now, so if I had access to the corresponding config files I would try to tweak it some more by turning it back a little bit. But as I said, I find it much better than it was before.

I also tested the A310, but unfortunately I see no difference there - to be fair, there was nothing about it in the release notes, so it is probably unchanged.

As a summary, the A320 is much better now - thank you! For the A310, I would encourage a little optimisation as well. Maybe this can be addressed as part of the upgrade for MSFS24?

 

[Eddie]

Hi!

Apologies, must've missed your reply to my message. But happy to see it improved. We'll take a look at the 310 for future reference as well, must've sneaked through our fixes this time around. Thank you for your patience throughout all this! 😉