Logbook, Navlog, and flight planner problems in FS2004

[Scott Miller 12]

Recently I've had problems with the logbook in FS2004. If I don't open the logbook prior to exiting FS2004 I get the error message "Flight Simulator can't find logbook "xyz" (where xyz is a string of garbled text). I'm told to recreate the logbook or start a new one. However, as I said, if I open the logbook before exiting FS2004 this message won't appear, rather, the normal logbook window will appear as usual. What's going on here, and more importantly, how do I fix it?Another problem I'm hoping someone can help me resolve is that I can't print out a flight plan in FS2004. When I click on "Print" nothing happens. FS doesn't lock up on me though. If I click on "cancel" I'm just sent back to FS2004.I'd appreicate, too, if someone could explain to me why when I have the flight planner in FS2004 calulate the JFK to Heathrow flight, it comes up with a flight path that goes to Heathrow by way of Alaska! When I wanted to fly the other way, from Heathrow to JFK, recently it came up with a flight path that also had me flying to Alaska first before doubling back to JFK! Talk about screwy! FSNavigator doesn't have this problem (though it's autoplot feature doesn't always plot the most direct route to an airport either)!

[Guest lemonadedrinker]

Hi,to answer the third part; if you go to www.calclassic.comTom Gibson's great site about all things with propellors on the big flattish things that stick out on each side of the bit you sit in, you will find a scenery called 'Ocean Stations' which will place ships at strategic points in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans to help you fly safely across those great expanses of waterthe 2nd part;is your printer set up and ready to go? it sounds a bit as if there is no connection between your computer and the printer at the moment and so it just stops and is waiting for that link.the 1st part;i can only think the logbook has been moved or something. perhaps check your flights are saved correctly. i have just noticed that the logbook is written in upper case in Flight Simulator Files;LOGBOOK and maybe that makes a difference.Andy.

[Guest CaffeineBomb]

Regarding the first part:Your LOG_FILE entry in FS9.cfg has been garbaged.Edit your FS9.cfg file and replace the garbled text with whatever the correct logbook name is (excluding the .LOG extension).That should resolve your problem.AndrewK

[Scott Miller 12]

Hi (again!), AndyAs to the printer problem, yes, it was on when I tried to print the flight plan alright. The printer window didn't popup like it should either. I don't have a problem printing a flight plan in FS2002. Not being able to in FS2004 has me stumped at this point...The logbook file appears to be in the right place (the flight simuator files folder under My Documents) where it is listed in upper case letters. I can open it with notepad so the file isn't corrupted. This problem is as big a mystery as the printer problem!Tom's site sounds interesting! I'll check it out. In the meantime, I guess I'll have to stick with FSNavigator while flying over great expanses of water (G)!Scott

[Guest lemonadedrinker]

Hi again yourself !If you click 'direct' I think, between 2 airports you could then add in all sorts of waypoints across the watery bits and that will avoid flying across Alaska to get to somewhere in Europe from the States!Andy.

[Scott Miller 12]

Thanks, Andrew. It appears that my fs9.cfg has gone AWOL. It's not the FS2004 root directory or in the flight simulator files folder under My Documents (the only other place I thought it might be). Now what?! Can I reinstall FS2004 over itself without screwing up everything I have installed in FS2004?Scott

[Scott Miller 12]

You're right. Clicking on "GPS Direct" avoids the little side trip to Alaska! What I can't figure out, though, is why flight planner does it when selecting the high altitude airways...Scott

[Glynn 405]

HelloRegarding the print problem, this can happen if IE is not set as the default browser.FS9 uses the HTML printing support in IE

[Guest phamk]

Hi,You can find your FS9.cfg in :(I presume you have Win XP)Documents and Settingsuser nameApplication DataMicrosoftFS9You can delete it and FS9 will create a new one, but you have to set all your display settings, Key assignments etc as if you had (re)installed FS9Good Luck and regards,AAD

[Guest PARADISE]

Best thing to do is make your LOG_FILE= (blank) , Yes,leave it blank. There is no need to keep your Sim time in the FS9 logbook and when it becomes garbled it can, and has been known to cause CTD's.You can buy a real log book at your local airport, or order online,and keep your "flight time" like the "real" guys....and gals.John M

[Guest PARADISE]

Default flight planner for transatlantic, and I assume transpacific routes, leave a lot to be desired in FS9. If you look at the routes in the flight plan map you will notice about a dozen or so routes coming from Europe to The States that stop all of suddenly off the coast of Nova Scotia.I guess the flight plan program then makes it's own routes from the erroneous information in the flight plan model.John M

[Paul J 349]

Hi Scott; Do you run FS Autostart to shut down your unused services? If so - check to see if your Print Spooler service is being shutdown. No spooler - no print.

[Scott Miller 12]

I was apparently wrong about my FS9.cfg file having gone missing. I finally found it, but only after seeing in another posting where it was located. It really ticks me off the way Microsoft scattered files all over the place with FS2004 (the fs9.cfg file in one place and saved flights and flight plans, in another place). Everywhere, it seems, but in FS itself like they were in all previous versions of FS! Geez...Scott

[Scott Miller 12]

What file is the "LOG_FILE=" line located in?Actually, I've got a real logbook, but haven't used it in a couple of years. I've always been irked that the format of the FS logbook doesn't resemble a real world logbook and by the fact that you can't print a copy of your FS logbook from within FS itself...Guess it's time to drag out the real logbook and dust it off again!Ok, what's a CTD?Scott

[Scott Miller 12]

Ah, that must the the problem then! I use Netscape, instead of IE, as my default browser...Thanks for clearing up THAT mystery! While there have been a couple of times recently when being able to print out the FS flight plan would have come in handy, not being able to print the FS9 flight plan isn't all that big a deal. I don't like it's layout anymore than I like the layout of the FS logbook. The printed version of FSNavigator's flight plans is far superior!Scott