tf51d

Looks like the FAA is proposing or will eliminate the Hazardous Inflight Weather Advisory Service (HIWAS). Is this service still considered a necessary tool by pilots, or has it become redundant by newer technology?

Well there's one point in the ATC recording, where he had to be instructed on how to pressurize the aircraft, that tells me he did not learn from a Flight Sim, at least not with any of the complex models like the Majestic Q400 or X-Planes FlyJSim Q400. If he had he would have known how to do that himself.

Is the CS757 PMDG quality? No, but it does get a bad rap, as users expect it to have similar system functionality as more modern variants. The thing is CS models both the 757 and 767 as they were when first produced back in the early 80's (Look at the old eggtimer on the overhead ) For example one of the biggest complaints is it doesn't calculate TOD's. You have to remember the 757/767 were the first airliners to even have FMC's and are different then the later variants. You have to either use a transition to the runway or if none is in the NAV DB, you have to define a EOD waypoint, similar to the Q400. Most systems are modelled in the CS757, but are not at the level of PMDG or other high quality developers, but then neither is the QW757 which models even less functions. The new P3D V4 version just released systems do appear much better, and that should be coming to FSX soon (Hopefully)

Don't believe you can if you lost the data, Navigraph only allows you to download current cycles. The backup the data manager creates are used if a specific addon nav data needs to be replaced for some reason. If you lost those backups then you will have to download the current cycle.

Actually Compuserve predates the internet as we know it, there were no ISP's then. Compuserve, (as well with AOL and Prodigy) was originally stand alone networks where you would have a access number to dial into with your modem, and directly login using your account number, something like for example 73435,2306. Compuserve didn't start offering connection to the Internet, until 1989 and then it was only for email. It wasn't til 1997 that it converted to HTML from it's text base forum system. (HMI).

You won't see 747 or 777's anywhere near KDCA They all go to KIAD

There is a misconception on how VAS works in Windows. It's not only the address space available but it also has to be contiguous. For example you have 500MB free as you say and the app wants to allocate 60MB of that space, but the largest contiguous space is 50MB, there's no where to put it so you will get an OOM error. So it is possible for an APP to run out of address space to use, even if you actually have more total available. Ther closer you get to the 4GB limit (3GB for 32bit) the more likely this could happen. DTG does better resource housekeeping with FSX-SE, then MS did with FSX, so it's more likely to happen faster in FSX-Box then FSXSE.

Weather could definitely played a role here, remember San Francisco is known for it's fog.

You can see the airspace boundaries on the FSX map It's the button to the right of the button with a J on it (For Jetways). The boundaries will appear as blue lines on the map. You should get freq changes as you cross them.

The biggest problem PROATC had prior to this latest update, was it's inability to handle high crosswinds like when in the jetstream. It would not account for them or couldn't keep up causing unnecessary vectoring. The previous update was the worse, when even though the PATC flightplan menu showed the correct active waypoint which was straight ahead of me PATC wanted to vector me up to 180 degrees in the opposite direction. Every time I reported it support always denied it was there issue, blaming it on the PMDG NGX or T7 (which was the planes I was using). Apparently though they must have finally found the problem, since it seems to be completely working properly now in this latest update, which now makes each flight more enjoyable and seamless.

Another possibility is you have ASN/AS2016 "enable wing fade effect" checked. That setting can cause fading in the VC when visibility is low.

Had the same issue, turn off bloom in FSX settings and it will clear up.

Had the same thing on FSX-SE, First attempt to update got a quick CMD box, and that was it. tried again and the same thing happened. Each time still with notification update was needed. Checked the update log file in Appdata\roaming\PMDG Operation Center, and the first entry had no errors, but ended with 0/0 files updated. Subsequent attempts all said product already updated . I even tried uninstalling the 744 and reinstalling, and the log still said product was up to date even though the OP still notifying update necessary. Then I noticed on the first entry a new registry entry was created. I located that key and sure enough it had an entry for current version which reflected the new 8186 update. I edited that key back to the release 8132, the tried to update again. This time the 744updated everything 62/62 files. Tested it in the sim and the biggest problem I had originally with the fault/mcp lights not working, now works fine. The only issue I have now is the OP still thinks an update is required and still says 8132 is installed. Again if I try to update it the log file says the 744 is already up to date, which now it actually is, but I can't get rid of the notification. If you know how to work with the registry the location of the key in question is in HKEY_Local_Machine (Follow the path from there with what is in your log file) Note the key itself has a hexadecimal name so make sure you are working with the right one. If you are not familiar with how to safely edit the registry do not attempt it, you can do serious damage to your system if done incorrectly to the point your system may no longer boot. In this case work with PMDG support to resolve. Tom Cain

Also the problem may be your viewpoint. If it's too far back you may actually be placed on or behind the pilot seat, which would prevent access to some if not all click spots. To correct move your viewpoint forward until you are clear of the back of the seat. With EZDOK it's with the arrow keys. When you find a position that works. Lock it in with the numpad 2 key. If you are not using EZDOK or other 3rd party camera system, you need to use the default positioning key sequencing. Tom Cain

Hold down the menu button on the FMC and it will come back to life!! Tom Cain