I've noticed this several times over the past couple of days, and would like to know if someone out there knows why this is happening.My AI traffic slows down when I get close to them in the air, only when I am in proximity to them (ie: the same FL, etc). See my screen shot here:FlightSim Commander Example AI TrafficAs you can see in the screen shot, to the west of me (I'm the blue guy at FL209 at 377Kts) Delta768 is at FL209 at 40knots and Acey4563 is at FL210 at 40Kts. They were traveling at their proper speeds before. As you can see, the others are fine.What causes this?Out of the programs I use, these are the ones that may interact with AIAI Smooth (not running during this test, but has been used before)AI Separation (not running during this test, but has been used before)Radar Contact (running).Can any AI gurus shed some light on this?Thanks!Devin

Devin,Very strange indeed because at those speeds almost all normal AI planes would just fall out of the sky and in any case would not reach their destinations.I assume you have checked their cruise speeds in their aircraft.cfg [Reference Speeds] section and in the AI flight plan aircraft folder which is part of TTools or whatever AI Flight Planning software you are using. Both specified cruise speeds should be the same.Have you tried following one of these AIs in any user plane, i.e. flying after it in a kind of formation to see how it behaves ?Good luckHans

I assume you are using AI Separation or AI Smooth? If so, check the "ignore user aircraft" box, or similar option. Or deactivate it while doing such things.Hope this helps,

Cant see the picture, but I always understood that 'chasing' AI traffic caused it to all sorts of weird things. In my own experience I've known it to fly straight on past its destination or just disappear altogether.

Devin,Very strange indeed because at those speeds almost all normal AI planes would just fall out of the sky and in any case would not reach their destinations.I assume you have checked their cruise speeds in their aircraft.cfg [Reference Speeds] section and in the AI flight plan aircraft folder which is part of TTools or whatever AI Flight Planning software you are using. Both specified cruise speeds should be the same.Have you tried following one of these AIs in any user plane, i.e. flying after it in a kind of formation to see how it behaves ?Good luckHans

I have always been told that the speed in the aircraft.txt part of any Traffic file has no bearing at all on how the aircraft flies - that it is only used to calculate the time involved to make the flight.Do you have information to the contrary?As a matter of practice I do try to keep the two entries fairly close.

Devin,Very strange indeed because at those speeds almost all normal AI planes would just fall out of the sky and in any case would not reach their destinations.I assume you have checked their cruise speeds in their aircraft.cfg [Reference Speeds] section and in the AI flight plan aircraft folder which is part of TTools or whatever AI Flight Planning software you are using. Both specified cruise speeds should be the same.Have you tried following one of these AIs in any user plane, i.e. flying after it in a kind of formation to see how it behaves ?Good luckHans

Thanks Tom. I tried that, but it doesn't make a difference in this situation. I did some testing and found that it is an interaction between Radar Contact and AI Smooth. If I run them separately, the AI flies fine. If both programs are running, I get this reaction by the AI. It on my set up at least...I can't vouch that this is a common occurence nor a problem with RC or AI Smooth. I choose to not run AI smooth anymore.Devin

First make sure you have AI Smooth version 1.20 available here and flightsim.com.Second turn off Respond To User in aismooth. At least in earl;ier versions as a stand-alone it froze ground stuff and caused no AI to land when parked anywhere near the runway. This was running without RC when I was "plane spotting" and nothing was landing.If used with RC that could cause conflicts with RC's AI protection if AIS's Respond to User Aircraft setting is on.You just responded on the RC Forum that FS and RC worked OK without AISmooth running:http://forums1.avsim.net/index.php?showtopic=263172You should also when running with RC have AI Smooth's settings for Show ATC Messages and Voice ATC both OFF to avoid display and audio conflicts.

Thanks Tom. I tried that, but it doesn't make a difference in this situation. I did some testing and found that it is an interaction between Radar Contact and AI Smooth. If I run them separately, the AI flies fine. If both programs are running, I get this reaction by the AI. It on my set up at least...I can't vouch that this is a common occurence nor a problem with RC or AI Smooth. I choose to not run AI smooth anymore.Devin

What is this "Flight Sim Commander" program and where do you get it? jerrycwo4

You can see it here:http://www.fscommander.com/Devin

I have always been told that the speed in the aircraft.txt part of any Traffic file has no bearing at all on how the aircraft flies - that it is only used to calculate the time involved to make the flight.Do you have information to the contrary?As a matter of practice I do try to keep the two entries fairly close.

David The AI Plane uses 2 different speeds from 2 different files.If the AI Plane is in the user visual zone (about 125 mile radius) for large Country's like the USA the AI Plane is flying on the aircraft.cfg speed. It is important that the cruise_speed = Knots True (KTAS) and not IAS. If by chance IAS is listed in the aircraft.cfg file the plane at altitude will fly very slow with partial flaps and gear down. Many AI Planes were ported upward to FS9 and then FSX and the cruise_speed must be set properly to KTAS.The Aircraft.txt file (the one compiled as part of the FP) speed is used to calculate the invisible distance the AI Plane flys from airport to airport so your post is correct on that aspect. If you sit at KLAX airport and a plane departs KJFK airport it really never materializes until it is in one of the AI Visual Zone Sectors of the user plane (9 sectors total). If there was no user plane then there would never be any AI Planes. The Aircraft.txt speed is used to calculate the time reqiured to fly from JFK to LAX but the AI Plane did not actually fly the route. If I am sitting a LAX the AI Plane will eventually showup in my visual Zone (about 125 mile radius) and then it is flying on the aircraft.cfg KTAS in the Reference Speed section.If you go out and follow a AI Plane it will always stay on the cruise_speed (or percentage of Mach) in the aircraft.txt file. That may be the OP's problem with some airplanes but it could also be one of the seperation utility's which the default ATC and the AI Plane MS Engine has problems with that most are not aware of (do impart to poorly written Flight Dynamics). Another problem that can cause a jet aircraft to fly slow is the airport.txt file lat/lon values are corrupt. We use AITM to check airport.txt file distances. If the Lat/Lon is listed improperly the distance will default to 1 NM between 2 airports. The AI plane will fly between the 2 airports but when in the user planes visual zone sector it will fly very slowly and never get above 10,000 ft.hope this helps