Problem with Addon Aircraft and Active Sky WXRE

[Guest]

Hi There, I am using Active Sky WXRE with FS9. I am noticeing that with my addon aircraft from PSS the autoflight system does not function. I am not sure if this is a problem with PSS or with Hi-Fi, so I am posting this message in both forums. I can manually fly the aircraft, but when trying to use autothrust, or autoflight the systems just do not work. The instant I unload WXRE, and clear the weather the aircraft work flawlessly. Any insight would be appreciated. Regards, Michael

[JSkorna 137]

Michael,wxRE should not be messing with the systems. Anyone else with insights?Hope this helps,JimActiveSky Support

[Guest]

Hi Jim,I too have been having problems with v1.91 of ActiveSky in FS2004 with PSS's addon aircraft (the A330 & A340). I flew two testflights with the FS2004 "real" dynamic weather and everything was fine. The nose-up angle on approach is a little unreal, but otherwise the landing was okay.The next night, I started ActiveSky & created a flight in FS2004 with the PSS A330. I left Ottawa (CYOW) heading for Detroit. There was no rain, but clouds between 6,000 & 8,000ish feet. As I climbed through the clouds (with pitot & windshield heat on) the indicated airspeed suddenly dropped to zero. This sent the plane into A-FLOOR mode, which locked the throttle in TA-GA mode. By the time the airspeed indicator had returned, the plane was already way over redline speed...and broke apart mid-air.I tried this same flight, aprox same weather several more times to be sure. Once I actually made it to Detroit (by carefully watching the airspeed indicator on climb-out...it "iced-up" every time) all hell broke loose once I was on approach. Flying in managed approach mode (computer controls speed via autothrust) I selected Flaps 2 to decrease my speed to aprox 155 kts. The plane was turning to intercept the glideslope in rain & clouds when suddenly the airspeed indicator showed I lost 15-20 kts in speed. The autothrust instantly went into A-FLOOR mode (there's not a lot of room for error on approach!) and the plane was unable to recover from the high nose-up attitude and low speed. I stalled from 3,000 feet and crashed. This also happened on two separate landing attempts. One other thing to note--my wind transitions are absolutely horrible. As soon as my winds aloft are updated...the new wind setting occurs instantly. This can result in a drop in airspeed of 10-15 kts or a jump in airspeed by the same amount. In cruise, on descent, on approach, on climb-out...anytime the winds change...it can happen if the change is severe enough.As soon as I shut down ActiveSky and flew with FS2004 downloaded dynamic weather the problems disappeared. Same clouds in Ottawa, although by this time the rain had stopped in Detroit it was still overcast. I completed the approach & landing fine in FS's weather.So...I think there are three different problems at work here all contributing to the PSS products performance with add-on weather. One is an air file that is pushing the performance envelope of the plane. Several people on the PSS forums have indicated that the normal nose-up angle of the plane on approach is 2.5-5 degrees...not 7.5-10. So I thing something in the weight & balance somewhere isn't quite right. I'm FAR from an expert in creating aircraft in FS though, so I could be wrong.The other two things are: severe icing (seemingly) from ActiveSky and the lack of transitions from one wind setting to another. With Flight Simulator 2002 & ActiveSky with FSUIPC v 2.975 I had very smooth transitions. Now, with the unregistered FSUIPC v3.08 there are no transitions at all. Although I have been reading on Peter's forum about some of the problems he's having with weather settings in FS2004. It seems wind smoothing is not possible in all situations. It also appears that if an external weather program sets icing conditions to class "4" then pitot tube heating is NOT sufficient...wing & engine anti-ice should also be turned on. It's a little frustrating though because it happens in cloud layers with NO precipitation or icing forecast so it's a little out of the blue...Anyway, those were some of my findings with ActiveSky and the PSS products. It seems as though for the moment the two are not compatible. Which is unfortunate because I do enjoy flying with the ActiveSky weather...but if it's going to kill my virtual passengers on approach...then I've got to leave it turned off.I write & test software for a living...so Jim if you're interested in contacting me to do some further testing of this problem I'd be more than willing. I'd love to get these two great products working together!!Thanks,Charles