Sometime in the last few flights I must have messed up something in FSX because the PAPI4 lights no longer are indicating the correct threshold crossing heights for airports I have flown into 100's of times in the last eight years.  Over a period of time I have tweaked the AFCAD's for all the airports I frequent by adjusting the TCH for the GS and the PAPI4 lights (or VASI) to match the current charts but suddenly everything has been corrupted.  Let me explain:

 

Most TCH are usually between 50-50 ft for a 3 degree Glide path and a 3 degree PAPI4 will coincide if placed approximately 750 ft from the end of the runway.  My FSX is now indicating correct TCH for the GS but the TCH to be on the 3 degree PAPI4 has gone down to 30 feet AGL!   The lights are still indicating the correct 3 degree path but now must be placed 1250 ft from the runway end to indicate the TCH correctly as they did before.  This places them BEYOND the touchdown point which is ridiculous.  The AFCADs are the same as before.

 

This is now occurring with ALL airports and all liveries I have tested so it must be an FSX glich!  So far I have restored an old CFG file to no avail.  I have completed a system restore to no avail.  All the AFCADs are still correct and again the GS crossing heights all still match the charts but the view shows the aircraft high on the PAPI.   I am aware of the fact that most VGSI systems are not aligned with the GS in RW but I have several that I have tweaked the AFCAD so that they do and those are the ones I am using for the test.

 

I have obviously messed up something accidentally but don't have a clue on what or how to fix it.  It must be something about the view since nothing else could possibly have changed. 

 

I am hoping someone much more knowledgeable about FSX can direct me to a solution rather than having to REINSTALL FSX and then all the myriads of add-ons and tweaks that I have applied over the years and long forgotten what they were or the order in which they were installed.

 

Any comments or suggestions are cordially invited.

 

Craig

I think you need to go to FS Developer.com  and run your problem through them.  Are you using the ADE program?  Here's a link that might be helpful - http://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/archive/index.php?t-425318.html.

 

Best regards,

Jim

Thanks, Jim.  I will copy my post to that forum. I have no problem with ADE.9x.  I did check my airports through ADE and everything is unchanged.  I have used these airports for years but this is a sudden problem that is strictly FSX related...nothing has changed in the AFCADs.  For some reason the Nav displays are receiving correctly and GS is right on the mark but the visual of the PAPI and VASI lights are suddenly showing too high and was not true before last few flights. I'm sure I messed something up adjusting the views during one of my recent flights but haven't a clue how to fix it.

Tried again to adjust views to try to bring the PAPI lights to indicate correct height but no joy.  It must be something corrupted in the fsx.exe file (?)  I looked at the camera.cfg file but can't tell if anything is out of whack.

 

Question:   I have VISTA 64 with FSX sp1,sp2.  Can I just reinstall SP2 without corrupting any of my addons?  Will it just overrite the FSX.exe?  Or will it affect other of my data/scenery files?  Please advise.  The thought of a full reinstall of FSX+SP1+SP2 followed by the pain of systematically having to then reinstall all addons is daunting.  Seems any corruption in the way FSX is viewing scenery should be corrected by reinstalling the engine itself to the latest version (FSX.exe SP2) (?)   

 

I will, however, await advice from someone on this forum who knows what they are doing since I don't.  Thanks.

 

 

Can I just reinstall SP2 without corrupting any of my addons?

 

You can reinstall SP2 as often as you want and it will harm your addons.  However, it may rewrite your Fsx.cfg as it adds functionality for DX10 Preview.  I would at least save a backup copy of that file and perhaps the dll.xml.  When you restart FSX you may have to trust your addons again if a new fsx config was written.

 

Best regards,

Jim

Thanks again, Jim.

 

      I have also posted in the developer forum you suggested but there has been no response.  Seems it is more for ADE users and my problem is strictly within FSX somehow.  I did not upgrade my ADE but kept 1.50 and have had no issues with it.  My AFCAD modifications have all gone without a hitch.  I was just hoping someone had experienced the same thing or similar and knew how to return my FSX back to where it was.  I have been fiddling with this all day and still can't even discern what really is the problem.  All other scenery looks correct but somehow the VGSI are operating as if they have dropped 20 feet below ground and therefore suddenly are indicating 20 ft lower!   I am going to reinstall SP2 and hope that fixes it back to normal.  I have a backup of my FSX.cfg but I will also back up my dll.xml as you recommended.  Thanks again.