Hi All, Again, let me congratulate the PMDG team on an outstading plane! I have a few questions, however: Is the decend forecast winds actually used to affect the path? If so, where is a pilot like me likely to find these winds at different altitudes? I noticed that it is not always that the chime when approaching the altitude set in the MCP is heard. I seem to remember others reporting the same issue... All of a sudden, with out any intervention from me, my radio stack has doubled in size stretching the bitmaps. How can I remedy that?Thanks in advance, :-waveBoaz

> Is the decend forecast winds actually used to affect the>path? If so, where is a pilot like me likely to find these>winds at different altitudes?If you're using a third party weather generator (which PMDG recommends against, by the way), most of them have a screen that shows you winds aloft. FSMeteo's in-cockpit gauge does this.If you're NOT using a third party weather gen, I think that if you go into the advanced weather settings you can find the winds display.The advantage to putting the forecast winds into the FMC is that it lets the FMC plot the descent path with more accuracy. If you leave the winds out, you'll find yourself in one of two situations..With a headwind, you'll find yourself descending early and at a lower than usual rate of descent, and flying longer.With a tailwind, you'll find yourself descending late, and the high rate of descent that results may cause an overspeed disconnect, so be ready with the speedbrakes.

I think one other option here Tim, (assuming no 3rd party stuff) is to review (during cruise) the cruise wind vector/speed indicator located on the PFD. This information can be placed in the FMC and it should populate down route from there. This is discussed in the Butler FMC guide (Big Boeing). I can get the page reference if you have that volume. I have not tried this yet since SU2 only because I have not flown it yet (will change that tonight though)just a thought...

The reason they're not recommending 3rd party weather generators for FS2004 right now is because at the moment there aren't any that can solve the wild wind shifts in FS9 - these can upset the NG's autopilot. (as they would with the real one too!) We'll have to see what ActiveSky 2004 does as far as fixing this issue - I'm hopefull it'll work!Ryan

Until we hear word from Active Sky I would not be so sure and will say expect wild happenings if you chose to use AS with this aircraft. I seriously doubt AS2's release will be held up for our AP but one can wish upon a star ;)[h4]Best Wishes,Randy J. Smithhttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/betaimg.jpg

AS2004 was originally scheduled for release 15th Dec.Release has been delayed for a few days due to some significant developments in this area.Last night I printed off a WX briefing from AS2004's flight planning interface for EGSS - EGPF. I printed off my FSBuild Navlog, with all the enroute cruise winds in place. From the Navlog I entered the Enroute winds in the Legs Page. From the WX Briefing pack I was able to enter the 3000ft 9000ft and FL180 winds into the descent forecast page. I have some further testing to do today, but all looks good so far ;)

>I seriously doubt AS2's release will be held up for our AP but one can wish upon a star:)Cheers,Gosta.http://www.hifisim.com/images/as2betateam.jpg

That's great Mark! I would be a shame if we could not use it with the aircraft, AS is a nice product indeed! I hope Damian works some magic for this.[h4]Best Wishes,Randy J. Smithhttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/betaimg.jpg