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Anyone figure out the engine start oddities?

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After some help from Mark I've found a solution (albeit very weird) that allows me to start the MAAM-SIM DC3 engines manually. As long as I have a small "Spot View" window open, as well as the main panel, the engines will manually start. It's strange...but if that's what it takes...OK. I would still like to know if anybody has an inkling of why this is and is there a way to make this little manual start requirement go away? Thanks. Vic

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Vic,Here's something to try... Since going through this several months ago, I haven't had any problems starting the engines manually. There's no logic to it, but then there's not really any logic to the problem either. :)- First, see if you can save a flight as default and have that flight come up as the default flight the next time you start FS9. If not, go through the procedure at the end of this post. (For the record, I didn't write that part... it's copied from an unrelated thread... but it works.)- After fixing the default flight creator, go to "Select A Flight" and bring up the MSFS9 default flight with the C172 sitting on the runway at Seattle-Tacoma with the engine running. Reset it as the default flight. Quit and restart FS9, and go to "Create A Flight". It should be the MSFS default flight that you just set. Now change the aircraft to the MAAM DC-3, move it to the location you like, and start the flight. Your engines will be running, so go through the shutdown checklist, adjust the fuel levels so you're not overweight, cycle the views to the 2D panel, and save the flight. Now, when you bring the flight up again, you (might) be able to start the engines without an extra spot plane view.- Good luck! If you try this out, please post back to the forum and let us know how it worked!Ken-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------HERE'S HOW TO FIX THE DEFAULT FLIGHT CREATOR:<Close to exit the fs9.cfg file.5. Start FS9.6. As W. Sieffert advised hereafter: Select "Create A Flight" and select the options you prefer for your saved flight.7. Check the default box.8. Save9. Exit FS910. Start FS911. Select "Select a Flight"12. Select the flight you saved above.13 Check the default box.14. Select fly now.15. Exit FS916. Open fs9.cfg in C:Documents and SettingsYour NameApplication DataMicrosoftFS9fs9.cfg17. Edit "SHOW_OPENING_SCREEN=1" to be "SHOW_OPENING_SCREEN=0".18. Save.19. Exit ("X") or select File>Close to exit the fs9.cfg file.20. Start FS9.When I did this, FS9 started up with my chosen default flight and aircraft. I was also now able to again select a new flight and save it as a default successfully with FS9 started up.Again a big thank you to W. Sieffert for the solution. The only thing I really changed was to skip creating a new fs9.cfg file as I found it not necessary on my system.Happy Flyting:RTH>>

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PHeww! OK...I WILL get back to you if I try it. Let me say that I have had some luck with "saved" flights, as long as I exit the flight completely, after creating it, and then restart it from the "select a flight" menu. I'll get back to you, Ken. Thanks! Vic

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Hello Ken...again, sorry for the late reply. Your suggestion at DCA forum, regarding a lower lock on the Framerate helped with a sudden relapse of the non-start issue (even with a small Spot View open)...thanks. My previous post turned out to be untrue as "saving" and exiting and restarting only worked that one time. ASAP I will try your above procedure and will get back here to report on any developments. Thanks again. Vic

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OK...I'm a little confused (there's a surprise!).You said:"After fixing the default flight creator, go to "Select A Flight" and bring up the MSFS9 default flight with the C172 sitting on the runway at Seattle-Tacoma with the engine running. Reset it as the default flight." Did you mean just select it and check the "make default flight" box, then exit FS9? Or did you want me to actually start the flight and then save, as default, with a flight name? "Quit and restart FS9, and go to "Create A Flight". It should be the MSFS default flight that you just set. Now change the aircraft to the MAAM DC-3, move it to the location you like, and start the flight. Your engines will be running, so go through the shutdown checklist, adjust the fuel levels so you're not overweight, cycle the views to the 2D panel, and save the flight." OK...got that except for one question...should I select the "Make default flight" checkbox when saving this DC3 flight? "Now, when you bring the flight up again, you (might) be able to start the engines without an extra spot plane view." And here's a thought (embolism, stroke ??) I just had...what would happen if I backed up the original default flight ("FLTSIM.FLT") and renamed my DC3 flight, which I saved at the end, above, to "FLTSIM.FLT" and moved it to the "Other" folder? Would that help matters? OK...enough stupid questions. :-hmmm Thanks for your help. Vic

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Hi Vic,Regarding your post above and the recommendation of a lower frame rate lock... that wasn't me.<You should be able to just check the box, but I'd go ahead and load the flight afterwards. You'll be able to verify that it "took" the next time you start up MSFS... it should be the flight showing when you click on "Create A Flight".<Absolutely not. If you make a default flight out of any complex add-on, it will likely make any other complex add-ons behave erratically. What you're wanting to do is make the sim start up as it would right out of the box because that's the condition that developers design for. Just save your DC-3 flight (but not as a default) so that you can select it any time you want to fly the DC-3.<I wouldn't do that. Again, what you're after is a sim that starts up just like it would straight out of the box. Oh, and one more thing in case you're interested... Once everything is fixed, it's possible to make your default flight a "cold and dark" condition: Load the MSFS default flight, shut down the C172 (but leave the avionics switch on... this is important to provide for any airplanes that don't have an avionics switch), save as "Default Flight, Cold and Dark", and check the Default Flight Checkbox. Now, whenever you start a new flight with any airplane by using "Create A Flight", it will open with the engine off.Hope this helped,Ken

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Sorry about that, Ken...I've been everywhere trying to find a solution and I'm suffering from overload! LOL! OK...thanks for clearing it up and I'll be back. Vic

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OK...here's the result...it works, no Spot View window and no Framerate lock at 30 required. BUT...if I start my DC3 flight then move to a different airport and load a flightplan and save THAT as a new flight (not default...I'm leaving that alone as you suggested) then when I start this new saved flight I'm back to requiring a small Spot View window for an engine start. Now...I'll grant you, I may need to rethink always saving these new flights but it's handy to come back to them easily, if needed, without the need to open my DC3 flight, move to the flight start location and load the FP every time I want to fly that flight. So, in conclusion, I can save new flights, and be prepared to open a Spot View window or I can open my original, saved, DC3 flight, made following your instructions and make any necessary changes for the next flight. Either way...it works and I'll live with this little oddity. Something I came across for reference...Ron at the DC3 Airways forum clued me in to a "fix" for another problem I ran into. I had a DC3 flight which would NOT start, no matter how many contortions I went through. You can imagine that, at this point, I was about ready to pack it in and go back to my highly modified...but startable, default DC3. Ron posted a fix, originally from Ian, that suggested I lock my FPS lower (I tried 30). This worked wonders. It only has to be done for the one flight and I can go back to a higher Framerate...until it happens again, some time in the future. Weird but true. Here's a link to the thread at DCA forums.http://www.dcascreenshots.net/dcaforum/viewtopic.php?t=1496 So...thank you Ken, for all your help. It sounds like the mytery still exists, at least partially...but, over the years I have become used to complicated addon AC's and their little idiosyncracies. Sometimes you just..."Go with it". ;) Vic

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A small update; Ian Pollard has advised me of another solution that MAY work for some. It involves changing the "Normalized_Starter_Torque" setting in the aircraft.cfg for the various MAAM R4D/DC3's. Revisit the link above, to the DC3 Airways forum, for more. This has worked for me...the first time I got both engines to start without a small "spot View" open OR a framerate lock at a "low" number (I used 30 for the problem). There is still a question as to whether the Framerale lock issue will crop up again, at a later date. It appears that if it does, locking the FPS to a "low" number (again, 30 worked for me) will resolve this issue and, once engines are started,they can be returned to your preference until next time the "bug" hatches. These are just temporary fixes and I'm assured that the issues ARE still being looked at. Vic (DCA1322)

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