claviermichel

Hi,I am getting confused with the amount of programs claiming to enhance the basic FS9 sceneries. Can you guys guide me as to what is essential to improve the visual terrains, waters, lights, etc.What I am mostly (but not exclusively) is anything which covers the Asian continent.Thanks for your advicesBest regards

Hi Scott and All,Thanks a bunch, this is the kind of app I am looking for. Just have to see how I can get FSManager to work properly.By the way guys since you are the experts, Yesterday I downloaded from AVSIM AIFLIGHTPLANNER. Looks pretty much OK for me but I would very much appreciate your opinions. Is this the best program to edit / create AI Flightplans, tofind and edit faulty flightplans, to find duplicates and so on?Best regards,

Thanks a lot for the program you recommended. ACA2005 is a great program. I recommend it to all new AI "fans" like myself I see a lot of errors which need to be attended to. Well the learning curve of AI stuff is steep and challenging but this is a unique occasion to get immersed quickly.Best regards,

Onur, You get me confused here. As far as I know FS loading time increases if new aircrafts are stored in the aircraft folder. I got 34 new WOAI aircrafts installed and I can see the FS loading time increased substantially. Therefore my question is there an app which would "park" aircrafts not used in a given situation before firing FS?OH yes I forgot to ask, Is there a comprehensive AI radar screen available to follow AI traffic. Best regards,

Hi Onur,Thanks for your quick reply. To be frank I discovered the AI world from a recent thread in this forum. Most probably the same one you followed on. Until now I concentrated on real world procedures, planning, dispatching and so on leaving only a few moments for on line flying. Now I started to expand my horizon and jumped in the AI world like jumping into cold water. I tell you, water is getting warmer everyday now :) I suspected their was a radius limit within which FS would load AI traffic. Glad you confirmed that. As far as downloading packages I will continue to feed my computer with more.As too flight planning tools for AI I am still interested to learn what other users are working with. Yesterday I downloaded AI Flight planner from Avsim but it is does not have the options I wish to have (See my first message).Thanks again Onur,Best regards,

Hi there,After having read recent posts I finally decided to enter into the "AI world" and started to download several packages. Here are my questions:1. World of AI: do you guys download all packages or only for a specific part of the world ie. the one you are most most flying?2. In order to relieve FS9 (loading time) can one or more packages be de-activated if they are of no use for a specific flight example: could I de-activate all Chinese regional airlines if I decide to fly from EDDF to KJFK? Is there a program out there which would facilitate activation / de-activation of specific airline packages on demand?3. What is currently the best flight planner for AI. Specifically a flight planner which can analyse all flight plans and tell me which ones are duplicated, erroneous, nor associated with an AI aircraft all this in addition to usual add / edit / delete functions of a regular flight planner.Please forgive me if my questions may look stupid to the experts. Although I have some experience in flight simulation this is my first attempt to populate the simulation skies with AI.Best regards

Thanks to both of you Opa and Jim for your help.Best regards

Hi There,I would like to add something to my brand new WOAI experience. Is there a program you guys (experts) could recommend which can simulate the departure / arrival boards you normally see at all airports. I am looking at something which either is a stand-alone app (preferably), or eventually something which integrates FS9 in some way. Ideally the board(s) should show the carriers' flags, name, dep and arr, dep time or arr time depending of the board and status ie boarding, gate closed, departing, delayed etc and similar for arrival boards.Is there something like that available or am I totally out of this world?Best regards

Hi,Just came accross a program which may be of interest for those of you using the FSX planner and still wondering how to export FSX flightplans to PMDG. here is the link: http://fsdownload.com/modules.php?name=New...rticle&sid=1051Hope it helps.Best regards

You guys are out of this world. Thanks a lot for the clarification. One confusion less thanks to you guys.Best regards

Hi Richard,Will certainly be there. I hope we could convince a large number of PMDG simmers to participate. I think there will be a lot of Aerowinx chaps too. It may be a good occasion to compare notes with them at that time.Best regards

Hi There,Well, I think I will give up on this idea. Seems there are at least two organized groups offering such service. Thanks for your input guys.Best regards

Hi there,A practical question following your remark about multiple traffic files.I thought FS9 reads only one traffic file ie Trafficxxx.bgl and therefore when using multiple AI packages one would need to combine the respective traffic bgl files of each package in one big file. However you seem to refer to "multiple" traffic files. Can you please elaborate on this issue.Best regards

Hi Gents,I am wondering if some one knows whether it could be possible to organize a world tour for the PMDG 747-400? and if there is any interest for it?Any ideas are welcome, minimum requirement in terms of add-ons (weather, planning tools, dispatch programs, flight tracking tools), schedules, flight plans, routes you would like to include, would you prefer to fly with VATSIM or IVAO etc...Ideally to organize this world tour we would require assistance of one or two devoted simmers in each of the continent for the preparation, coordination and to ensure 24 hours coverage.If there is interest please throw ideas here or send me a PM.Best regards

Hi,Are you implying that the PMDG aircraft add-ons owners have already mastered all and every aspects of these highly sophisticated systems? Allow me to doubt.If that was the case then we have a very professional community here made of highly qualified pilots.Yes, I have been visiting this forum almost every day and I become disappointed to see that most posts are related to future PMDG releases and payment/installation problems. Give these poor developers a break and give them time to work.Is that not so that a forum like this one could be used by simmers to improve their flying skills and raise flight technical issues? Some have done so in the past but were quickly discouraged by the tone of those who pretend that the only answer is the "search" function of this forum and those who insist that all answers are in the manuals. I think this is the wrong way to help. Having said that a few professional of the airline industry have jumped in and helped tremendously but they also got tired. This is unfortunate.Yes it is quiet here and it should not be so given the number of PMDG aircrafts sold. People should not get alarmed by the few who hide their lack of knowledge behind replies which are not factual. Come on guys be fair with new comers and beginners give them a hand and share knowledge and experience.Best regards

Hi Martin,Magnetic deviation is the primary problem. Deviations are compiled in a bgl called magdec. In FS9 the magdec bgl is totally outdated. It was compiled in March 2003 from datas dated 2001. I do have a newer magdec bgl which was created and compiled on December 26, 2006. Although it begins to be slightly outdated it it certainly better than the MSFS original one. Unless you fly to and from airports which are located further north/south than the 56th parallels you should be pretty safe with this newer bgl. If you want to try it PM me your email and I will send it to you over the week-end.Best regards

Al, maybe this link will shed some light on the North Atlantic Track concept and how fixes are determined. This paper maybe slightly outdated but the philosophy remains, here is the link: http://bathursted.ccnb.nb.ca/vatcan/fir/mo...rrentTopic.htmlBest regards

Hi,Just saw in another forum this link: http://www.euroutepro.com/fp/fp_main.php?i...=&search=%3E%3EFor those of you using Flightaware and getting frustrated for the lack of non US routes here is a nice addition. Routes intra Europe as well as ex Europe to are made available as soon as a real world flight plan has been filed by the airline(s). Seems pretty accurate as far as I can see. I checked a couple of routes ex EDDF to the far east, all of them are spot on. Do not have the right connections to the airlines flying to Africa / Middle East but someone maybe could check for their accuracy too. Routes can be used in FSBuild by copy/paste process.Worth looking at!PS.: maybe I should mention where I found this link: http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho..._id=45430&page=Although there is not much in terms of accuracy information in that link credit for finding this link should be given to the original poster.Best regards

Chris,Let's wait and see what the executives from PMDG have to say. I am pretty sure they could be convinced if the market request it. At the end of the day it is a matter of where do you make the most money.One could imagine that if those people who need SDK for their project are prepared to pay a high price (which would be deterring for others) and are willing to sign all kind of legal agreements protecting PMDG property, then they could be convinced.Best regards

James,Simple addition: how many PMDG customers have or will have a decent home cockpit, an adequate flying education and purchase PMDG addons?and how many PMDG customers purchase and take their product as a must have hobby game? I guess the answer is obvious right from the kind of posts you see in this forum. The average level of expertise in managing a complex machine is still very low at best.It would be suicidal for PMDG to go the home cockpit builders way. That is unfortunate but it seems that it is their business strategy. Unless the PMDG brasses can pull another argument out of their sleeves this is the only valid reason I can think of.Best regards

Hi Chris,Unfortunately, Chris we live today in a world where marketing and firm secrecy is much more important than customer satisfaction. In this crazy world once a customer has been attracted by a product and has spent his hard earned money for it, the ultimate goal of the company has been reached. Why should then the company go out of its way and facilitate the job of others by sharing proprietary information? their objective has been reached when selling their own product. Only on very rare occasion will you find companies which take a more global approach with a vision for the future. Those very few companies believe that surrounding developments may enhance their marketing goals and therefore they are more willing to share.Remember one: we the customers are only interesting as a potential buyers. Once purchased and limited warranty and guidance has been given for the product, the company is not enclined to go out of its way as it would be counter-productive for them in terms of earnings. What I said above is not directed at PMDG and should not be understood as a complain towards their policy. It is a general view on the business environment we are living in.

Hi, actually most of these questions have been debated in this forum http://www.mycockpit.org/forums/ which in my opinion is the best forum for cockpit builders.Best regards

Hi,Yes go for it if you are a serious sim pilot. If you feel like preparing your flight seriously you definitely should have this add-on. FS Build is more a flight planner / exporter of flight plans to various addons than a moving map. Therefore you can use both at the same time. There are actually very few add-ons which are not covered by FS build when it comes to exporting flight plans. Fuel calculation is fairly accurate and wind components are taken into consideration too. If you are more a Boeing 747-400 oriented pilot I would also recommend using Topcat available at http://www.topcatsim.com/ and Danur's FOC available at http://www.danur.com whereby the latter is quite expensive and its learning curve very steep. However the three programs used together would give you a fairly professional real world like Dispatch/ flight planning set.Best regards

Hi Paul,If you get a spare minute try this moving map: FSWidgetsGMap for FSX. You can download it at: http://fswidgets.com/shop/download_files.php. Lot of people are praising this freeware for its functionalities and ease of use. Best regards

HI guys,Thanks for the very instructive and informative lecture but I think Tom's question was:quote which is the correct procedure, the one in the Checklist or the Normal Procedures? Or does it matter? unquoteCould you please shed some light on the question asked?Best regards