BillCusick

Hi Luis & cmpbellsjc..See my 'Car Park Scam' thread in the Hangar Chat Forum...RegardsBill0.9nm SW R03 EGOW

Hi Guys..<< "Getting Lucky" for me is finding my own car in the car park.....>>I didn't wish to hijack IMAGRANPA2's 'scenery blues' thread in the FSX Forum, I thought that I'd start a new thread here...Since, like me, you frequent car parks, and have problems, I thought that I'd pass on this warning of a scam here in the UK..True story .... A 'heads up' for those men who may be regular Tesco customers. This happens at Sainsbury's, too, so be aware........... Recently I became a victim of a clever scam while out shopping. Don't be naive enough to think it couldn't happen to you or your friends.Here's how the scam works: Two seriously good-looking 20-something year-old girls come over to your car as you are packing your shopping into the trunk. They both start wiping your windscreen with a cloth, and since both are very attractive and skimpily dressed ... It's impossible not to look. When you thank them and offer them a tip, they say 'No' and instead ask you for a ride to McDonalds . You agree and they get in the back seat. On the way, they climb into the front and are crawling all over you, and only after you have dropped them off do you realise that your wallet has disappeared.I had my wallet stolen May 4th, 9th, 10th, twice on the 15th, 17th, 20th, & 24th, 29th. Also June 1st, 4th, twice on the 8th, 16th, 23rd, 26th, 30th, three times last Saturday and very likely again this coming weekend. So you and your friends to be careful !P. S. Tesco has wallets on sale @ £3.00 each. RegardsBill0.9nm SW R03 EGOW

Hey..stop laughing. I don't think that's funny.I have that problem as well, especially when there are others cars there also...:( Bill

<< Does anyone have any good suggestions for aviation reading material? I'm looking for anecdotal, biographical or fictional stuff, not text books >>Hi Dave...Ernest Gann's 'Fate is the Hunter' is a must. There's only one snag - you will notbe able to put it down. (..and you will need a hankie after reading a couple ofthe chapters). My family know when I'm reading that one....That is the crown ofaviation books. An excellent biography.Another author of mine - Brian Lecomber. His two books that I have, 'Talk Down'(Where our hero has to talk down a passenger in an Arrow over the UK)and 'Dead Weight' (A Carribean adventure) are brilliant.Down To A Sunless Sea' by David Graham is also one of my favourites - told by a747 pilot in a 'Last 747 flight' searching for a landing strip after a nuclear war.A brilliant tale.'Jetsteam' by Austin Ferguson, although a little dated by now, is a good read.I think that one was the source for the 'Airport' films.That good. original, now very dated, 'Flight into Danger' by John Castle & Arthur Haileyis also a good read. '90 Minutes At Entebbe' by William Stevenson, is a good read, although the aviationcontent is minimal, most of the action takes place on the ground. This was the story ofOperation 'Thunderbolt', the Israeli rescue of hostages.Most of these books have been made into films.Regards0.9nm SW R03 EGOWBill

Thanks for the reminder of this terrible accident. Even thinking of the circumstances gives me nightmares, and I am not a frequent flyer, although I've flown in the airbus a few times.<<...since we can't be doing this forever>>If this takes forever, then so be it. This concerns everyone who boards any passenger aircraft, not just an airbus. This investigation should be international, and every country that has an airline should participate if necessary. There is surely enough expertise to discover the truth behind this incident.RegardsBill

Hi unclegreg..I also use XML for creating scenery. A batch file will make it much easier hen using BGLComp.FS9 (& FSX) are on a separate partition from my 'Scenery Edit' partition,which makes compiling rather tiresome if using separate commands to compile,moving the file and restarting FS. So I use a batch file to compile, stopFS, delete the 'old' BGL, move my new BGL to the scenery folder, andrestart FS. This works in XP, Vista, on FS9 and FSX.I usually have FS9 (or FSX) open in a 'half size' window, zoomed into my new scenery item, my code listing open in Notepad, and a shortcut tothe batch file 'Move.bat' below but visible on the desktop.FS needs to be closed and restarted to update the BGL files, and thisbatch file does that for me.'Taskkill' is an Windows internal command that works in XP and Vista.Here's the batch file, 'Move.bat'. It saves an awful lot ofkeystrokes/mouse clicks:cls@echo off:Redobglcomp.exe static.txtrem pauseecho Static.bgl compiled !taskkill /IM FS9.exe >nulrem echo Let's wait a moment..del "D:\FS2004\Scenery\UK\Woodvale Static\Scenery\static.bgl" >nulrem if error goto redoecho Previous Static.bgl deleted !move "E:\Scenery Edit FS9\static.bgl" "D:\FS2004\Scenery\UK\Woodvale Static\Scenery" >nulecho Static.bgl moved !pause >nulstart D:\FS2004\FS9.exeAfter I hit the 'Move' shortcut, the batch file does the followingactions:1. Compiles the temporary file 'Static.txt' which includes my new XML code2. Exits FS so that the 'old' bgl can be deleted3. Deletes the old BGL4. Transfers my new BGL to the scenery folder5. Restarts FS.I rename the BGL from its temporary 'Static.txt' later - when that particularscenery item has been finished.The fifth line 'rem pause' is there for when compiling hits a problem.I remove the 'rem' to read any error message.The 'Static' filename is simply a temporary filename to enable the batch to doits job without constant editing.I find that editing the XML in this way enables a more accurate placingof fences/walls & other scenery items without all the keypresses.Hope that helps.Bill

Hi Andy..Thanks.I have been attempting a FS2004 version of my scenery, and the UK VFR Scenery objects provide a wide variety of items. However, as I mentioned, there several thousand trees which form a thick conifer forest on the edge of the airfield, which results in a slide show - on my machine some 11fps or so in FS2004. I was hoping that Treescapes may be the answer.I'll keep tryingRegardsBill CusickFormby, UK0.9nm SW R03 EGOW

Hi Christopher & all..I also have all 4 areas of the original VFR scenery - but I am now using GenX.I don't know whether you are aware of my scenery offering for EGOW, in which I hand plotted over 8500 buildings on GenX textures - most of them houses. (You'll find it here on AVSIM - search on my name). I have never been impressed with the 'standard' default autogen for UK scenery.I had a particular problem with the sheer numbers of conifers at the Western edge of the airfield. I'm considering buying Treescapes UK. I wonder what difference that would make to my framerates and whether it would make much difference locally ? I'll like to see also whether it would work with VFR textures in FS2004 ?I created this scenery simply because I live on the fringes of the airfield, and anything that improves the scenery would be most welcome.I am curious whether this addition would work successfully with it, and what changes, if any, are required ? I agree, Shep's site is a good site to 'Keep in touch' with what's available. He and others have given me a lot of help. His trees have also saved me a lot of work.RegardsBill CusickFormby, UK0.9nm SW R03 EGOW

Hi Matt..I obviously need more treatment - I seem to worry a lot more lately about those small problems e.g. I'm noticing that my wife's air hostess uniform is becoming a little worn. I'm sure that my passengers when they board will have something to say about that !..and I can never find the Avgas pump at my garage, either...I know all my neighbours appear to be very interested in aviation, because they look at me with renewed interest when I turn my head to my copilot and yell 'Gear Down' or 'Flaps 20' when I'm talking to them. :( As I used to say to Jerry Arzdorf, who I used to see often in the FS Forum on Compuserve,(haven't heard of Jerry since then - he used to upload a few 'quaint' aviation uploads I seem to recall), I find it hard to believe that many people have no interest in FS. How strange.Bill

I'm wondering whether I have a serious problem either with FSX,or my PC (but I don't think that it is me).Everytime I visit AVSIM, I have to log off and fire up FSX.Every time I switch on my scanner and hear air radio traffic,I have an urge to start up FSX.Even when in the garden, whenever an aircraft flies over, Ifind an urgent need to switch on the PC and fly.Whenever there is any news items or news footage of aircraft orairports, I become very agitated, and the only treatment I can thinkof is to start up FSX.Even in the car, I'm looking for the altimeter.Do you think that I need to see someone about this ? I blame Tom and AVSIM - I don't remember it being this bad before Istarted visiting AVSIM some years ago. :( Would you consider installing a panic button for this sort of problem ?How about it, Tom ?Perhaps a click on the button could switch one to a Hawaian beach, withgently rolling surf, with suitable music ? (In an air exclusion zone, of course)I was thinking of seeing my doctor, but his surgery is too far away from FSX. :( Anyway, he doesn't know much about PCs or Flight Sims....Please advise...and thanks to AVSIM for such a great site !RegardsBill

Hi Byork<< Britons can sleep easy tonight knowing that "Cobra" is looking out for them... seriously, who comes up with these names ? >>'Cobra' is actually 'COBR' - The 'Cabinet Office Briefing Room'. It is usually staffed in emergencies by the military, government advisors and scientists whenever advice is required during those emergencies. :( http://wiki.intellectuk.org/sr/index.php/C...fing_Room_(COBR)RegardsBillCFormby, UK0.9nm SW R 03 EGOW Core 2 Duo E6700 2.67GHz Scythe Infinity CPU Cooler Asus P5B Deluxe Motherboard Corsair XMS2-6400 C4 TwinX PC2-6400 4GB Dual Channel Interleaved Gainward Geforce 8800 GTS 640MB with Forceware v100.65 Samsung SH-W183 18x18 DVD

Hi RayLong time no see. Hope that you are well.<< I noticed during a walk today that some cars now have a small amount of dust on them. Almost certainly from Mt Unpronounceable ! >>Yep. Here too. My description of THAT mountain is also 'Unpronounceable'. My family and I were due to fly out to Gran Canaria for a villa holiday tomorrow Monday. We have lost the holiday, and

Hi David..In the FS9 forum, in the 'FS9 Tweaking Guide' thread, a poster included this link for a FS config file 'optimizer':http://www.wolfgang-picheta.de/I downloaded the file as indicated by the UK flag, and immediately got a warning from MSE of a trojan in this file. I deleted it. :( MSE identified a trojan in this file, 'ff06_v43.zip' on my system immediately after downloading it. One up for MSE.I also find that it has deleted several such files since I installed it about a month ago.It works for me. I'd recommend it !RegardsBill

Hi John....MSE identified a trojan in ff06_v43.zip on my system immediately after downloading. I have deleted it :( One up for MSE. You may like to check your download.I clicked on the UK flag to get it.RegardsBill

Hi eddr..You have the correct Autogen.xml.In order to get trees you will need to load the 'terrainautogenclassdescriptions.xml' file (phew !) :( If you select 'File' in the Autogen Configuration Editor, you'll see it listed. Just click on it.The tool is not very user friendly....but this should help...'Using the Autogen Annotator' by Luis F

Hi Jollyroger....<<Now when I drag-and-drop a xml file on BGLComp.exe a DOS window opens >>Sounds like hard work that way.I use XML for creating scenery.FS9 (& FSX) are on a separate partition from my 'Scenery Edit' partition,which makes compiling rather tiresome if using separate commands to compile,move the file and restart FS. So I use a batch file to compile, stopFS9, delete the 'old' BGL, move my new BGL to the temporary scenery folder,and restart FS. This works in XP, Vista, on FS9 and FSX.I usually have FS9 (or FSX) open in a 'half size' window, my codelisting open in Notepad, and a shortcut to the batch file 'Move.bat'visible on the desktop. FS needs to be closed and restarted toupdate the BGL files, and this batch file does that for me.'Taskkill' is a Windows internal command that works in XP and Vista.'/IM FS9.exe' or '/IM FSX.exe' are the switches and 'Image names' or files toforce FS to exit.Here's the batch file, 'Move.bat'. It saves an awful lot ofkeystrokes/mouse clicks:cls@echo off:Redobglcomp.exe static.txtecho Static.bgl compiled !taskkill /IM FS9.exe >nulrem echo Let's wait a moment..del "D:\FS2004\Scenery\UK\Woodvale Static\Scenery\static.bgl" >nulrem if error goto redoecho Previous Static.bgl deleted !move "E:\Scenery Edit FS9\static.bgl" "D:\FS2004\Scenery\UK\Woodvale Static\Scenery" >nulecho Static.bgl moved !pause >nulstart D:\FS2004\FS9.exeAfter I hit the 'Move' shortcut, the batch file does the followingactions:1. Compiles the temporary file 'Static.txt' which includes my new XML code2. Exits FS so that the 'old' bgl can be deleted3. Deletes the old BGL4. Transfers my new compiled BGL to the scenery folder5. Restarts FS.This will also enable you to cut down your compiling time to the minimum - I havehad FSX restarting in under 40 seconds when editing scenery.I rename the BGL later - when that particular scenery item has been finished.Since I keep a constant backup of my XML 'txt' files, I can add allthe listings later to make the completed BGL.The 'Static' part of the filename is simply a temporary filename to enablethe batch to do its job without constant editing. I just rename it to saveit being wiped by the new incoming file, and leave it in the scenery folder.The new Static.bgl will contain the next scenery item I am creating.In your example just change the paths and filenames for your 'mdl' file.When compiling BGLs, FS will not permit the old bgl to be deleted oroverwritten, so this batch file can also include a delay loop if necessary,to allow time for FS to unhook. The 'Pause' waits for a key to continue,displaying any compilation errors, so I just hit the spacebar afterchecking whether the compilation was successful or not.Very necessary when writing XML....BGLComp error messages are not tooverbose either...Hope that helps.RegardsBillBill CusickFormby, UK0.9nm SW R03 EGOW

Facebook ? Twitter ?What are they ?GA or Heavies ? Freeware or Payware ? :( BillC