Dave Morgan

Me too. November... That's good. Waiting will make the summer last for ever.

Hi Richard. I've just downloaded Jens' HP Hastings so I'll have a play once I'm home this evening (UK). Which airport have you been using? Come to that, does the problem occur at every airport? Or on every type of surface? Having never tried, I'm not sure if installation would have been possible (thinking becomes increasingly difficult as Friday wears on) but you didn't download the FSX version by mistake did you? Best regards, D

Hi Richard. I suppose you're conversant with FS9's folder structure, and with messing about with files... Try narrowing the scope of your search for the culprit. It may be best to check first whether it's the model, the air file or the config file that is suffering the problem. Disable one of them by altering the suffix and substitute a copy of the corresponding file from a working aircraft's folder. Do them one at a time and for each substitution perform a test by taxiing and braking. If the problem persists, make a substitution of all three. If the problem still persists, it's likely to be something other than the aircraft (that's why I wrote 'suffering the problem' rather than 'causes the problem'). Let us know how you get on. Regards, D

Well, Access couldn't open it. It probably would have but the database is password protected, a bit of a joke as that doesn't protect the developer's work, just prevents me accessing a list of what's on my PC. Removing the Remote= lines in scenery.cfg had no discernible effect, but then I don't cache scenery from a disc or a server so it wouldn't. Rewriting the Local= lines with full paths left me with a database of zero airports. I have no idea why that should be the case as it works ok for you. FS9 worked fine. Moreover, the old CollectAirports.exe then also found zero airports. Deleting SceneryStatus.dat and all Scenery.dat and rebuilding them had no effect. So I uninstalled Airport Chart Viewer. On cleaning what was left and reinstalling backups, I noticed that Super Flight Planner also fails to find any airports in layers where the full path is shown. This - [Area.228] Title=VFRPS airports Local=G:\Program Files\Playsims\VFRPS\VFRPS airports Active=TRUE Required=FALSE Layer=228 - left me with none of the unique Playsims airports in my flight planner. It's not an entry I've edited for myself but I can't recall whether or not Playsims' installer created it. I think it must have as all the Horizon/Playsims layers had full paths. Working within FS9, I deleted the scenery layer, shut down & restarted FS9, then re-added the same layer and ended up with this in the scenery.cfg: [Area.228] Title=VFRPS airports Local=..\..\Playsims\VFRPS\VFRPS airports Remote= Active=TRUE Required=FALSE Layer=228 Now, when rebuilding SFP's database, the unique airports show up. I may at some point rebuild all my scenery layers and reinstall Apchart for another go but for now I've had enough... Cheers, D

Hi. Mine's a standalone PC (hence never upgrading XP when support ran out). Aside from Noautorun (for my memory stick), it has no anti-virus software. The only protection it has comes through only downloading via my work network (utterly paranoid firewall & malware hunter-killers). So I guess it's not that either. I think I'll install MS Access when I'm not laying loft insulation this weekend and if that won't open the database then I'll start looking for a copy of Paradox or dBase. Enjoy your weekend. D

Hi again. I notice you mentioned above that your database 'took an hour to build'. Mine took two and a half minutes, which initially had me thinking that the builder failed to find any addons. That can't be right, though, as it does show addons for which there aren't any corresponding stock afds. My afd files begin variously with AP (the stock bgls), F1UT_, AF1_, ADE_ and other random developer formats. At least one of the addons that do show begins with ADE_ so I suppose that's not it either. Maybe the OS thing is a red herring, as you implied, and the failure really is down to scenery.cfg or whatever else tells the builder where to look. I can't think of anywhere else it could get the folder information from. So in scenery.cfg, the row order I'm using is below. [Area.172] Title=VHHH Hong Kong Local=..\avsim scenery\vhhh2005b Remote= Active=TRUE Required=FALSE Layer=172 flatten.0=0,N22 19.92,E113 52.64,N22 19.92,E113 57.27,N22 17.37,E113 57.27,N22 17.37,E113 52.64 flatten.1=19,N22 18.59,E113 53.56,N22 19.64,E113 56.79,N22 17.36,E113 56.29,N22 17.66,E113 53.68 flatten.2=0,N22 18.44,E113 53.09,N22 18.44,E113 53.73,N22 17.91,E113 53.73,N22 17.91,E113 53.09 My scenery.cfg sorter is FSTscenery.exe by Steve Greenwood. it does a pretty good job but doesn't after all remove duplicate layers. There were none in any case. What I have noticed is some variation in the structure of the 'Local=' rows... Local=G:\Program Files\Playsims\VFRPS\Volume10\10-5mp1 Local=..\..\Scotflight\ScotFlight scenery Local=sbuilder trial ... and occasional use of an ampersand and a colon, at least one of which could be some sort of special character. When I consider that the aircraft utility, ACA2005, doesn't like characters with grave or acute accents and replaces them with a 'missing character' rectangle, I suppose apchart may have a similar problem. Best regards, D

Thanks for that. My addon afds are in all sorts of places - some within ../fs2004/scenery/[area]/scenery/, some in ../fs2004/addon scenery/scenery/ and others in their own folders. In the database, none seem to take precedence over the stock. My autism gene insists on standardisaton so I use a scenery config editing tool whenever I add or remove scenery or make manual alterations to scenery.cfg, though being at work I have no idea what the d/l was called. It has no GUI, just produces a new scenery.cfg and a backup of the original. It identifies and corrects, among other things, non-sequential layer numbers and duplicates so that's not it. I suppose the problem may depend on the order of the lines within each layer section. Changing the order for each section is possible though with 400-odd layers it would surely take some time. I'm still inclined to think the problem is most likely with the database compiler... Cheers, D

Hi. I'm still worrying at this because it looks like a very useful application. If I can get it to work. For all post-XP users, I have found this much this (not a lot, I admit). I use XP3 Pro and my database is created in C:\Documents and Settings\[my account name]\Application Data\DBAirport\ and is called data_9.db Should you search for it on your PC, don't forget to uncheck 'Hide familiar extensions' and to uncheck 'Hide [critical/fragile/important/don't-mess-with-it/whatever] files' or your search probably won't show a result. My guess is that in post-XP OSs, the relevant path is called something else so possibly either the database is in the wrong folder or the application is looking in the wrong folder. As far as my own experience goes, my Airport Chart Viewer shows stock afds in preference to any overlying addons. The only addons that do show are those which have no associated stock afd. What I need is something to open the .db file and edit its contents. Or at least examine its contents with a view to considering a manual edit. Of potentially 25000 records. Well, I can dream can't I? The new desktop 'key' icon for Airport Chart DB Builder is reminiscent of MS Access. A Google trawl suggests that the original application for the *.db file was either dBase or Paradox. Or SQL Lite. Or MS Works. Or something completely different. There are free viewers available but my Windows 8.1 Mobile won't have anything to do with .exe downloads. I think the 8.1 security policy is simply to block anything that might do anything at all. I don't fancy visiting softwareinformer or similar from my work network because while my employer grants me unlimited internet access, I feel obliged to refrain from abusing that generosity. MS Access may work. I have Office 2003 but left Access & Powerpoint out of the installation, thinking I'd never need them. Could be an entertaining weekend ahead. Best regards, Dave

Hmm... 1999, the year Flight Unlimited 3 was released. With photoreal scenery (though it was hand-coloured because only b&w aerial photos were available), accurate flight dynamics, and... volumetric clouds (though it's not obvious in the screenie). And the option of using some bizarre atmospheric configurations: But no multi-player and no real-time and a fixed atmospheric pressure. On the other hand, the moon did show the correct phase for the chosen date... Best regards, D

Brian, Have you managed to get it to work? And if you have, can you make it show anything other than stock airports? Best regards, D

You're lost in FS world. This morning your partner went to work without a door key. It's your front doorbell. D

Thanks Gregg. I thought it may have been a special word but wasn't sure. I didn't know you could do that with Google. That's two things I've learnt today - I feel I can take the rest of the week off. Cheers, D

Hi. As in the title... Best regards, Dave

Hi. Three things come immediately to mind... The first is that it's morning here and I haven't quite woken up yet. The second is that FS9.exe is coded to run on only a single thread, so any other cores can't do more than take other work (like external weather programs). FS9 works on cycles of a fixed set of tasks; if that core is overloaded then everything will stop until it's caught up. I think some tasks are what might be called critical and will cause a delay while others may just be dropped until the next cycle. From experience I'd say that loading photoscenery textures is a non-critical task which is why photoscenery may not show up for a while. I think some aspects of AI traffic are critical -- lots of AI is one cause of stutters on a weak system (like mine). The third is that if you suspect a bad line in fs9.cfg, move it (not copy) to a different location (same as deleting and making a backup). When you start a new flight, FS9 will build a new basic cfg file. The stutters probably won't happen. Inside FS9, start increasing resolution, mip mapping, AI traffic, cockpit complexity et c. one by one until the stutters start again. Best regards, Dave

More strength to you Phil! We're all looking forward to hearing of a full recovery. D

Hi. The BBC are perennially pessimistic and somewhat sensationalist about such stories. RMS St Helena's schedule is currently extended to 27th September. The ship's website has this news: "Following certification of St Helena Airport on Tuesday 10 May 2016, all parties are working to overcome the challenges of wind shear identified by the first few flights into the Airport. This work includes the development of appropriate operational procedures needed to allow services to use the northern Runway (20), where wind shear has been identified, as well as options for using the southern Runway (02), where wind shear has not been identified. While this work continues, we recognise there are St Helenians in Cape Town, the UK and Ascension who are ready to return to St Helena and do not have a confirmed means of doing so. Others will be planning journeys in the coming weeks. SHG will therefore honour its commitment to maintain access by extending the service of the RMS as an interim measure and for a limited period until air services begin. This service will be for passengers and freight. The schedule can be viewed at: http://rms-st-helena.com/schedules-fares/ and bookings will be accepted from Monday 6 June 2016." Concerning the airport, St Helena's governor, Lisa Phillips, posted this on the island's government website: “Press reports in the UK and elsewhere that describe St Helena Airport as being ‘scrapped’, ‘mothballed’ or ‘postponed indefinitely’ are incorrect. The situation remains as in our last update. This is that there are wind shear challenges on one runway (20, the northern approach) which means larger planes (eg. 737-800) cannot currently land safely. We are collecting wind data which will allow larger planes to land on this runway, but this will take some time. “Wind shear is a factor at several airports around the world, including London City Airport, where safe landings happen every day. “In the meantime, we are working hard to identify an interim flight solution that can land on our second runway (02, from the south). There is no wind shear on this second runway, but there is a tailwind. We have identified aircraft types which can land in these conditions, and airlines that have such planes – and we are now exploring the specific availability of aircraft with these airlines. “The Airport is certified and open, as demonstrated by the emergency medevac flight last Saturday when we were able to fly a sick baby to Cape Town. “Naturally, we will keep the public informed … as we have been doing.” Best regards, D

Hi Martin. At work again so I can't experiment but I think Joe is on the right track: I believe dirt from the tyres is related to the taxi-link, not the apron polygon so it may be that you have a sand or gravel or dirt taxi-link crossing your concrete apron polygons. Using ADE you can use a list function to call up a dialogue box showing all taxi-links. Sort by surface type, select all the incorrect taxilinks and edit them in one batch. Best regards, Dave

... for saving my Saturday. Another Windows repair -- another key request. I thought that was my weekend over but the key arrived within ten minutes. Everything's smiley again now. I hope all is well with the RC team. Best regards, D

All I can say is... Kid's answer in pencil. Examiner's reply in green pen. Kid's going to grow up to be a PPL question-setter.

Phil, the very best luck to you mate. We'll look forward to hearing they've finally given you a definite all-clear. D

Better late than never. It was a very slow weekend... I used for this example the stock Gander CYQX runway 04. It has a 3° glide slope, with the antenna 1241 feet down the runway from the threshold and offset to the right of the centre-line by 669 feet. The runway is 496 feet asl. For comparison, a hypothetical ultra-accurate RNAV that gives a 3° approach to hit the tarmac adjacent to the glideslope antenna gives a height over threshold of sixty-five feet (561 feet asl). Starting now on the glideslope beacon, first from a top-down view, the antenna is 1410 feet from the threshold. It's the cone-shaped beam from the GS antenna that actually has the three degree slope, so over the threshold the intersection with the localiser (down the runway centreline) is... seventy-four feet above the ground (569.9 feet asl). (The two upright triangles are similar so as a check, there's a simpler way of finding the new height: our GS height would be 1409.8/1241 × 65 = 73.9 Using Excel to calculate heights for a range of distances shows the hyperbola: *** *** What would have a much greater effect is the height of the glideslope beacon. I guess the cone's apex is on the middle antenna, which is about 30 feet above the ground, so the entire hyperbola is that much higher again. That would put the GS/LOC flightpath at 104 feet over the threshold, quite a difference from the original sixty-five. And... at the touch-down point, the GS/LOC intersection would be 35 feet higher than the antenna, so 65 feet above the ground. *** *** Checking in ADE I found that the entire ILS is actually set to the airport elevation and not to the middle antenna. On the other hand, in FS9, to centre the NAV1 needles when abeam the antenna I had to be at 530 feet and not the calculated 531. Over the threshold I had to be at 568 feet asl, and not the calculated 569.9. It may be only that my slewing was a bit rough, or that I was a bit off in determining the position of the GS beacon (not quite the same spot as the scenery object), or the textures for the stock C172's NAV1 needles aren't quite accurate, or that I needed to reset my altimeter, or... or... On the other other hand, the GS beam is cone-shaped and does give a hyperbolic intersection, confirmed again by slewing and keeping the needles centred. Back to work this morning for a bit of a rest. D

Hi. Rather enjoying stretching my spatial awareness and meagre maths by trying to define the hyperbola given only the glideslope angle and the glideslope beacon's distance from the runway. If the localiser plane is parallel to the GS cone's axis (I assume they are both vertical in practice) it's possible by rotating the cone's axial triangle... but the weather has finally improved so I'm out in the evenings and I have only an occasional 5 minute window at work. The simplest way is to use two right-angled triangles, one horizontal and one vertical. Below is a nice illustration of the GS/LOC hyperbola, showing why you lose the GS shortly before landing. The GS beacon is the lamp, the LOC is the wall and the runway centreline is where the tabletop would meet the wall. A three degree GS that's offset by only a short distance from the runway would give near enough a straight line. Also, you could theoretically fly a neat go-around by following the back-course outwards but I guess the GS beacon doesn't cover the full 360°. Best regards, D

Hi. Anyone here fly Captain Sim's C-130? I've noticed it has a life-saving fuel flow bug where if the centre crossfeed valve is switched on, each engine takes fuel from the un-emptiable and supposedly unusable 'flow' tank (presumably the fuel in the virtual pipework). When I'm reaching the point of running on fumes, turn the centre crossfeed on, turn off each fuel pump and fly for ever... (Handy for empirically determining V speeds as the plane's weight doesn't change). Best regards, D

Hi. Note in the BBC report that the CAA are proposing some very heavy increases in the charges they levy for air-show approval. They claim that the new charges are to mitigate a significant 'under-recovery of costs' but I'd have thought that a potential 500% increase in charges is unlikely to be matched by a 500% increase in services. Beyond rather nebulous statements like 'Action 13: The CAA will enhance the frequency and intensity of its oversight of DAEs to ensure that they are fulfilling their responsibilities to a satisfactory standard', the Action Report, CAP 1371, does not give any indication of expected CAA expenditure. You can read more about what the CAA are proposing here. If you are resident in the UK you could do worse than to sign the government petition here. Or, better, still, contact the CAA directly with your reasons for objecting. Here's their contact form. Best regards, Dave

Hi Martin. To back up any changes made within FSUIPC you just need to make a backup copy of FSUIPC.ini from your ../FS2004/Modules/ folder. I have half a dozen, matched with half a dozen fs9.cfg files for different hardware configurations and different planes, with names like 'FS9.blackwidow', 'FS9.seneca' or 'FSUIPC.one lever does four engines' et c.. My Saitek yoke & throttle came with their own configuration software. I never got the hang of using it, which is why I have all those copies. Did your X52 come with such software, and is it still installed? If it's there, I suppose it could be having an effect. As an aside, I've a faint memory of FS9 resetting keyboard commands for me, but I think reusing a good backup FS9.cfg solved it. If all else fails, you may have to customise a new FS9.cfg and make a copy of it while it still works... Best regards, Dave