URGENT NOTAM on ImagineSim KEWR Scenery

[rsrandazzo 6,353]

Captains-I'm posting this notam here so that we do not have a flood of similar reports to technical support.We have received a number of reports from customers who have installed the recently released ImagineSim Newark Liberty International Airport Scenery that **appear to indicate** that in some instances this scenery package can corrupt some required datafiles within MSFS and create havoc with the navigation database and IRS functionality of the 747-400/400F.This report has not been verified or validated by PMDG- but we have received enough similar reports that we felt it important to pass along some details here.None of us at PMDG own this product, so currently we are working from customer supplied information, but it appears that the installation of this scenery triggers a magnetic heading shift of 60degrees.UNINSTALLATION OF THIS SCENERY PACKAGE APPEARS TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM. The 747-400/400F uses scenery, navigation and magnetic declination information from the usual MSFS libraries, and uses the NAVData and SIDSTAR files to manage navigation functions in the FMC.If any of the MSFS files are corrupted or populated with erroneous data, then this will create precisely the problem we are seeing reported by customers.At this time, because we do not have copies of the scenery to test with, I am unable to say precisely which file is to blame, or why the installation of this scenery would cause this problem.When we have a chance to review the issue further- we'll pass along our findings. Please don't beat up the ImagineSim guys- I'm sure whatever this problem is- it's accidental. If they knew about it before release- I'm sure they would have corrected it- so lets please respectfully report the problem to them only, please.

[B777ER 2,475]

Just from a user with this scenery...I have no problems on my end. In fact a took the 744F out there to DXB the other day without any problems. I installed the 744F after KEWR's install though.Eric

[xkoote 57]

I also have this phenomenon, although I have had it for some time now. Because I have so many third party sceneries I'm not able to determine where the problem started. In my case I have to catch while still on the ground. I would have to reload the plane or flight for the problem to disappear. BUT, mine isn't always limited to 60*. Last time in KBOS I had a heading of 000 instead of 160 while parked at the cargo ramp. It won't disappear. When airborn you'll get a correct TRK representation, but the heading triangle will still indicate the wrong heading.Xander

[rsrandazzo 6,353]

XAnder-The danger of some addon scenery.... Most designers are very good with the finer points- but sometimes you wind up with designers who aren't clear on some aspects....

[Guest FC5452]

Hello,This should not be misconstrued as a who is at fault thing, I would like to find the problem for all.I have been beating my brains out trying to duplicate what everyone is talking about, I have enclosed to Jpegs of EWR, one is the stock version the other Imaginesim. Both appear Identical.It appears this is aircraft specific, I do not own the 744,I am not much of a Big Iron type of guy, The Largest I fly is the PSS T7 I have the 737 series PMDG, LDS, PSS, Wilco,s products, and a slew of other payware A/C. and can not reproduce.This was done on a clean install of FS9.1, At start up no programming done. I would like some feed back from the users that are experiancing this 60* offset from the use of the scenery, Please try to take a pic of where this is happening. I can be reached at Tony@imaginesim.com.I was under the belief that the AFCAD may have been the culprit here. But it seems this is happening at other aiports per Xanders post. You will have to excuse me for not being aware of this, it has recently been brought to my attenetion, and hopefully a resolve can be handled. I ask all those that seem to have this problem to verify they do not have duplicate AFCADS of EWR.Thanks for the time to allow me to post this,Regards,Anthony M Piasecki

[xkoote 57]

Hi,for what it is worth, I have never used AFCAD. And as such I think all those AFCAD files I get as extra's with most sceneries I do not use. Because this happens about once a month for me, I never gave it a second thought. With all the magnificent scenries, aircraft and utilities offered these days it is a real miracle the FS ACOF can handle it all with so few glitches. This is in no small part due to large efforts by all serious developers like ImagineSim and PMDG. What I can promise to do is keep an eye out for it's reocurence and try to notice anything I might have done differently.Last time in KBOS by FlyTampa, the only thing I found to be different about my flight setup was that I slewed around the airport and changed views for quite some time before settling down. I have then saved the flight as "KBOS Cargo". After the IRS had aligned and everything I noticed that the heading was at 000 i.s.o. 160. Next time I'll try to cycle the IRS instead of reloading the plane completely.Again, for me at least, this is really no biggie. Thanks for both your efforts.Xander Airline Transport Pilot

[Donstim 109]

I don't know if this is the problem you are talking about, but here is what is happening to me (and it started relatively recently):On the ground on runway 34R at KSEA, a shift Z shows that my heading per MSFS is 360. On my PMDG 737-700 navigation display (ND), the magnetic track shown on the EICAS is also 360 (actually 000). So, the runway is displayed at a 20 degree offset on the ND. This offset of the magenta line continues to be present in flight.There is a 19.7 degree magnetic variation at KSEA, which explains the difference between the magnetic and true north directions (340 magnetic is 360 true.) What has happened is that I have lost the mag-to-true conversion in my 737-700 ND. It appears to be displaying true as magnetic.The Level D 767, after IRS alignment, correctly displays the 340 magnetic track on runway 34R at KSEA. Obviously, these airplanes get their magnetic variation data from different sources.Where does PMDG get its magnetic variation data from? Could this be a problem with the AIRAC data?I do not have any ImagineSim scenery.Don S.

[Donstim 109]

I found out what was causing my problem. Not just one, but what appears to be two bad AFCAD files -- AF2_FFFL_FA08.bgl and AF2_FFNE_09MA.bgl. After removing these files, the magnetic track displayed on the 737 ND is now 340 for runway 34R at KSEA.Don S.

[B777ER 2,475]

Don, where did you get the AFCAD files in question from? Did they come from a 3rd party scenery install?Eric

[Donstim 109]

Eric,They are a 3rd party scenery install -- FFFL is FreeFlow Florida scenery and FFNE is FreeFlow New England scenery.Don S.

[Guest UlfB]

Hi all,Have a look at topic started by Dennis D. Mullert at the MS Flight Simulator General Discussion Forum: http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...topic_id=312539Ulf B :)

[Guest]

I dont think you understand what an afcad file is, and I highly suggest you follow the instructions and use them with the addon sceneries

[Guest]

I have a question regarding this naming of addons that might be causing the problem. Why the mystery last time with what addon was causing an issue then coming out now point blank and naming names? Why were we left in the dark before without the ability to troubleshoot and find whether that addon before was indeed an issue?

[B777ER 2,475]

Yawn. Sorry, I believe the team ran out of troll food.Eric

[rsrandazzo 6,353]

Alex-There wasn't any "mystery" last time, as if we were perpetrating some kind of conspiracy. In some cases we do not name names because we feel that the data does not support a firm conclusion.One of the things that we do in order to promote product quality is to track closely issues that are reported to us by customers. In doing this- we are simply watching for patterns that emerge.You will notice that sometimes we will tell a user reporting a problem in this forum that "we aren't seeing any reports of your reported problem" and we then make suggestions for thigns outside of our simulation that he should consider. We do this because the wonderful thing about software is that it is VERY predictable. If one person with a particular setup has a particular problem- it will be easily repeated in other identical setups.In this case, when we have dozens of users write to us- and all of them can reproduce a problem with a very specific set of instructions- then this indicates to us that we have a clearly defined cause. The trigger for the problem was the installation of this particular scenery pacakge. In past instances there has not been such a clearly defined data set.We do not identify any particular file that causes the problem, as stated in my original post. But we DO state that installation of this scenery creates the problem on some users installations- and that removing the scenery corrects it.