Hi All,I am uploading the unfinished AEU 8 to the library tonight as an upgrade to AEU 7. Only about half of the textures were finished.It looks like AEU7 received somewhere in the neighborhood of about 182,000 downloads here at AVSIM. Thanks for the support! :)When I stopped working on AEU 8 in 2006, I had taken on two full time jobs as times were getting rough for me and my family. I was so focused on my work and family that I totally lost interest in completing the project.Things are different still in 2007. In may, I was hired by SkyWest Airlines to fly the CRJ. I have since resigned from my other two jobs but things aren't 100% perfect for continuing work on AEU just yet.For one thing, I don't even own a copy of FSX yet as I haven't actually used FS since I began working the two jobs back in December of 05. The other issue is that I am currently based away from home and have to commute between SLC and MKE. It is all I can do to get home to see my family.I have a standing bid in to be based here in Salt Lake but the transfer list has slowed way down for a variety of reasons. Much of it has to do with hiring, aircraft purchases, and the recent buyout of ASA.When I do get assigned to Salt Lake, i'll probably be placed back on reserve for some time. When I am able to hold a line here, I hope to produce and release AEU for FSX at that time but I'm not in a position to make any promises.Thanks to a number of you and your support, AEU has been far more popular than I ever imagined it would be. I hope to be able to honor that soon by releasing at least one last full version.Meanwhile, look for the AEU 8 patch (for FS 2004 AEU 7 only) and enjoy! :)Regards to all,http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/177703.gif

Chris,Great to hear your career is progressing - if that's the right word.Aviation is a tough business - and I was so looking forward to having you fly my wife and me on a Grand Canyon trip next spring !!!Glad the family is doing well!!!We really appreciate the fantastic work on AEU.

You had a lot of simmers concerned back then when you literally dropped from the face of the planet :-). Nice to hear you are on the rebound and still thinking of FS even though you are in the "big leagues" now. You definately had your priorities straight of family and career first ahead instead of worrying about an add-on for us. We survived... ok, barely. ClutchProject 9Dragons

Thanks guys,The AEU 8 textures were uploaded yesterday but it looks like they're still in line. (geeze...that reminds me of something but I just can't put my finger on it. LOL! :) )I'm definitely feeling better about the flying aspect of my career. The canyon was great fun, but it wasn't really going anywhere for me. My heart has always been with the airlines.I had a couple of people contact me at the time who passed my information on to the forums. It was a difficult time and I found it uninviting to sit down and outline a bunch of reasons for not continuing the project. I just wanted to do what I had to do and get what little time I had remaining in with my family. :)

Great to hear from you again...question, will version 8 still work with FS9?Thanks,Bill

Hi Bill,Yes, they have in fact only been tested with FS9. I have not tested the textures with FSX. There is no reason to think that they would have harmful effects on FSX but they would, most likely, not appear as intended. The reason for this is the likelyhood that textures have been added, removed, modified, or renamed between FS 2004(9) and FSX(10).Again, the plan is to create an entirely new version specifically for FSX if and when I get settled into our new home here in Salt Lake. At the moment, my commute between here and Millwaukee affords me no realistic opportunity to focus on the project.

Glad to hear about the new job Chris. Family is more important than anything. I have always enjoyed your work. As a private pilot myself I can understand your passion for the hobby. Wish I could fly for a living. I'm a little too late to start such a career being past 40.Regardless of when you decide to come back to this hobby I am willing to put up the funds for a full blown version of FSX. Just send me a line either now or whenever you're ready and I'll deliver. ([email protected])Good luck and stay safe. We'll all miss your good work.Regards,

Maybe it's just me, but I think the package didn't make it through customs. ;-D I have uploaded stuff since and it's already available.Glad you're doing okay, Chris.

Hey Chris!I was just thinking about you and AEU8 the other day and now here it is! I can't wait to download and try it out. I'm sure it will be eye popping good!Congrats on getting it done and out to the sim community. Glad to hear all is going well on the career front.God bless,Earl

Available now: http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?DLID=109286

Thanks for your hard work Chris.

Can somebody post pictures of this AEU8 upgrade? I still use AEU6 because I found AEU7 to be a bit of a bandwidth hog. I have since upgraded computers so this probably isnt a issue anymore, but before jumping on this newest version, I'd love to see some of the new eye candy on the screenshot forum if possible.Eric

Hi Eric,There's not really much to show. I abandoned work on AEU 8 before it was finished in December of 05. I just decided to go ahead and release the textures that were finished since a-lot of folks have moved on to FSX. The AEU 8 textures will change the appearance of the runway and taxiway environments mostly. There are some building textures in the .zip file but they will have to be renamed in order to appear in FS. ...(advanced users only, I don't have time to provide support for this one.)Remember this project was abandoned because it basically exceeded the timeline for release and I still have no time to work on it for the moment. The main thing is to let everyone know that AEU isn't dead and that I do plan to pick it back up again when I get a chance. Providing the AEU 8 textures was just kind of a side note. Pretty much all of the last three versions of AEU put a drag on FS. I've done everything I know how to prevent that from happening but I've always been opposed to sacrificing the level of detail that I intended to visually represent. If you dig deep enough, there's some advice out there (and I think even a few uploads) on how to modify AEU but I've never endorsed any of it. :)