dave2013

I can't even remember all the problems. It's been at least 5 years since I used it. I do remember it caused the sim to crash a number of times. When I disabled GSX, the sim didn't crash. I'm sure there was a fix if I'd reported it, but I just didn't think it was worth the hassle. I liked it, but it didn't improve the realism that much for me. I use a freeware pushback/taxi app by Rob Barendregt with sounds and some interaction with ground crew which is good enough for me. I know that GSX does more than that, but I really don't care about watching passengers board the plane. Dave

I quit using GSX years ago as it just caused lots of problems. It uses these strangely named programs to hack the sim in order to make the pretty ground operation animations and scenery, and it doesn't always play nice. Dave

He lives in California, the most expensive State in the U.S. Lately, hordes of Californians are escaping and moving to other States. My mother's new neighbors just moved here from Cali. The bad thing for the "natives" is that these pesky Californians sell their exhorbitantly overpriced houses for huge sums compared to other States, then they show up in a low cost State and bid everything up in price, so now houses here have gotten very expensive. I just hope they don't bring other, let's say less tangible things, with them. Dave

That's the way to go for you guys in the UK and northern Europe, I think. You only need to cool down a room or small house/flat maybe 5-6C to be more comfortable for a week or two a year when it gets really hot. Plus they use a lot less electricity than a large, full house unit. We have little window air conditioners in the U.S for the same purpose. We used to only have these type of ACs before the 1980s, but people still use them to cool down a room as needed. We know some Italians who have them. Lately they're not quite enough, as Italy is going through yet another heat wave with temps 35C+, but in the past, when it rarely got so hot for so long, and almost never hotter than 30C, they were adequate. Yes, I said that Italy was overall cooler 25+ years ago, but I attribute that to a natural cycle as opposed to other, let's say more speculative, explanations.😁 Dave

They are indeed. However, if a certain airline declares that it will hire and train a certain number of pilots based on race and gender, attributes which mean nothing and over which one has no control, then what the airline is actually doing is potentially excluding better qualified and experienced candidates who are not of that particular race or gender. They're limiting the pool of qualified candidates, which is never a good idea. In the long run, you end up with less of the best qualified people. You can look up which airline has openly stated this as their goal. I'll certainly never fly with them. Dave

I did a bit more reading about the transmissions and you're right. The newer eCVTs that use the planetary gear system are much better and very reliable compared to older CVTs. Dave

I won't belabor this issue with any more posts about it, but there are videos all over Youtube of disappointed and regretful EV owners. There's an article out recently discussing how badly EVs depreciate in value compared to conventional vehicles. You can believe the marketing propaganda, AI-generated slop, or real people who've actually owned an EV, Your choice. Dave

So the engine provides power based on the load, acceleration, and battery state, which is what I thought. Ray made a comment that the car couldn't go more than a couple of miles on the batteries alone, which perplexed me a bit. Anyway, hybrids sound great, but they are very complex due to having both a gasoline engine and electric motors and batteries, especially the special transmission which can take inputs from multiple power sources and combine them, meaning a greater chance of problems over time. I'm also guessing they are very expensive to repair. EVs would be the way to go for simplicity, but they have their own drawbacks like expensive and very heavy batteries which degrade over time and need replacement within 10 years, lack of charging stations for longer trips(especially in the U.S.), and charging times of half an hour or more. I think I'll stick with my simple V6 gasoline powered truck for a good while longer. I'm sure that within maybe 10-20 years EVs will be ready for prime time and I'll make the switch then. I also find it amusing how some countries, who for many years were so critical and hateful of fossil fuels and nuclear power, are now desperately scrambling to find new sources of oil, gas, and even coal. What happened to wind and solar providing all the power we'll ever need? Funny what a difference a few months can make. Dave

Can you provide a link to the source article? Thanks. Dave

Console users are a large component of the MSFS user base, therefore much of its success, and continued funding and development, relies on that user base. If the news is true regarding financial problems with Xbox, I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss it, as it could have a significant adverse impact on MSFS. Dave

I thought that hybrids use only the electric motors up to a certain speed and then beyond that or when going uphill the gasoline engine starts and begins contributing additional power. At a certain load/speed the gasoline engine becomes the primary source of power. Do they work differently now? Dave

Yeah, I can't believe the temps in the mid-Atlantic and New England lately. It's about 10 degs. cooler where I'm at in middle TN, and we're in the South! Just shows you how strange the weather can be at times. Dave

I've looked into that and it does sound like a good diet. It seems that the human digestive system is actually well-adapted to meat and protein in general, and less well-adapted to carbs, especially the bad carbs prevalent in the American diet. The main problem for me is that meat and vegetables are so expensive now that my grocery bill would skyrocket. We eat mainly pasta(a "good" carb in moderation), rice, cheese, frozen fish, small amounts of bread, and vegetables. We'll eat a frozen pizza every 10 days or so. We rarely eat fast food, like once every 2 months, as it's the absolute worst "food". I failed to mention that fast food is another reason Americans are so obese and overweight. Every time I go out, at any hour of the day, the fast food restaurant parking lots are full and there is a long line of cars at the drive-thru. Dave

Oh, yes. Thanks for the reminder! Dave

If you're using Enhanced Atmosperics, then sky textures aren't used by the sim. ASCA or ENVTEX sky textures will make no difference. Dave

Yep, temps in the 32-34C range all week here. Then it drops back to normal around 30C. Dave

Because you're lucky. My mom is 80 and is in fantastic condition for her age. She has never exercised, rarely walks more than maybe 300ft a day around the house and yard, and smokes half a pack/day. I call it the genetic lottery. Dave

Like the previous guys said, let P3D build a new CFG file, then try the flight again. Make sure that you don't have any addon scenery for that area. If you do, then disable it and try the flight again. Turn off AI traffic and fly in the same area. Use a stock aircraft and repeat the flight. Try the flight without using Active Sky weather and set the sim to clear skies. Set special effects to Low and repeat. This fixed a problem around the Clacton VOR in the UK that caused stutters and crashes. Start reducing graphics and scenery settings and repeat the flight. After that, I don't know. You might have to reinstall P3D. Dave

That's certainly one reason, that is, food being abundant and cheap. However, food in Europe isn't overall more expensive than food in America, so that doesn't fully explain why so many more Americans are obese. The quality of the food is another part of the reason. European food isn't loaded with sugar, salt, and mystery chemicals to the degree that American food is, and all that word not allowed the big companies put in our food is designed to make you want to eat more of it. European fruits and vegetables also taste better than those in America; why, I don't know, but most of ours are just bland. Lastly, Americans don't walk as much as Europeans do, and that extra bit of exercise makes a difference. Dave

Well, the amount of water in the air is indeed important to you, as 19C air at 77% relative humidity is "comfortable", whereas 30C air at 77% relative humidity would not be, and the 30C air would have a lot more water in it. Dave

We used a swamp cooler for 5 years before we switched to a refrigerated air unit. The swamp coolers work great until monsoon season where the relative humidity goes up a lot. Another downside is that they pump very humid, but cooler, air into the house. There were times where our bed sheets actually felt moist. They use less electricity than refrigerated units in general, but they have to be run 24 hours/day to be effective, plus they consume a lot of water. Refrigerated units cycle on and off and put out much colder air so are more efficient in that sense. Modern, efficient units don't use much more electricity than swamp coolers. Dave

Of course, one's air conditioning expense depends a lot on location. Those in southern Europe would spend more than you. The $200-500 number you referenced depends highly on the size of the house and location. There are spoiled Americans with 3,000 sq ft houses in Texas who likely spend $400/month for electricity in the summer. Dave

I meant that more humid would literally mean more water in the air, but an increase in the relative humidty percentage doesn't necessarily mean that there's actually more water in the air. This is just an example, not accurate figures as I'm not sure there's a direct, linear relationship- 15C air at 50% relative humidity would have the same amount of water, or "humidity", as 30C air at 25% relative humidity. Dave

The relative humidity went up mostly because the temperature dropped. An increase in the relative humidity does not necessarily mean that the amount of water in the atmosphere increased, only that the cooler air is now more saturated, which does feel worse than less saturated air, I'll grant you. I'm only saying this because a lot of people have a misconception about humidity. An increase in the percentage number does not mean that it is more "humid", IE that there's more water in the air. It means that the air contains a higher percentage of its moisture capacity. Cool air, say at 15C, even at 90% relative humidity doesn't actually feel uncomfortable. Hot air, on the other hand, feels noticeably less comfortable the more saturated it is. Dave

They have air conditioners in Europe. The problem for many is that they are extremely expensive to operate, as in general Europeans pay 2-3 times what we in the U.S. pay for electricity. My wife's brother could only run his for a few hours a day in the summer, because if he ran it most of the day his bill went over $200/month, and he lived in a small 700 sq ft apartment with small appliances, gas stove/oven, and gas water heater. We live in a 1,500 sq ft house and only pay about $150/month in July and August with our air conditioner running 16 hours a day, plus a large refrigerator/freezer, electric stove/oven, microwave, and dishwasher. Where we used to live our electricity cost 14c/kwh and was mostly from a nuclear plant 60 miles away. Some claim that nuclear is expensive, but that's just not true. Our electricity where we live now comes from multiple sources, hydro, nuclear, natural gas, and even coal, and costs 12c/kwh. Dave