For a very long time I have dealth with startup situations that I had saved in a "Cold & Dark" configuation that starts with powered condition. I have asked this question many times before but no one was able to offer a reason or solution. It made no difference whether it was a default A/C, FSX complient A/C or one that was ported over from FS9. I believe the problem to be where the situation was saved (Airport). I noticed that if I save a situation at a small or private airport the situation always starts the way it was saved. When I save a "Cold & Dark" situation at a relatively busy airport, the situation comes up with the A/C already powered up - and in this powered-up situation the key option for control has no effect.So, what is it about airports that would cause this problem relationship? Is it because of more items at airport that would require more memory and some kind of overflow or, is there some device/option in the contruction of airport scenery that provides power election?I am sure that I am not the only one that have experienced this problem and I now know that it is not my equipment or FSX configuration. I would appreciate any ideas or suggestions that may be related to this situation.ThanksWilbert ASUS P6X58 Premium/Thermaltake W0106 700W PSUIntel i7-930 OC TO 4.0Win 7 Ultimate 64/Mushkin Redline (3 x 2GB) 6-8-6-242x150GB SATA WD Raptor- No Raid/2x320GB SATA WD SE16- No Raid2x SATA DRW-24B1ST/EVGA GTX285 2G3x SILENX 120X25MM FANS + 2x 10in XCLIO Wind Tunnel Case FansDanger Den Water Cooling/Enermax temp/fan controllerFSX ACC@ 1600/1200 |UTX/GEX/FEX/REX/MTX/ASE/UT2

Wilbert, from what I have learned and experienced by myself it's always good to save a situation (no matter where) in the default glider. If you saved the situation 'cold and dark' with the glider (which I think kind of 'initializes' many a/c-related parameters during start up of the simulator when saved as standard situation) and if you then switch in the preview screen to the a/c of your choice and then load the situation you should always have this cold and dark setting you have saved before. In my understanding it has nothing to do with the location/airport but rather with the a/c used while saving the situation. The more complex add-on a/c you use while saving a situation the more problems could arise when loading it next time. Somewhere (if I remember correctly) I have read that during startup of the simulator around 28 parameters only a/c related were loaded and when you use a complex a/c instead of one of the default MS a/c the simulator sometimes messes up with these parameters - thus not showing you for example your cold and dark cockpit. My default situation is saved with the glider and I never had any problems.Dunkelwald

I had the opposite problem, ie every time I started a saved flight it was cold and dark, notwithstanding that I saved the flight with engines running. My solution - I have a CH Yoke with a mixture lever which in effect meant on start-up the fuel was turned off. I went into the assignments page within FSX and reversed the mixture axis and all works fine. Maybe you have the opposite effect.NigelVancouver

Thank both of you for your input. I have worked with this problem for more than a year and have had many discussions concerning it. There are others that, I imagine, just learn to deal with and accept without having ever resolve the problem. With FSX being so complex I think there may be more than one reason that this condition may exist. Just for information purposes, I made another unique discovery. When loading the saved "Cold and Dark" situation, I noticed that for just a few seconds (perhaps 10 or more), the panel/A/C is cold and dark and then come alive and "battery & Avionics" on. This happened at same time UT2 traffic materialized. I deactivated UT2 and every time I now start situation, it starts as saved and expected. Go figure. I never suspected that AI traffic initialization would have this effect. I decided to activate MyTraffic and had no problem. I am not saying that something is wrong with UT2. I am saying only what I have discovered on my system. Unless you just cannot stand any kind of problem, FSX can suppy you with many years of problem solving opportunities.WilbertASUS P6X58 Premium/Thermaltake W0106 700W PSUIntel i7-930 OC TO 4.0Win 7 Ultimate 64/Mushkin Redline (3 x 2GB) 6-8-6-242x150GB SATA WD Raptor- No Raid/2x320GB SATA WD SE16- No Raid2x SATA DRW-24B1ST/EVGA GTX285 2G3x SILENX 120X25MM FANS + 2x 10in XCLIO Wind Tunnel Case FansDanger Den Water Cooling/Enermax temp/fan controllerFSX ACC@ 1600/1200 |UTX/GEX/FEX/REX/MTX/ASE/UT2