AlaskanFlyboy

Sadly, there aren't as many quality freeware developers as there were in the FS2000 to FS2004 days. There are still a few gems though.

Apparently not. Have fun, and if you have questions the FSCaptain developers are pretty responsive on their forum.

No. But if you have Travis as your FO, he is prone to make comments on greased landings or hard landings, as well as forgetting lights or doors, or when the aircraft starts picking up ice ("If you pass me a coffee cup I'll reach out the window and scrape up some ice, and we can have snow cones.") Like I said before, they have a full demo with the only restriction being you have to takeoff from KSEA, KOLM, KPDX, EGCC, EGGD, or EGJJ. You can also see the full user manual here which goes over the features: http://www.fscaptain.net/downloads/User Guide.pdf

It's versatile. I put my VA's schedule into it, but it can create random charters, or you can specify the route. It's got a free demo mode you can try: Please note that the full version you download here is the "free trial" version which can be turned into the full version by purchasing FSCaptain using one of the links to the right. They will allow you to purchase a registration code and then enter it into the program. The only difference between the limited demo and the full version is the demo is limited to six airports you can take off from - KSEA, KOLM, KPDX, EGCC, EGGD, EGJJ.

It's very similar and has developed a lot of features over the years. I've enjoyed the enhanced weather features that make icing actually a concern as well as simulation of deicing procedures including hold-over times. It recognizes GSX's deicing at the gate, or you can set up de-ice pads that you have to taxi to like many larger airports have. It also communicates with GSX to recognize all it's phases from deboarding through pushback.

The only place I really get any sort of FPS hit is near PWK any time I look toward the golf course. I believe all the Individually placed trees are the culprit.

I purchased both their Chicago City and Airports X a few months ago. They're nicely done.

To my knowledge, the RealTurb products are simulating terrain effects on wind and turbulence which aren't really touched by other weather addons. I haven't tried them, but if it does what it says it would add a nice dimension to the weather simulation, especially airports near mountains and hills.

I finally encountered this and apparently Environment Force turned "enable weather smoothing" back on. Shutting it off immediately filled the grids back in.

SimWest does not cover the airport, just photo-real scenery of the surrounding area.

KMCI works perfectly in P3Dv4. Their site is currently in maintenance but if you look at their offerings on SimMarket, it specifies if they are P3Dv4 compatible in the requirements.

I have their KMCI for FS9 as well as the FSX/P3D version and it's well done. From the pictures, it looks like that collection is their older versions. Their newer versions of those airports sold individually look much better.

It's a waterski jump, nothing to see here. 😜

ATC, even in the real-world, will assign runways based on current wind conditions. It is possible for winds to shift enough to change runways from what was originally planned. In cases like this, you would be working on an amended release from the dispatch office. Seeing as you're dispatch (unless you're flying for a VA with online dispatchers), you would just update the plan on Simbrief. The default ATC is terrible with it's handling of complex IFR routing. In fact, it pretty much ignores all but the route path itself until the last 80 or so miles when it completely ignores the route and starts vectoring you back and forth to your destination. So don't be surprised at its handling. As for the differing altitude restrictions, I would comply with both. The altitude on your SID is a crossing restriction, which means you have to hold that altitude until passing it. After that you can continue to climb up to the next restriction, which for you would be the 7000 that ATC capped you at. I've taken to flying VATSIM anytime I fly just to have realistic ATC when their on, and if they're off then it's sort of like flying without any ATC activated but I still have UNICOM and other live traffic to contend with.

Given that the issue you describe goes all the way back to FS2004 (released 17 years ago) and it's gone through one FS2004 update, FSX and its two updates, and now 4 versions of P3D I wouldn't hold out much hope. It's not of much use to the commercial/training industry that P3D is catered to and really only appeals to the casual enthusiast who isn't part of the EULA. When you're trying to train a specific procedure, an ATC program would just become noise you have to ignore. Since they released Audio for VATSIM, VATSIM has been much more active than it used to be if you're looking for more realistic ATC. There's also IVAO, but I haven't used them in at least 15 years so I'm not sure how active they've been.

That is odd. I've been running AS4P with REX SF and EF since I upgraded to P3D almost a year ago and haven't encountered anything as jarring as that yet. If I had to guess, Sky Force uses those square shapes to fill in the bulk of an overcast layer and for some reason isn't getting to add the rest of the cloud shapes in around them.

There are some gems to be found out there. Have you perused https://freewarescenery.com/fsx.html? Some of the sceneries are marked as P3Dv4 compatible. Others can sometimes be installed with minor tweaks to their AFCADs.

PMDG has the NGXu 600/700 expansion marked down ten dollars if that counts.

If you need any further clarification, don't be afraid to ask. Boldmethod has some great resources as well if you're looking for more information.

I realize I didn't address the other two approach types you mentioned in the thread title. LOC/DME is a localizer with distance measuring equipment. These are similar to a ILS approach which has a localizer for lateral guidance and a glideslope for vertical guidance. Take out the glideslope and you have a localizer approach. Unlike a VOR, localizers have only one course and are created by the overlap of two directional signals. Setting the course knob to the correct course is more a formality to get the course needle pointed the right direction to eliminate confusion to the pilots or flight computers. RNAV is Area Navigation and these approaches are done using the FMC to follow a set of waypoints on approach, or in lighter aircraft using GPS. If you're going to start learning these more technical approaches, I would suggest beginning with a light aircraft such as a Cessna 172. The concepts and techniques will be the same as in the A320, but without the added complexity and flight speeds you can concentrate on the approach procedures themselves. Landing gear, additional flaps setting, take away focus on the approach and the higher speed makes things come up much faster. You'll have a less stressful time learning in something slow and simple.

You'll have a better chance of getting an answer over at the vPilot forum on VATSIM: https://forums.vatsim.net/viewforum.php?f=132

Course and heading are two distinct definitions. In a no-wind situation they are the same, but heading is the direction the aircraft is pointed, course is the intended path over the ground and rarely matches the heading required to stay on course. Even on a no-wind day, radials rarely match headings as VORs have their own north reference that once was set to magnetic north (though a few are set to true north) but over years of magnetic drift have a variation.

First, to answer your request for definitions: Radial - A radial is simply a defined course to or from a VOR station. If I'm tracking the 040 radial to a VOR, I'm flying a course of 040 towards it. If I'm flying the 040 radial from a VOR, I'm flying a course of 040 away from it. These radial directions for most stations approximate magnetic north (a handful were set at true north). As magnetic north continues to drift eastward, the radials end up being more off from what your compass heading would read on a zero-wind day. That said, they do occasionally shut down a VOR and rearrange the arrays to realign them over the years so if you’re using real-world charts, I would encourage you to check out aero.sors.fr for his navdata updates. Outbound Course – If you are flying an approach that requires a procedure turn, you’ll initially overfly the VOR on a course away from the airport. Inbound Course – Once you’ve completed the procedure turn (if one was required) you are now on the inbound course for the rest of the approach. Procedure Turn – A course reversal designed to keep you above aircraft that may be on the inbound course for landing while also turning you 180 degrees back on course. DME – Distance Measuring Equipment is another set of associated signals that lets the aircraft know how far it is away from the station. This information is direct line, not over the ground, so it gets less accurate the closer you are to the station and the higher your altitude. If you pass the station at 10,000 feet AGL it will read that you’re about 2 miles away even though you are directly over it. Think of it as the distance of a string between your aircraft and the antenna on the ground. As for specifics in the aircraft, I’m not 100% familiar with Airbus cockpit designs, but you should have an MCP panel on the glareshield for setting your autopilot/flight director’s headings, speeds, altitudes and the like. There should be two knobs marked “course”: one for the pilot, and one for the co-pilot. These are used to set the specific radial as defined on your enroute or approach charts. You’ll set the frequency of the VOR in your NAV 1 and/or NAV2 radio. As a real world practice, after setting the VOR station in your nav radio you would press the NAV1 or NAV2 selector on your audio panel to listen for the morse code identifier to make sure it matches the one listed on your chart.

I've been using Hervé Sors' navdata updates for years without issues in the US areas. I do know if you use it and run the default FS9 map, it will crash if you try to display airways. So before installing, make sure to disable the display of airways or don't open the map. I flew a lot around the Anchorage area up until about 6 years ago using the Carenado 206, so I was happy when I found his FS9 updates. I stumbled on them shortly after the real-world ANC VOR on Fire Island was decommissioned and the new TED VOR came online.

I've been playing around with editvoicepack, and I'm trying to get wind gusts announced in ATIS/ASOS and in takeoff/landing clearances. I see there's a <wind_add_gusts> and a <wind_add_gusts_no>, but can't seem to find a <wind_add_gusts_yes>.I suspect this may be why I have gotten winds, but not gusts to work. If it doesn't exist, is it possible to add it? What tokens would be needed?