Okay! It's attached. It's a short test flight (12nm) hopefully in VFR so that as few variables change as possible. Sometimes, being Ireland, I have to file IFR. The end result is the same.I use the default Skyhawk (sorry!) and FS9 Real Weather. I depart Rwy 04 at EGAC without contacting ATC. At 500 ft I contact ATC and ask for Belfast Approach. At the end of the opening ATC dialogue I request Aldergrove for landing. Then I open the GPS and use it to find the ILS and to track. Sometimes ATC at EGAA gives me Rwy 25, other times Rwy 35. CTDs can occur when opening or using the GPS. They also occur at EGAA when turning off the runway on to a taxiway. When I fly the reverse, I get the same when I turn on to a taxiway at EGAC. Weird!Best of luck! Johnhttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/184476.txt

John,You don't have a more conventional plan do you? RC is designed around IFR plans with some waypoints in them. I'm not sure I can do much with that example.Is this the only plan that gives you the atc.dll crash? If you have another more conventional one it would help.

I uninstalled RC. I have not loaded any plan into FS2004. I posted a simple VFR plan. The distance is 12 nm. Take off EGAC Rwy 04 and turn left to 300 degrees. Climb to 2000 ft. Aldergrove (EGAA) is in your 12 o'clock. I cannot fly there, land, take off and return to EGAC without a CTD. BTW, I replaced ATC.dll with a copy. No improvement.

you're crashing, and rc is uninstalled? don't you think it's more likely that fs2004, or a scenery, or a 3rd party plane, or a 3rd party panel, or sunspots are more likely to cause your crash, than rc which is uninstalled?i can assure you, i haven't changed the .dll, i haven't added anything to the registry, i haven't left anything that will cause your flight simulator to crash.is your fs2004 updated with the service pack(s)? what version of fsuipc is in use? what other add-on's are running?jd

jdThanks for trying to help. I agree that RC4.3 is not the culprit. But I had to eliminate it as a cause since the problem occurred shortly after I installed it. It is uninstalled now and I still get CTDs.I am running FSUIPC 3.75 in FS9 in XP Pro. The FS2004 service pack is installed. I've been flying and designing planes for flight sim off and on for 30 years. I've read the relevant SDKs for FS2004. I have a PPL (UK) with non-current private IFR and twin ratings. I build PCs in my spare time. So, although my experiences with CTDs may suggest otherwise, I am not a complete idiot either about flying, PCs, life, or even sunspots. Because the problem is related apparently to just one geographic area I thought initially that it must be scenery related. I removed all addon scenery. I even replaced the relevant scenery files in ....sceneryworldscenery with copies from another PC in case they'd been corrupted by my SBuilder scenery addons in the area. I have removed all AFCADs in the area. I have set traffic to zero. I have changed seasons. I have air-blown the cooling fans and removed all dust! Nothing so far has resolved the problem. If the problem was caused by a third party aircraft or panel I would expect it to occur everywhere and not just in this one area. I still have FSInn and FSCopilot installed and these will be next to go. They may have left an 'ATC/Navaid footprint' in some .ini or cache file, or they may have changed the registry in some way. Mind you, they worked flawlessly in VATSIM and CTDs never occurred when I flew online. I am almost at the point of uninstalling FS2004 and going back to FS2002 which was a more stable program anyway, IMHO. I might even give X-plane a try. I am out of ideas, and quite honestly grudge the hours I've spent trying to find a solution.

you could just install fs2004, again, in a new directory, and see how it behaves. if the problem exists still, i'm afraid it's beyond me. ####, it could be a video driver.don't go back to fs2002, a lot of add-ons won't work. and if other people fly your .pln, without the issue, then it really is just your installation.i'll be interested in seeing what a new install of fs2004 will do...jd

John,I'm willing to try this scenario for you just to prove a point but I need the plan you fed to RC4. Do you have one? The descriptive text you attached to your message is not sufficient. RC4 does not support VFR rules. The only way of flying under those rules would be to choose that menu option which would cause RC to terminate.I see in your later messages that this problem occurs even though you have uninstalled RC which proves that RC is not responsible for the problem (which I think you accept).Even if I can replicate your problem I'm not sure what it proves other than the atc.dll bug does exist. As ACES are not fixing any more bugs in FS9 the only solution I can offer is not fly this particular route which, given its small distance, should not be a problem for you.I take it that RC4 works fine in all your other flights?

Thanks, Ray. The problem occurs in a triangle between Dublin - Isle of Man - Belfast. I used the short EGAC to EGAA as a test flight to avoid the variables introduced by flying somewhere else in that geographic triangle. I suppose I could avoid the area completely but I used to enjoy flying there and am planning much-needed scenery enhancements. I do not have the plan that I used for my last RC flight. It was between Weston airfield, near Dublin, and Belfast Int (EGAA). I am sure if you fly between EGAC and EGAA on your PC it will all be fine. Since jd's last post I've uninstalled FSInn and FSCopilot. The problem remains. jd says not to go back to FS2002 - I have loads of addons for it, sceneries and aircraft. I never had problems like this with FS2002 and it had a much more flexible AI engine - one of my main interests. As a last ditch check, I inspected the FS9 disk #4 used for starting the sim. There is a 2 inch long scratch on the underside - superficial and not deep enought to feel. The list of sceneries on the disc includes Asia, Africa, etc, but does not include Europe. Similarly, the scenery.cfg file on it does not include any European scenery. :-hmmm

Short!! :-eek Your attachment yesterday advised 1 gallon of fuel! :-hahI'll try it on Saturday. Bit busy until then.I wouldn't advise going back to 2002. It was not considered the best of versions. You have to be very unlucky to get a atc.dll crash. I've heard of the Bermuda triangle but it now seems we have an Irish one! :-lolIn the meantime try a flight using a virgin FS9 install and see how you get on with that.

Hi John,I flew your route earlier and although I flew around a bit as I wasn't sure of my bearings I couldn't reproduce the atc.dll bug. I switched frequencies several times from the controller to tower and then ground. I also opened the GPS a couple of times but everything stayed running.I'm running FSUIPC 3.7.6.6 for info. My ATC.DLL is dated 24/9/05 version 9.1.0.40901.Cheers,

Are you flying FS2004? My ATC.DLL is dated earlier but is the same version number. My FSUIPC is 3.75 - I think yours must be a beta version.I now have new #4 disk - the old one was badly scratched. It's a long shot but worth a try. Will be testing over the weekend.Thanks for your interest and help.

Yep, FS2004. I think the date might be the install date. Version number of atc.dll is more useful and confirms we are using the same one.Let's hope a new disk helps. :-)Why not fly a few IFR routes around Europe? After all, that's what RC4 is all about. My experience with FS9 ATC today was horrible. You really appreciate what RC offers when you go back to the default.:-erks

New, pristine CD#4 made no difference. I replaced some of the .dll files e.g. gps.dll and traffic.dll in the modules folder with back up copies of the files. No difference. I removed all .pln, .rc4, .fmc and .fsn flight plan files. No difference. I have flown more in Europe without any problems. If I re-install on another directory, can I copy over my aircraft files and addon scenery files, or must they all be re-installed? I have dozens of PAI and other AI planes which I flew for years before any of my current problems came to light.

at this point, i would install fs into a fresh directory, nothing added.fly the route, and see what happens.update with the fs service packs, fly again. keep doing that, until fs is completely up to date.then add one thing at a time, and fly the route.keep doing it, until it breaks. the last thing you added, caused the problem

Thanks for staying with me on this, jd, Ray et al. It's much appreciated.John