Another tip:

a) Use Littlenavmap (superb freeware flight planning utility) and create a flight plan, then save it.

b) Start AS, load the flightplan

c) Start P3D, load the flightplan -> Go flying! 

On ‎2‎/‎15‎/‎2018 at 5:58 AM, J van E said:

I have to add that I am not entirely sure how and when the sim chooses the active runway 

If the winds are "calm", it will pick the LOWEST NUMBERED available runway for takeoffs and landings.  Doesn't matter what direction the calm wind is coming from.  This has always been an issue in FSX and exists yet in P3D.  It creates totally unrealistic traffic flows at airports that have "preferred" takeoff and landing runway configurations, like KLAS Las Vegas.  At McCarran here, until the tailwind component reaches about 10 kts, runways 26R/26L and 19L/19R will be used in the real world. But in the sims, with a "calm" wind the ATC is gonna have everybody using the 8's and 1's (assuming you are using a "crosswind runway" AFCAD that will use multiple runways...if not, everybody is using the 1's or 8's only, depending on the AFCAD file).  Totally *ss-backwards from the real world, but 8 is less than 26 and 1 is less than 19, so those are the sim's "calm wind" runways.  A savvy AFCAD developer can alleviate some of this at airports where they can close runways for takeoff/landings in the AFCAD, but then THAT creates a new problem when the winds WOULD make those closed runways the operative ones. 

So it makes TOTAL SENSE to have your weather engine running before the scenario loads,  If you don't, as an example at KLAS if the sim's weather is "calm winds" as soon as the scenario loads, ATC is gonna start sending everybody to the 8's for takeoff.  Then if AFTER your weather engine updates the winds enough to make ATC WANT to use the 26's, you will already have a goat-rope of airplanes taxiing to the 8's and it will take ATC forever to change issuing taxi's to the 26's instead.  And you'll already also have spawned AI headed for landings on the 8's too.

Start your weather engine first, then start P3D.  It will set the "real" winds direction and speed as soon as the scenario loads, BEFORE ATC can start using "calm wind" runways (assuming of course the "real winds speeds" are higher than the sim's default "calm" wind speed).

On 15.2.2018 at 2:03 PM, Headley said:

Thanks both,

But i had (not always, even rare but it happens) a warning from AS telling me that the sim must be restarted to load the AS-module properly (or something like that).  That's why i thought AS must be loaded first?

Occasionally I have seen that message myself but don’t see any difference if I restart the sim or not. I never use the active runway as my starting point.