So, to make any future re-installs easier, I installed 4.3 for FS9 as the instructions and updated the Scenery DB. This ran the new makerwys ok and created all the usual files with no problem.However, previous versions found about 25,600 airports while this new version found only 23,778. Any reason for this?Iain Smith

makerwys uses the scenery config file. so if it has changed, it might see fewer files to scan, and thus fewer airportsjd

No change to scenery since running the DB in 4.2 and now in 4.3, jd.Iain Smith

I note reference to the "new" MakeRunways, and the link to download the new version.Is this an improvement, or indeed any difference, to the one supplied as part of RC4?If so, should we now be using the separate MakeRunways utility, as opposed to creating new database from within RC4. Or is there a way of integrating the new program into RC4.3?RegardsMark

You install any updated version of makerwys.exe in your FS home folder. You then use the utility in RC and it will run it as before and copy the files from the FS folder to the proper folders for RC. The RC utility will also create a few other files derived from the base data in the process.WideFS users follow the specific instructions if needed.I have not seen any reduction in the airport or runway count in my system. There were some refinements where formerly excluded runways were added due to certain types of airport patch files provided by scenery designers.If any airports or runways are excluded that should not be, please let us know and provide details regarding the scenery .bgl files.The newest revision should add airports and runways it missed before.

>If any airports or runways are excluded that should not be,>please let us know and provide details regarding the scenery>.bgl files.Ron, as I'm only partly computer literate, how do I do that? All I did was note the total number of airports as 23,778 and knew that previously it was around 25,600.Iain

I've now reverted to the previous makerwys, version 2.9 instead of the newer 4.1 and it clocked up 25,723 airports about 100 up from what I expected - an improvement over the 23,788 given by using version 4.1.I leave this to the experts to try and explain but if I can help by providing any further information let me know.Iain Smith

I suggest going back to 4.10. The airport counter has apparently been fixed in the status display. I ran an earlier version and noticed it increased when processing AFCAD .bgl files. In earlier versions it apparently just counted the number of .bgls processed as airports but did not take into account that some were modifications. In 4.1 I noticed the counter did not increase for AFCAD .bgls that were in all probability modifications of the APxxxxx.bgl files which are the base airport scenery files that come with FS.The airport file for version 4 is a4.csv and is derived from the runway file r4.csv during the scenery rebuild process. I counted the runways in r4.csv after running a much earlier version (that read 25,xxx airports in the status line) and 4.1 (that read 23,xxx in the status line) and they were almost the same at 57,000 plus.The result is that 4.1 is functioning correctly (taking into account the corrections I described earlier) since it is the runways that dedtermine the RC airport data. My conclusion is that you are not missing any airports with makerwys version 4.1. It is safe to use with perhaps only very few problem sceneries being missed as described. The airport counter while not exact is closer to the actual amount and is just there for confidence.

Thanks for that explanation Ron. I thought I noticed a difference when it was rattling through the AFCADs but couldn't be certain.I accept what you say and will go back to 4.1.Iain Smith