If you want to animate your custom jetway object to work with SAM we propose to use a library jetway as a reference. The following datarefs and their values are available:
sam/jetway/rotate1 | -/+ 90 degrees | Rotation of the entire jetway around Z-axis at 0,0,0
sam/jetway/rotate2 | -/+ 90 degrees | Rotation of the docking door
sam/jetway/rotate3 | -/+ 6 degrees | Vertical rotation of the gangway around X-axis
sam/jetway/extent | 0-10 meters | Gangway extent in meters along Y-axis
sam/jetway/wheels | -/+ 2 meters | Distance of vertical translation of the wheel pillar
sam/jetway/wheelrotatel | 0-360 degrees | Left wheel rotation (forward)
sam/jetway/wheelrotater | 0-360 degrees | Right wheel rotation (forward)
sam/jetway/wheelrotatec | -/+ 90 degrees | Wheel turn axis rotation
sam/jetway/warnlight | 0/1 | status 1 = Jetway is operating
Note: You have to animate from/to all values listed above. If your jetway does only extent 5m please animate it to 10m so SAM can calculate the correct value. You can limit the extent to 5m in the authoring tool later.
Once the object is finished and placed in your custom scenery you configure the animation. In authoring tool select "add jetways", oen the description tab of your jetway and enter the dimensions of your jetway object. It might be useful to enable debugging via Settings->Base Plugin for a visual reference. We propose to read out the measures from your 3D Editor. Furthermore use the Force Connect to Aircraft button in the Test Arrangement tab to check your entered measures. If the docking door is in a wrong position you can finetune the values until they are correct. Please do this finetuning mainly by changing the Distance from cabin pivot to end of cabin and Height of bottom jetway edge above ground. If you change other values your animation might get messed up under different circumstances (other door heights or extend distances).
If you don’t want to enter the values for all jetways again simply store them as a template in your custom scenery and load them for each following object.
Then you define the movement limits of the jetway. Open the Installation tab and set the minimum and maximum values for each part oft he animation. You can use the Test Arrangement to determine the relevant limits. Attention: Min/Max Wheel usually won’t be changed. Also set the initial rotate values which will be the fixed position if the jetway is not being used.
Finally choose a name for the user menu button at the Jetway Label like „Gate 01“ and save it. Your jetway should now be animated correctly. You might have to restart your flight again to start the animation flow.
If your jetway does not connect, your aircraft is probably out of the given limits. You can use the „Force Connect to Aircraft“ button in the Test Arrangement to see which values are required for your current parking position.