Here's the scenario:Locate yourself at Las Vegas Maccarran, during the day...Load any one of these aircraft into FS:Jon Murchison's BAE-146Brian Gladden's Cessna 140Rey Lopez's Cessna 310Then fly towards the strip...Using this scenario, my fps would fall to 4 fps (out of a normal 20-25) as soon as the Monte Carlo came into view. Moreover, the fps would stay "stuck" at 4 fps regardless of my switching back to a GMAX aircraft--only solution was to restart FS2002.I wondered what was different with Vegas....then I remembered the effects--the fireworks and the fountains, as an example. So I renamed all the fx bgl's in the Vegas folder, and started FS again. No more FSDS 2/4 fps "bug".Not all FSDS 2 aircraft show this behavior. The new Lake Renegade doesn't, and my own very crude creations don't. I haven't a clue as to what's causing it, but I suspect it has something to do with the way FSDS 2 is compiling the mdl files (I've ruled out the aircraft.cfg, sound and panel/gauge setup). Can anyone give this a try and comment back to the thread? I'd like to rule out my system before I send an email off to Abacus on this. Wouldn't prove good for FSDS 2 aircraft and the next release of FS if there were some conflict with the effects engine and some FSDS 2 A/C....Regards,John

I used Brian Gladden's Cessna 140 and set the effects slider full right and with all the fx bgls active and flew up and down the strip several times in all the view modes and did not see any fps drop.This is on an 4+ year old system with the original Win98 install from early 1999. P3 at 933, 512 ram, GF2.???Kurt M

Here's more info which might help in reproducing the problem:1. Stay in cockpit view (vs. virtual cockpit)2. Switch to the right wing view3. Switch back to the cockpit view....Then fly....Make sure "see self" is set to 1 in the FS2002.cfgThis only seems to hit in Vegas. I did the same thing in Sydney, which also has a fireworks display, and no problem. Also, if I set "see self" to 0, and pan the views as described above using the virtual cockpit, no problem. FPS is 25 down the strip using all GMAX, and some FSDS 2 aircraft... -John

I tried again and did get a slow down. It happened when I was looking toward the strip and toggled on the landing lights. It doesn't happen when I toggle on the beacon, nav, or panel lights and only when looking in one direction at the strip. If I switch views away from the strip I get the frames back, but once I toggle on the landing lights and return my view toward the strip they drop. I have to exit the sim and restart and as long as I don't toggle the landing light on I can fly up and down the strip with the the other lights with no problems.I've only tried it at Vegas so far, I'll try a few other places when I get a chance and see if the same thing happens. Kurt M

Thanks....I did what you suggested--switched the landing lights off. Worked like a charm. No idea why this is restricted to some FSDS 2 aircraft, but I'll fwd the info to Abacus. Most likely, something isn't quite up to spec. But it's a simple workaround....Tks Again....,John

It only happens when I activate the landing light from the regular cockpit view. I can use the landing light in the VC and spotview with no problem and if I turn off the landing light and switch to the cockpit it's still fine. Once I turn on the landing light from the cockpit I run into problems in all view modes even after the light is turned off. Kurt M

I pulled up a FSDS 2 project I'd been working on that had given me trouble, and as soon as I deleted the landing light and recompiled the model, the problem went away. Very interesting issue, and very good research on your part. Sounds like Abacus can release a pretty quick fix, if need be..It seems like a small problem now, but I suspect FS2002's effects engine will be used even more in the next release. The lighting effects certainly exploit the effects engine, so it is probably some type of very odd conflict....-John