This has been going on for a while now, and it just seems like a good time to fix it. :( The smoke from prop engines, always travels to the front of the plane, regardless of the wind direction.This happens with most prop planes, addon and defaults.Have I botched a smoke.fx file?Thanks for all help. :(

This has been going on for a while now, and it just seems like a good time to fix it. :( The smoke from prop engines, always travels to the front of the plane, regardless of the wind direction.This happens with most prop planes, addon and defaults.Have I botched a smoke.fx file?Thanks for all help. :(

That screenshot is hysterical Shane - never knew it was possible to fly backwards!! :( Seriously, I would suggest restoring your default effects folder and see if that gets you flying forward again.

That screenshot is hysterical Shane - never knew it was possible to fly backwards!! :( Seriously, I would suggest restoring your default effects folder and see if that gets you flying forward again.

I am flying forwards. :( The other good one I've heard was " a baron that fires sparrows?" :(I reinstalled the Default Effects folder, and allowed it to overwrite all the files, and no luck. Do you know what controls the smoke effects on the default planes? There are no cfg entries that I can find that mention a smoke.fx file of any kind.. This problem occurs during start up, and when then engines are over-stressed. Smoke effects that are activated with the shift+I command do not experience this problem, so I'm starting to think this may not be an Effects issue,but I don't know what else controls engine smoke in FS9.Thanks for the reply Opa. :)

Actually in a light aircraft it is quite possible to be flying backwards! I remember some years ago in the "Distress and Divertion" cell in the UK ATC control centre there was a pan call from someone in NW England who was lost. The D&D tracked him to identify his position and told him he was flying backwards.To have contrails you need to be flying at quite a high altitude where it is normal to experience high wind strengths so you may very well have been flying backwards!vololiberista

To have contrails you need to be flying at quite a high altitude where it is normal to experience high wind strengths so you may very well have been flying backwards!vololiberista

Those aren't contrails, it's the smoke from start-up / engine damage. Contrails work fine, it's only this smoke effect that is affected.This was taken just after take off, about 1500ft off the ground, and 0mph wind speed.It will do this, while sitting at a dead stop on the runway. It will even do it while in slew mode.I think I need to change the example pic. :(

Those aren't contrails, it's the smoke from start-up / engine damage. Contrails work fine, it's only this smoke effect that is affected.This was taken just after take off, about 1500ft off the ground, and 0mph wind speed.It will do this, while sitting at a dead stop on the runway. It will even do it while in slew mode.I think I need to change the example pic. :(

For the life of me I have not been able to duplicate the issue - cannot get "smoke" to appear at all.Just another idea....... in your Modules folder is a file named REALITY.DLL - you might try restoring it from the install disks - (disk 2 in the MSGame3.cab).Just a hunch that it or perhaps one of the other dll's in the modules folder might be problematic.

Reinstalling the Default Gauges folder, and the Modules folder, has fixed the problem during engine start up. One down, one to go. Thanks Opa!! :(The problem is still there in the air though, but I've discovered what triggers it.While lowering my mixture for cruising, when I get to the point where the engines start to die, it causes the smoke.It does go away when I've got the mix adjusted properly,I just hate seeing the smoke going in the wrong direction, knowing that it shouldn't be doing it.Here is another plane (fstutorial C-150L) with the same issue, less than 100ft off the ground, 0kts wind speed

Another thing you might check is the presence of the following line in the aircraft.cfg file for an aircraft which exhibits this behavior:visual damage=1If so try changing it to visual damage=0 or just commenting it out.Long shot but......................Also have you ever installed any of the "damage" packages which are available at various DL sites?Just another shot in the dark.Good luck !

Hi Shane,Good to see a familiar face! ;)Looks like it might indeed be an effects issue; I've never seen it as I hardly ever fly those funny little prop things!It might be something as simple as an incorrect '-' sign in the appropriate .fx file; the trick would be finding out which file it might be.;)

Well, I've discovered the general cause of the problem, just not the exact file causing it. I removed the entire Effects folder and started FS9, and sure enough, the problem was gone. So it is indeed a messed up FX file.Now then, I just need to figure out which of the 1,017 files in that folder is causing me trouble. :( I'm hoping it's one of the 30 or so fx files with 'smoke' in the name. Then I can just pull them all out, and add them back in one by one until I find it.When I find the problem file, I'll report it back here, in case someone else has this issue in the future. :( Thanks again for all the help!

Shane,Like David, I also can't get smoke to appear. However I just noticed that your Baron has twin smoke trails, which makes sense - but the C150 has twin trails in the same places - and it's only a single engined plane! So it's unlikely to be a aircraft configuration-related issue. Did you load the Baron first and then load the C150 afterwards? Is your sim set up to load the Baron as default? If the Baron is default, try changing the default loadup plane to something like the Skyhawk and see if it still happens.;)

Hi Microlight!Thanks for the ideas, The problem would occur no matter which prop plane I was using, and the twin smoke trail you see on the Baron, is only coming from the Right engine. When both engines would smoke, there would be 4 trails on the Baron. The good news is, I've found the offending file!!! :( :( :( It's name is : fx_engstrt.fxOnce I removed this file, the problem went away! I'm not sure where I got it, but since I save all my .zip files, I do intend to run a search, and see which addon it came from. B) I'm once again a happy, non-smoking sim pilot. B) Thanks for all the replies and suggestions, they were indeed helpful in eliminating possible causes.Until the next time. Shane

Hello,This my fx_engstrt.fx

[Library Effect]Lifetime=5Version=1.00[Emitter.0]Lifetime=0.20, 0.22Delay=0.00, 0.00Bounce=0.00Rate=10.00, 10.00X Emitter Velocity=0.00, 0.00Y Emitter Velocity=0.00, 0.00Z Emitter Velocity=0.00, 0.00Drag=0.00, 0.00X Particle Velocity=2.50, 3.00Y Particle Velocity=-1.00, 1.00Z Particle Velocity=-1.00, 1.00X Offset=0.00, 0.00Y Offset=0.00, 0.00Z Offset=0.00, 0.00[Particle.0]Name=Smoke Puff 1Lifetime=1.25, 1.30Type=19X Scale=0.50, 0.60Y Scale=0.50, 0.60Z Scale=0.00, 0.00X Scale Rate=0.50, 0.60Y Scale Rate=0.50, 0.60Z Scale Rate=0.00, 0.00Drag=0.00, 0.00Color Rate=0.80, 1.00Fade In=0.00, 0.01Fade Out=0.40, 0.45Rotation=-10.00, 10.00Shade=1Face=1, 1, 1[ParticleAttributes.0]Blend Mode=1Texture=fx_1.bmpBounce=0.00Color Start=12, 12, 12, 100Color End=35, 35, 35, 0Jitter Distance=0.01Jitter Time=2.00TempK=108.00TempRate=-0.01uv1=0.50, 0.75uv2=0.75, 1.00X Scale Goal=5.00Y Scale Goal=5.00Z Scale Goal=0.00Extrude Length=0.00Extrude Pitch Max=0.00Extrude Heading Max=0.00[Emitter.1]Lifetime=0.70, 0.80Delay=1.00, 1.05Bounce=0.00Rate=10.00, 12.00X Emitter Velocity=0.00, 0.00Y Emitter Velocity=0.00, 0.00Z Emitter Velocity=0.00, 0.00Drag=0.00, 0.00X Particle Velocity=2.50, 3.00Y Particle Velocity=-2.00, -1.00Z Particle Velocity=-3.00, -2.00X Offset=0.00, 0.00Y Offset=0.00, 0.00Z Offset=0.00, 0.00[Particle.1]Name=Smoke Puff 3Lifetime=1.00, 2.00Type=19X Scale=0.50, 0.60Y Scale=0.50, 0.60Z Scale=0.00, 0.00X Scale Rate=0.80, 0.90Y Scale Rate=0.80, 0.90Z Scale Rate=0.00, 0.00Drag=0.00, 0.00Color Rate=0.10, 1.00Fade In=0.00, 0.01Fade Out=0.50, 0.55Rotation=-20.00, 20.00Shade=1Face=1, 1, 1[ParticleAttributes.1]Blend Mode=1Texture=fx_1.bmpBounce=0.00Color Start=166, 166, 186, 50Color End=184, 184, 204, 0Jitter Distance=0.01Jitter Time=2.00TempK=108.00TempRate=-0.01uv1=0.50, 0.75uv2=0.75, 1.00X Scale Goal=2.00Y Scale Goal=2.00Z Scale Goal=0.00Extrude Length=0.00Extrude Pitch Max=0.00Extrude Heading Max=0.00[Emitter.2]Lifetime=0.75, 1.00Delay=1.50, 1.50Bounce=0.00Rate=5.00, 6.00X Emitter Velocity=0.00, 0.00Y Emitter Velocity=0.00, 0.00Z Emitter Velocity=0.00, 0.00Drag=0.00, 0.00X Particle Velocity=2.50, 2.50Y Particle Velocity=0.00, 0.00Z Particle Velocity=-5.00, -4.00X Offset=0.00, 0.00Y Offset=0.00, 0.00Z Offset=0.00, 0.00[Particle.2]Name=Engine SmokeLifetime=1.00, 1.50Type=19X Scale=0.50, 0.50Y Scale=0.50, 0.50Z Scale=0.00, 0.00X Scale Rate=1.00, 1.00Y Scale Rate=1.00, 1.00Z Scale Rate=0.00, 0.00Drag=0.00, 0.00Color Rate=0.10, 1.00Fade In=0.00, 0.01Fade Out=0.50, 0.55Rotation=-20.00, 20.00Shade=1Face=1, 1, 1[ParticleAttributes.2]Blend Mode=1Texture=fx_1.bmpBounce=0.00Color Start=166, 166, 186, 50Color End=184, 184, 204, 0Jitter Distance=0.01Jitter Time=2.00TempK=108.00TempRate=-0.01uv1=0.50, 0.75uv2=0.75, 1.00X Scale Goal=8.00Y Scale Goal=8.00Z Scale Goal=0.00Extrude Length=0.00Extrude Pitch Max=0.00Extrude Heading Max=0.00[Emitter.3]Lifetime=0.75, 1.00Delay=1.55, 1.55Bounce=0.00Rate=7.00, 8.00X Emitter Velocity=0.00, 0.00Y Emitter Velocity=0.00, 0.00Z Emitter Velocity=0.00, 0.00Drag=0.00, 0.00X Particle Velocity=2.50, 2.50Y Particle Velocity=0.00, 0.00Z Particle Velocity=-5.00, -4.00X Offset=0.00, 0.00Y Offset=0.00, 0.00Z Offset=0.00, 0.00[Particle.3]Name=Engine Smoke 2Lifetime=1.00, 1.50Type=19X Scale=0.50, 0.50Y Scale=0.50, 0.50Z Scale=0.00, 0.00X Scale Rate=1.00, 1.00Y Scale Rate=1.00, 1.00Z Scale Rate=0.00, 0.00Drag=0.00, 0.00Color Rate=0.10, 1.00Fade In=0.00, 0.01Fade Out=0.50, 0.55Rotation=-20.00, 20.00Shade=1Face=1, 1, 1[ParticleAttributes.3]Blend Mode=1Texture=fx_1.bmpBounce=0.00Color Start=106, 106, 126, 50Color End=126, 126, 146, 0Jitter Distance=0.01Jitter Time=2.00TempK=108.00TempRate=-0.01uv1=0.50, 0.75uv2=0.75, 1.00X Scale Goal=8.00Y Scale Goal=8.00Z Scale Goal=0.00Extrude Length=0.00Extrude Pitch Max=0.00Extrude Heading Max=0.00[Emitter.4]Lifetime=0.70, 0.80Delay=1.00, 1.05Bounce=0.00Rate=10.00, 12.00X Emitter Velocity=0.00, 0.00Y Emitter Velocity=0.00, 0.00Z Emitter Velocity=0.00, 0.00Drag=0.00, 0.00X Particle Velocity=2.50, 3.00Y Particle Velocity=-2.00, -1.00Z Particle Velocity=-3.00, -2.00X Offset=0.00, 0.00Y Offset=0.00, 0.00Z Offset=0.00, 0.00[Particle.4]Name=Smoke Puff 4Lifetime=1.00, 2.00Type=19X Scale=0.50, 0.60Y Scale=0.50, 0.60Z Scale=0.00, 0.00X Scale Rate=0.80, 0.90Y Scale Rate=0.80, 0.90Z Scale Rate=0.00, 0.00Drag=0.00, 0.00Color Rate=0.10, 1.00Fade In=0.00, 0.01Fade Out=0.50, 0.55Rotation=-20.00, 20.00Shade=1Face=1, 1, 1[ParticleAttributes.4]Blend Mode=1Texture=fx_1.bmpBounce=0.00Color Start=90, 90, 107, 50Color End=102, 102, 121, 0Jitter Distance=0.01Jitter Time=2.00TempK=108.00TempRate=-0.01uv1=0.50, 0.75uv2=0.75, 1.00X Scale Goal=2.00Y Scale Goal=2.00Z Scale Goal=0.00Extrude Length=0.00Extrude Pitch Max=0.00Extrude Heading Max=0.00

I have no problems with this effect .. and you shouldn't.Check if it's the same(open the effect file with the Notepad)Regards.Gus.

Oh what a dummy I am!!! :( Turns out this is my fault. I scaned every zip file on my harddriveand the only one I have, that came with this file was: sfrel1.zip which is : FS2002 Aircraft Hawker Sea Fury FB11When I opened it with Notepad, it was very different from what you have posted. I just noticed this in the readme from that file:

You also have the option to add a new startup smoke effect. This has been designed for the Sea Fury. A new file is included in the 'smoke' folder. Before installing, make a back-up copy of your current fx_engstrt.fx file which is in the FS2002 EFFECTS folder. Then copy the fx_engstrt.fx file supplied in this package to the FS2002 EFFECTS folder. NOTE: The new fx_engstrt.fx only really works for this Sea Fury, so if you select any other aircraft you may wish to re-install your original.

I will copy what you posted here, and hopefully that will fix it.THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

Glad you got it sorted.;)