What is a .ACMI file?
An ACMI file is a type of file used to store flight data. This data is recorded using a program called Tacview, which is designed to help analyze flights. The information in an ACMI file is saved in a simple, readable format and includes details about the flight. This can be a flight you've done yourself or flights done by computer-controlled planes, known as AI units.
The details stored in an ACMI file cover everything about the flight. This includes how fast the plane was going (speed), how quickly it was speeding up or slowing down (acceleration), and which way it was facing (orientation). It also records when the flight happened (recording and mission time) and information about the flight itself, like who created it (author), what it's called (title), and what type of flight it was (category).
You can open ACMI files with any basic text editor because the information is stored in plain text. However, to get the most out of these files, it's best to open them with Tacview. This program lets you see the flight data in a way that's easy to understand and analyze, which can help improve flying skills.
Tacview can work with flight data from many sources, including real-life GPS data and several popular flight simulators like X-Plane, Microsoft Flight Simulator, and others. When you save flight data in Tacview, it creates an ACMI file. These files can be shared with others, who can then open them in Tacview to review the flights.
Because ACMI files can become quite large, Tacview offers a feature to compress these files. This makes them smaller and easier to store on your computer. When you compress an ACMI file, it gets a new file extension: .zip.acmi. You can choose how much to compress the file, depending on your needs.
Usually, ACMI files are kept in a specific folder on your computer, which is typically the Tacview folder inside your My Documents directory. This keeps your flight data organized and easy to find.
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