Morn'n, Been using and enjoying RC4.3 for a while now... Couldn't imagine flying IFR without it - Default ATC: turn left 5 degrees - turn right 5 degrees - contact NY center - turn left 5 degrees - contact NY approach - turn left 5 degrees - turn right 5 degrees - contact NY center - turn left 5 degrees - contact NY approach - turn left 5 degrees - turn right 5 degrees - contact NY center - turn left 5 degrees - contact NY approach - turn left 5 degrees - turn right 5 degrees - contact NY center - turn left 5 degrees - contact NY approach - JEEESH - JUST LET ME LAND ALREADY !!! :( One thing - I have an issue when flying into San Diego (KSAN) from the East... ATC always orders me down into the hills on approach... What is the best fix for this again ??? Suggestion for RC5 - have the ability to have the dialog box not show in external views... It messes up screen shots... It would be great if it only showed when looking at the panel... Better yet - not sure if it's possible - create an indicator gauge so it notifies you when you have an instruction pending - and - leave it to the user to open when desired... Keep up the good work... Nick (Meatwater) if you're still around - I am still enjoying your voice pack edits for RC4.3 every time I fly... Thanks...Regards,Scott

Hi - I fly into KSAN quite a bit, what I do is select NOTAMS advisory for the destination (KSAN) this way you are instructed to "when able descend and maintain xxx" So ATC gives you some leeway with the vertical profile, in addition to that I usually select the visual approach if I am landing on RNWY 27 and then I use the approach chart for 27 which gives you the step down profile. Hope this helps.

Hi Slick9, Good idea - I'll give it a shot... Are you using FT KSAN - nice airport even if it is pretty old - you just need to install the community created patches to get the hills right while using FSGenesis... When I lived in San Diego - there was a resteraunt called "Mr. A's" in the top of one of the buildings along the flight path for 27 - great place to dine and watch planes at the same time... :( Regards,Scott

You can hide the RC window in FSX by toggling a hot key. In the special function key assignments in FSUIPC setup tab there is a toggle you can set up for it under Advanced Display Hide or something similar. It will stay hidden until the next ATC contact. I use ctrl-x and if (after making a backup) you want to use this combination editing it in with Notepad into the General section of fsuipc.ini:AdvDisplayHotKey=88,10WhiteMessages=YesThe second line turns the default red character display to white.The eastern arrival STAR for KSAN is currently the BARRET 4. Make sure the waypoints for that arrival using the most appropriate transition are in your plan sent to RC. Here's a location for the free procedures bundle with airport diagram included:http://flightaware.com/resources/airport/KSAN/ALL/all/pdfAs Slick 9 suggested you can use NOTAMS and insure that you do not go below those altitudes in the BARRET 4 plate. Note that the path also applies to RWY9 routing around the south side of 9/27. At approach time after your first vector acknowledgment the safest way is to immediately request an IAP to the RC recommended runway to sync with AI if present) at which point you can navigate on your own following the last few waypoints on the STAR insuring you get if RWY 9 is assigned your downwind leg on the south side. This is necessary for RWY 9 because the arrival waypoints are to the north of the runway centerline and RC would vector you for downwind RWY 9 on the nearest side meaning the incorrect north side.There is also the LINDI 2 RNAV STAR from the east but it does not show the south downwind for RWY 9.If are using an FMC type aircraft you can program from its terminal database at least the runway IAP and the STAR taking out any waypints on its legs page that disagree with RC.I am attaching the RWY 9 ILS plate and the RWY 27 LOC plate (you have to do your own verical approach on this one) just to show the area and IAF positions into the landing path. On RWY 9, the dominant one, note you can fly a teardrop procedure turn if you choose to use GATTO as your IAF to final.At KSAN unless high winds dictate the usual approaches are to RWY 9 coming in over the water. I don't know if AI follow that rule. Your scenery properties that AI follow must be set up that way. Default scenery may be not.Airports surrounded at least in part located in mountainous areas are difficult.

Hi Ron, Thanks for taking the time for such a detailed response... There is a lot of information to digest - I'll go over it tonight in greater detail... Oh yeah - that's right - 27 doesn't have a precision approach... As far as normal useage - has something changed lately - when I lived out there in the 80's/90's - traffic almost always used 27 unless the Santa Anna's were blowing - if I recall correctly... :( Regards,Scott

I've been watching live tracking here:http://flightaware.com/live/airport_status_bigmap.rvt?airport=KSANand it looks like with a west wind @ 10 knots they are using 27 RNAV or LOC. It looks like they are staying high then dropping to a lower height east of the airport within 25 nm. The MSA drops to 5100 within that 25 nm. The minimums are 600 feet MSA @5000 feet visibility for 27. In that case 27 would be favored as long as that minimum can be kept.

Nice Ron...I've been using Flight Aware for years - I didn't relize they had such good traffic maps... Add in Live ATC and you get a pretty good idea as to what's going on... It looks like the Flight Aware site lags the Live ATC site by a bit though... It still gives you a pretty good picture of how the big boys do it... I'll have to watch this for a while - very valuable tool...You mentioed having the complete SID/STAR programmed in for each flight... I routinely do this as I use Ernie's FSBuild and usually get a real world flight plan from "FltPlan.com" to load... In a few seconds I have an actual real world flight plan loaded and ready to use... Now at some distance from the airport - RC4 normally gives you a steer off your flight plan - so would these STARS have any effect on the altitudes assigned by ATC once they start controlling you ???One more question - I see we can play with the MSA in RC4 for each flight... Where does RC4 get that value and can we change the default value for an airport ??? Would there be a better value to use in the MSA field for KSAN to provide for more realistic approaches ??? I'll also try the NOTAMS option as Slick9 mentioned in the first post - but - is that realistic ??? Thanks again for all the info - big help... Regards,Scott

Here's another list of Airport Traffic Monitoring for sites that use this specific application:http://www.passur.com/airportmonitor-locations.htmKSAN is not in there but some other California sites are such as Orange County and San Diego. I bring this up because they also show a delay. I believe I read that the FAA delayed the data because of security reasons in that they did not want to show an aircraft position in real-time. Communications does not directly revel that.The MSA is an averaged value taken at a certain distance around an airport including portions of adjacent quadrants. I do not think jd created the source data but just performed the math on it.I also use FSBuild's plan including the expansion of the SID/STAR data. For the FAA filed routes I basically paste them in from Flightaware's route window for specific flights. Sometimes I just have to change the "version number" of the SID/STAR to get that to expand. In FSB you can see the available SID/STARS by clicking the dropdown in the airport section. Be aware that the listing can be runway specific. I then do not use the FMC SID/STAR database but do enter the IAP for the assigned runway (closing any discontinuities on the LEGS page and then activating it). It serves as a situational awareness factor on the navigation display.You can raise the MSA on the RC Controller page but it is not stick between sessions. The problem is that RC would probably bring you in too high for the intercept. Better MSA resolution control is planned for RC5. In RC4 for now NOTAMS is the only solution other than an IAP.There are a couple of vague but valuable features in FSB so I am pasting in below a summary I compiled:FSB tips:1. Include this line in FSbuild.cfg:NAVCHKDUPDIST=100This decreases the chance of using the wrong duplicate named local (to the airport) waypiont from a nearby airport. Local waypoint names are not exclusive. It decreases the database search when it is named in the route to within a 100 nm radius of your airport. You will find these in terminal procedures such as "D" number something within a SID or STAR to define a merge or turning point.2. When doing a Auto Generate (Route) be sure the SR (Stored Route) button next to it is "up" that is not highlighted. Auto Generate will use a stored route if found by default and most are out of date with old waypoints and terminal procedures. Having Stored Routes off forces it to search a path with fresh data.3. Take advantage of the frequent AIRAC updates at the FSBuild site for the greatest possibility of matching current charts and real world flight plan procedures and waypoints.4. Where an airport uses specific runways for different terminal procedures select the runway using an estimate based on weather and if the runway fits your aircraft requirements before doing the Auto Generate. This helps select the correct SID and STAR for the runway and direction of departure and arrival.5. After the Auto Generate and/or first build look at the map created to spot any obvious errors. In the route grid look for any sudden non-sensible changes in direction or extremely long legs not in the correct direction creating a zig-zag in the map. (See item 6 following to correct).6. Be aware there is an option you can set for each session titled "Build Route from Grid Table". It does not stick between sessions. This lets you build from an edited route grid that you may have modified without recreating the table with the same error on your next build/export. For example you might wish to drop an errant waypoint when proofing the map and rebuilding.7. Sometimes the name of a procedure (SID/STAR) does not match the name exactly in a published route and the procedure will not expand into its plan waypoints in the grid table. You can click on the arrow in the SID/STAR box to see what close name is in the FSB database. (Another reason to keep up with AIRACS.) For example KMSP has a current real such as this one:http://flightaware.com/resources/airport/KMSP/DP/WAUKON+TWObut the FSB database only has UKN2. (It does have UKN3 now with the latest available AIRAC update). If so in the route line just change UKN3 to UKN2 so it will expand. Here's a real route from flightaware.com for KMSP to KMDW:KMSP UKN3 DBQ CVA MOTIF3 KMDWthat can be pasted into the FSB route line. If UKN3 or MOTIF3 does not expand in the route grid to individual way points look in the upper part of FSB in the airport section dropping down the SID or STAR box to get the available version and substitute that label in the route line and rebuild.8. Sometimes it takes a second build to get the map to move and/or magnify. The mouse scroll wheel lets you magnify. Just click on the portion of the map you want to center on and scroll to magnify.9. If you click on a line in the route grid table to highlight it, the waypoint on the map will turn red. This is useful for finding errant waypoints that cause an error in the path. That line can then be edited or deleted and a rebuild accomplished with the build option to build from the route grid table.10. If you are running a weather program such as active sky, first build the route in FSB exporting to FS9 using an anticipated cruise altitude and specify the nearest aircraft profile. In AS get the weather you wish to use. (I always get the weather for the zulu time of the departure in FS since time of day affects weather characteristics). Import the plan into AS via the new route button, check the altitude and choose an appropriate true airspeed in knots (this is your no wind ground speed). Process the route. When it is finished click the button to print a hard copy of all. Use this AS navlog for METAR data at both ends and winds aloft and temperature aloft that can be used for FMC data. (You'll also get your estimated average wind at your specified altitude - handy for FMC data.) Leave AS running. Now go back to FSB and your chosen aircraft profile. Enter the surface temperature from your departure METAR, then estimated total taxi time, hold time, and extra time (sometimes called discretionary fuel). Now turn on again your FS9 export along with any FMC export you might use. Rebuild and you'll see the messages regarding the export completion. On the route selection on the left which brings up your route window select the navlog tab and click the .pdf to save the navlog in a file or the print button to get a hard copy so you can easily reference the estimated fuel and other data. This estimated fuel has now taken into account your winds aloft data - no need to enter it in FSB. Now that you have the hard copy and exported your route, you can first optionally save the plan by selecting flightplan window, then clicking the category tab, then select user category. Now click file, save from the menu bar. The name you might want to embellish. Click Save Route To User Flight Plans. For another session, you can recall this working plan and just build.11. If you are using an aircraft with nav equipment that has its own terminal data procedures in its nav equipment (think FMC) you might wish to use step 6 above to take out the waypoints of the terminal procedures keeping just the transition points and build and export with just them. This easily in most cases lets you select the SID and STAR assigned by ATC on your nav equipment by providing a clean legs list in your nav equipment. If you need ATC to monitor the waypoints of the terminal procedure than just export all. To keep ATC and you nav equipment in sync, you might consider importing the full plan into your nav equipment and not using your nav equipment procedure database.This is kind of long but through experience I've described some tricks I've used watching out for any pitfalls.There is a later update for 2.3 not linked from simmarket. From the fsbuild forum that link is:http://www.fsbuild.com/dl/Fsbuild2376_2Upd.exeInstall that if you have a lower version number after your 2.3 update from Simmarket.

Hi Ron, Thanks for all the information - can't wait to try some of this stuff out...Regards,Scott