BAW9DV

Hi, Not sure if anyone checks this forum or not anymore but here goes with a question.... I still use Squawkbox with FS9 (FS2004) online with VATSIM, although I will be moving to FSX-SE later in 2016 - and hopefully P3D if the licencing options change to allow me to use it. There are still aircraft (and liveries) that are not available in the Squawkbox VIP model set. For example, the new 787 and the 747-8 cannot be set up under the option to ADD AIRCRAFT in SB because these jets came along after work stopped on developing SB further. I would like to try and see if I could add a 787 and a livery for it such that when I add the aircraft into SB and connect online, the aircraft can be "seen" in MultiPlayer mode by others connected online with me at the time. I appreciate that perhaps any resulting new model that gets done will need to be available for download by others so they can add it to their model set and thereby "see" my new aircraft. I was wondering if there was a tutorial or a method for creating this? Or even perhaps a way to use and existing model (say the current 777) and then adapt it so that it appears as a new model, that looks like a twin jet but is labelled as a 787 - again, so it can be seen. And how do I set a livery for it? There seems to be no documentation around to help me with this idea - so can anyone here point me to some help? I appreciate any comments you chaps can make that might help me to see if this is a viable idea. Thank you, Kind regards, Lee

Hi, Interesting to read this discussion, some of which I understand and some I don't! :smile: I am just now researching a new computer build based around the Intel i7-4790k CPU on a Windows 7 64-bit based system. The problem is the choice of monitor. I currently FS9 on a PC with Win XP Pro SP3 on a dual core cpu and my monitor is an IIyama 19" with FS9 running at a 4:3 screen ratio in 1280x1024x16 resolution. Graphics card is a NVidia GeForce 8800GTS. The new system will also have an NVidia card, possibly the Asus NVIDIA GTX 970 STRIX 4GB Graphics Card My intentionis to carry on with the FS9 system as it is while the new system is built and I work on learning a new way to fly. I'm going up to FSX Steam and also looking at XPlane. That being the case, I'm now going to have to learn to fly FS in a different way after many years of simming. I'm a 2D cockpit man and now I'm going to have to learn to fly using the predominently VC-type flight decks found in FSX. At the age of 59, my eyesight is not what it used to be and I'm not looking forward to trying to read the instruments while having to zoom in and out here and there to do so. So, my question as a first time moving into this new arena, is what type of monitor and what type of connection should I be looking at? The late Mike Greenblatt of FSGS, a wonderful chap from whom I learnt a lot, always said to go for an odd size monitor (27, 29, 31 inch etc.) and make sure you run FS at the same resolution as your Windows desktop. So is it worth going up to a large screen (34 to 40 inches - TV or LED type perhaps)? What effect will that have? I guess it could result in blocky pixels. I have looked at 27 inch monitors which seem to be in the good price range here in the UK but might be too small. There is also the 29 inch ultra-wide which most likely would not really help. And what connection? HDMI? DVI? I would value comments by someone here, taking into account what has been said, that might help me make the right choice. Thank you, Regards, Lee

Ok Thanks, We'll see how it goes .... Take care, Lee

Hello Rainerk, Ok I have tried this and I have placed the default Cessna on runway 22R at KEWR which is where I took off from on the second sector. I seem to remember that the runway heading yesterday was showing 205 but now it shows 218 which is closer to the actual runway 22R heading as it should be. I'm going to try to repeat the KEWR-KCLE flight later today to see if this cures it. One more question - do you copy the MagDec.bgl file into the new folder, register it in the scenery library and then leave the original file in SCENERY\BASE\SCENERY folder? Or do you delete the original file from SCENERY\BASE\SCENERY folder after you have copied it? Obviously, if I leave it, I'll have loaded two copies of the same file possibly needlessly.... Cheers, Lee

Ok, I'm at a bit of a loss at this but determined to try and solve it..... Flew Trans-Atlantic yesterday to recreate the flight that one of my work team members was on when she flew From London to Newark, New Jersey then on to Cleveland, Ohio in the USA. The long haul sector was flown using the Boeing 757-200 on United Airlines. The second sector on to Cleveland was a Boeing 737-900 winglet version jet on the same airline (757 was PSS Pro from JustFlight and the 737-900 Winglet was the IFly 737-900, all flown in FS9). The flight was flown entirely online on VATSIM (Squawkbox) and with ActiveSky Evolution for weather. In order to prepare for this and recreate the flight as closely as possible, I re-installed my JustFlight PSS 757 Pro for FS9 and then added the ImagineSim Newark scenery and the CLE2003 Cleveland Hopkins Airport scenery (plus updates) to get ready. Despite a friend very kindly getting the actual route for me, I was unable to use it due to time limitations. Anyway, took off from Heathrow and headed out over the Atlantic. As time went on I noticed that the diference between the track to the next waypoint and the actual heading of the aircraft was massive! For example, at one point the track heading was ->285 and the actual direction the aircraft nose was pointing was some 22 degrees to the left showing a heading of ->263! The wind was a headwind practically on the nose at ->291 at 55 knots. This problem got a bit worse as time moved on through the 8-hour flight and it did not change much even though at one point the wind dropped to around 8 knots. Sometimes the difference was up to 25 degrees! As I descended into New York airspace, it got better, dropping to a difference of say 8 to 12 degrees. On finals at Newark into runway 04L, I was right on the ILS and did a manual landing, following the ILS right down to the runway - but the track showing on the aircraft's Navigational Display (ND) was way off to the left! However, I was able to make the flight and successfully navigate to the airport. Next leg out of Newark to Cleveland, had much the same thing happening except that this time when I began the turn to final for runway 06R at Cleveland Hopkins, I had to manually turn the aircraft as the LOC button, while activated did not cause the aircraft to turn. Before we flew through the localiser, I therefore turned manually and flew down to the runway as a manual landing again, with the ND display showing a track that was way off to the left. ************************************ The last time this happened, after Googling the problem, I re-installed the MAGDEC.BGL file in case it had been corrupted. This made no difference. I tried updating the MAGDEC.BGL file to the newer one available now from a site online but this did not remove the problem so I reverted back to the earlier file. I suspected that installing the new LatinVFR KMIAv2 scenery might have caused it but after removing the scenery, had the same issue. I also suspected a recent Captain Sim 757 Base pack install (was introduced to this by a friend who said it flew better than the PSS Pro version) and I did find that the install had made no Registry entry, no START menu option and no un-install option (Windows XP Pro SP3 installed here on my system). So - I did a System Restore and restored back to before I installed the Captain Sim 757 - and all was well. I reinstalled the Windows Critical Updates that were now missing after the restore back and corrected a few scenery issues but all was fine. Flew Charlottle to Miami (LatinVFR v2 installed back) and no problem. Until yesterday....... ************************************ The more I look at this, the more I suspect that it might be an AIRAC or Navdata issue although I'm at a loss to sort it out. The errors all seem to be shown on the aircraft's Navigation Display rather than in the actual FS world, since I did manage to successfully navigate from Heathrow to Newark and then on to Cleveland. I did a full AIRAC update before flying yesterday's trips - so what to do next? I'd like to avoid another System Restore, mainly because I still do not understand what caused this - and I restore might cure the issue only until I inadvertantly create it again! Anyone here have any ideas on how to solve this? I would appreciate any useful comments.... Very many thanks, Lee

Actually.... Forget it! I have found it! Silly me ... Lovely plane though - just wish there were more repaints. Take care, Lee

Hello, Sorry if this has been covered, but I cannot find a post about it. I have the Cessna 180 Skylane II package for FS9 (FS2004) and may I say what a lovely aircraft it is! Sounds are beautiful and she flies really well. For the life of me though, I cannot seem to find out how to set any frequencies in the top VORDME instrument (NAV 1). It seems disabled. Only NAV 2 works. Any ideas? Thanks - and thanks for a very nice aircraft that I have only recently discovered. Regards, Lee James West Sussex UK

DJ, Thanks for your kind reply! I was obviously looking at the wrong file! I added ZULS to the Complete_Airports_List text file because it was not there, thinking that was the problem. I actually flew out to ZULS yesterday from VHHH but could get no weather for ZULS when I asked AS6.5 to fetch ti for me. I clearly missed the wx_station_list.txt file which must be the file I need to edit. I just tested again after removing the ZULS entires from the Complete_Airports_List text file and found that ZULS did report weather and the Fetch function began working again (asked it for ZUUU which was there). Can't understand why I did not get it the first time. Thanks for your help. I bought AS 2004 and AS ver 5 from Simmarket and I have the records for that - but I believe I got the 6.5 upgrade from HiFiSim because I cannot find any record of the purchase in Simmarket. I did send my purchase email address to one of the HiFiSim staff when I enquired via email about re-installing ASv6.5 (I lost the install file) and they sent me the install file, presumably after verifying the email address against a purchase. Now with the new ticket system, I cannot email them anymore..... Thanks very much for your kind reply. Lee

A bit more on this... I have now seen the file COMPLETE_AIRPORTS_LIST.txt in the ASv6 folder below MODULES and looked at it. I took the data for the Chinese airport ZULS and added it (I added it in alphabetical order - although the AIRPORTS.DAT file lists it by LAT/LONG decimal co-ordinates) and then ran FS9 and positioned the Cessna at ZULS. I then ran ASv6.5 and it found the weather for ZULS! However, now when I use the FETCH WEATHER function it does not work any more and comes up with the message, "cannot fetch - system is busy re-setting data" or similar...... Looks like I might just have to go with ASE if I cannot solve this - although ASe does not have many of the these airports, nor the facility to add them it would seem. Lee

No takers? Pity.... I purchased ActiveSky 2004 way back from Simmarket, then bought the upgrade to version 5 and then the 6.5 version. I have the order numbers and confirmation of sale for versions 2004 and 5 but cannot find my details for the 6.5 version. I did email one of the staff some time back when I had my machine rebuilt and unified by FS-GS, so that I could obtain a full download of the install file which I had mislaid. I gave the staff member the email address associated with that purchase and he was able to confirm my purchase and that I was therefore an bona fide customer and send me the file. Now, with the new ticketing system, I cannot even contact one of the staff via email - and without my details I cannot register. The staff member I contacted last time no longer work for HiFiSim so i'm looking for an answer here. Any help would be appreciated. Lee James

Hi, Been a while since I dropped in here and I apologise for that. Some questions you might be able to help with. I'm currently using ActiveSky 6.5, build 552 which as far as I am aware, is the last build of this version of AS before the newer versions for FSX came out. I have heard a whisper that version 6.5 of AS now has issues when getting the weather downloads from HiFiSim's servers. To be honest, I don't seem to have that much trouble downloading and subsequently displaying weather, but in certain areas of the world where I fly, the high level temps do appear "warmer" than perhaps they should be. The other issue I have is getting weather for places not supported by AS, such as many airports in mainland China. On doing a recent proving test flight from Hong Kong (VHHH) to Lhasa in Tibet (ZULS) with Linzhi Chn MILIN (ZUNZ) as my alternate, I could find no weather option for these last two airports. VATSIM does not have the weather for them either (using the SB DOT command " .metar ZULS" reports a not available message). I can however, find many sites on the internet that will report the current weather for these locations - but of course AS 6.5 cannot display that weather. As far as I am aware, there ARE aviation reporting stations for these locations and others. My first question therefore is this: is there a way to "edit" AS 6.5 to add the ICAO codes so that AS will attempt to locate weather for these regions? If there is, how do I do this? Secondly, if this is not possible - and there ARE indeed issues with correct weather showing in AS 6.5 downloaded from the servers as referred to above, would an upgrade to a newer version of AS be in order? And if so, which version, above 6.5 build 553, would it be best to obtain for an FS2004 (FS9.1) user such as myself? Thanks for your kind comments if any, Regards, Lee James British Airways Virtual & Kowloon International Virtual Airlines

Rog,Ok did not know that this was the case. I actually added the data to the PMDG Navdata files to allow the FMC to find the airports and for me to fly there - so I will try this.Thanks for your kind reply,Lee

Hi Jim,I have been an avid user of ActiveSky for years now and use the 6.5 version for FS9 which works well for me.Right now, I am test flying in Asia a bit more than usual, mainly in China. Many of the Chinese airports are not supported in ActiveSky.I was wondering if it is possible for a user such as my self to "add" to ActiveSky's database of airports in any way? Or is it not possible for an end user?Such places as ZUJZ (Jiuzhai Huanglong airport) in Songpan, Sechuan Province, a big tourist spot, or ZUGU (Guangyuan) which is an alternate for ZUJZ. Even Squawkbox does not know these places.Much of mainland China is not in the dataset of ActiveSky - even the old VHHX Kai Tak. Plus, such newer airports like VTBS, the new Bangkok airport, is not there.Just want to see if it is possible to update the dataset at allThanks for your time,Lee James

Hi Folks,Hope this is the best place to pose this question. I'm trying to solve the following issue...Have a look at this airport in FS9 (FS2004) - WMPK - Pulau Pangkor (island), Malaysia.LAT:- ---N4.14.6LONG:---E100.33.14ELEV:- 3.3 feetRWYS:- 04/22 (however, the default scenery shows the runways aligned correctly but listed as 27/09!)MAGNETIC VARIATION is listed in AFCAD2 as -0.5; Data for this is held in the FS9 file AP974300.bgl found in the SCENERY\ASIA\SCENERY folder of FS9.************************Now here is the real world data from the Malaysia AIP:-WMPA - Pulau Pangkor (island), Malaysia.LAT:- ---N4.14.41LONG:---E100.33.12ELEV:- 19 feetRWYS:- 04/22 (792 x 30M or 2598 x 98 feet)MAGNETIC VARIATION - not known************************I have some scenery for this airport that installs correctly and is layered correctly, but when installed, the old runway still shows through from the default and the aircraft "sinks" as it reaches the end! The default runway showing, kind of "crosses" the new scenery installed runway at its mid-point.Ideally, I'd like to use AFCAD2 to "edit" the default runway, but I can't find the correct MAGVAR for the airport. I have the ExcBuilder programme with a view to creating an EXCLUDE file for this area, but my problem is that to exclude, you need the NorthWest and SouthEast co-ordinates of the area to be excluded. However, this area runs NorthEAST/SouthWest and attempting to use ExcBuilder to create the exclude file results in an error in compiling to a BGL because it says the co-ordinates EXCEED those parameters required to create the BGL!This may sound silly, but I'd really like to have a go at this problem. If anyone can give me some pointers as to how I can get this issue sorted I'd be really grateful.Cheers,Lee

Chuck,Just seen the News item on the home page.May I just say a big thank you for that - its very kind and very much appreciated by us all at British Airways Virtual.As I stated in my email, if you are able to send anyone along to join us, please drop me a message and let me know. We'll do our best to see that he or she gets a good dinner and a bed for the night along with a few beers and some good conversation in nice surroundings!Thank you again.Kind regards,Lee JamesEvent OrganiserBritish Airways Virtual

Chuck, Ah! Didn't see that. So thats why the mail bounced back. I copied the address right off the page and pasted it into my email so I was quite surprised to see it come back.Anyway, if it is ok with you, I have re-sent the message with the corrected email address.Take care,Lee

Hello Chuck,Ok, I copied the email address for you from the CONTACT US links on the main AVSIM page. Your address was ahown as:[email protected] then sent you an email - which was returned with the following error:-"... This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of itsrecipients. This is a permanent error. The following address(es) failed: [email protected] SMTP error from remote mail server after RCPT TO:<[email protected]>: host mail.avsim.net [209.8.161.216]: 550 Unknown user ... "So, can you possibly contact me here:-bav-gcm[at]bavirtual.co.ukAnd I'll gladly send you the message about our Special Conference - along with the invitation for someone from AVSIM to attend and have dinner with us.Take care,Lee James747 Fleet &Event OrganiserBritish Airways Virtual

Hello Chuck,Sorry for the delay in responding to this message. Ok, not sure which "front page link" you mean, but I will try. I have emailed Tom Allensworth and Robert Kirkland from their respective contact links under the Contact Us section to the lower right of the home page.Will try again. Thank you for your time.Regards,Lee James747 Fleet &Event OrganiserBritish Airways Virtual

Chuck, Ok, I understand that - would have been nice to receive a reply letting me know, though. Interesting policy. However, I would hardly call our 10 year special conference to be held in a major hotel venue near a major international airport, a VA recruitment drive! This is not your average VA get together here with some members of the real world organisation attending.You didn't even reply to my invitation to send one of your representatives along to be our guest!However, now I know and I understand. I won't make the mistake again.Sorry to have bothered you with this.Take care and thanks for replying to my message here.Kind regards,Lee JamesEvent OrganiserBritish Airways Virtual

Hi there,Hope its ok to post here...I have sent email to AVSIM staff using the contact details on the main page, but so far no responses yet.I appreciate that people are busy, but I sent in an item of NEWS for consideration on the main page, but I have not even had an acknowledgment of the message. The original message was sent to TOM on 1st March and I copied Robert Kirkland in on it on the 3rd March.Is it too early to expect a reply?I'm sorry if perhaps I should not be posting this here - but I do not know whether the message has been received or is in someone's spam folder.Thanks for your kind assistance.Regards,Lee JamesBritish Airways Virtual

Hi,I bought ActiveSky some time ago when it was ActiveSky 2004.5 or something - not sure exactly which one I started with - and I have installed and overwritten/upgraded as I have gone along, to ASV6.5. I have chosen not to go up to ASA.Now I am doing a major hardware upgrade and re-installing FS9 and my addons (I have my original C: drive with my old and full FS9 installation now in a USB enclosure).Searched the forum and after 10 pages of threads, I can find nothing on how I can re-install ASV6.5How do I reinstall it? Must I find my original ASV2004.5 purchase?Also, I'm now going to use Flight Environment for the cloud sets - is it possible to do this and have ASV6.5 just provide the weather?Thanks for your time,Lee James (sb9dv)

Hey Carl,>>Kgs- or occasionally in stones if you are so inclined ;). Rob is correct- BAV is fantastic- but others might suggest I'm a trifle biased ;)<

Hmm,Didn't see this thread until late ... But its an interesting one!I have been very fortunate to have flown all the way back from Tokyo to London in the flight deck of a British Airways 747-400 (pre 9/11 - it was in the Summer of 2000). The flight crew were fantastic and very keen to hear about the aircraft and the perceptions of a Flight Simulator pilot like me! I was also lucky enough to get three hours on the 747-400 Simulator at British Airways Cranebank Training Base near Heathrow - a 50th birthday present from my wife - in the company of one Training Captain and one serving BA 744 line pilot. I'm happy to say that as well as being a great experience, I acquitted myself pretty well!Now to the question..... To be honest, despite having flown the PMDG 744 product since it came out and having flown the PSS 744 product for FS2000 and 2002 before that - and the current PMDG737NG product, there is a difference between knowing how to fly the aircraft and having the ability to fly the real jet when called upon to do so.By that I mean, I can truthfully say that I have the skills to fly the 747-400 quite well and the 737NG fairly well. But if I was called upon to operate the real aircraft down to a safe landing, this would depend very much on whether I had my nerve together and how I responded to the pressure of the situation!For the real Simmers among us, the mechanics of flying the real plane are there for us and generally, I believe most of us could manage to fly the real jet to some extent. However, if you know which switch operates the PTT on the radio, you would also receive an aweful lot of help from the ground to get you down - as has been proved before on occasions where this has happened in General Aviation scenarios such as PIC heart attacks while airborne, etc. With these jets almost flying themselves, the chances of making it down safely would be good.In reality, I believe that the problems would be down to the nerve and general state of the "pilot" attempting the landing at the time, and the pressure of the situation facing the crew who have become incapacitated. For me, the need to get them down quickly so that their lives could be saved, would be a great burden, no matter how good my nerves were at the time!For me ... If I was asked, I would go for it if no other pilots were on board because then I would be the best and possibly the only option. How I would be when I took my place in that left hand seat is another matter! And I cannot really answer that truthfully until it happened to me! But I WOULD try it - I think that I would have to for the good of those on board .....Just my thoughts,cheers,Lee

Robin,>>So basically I should have balanced up Tank 2 to be greater than Tank 1, then configured Tank/Eng?<ENGINE prompt point - but your close to it. So after you have balanced up tanks 2 and 3, balance up tanks 1 and 4 by shutting off the pumps on the tank with the lowest fuel level - and allow the other tank to drain down to match it.Now simply switch ON all pumps and OVRD pumps and leave the crossfeeds OPEN until you get the TANK->ENGINE prompt. Then close the crossfeeds first and finally shut off all OVRD pumps, leaving one set of pumps on for each of the four engines - the final fuel configuration for the remainder of the flight.You can still use this method for rebalancing tanks where the fuel load is so out of balance that you need to sort it out. Just do it one tank at a time.Hope this helps,cheers,Lee

Hi Robin,>>Is it really necessary to mess around with cross-feeding when the tanks are all within 800 lbs of each other and you get the Tank/Eng memo? I did have a fuel deficit in Tank 2 due to APU usage, but thetransfer from Center tank to Tank 2 just about balanced it out again (intentional design?).<