Ramjett

I use both FS2004 and FSX. For FS2004 I have REX installed but have never purchased the FSX version. In FS2004, using the REX textures, I have water textures the way I like them and...for those waterways I am personally familiar with...as close to realistic as possible. In FSX I am struggling, especially with inland waters like lakes and rivers, to see anything realistic. The waters all look very, very dark...bordering on black. And no, it's not missing textures. If you get close to the surface you can see some dark, dark blue color, so not completely black. I looked at the texture folder to see if I could replace the way the inland textures looked, but the only water texture file I could find was "water.r8", which I could not edit. I also use ORBX FTX CRM and thought perhaps it had altered the textures so I see more blackish water than bluish water, but I could not find a water texture anywhere in the ORBX files, so I'm thinking this is default textures used by ORBX. Here is what I should see when I approach Anderson Ranch Dam Reservoir in Southern Idaho... And this is how FSX looks... I'd like the second screenshot to look more like the real picture. Ideas? Randy

I recently "discovered" FS EarthTiles in my search for a photoreal scenery application that worked easily with both FS2004 and FSX since I use both in my flying hobby. Creating FSX photoreal was a breeze, but like many in this thread, I found all my FS2004 photoreal showed up with grey textures. I searched all nine pages of this thread for the answer to the problem and never found anything that worked, so I went back to the user.rtf doc and read it page, by page, by page, especially the part about the .ini file format, as I was sure something was wrong there. That was when I noticed something I had missed each time before. When compiling the scenery for FS2004 the FS2004SDK copy of ImageTool that you place in the FSET folder must be renamed from ImageTool.exe to ImageToolFS2004.exe (just as you must rename the platform specific resample.exe to either resampleFSXSP2.exe or resampleFS2004.exe) for the scenery to compile correctly. Once I did that rename I have had 100% success compiling FS2004 Photoreal Scenery. it doesn't look as crisp as the FSX sceneries, but it is still exponentially better than default scenery. After adding in autogen with the FS2004SDK Autogen Annotator the result is very, very nice, even at ground level. Randy

It does and I completely understand, but that still begs the question of which set of numbers is "more correct" in emulating the real world aircraft? What you need to have to "complete" your model and make your choice is input from someone who has flown a real world DA42 or at the least an entry from the DA42 POH that explains takeoff settings. For instance is a "no flaps" takeoff on a longer runway a normal procedure? What was your trim setting vs a normal "takeoff trim" setting? I get the impression you are using numbers that give the aircraft model a typical "flight simulator" profile and not a typical "real world" profile because using flaps and trim is "the way it's done" in flight simulator. Regardless, I'm glad the numbers worked, no matter which set you used. Glad I could be of help. Randy

Ha Ha, got it. I had scrolled down to read the post and didn't scroll back up far enough. Thanks guys. Randy

@idude, Let us know how they compare idude, if you will. I, personally, am curious. @lodestar, Thanks for the link to Tom's MOI post. Much appreciated. The second link to an FSDeveloper post speaks of a pdf document to download, but I don't see a download link anywhere. Probably just me "looking" but not "seeing". 😁 Randy

idude, I did the MOI calculations two different ways for you. Try them both and see which one seems to best fit your project. First I did them using the formula in the ESP you linked which, as mentioned, is very "generic" in nature and a good starting point. Using that formula here are the values given your weight, length, and wingspan data... MOIPitch=3009.20494 MOIRoll=3267.191406 MOIYaw=5280.88774 These values will get you close, but I have been using a different method to calculate MOIs for a number of years ever since I discovered a "talking paper" on it by a gentlemen named Tom Goodrick. For the life of me I cannot find the link to his paper, but I did copy and save the pdf to my documents folder, so I constantly return to it to use his method instead of the ESP method and the aircraft almost without fail will fly better. First a little background so you understand why I use his method. Tom Goodrick collaborated with Professor Roskam who taught aeronautical engineering at Kansas State University. Professor Roskam has written several papers on the topic and gives lectures to NASA and to many aerospace companies, including and especially Beechcraft and Cessna. His method is based on dimensionless radii of gyration for basic aircraft types which are given in tables he publishes. Based on his formula these are the "revised" values I got... MOIPitch=2048.390333 MOIRoll=3207.050522 MOIYaw=5026.476015 Notice one thing, though, MOIP is less than MOIR is less than MOIY in both sets of figures. Tom Goodrick, using Professor Roskam's knowledge suggested that you should almost always see MOIR < MOIP < MOIY which is not the case here. However, I suspect this is because the wingspan is almost double that of the length in the aircraft. Anyway, hope this helps. Try both sets of data and see how she flies... Randy

I've used good old Colgate toothpaste on mine a couple of times when it was "acting up" and it always seemed to work. It has to be the old style non-whitening no "fresh breath" crystals kind. Smear a healthy amount around the disk, then press "not lightly, but not hard either" with your fingertip, always smearing from the inside to the outside of the disk...never around the disk in a circle. Once you have a good coat of toothpaste over the entire surface simply rinse it off with cold tap water...don't "rub" it off. When done dry it off with a clean electrostatic resistant rag or...best if you can wait...let it air dry. I've done it to Disk 4 and numerous XBox 360 disks and it always seems to work. Randy

MYNN ???

Frank, Not sure if you were asking for help with the KAP140 or just expounding on it's realism virtues. In either case, I found that the videos I found didn't really help me, It always seemed to be "I don't know how to do it and you do, so I don't understand what you are doing" scenario for me. I'm kinda dense that way... When I purchased the A2A Cessna 172 I discovered quickly that I had no idea how to use/set/engage the KAP140 Autopilot it came with. The manual didn't really cover it in very much detail. I finally went to Honeywell and downloaded the real deal pdf manual and instruction documents here... https://www.bendixking.com/HWL/media/PDF/PilotsGuides/PG-KAP140.pdf Not sure which model is used in the Redux, but all three styles of the KAP140 are discussed in the linked document. Since then I have had zero trouble. I especially like that if the NAV 1 receiver "loses" a VOR signal, which it does a lot in the mountainous regions I have been flying in, the KAP140 automatically reverts to "HDG". Now all I have to do is remember to set my heading bug to my OBS bug... The manual starts discussing Approach Mode on page 20 and covers about 6 or 7 pages of different types of approach captures. Randy

At first, given the time of day, thought sun blindness might have been contributing, but based on the shadows, no. Terrible, terrible accident. My heart goes out to all affected by this. Randy

Something, though, doesn't look right. Shots 1 and 5 show a different main gear than the rest. Shot 1 definitely shows dual mains and all the rest (that show a wheel) show singles. Shot 5 shows gear doors on the engine "housing" and others show the door attached to the gear. Most decidedly not the same aircraft in all the shots I believe, unless the KingAir comes with "options". Impressive, though! Randy Edit: Just went to the Beechcraft page and the real deal does show duals with engine cowl gear doors, so what are the shots in 2, 3, and 4 of...an option?

Diego, No need to reformat your C:\ drive. After reading this thread and including my fix I went to FS2004 and flew the Level D, the PMDG B747, and the PMDG B737NG (all for FS2004, not FSX). Of the three, the PMDG B737NG was displaying exactly the same symptoms as your Level D. I was constantly flying an "arc" between waypoints. Did some looking and found an old thread that indicated the magdec.bgl file, over time, has a tendency to corrupt itself...much like me in real life. I have been reluctant to use Herve Sors navdata fix because it breaks the default FS2004 flight planner and I use that tool for a couple of aircraft that use that plan to input to the nav device I use...or whenever I use celestial navigation and I have to print a map of my route to plot star readings on (yes, celestial nav is possible in both FS2004 and FSX). However, I got to thinking, surely his nav data includes a "new" magdec.bgl file (it does), so I downloaded his installer and ran it to a dummy FS2004 location so it wouldn't hurt my actual install. Next I "threw away" the magdec.bgl file I explained about above and removed that entry from the addon scenery library. Then I took his magdec.bgl dated December 2017 and placed it in the proper location FS9/Scenery?Base/scenery and have done three test flights, once with each aircraft, and they all show perfect routes and tracking in the nav displays. Try that first...it worked for me. Randy

I've had the same thing happen in FS2004 with the B737NG from PMDG. The ND would show me way right of the flight path flying what appeared to be an arc from waypoint to waypoint. Not seen it with the B747 from PMDG or the Level-D (both for FS2004), but haven't flown them for a while. It got so bad one time I was headed west and the ND showed me pointed eastward. The thing that fixed it for me was making sure the updated magdec.bgl file was in it's own scenery folder in Addon Scenery (not in FS9/Scenery/BASE/scenery), activated the way a normal addon scenery was, and placed in the number 1 priority above all other addon sceneries. Randy

Cory, Even though I do not have the PMDG QOTS for FSX (just the really old PMDG QOTS for FS2004) I have been following this thread with interest. I sympathize with you concerning your problem with fuel consumption, but at the same time I am amazed that you seem to continually ignore attempts to help sort out the problem. You joined this thread on March 6th, 2018...21 days ago and through your own fault are no closer now than you were then to a solution. Kyle asked you for fuel data that very same first day of March 6th. You replied... Several people in later posts pretty much asked for the same info...reproducible data, i.e., fuel data. Finally on March 21st, 15 days after being asked for the numbers, you asked the perfect question... Kyle's immediate response was... To which you replied... Yet here it is now 6 days later and I have yet to see them, which leads me to believe "in a few" meant weeks or months, not days or hours. Finally, after those six days...just hours ago Kyle posted this... The majority of the screenshots you have posted are merely "pictures" of your PIREP data, which is not usable...just a picture...and flight plan links that are waypoint data only, no "aircraft" data. Not the numbers Kyle asked for...and numbers now too late to offer because I have known Kyle for a number of years through the Flight Simulation community. He says what he means and he means what he says. You've done at least 10 flights with the QOTS since March 6th. Probably more, but at least 10 chances to gather the data Kyle asked for and you said "in a few". 10 chances to get started down the solution path. You have only yourself to blame. Since day one of the QOTS it has performed flawlessly for many, many users I am led to believe. Since it does not for you I can only assume, 1) you are not flying her right or, 2) your system is not handling her right. Either way, the "numbers" asked for 21 days ago would have been a major step toward a solution. I've yet to see those numbers. Randy

I believe both FS2004 and FSX "update" to DST based on the old standard of last Sunday in October and first Sunday in April. The new dates leave a "gap" so for a few weeks the sim update is "off". I do as Charlie suggests...turn off the DST update and go off my system time. Randy

Excellent storyline, Bjoern. Read like a classic and very entertaining...and learned a thing or three along the way. I too become smitten with the propliners/cargo haulers of old every now and then, usually after rereading for the umpteenth time Ernest K. Gann's "Fate is the Hunter". You should try, if you haven't already, celestial navigation from Gander to Greenland with the Barry/Blitzer Bubble Sextant. Yes, it does work and very well. Using it I have even been accommodated on VATSIM and allowed to stray 20 miles or more off course between fixes, which I do quite regularly. Again, enjoyed the prose! Randy

Well, turns out I woke up this morning with mud on my face. Last night I thought I was signed in to the CS Forums at their site. Turns out I wasn't. I was only signed in to my CS Account. Once I realized that this morning and logged in to the forums all the "Legendary" threads appeared. My apologies to CS. The fix was there in the "Legendary C-130" thread. Open FS9/Captain_Sim/sound.ini and edit it with Notepad, Find [sound.73] and change filename=Traffic.wav to filename=sound.3.wav and save the sound.ini file. "Traffic Traffic Traffic" will no longer be heard when you select the Taxi Light or Landing Light switch.

I apologize for dredging up a 2 year old topic, but I have a "procedural" question about using Scenery Configuration Editor. I have both FS2004 and FSX (Boxed-Deluxe) installed. FS2004 is in C:/Microsoft/FS9 (i.e., not the default location) and FSX is on a separate drive Z:/FSX. I tend to use FSX the most so have SCE pointed to it (actually it found it automatically during setup). I love the flexibility SCE gives me in manipulating my sceneries, but I am unsure how to make it "switch" between FSX and FS2004. I assume I use the "File/Open Other" button, but perhaps the "Action/Generate from Directory" button. I would like to be able to, at the click of a button switch between the FSX config and the FS2004 config. The one time I tried to use "Open Other" I got a warning box that said "Are You Sure?" and since I wasn't, decided against proceeding further. There really isn't a set of instructions that comes with the installer, just an .exe file and the short brief "Readme" that tells nothing of how to use SCE. So, here I sit in the dark with SCE set up perfectly for FSX and manually manipulating FS2004. Randy Edit: Disregard for the moment. While looking around the file system I discovered when I updated to version 1.1.9 that it installed a .pdf manual in my FS9 location (but not FSX) yet when I open SCE it goes to the FSX scenery.cfg...??? I'll do some reading and get back. Completely disregard my question. After discovering the PDF file and reading through it I discovered you can seamlessly transition between FSX and FS2004 configs by using "Edit/Preferences". Situation solved.

I purchased the Legendary c-130 Base Pack for FS2004 in 2010 and have had many hours of enjoyment with it. It has been a while since I flew her so tonight I fired it up...amazed I still remembered switch positions and electrical power setup. One thing became glaringly apparent. At some point I must have reinstalled or repaired my installation because the irritating "Traffic, Traffic, Traffic" warning began as soon as I turned on the taxi lights. I remembered there was a fix listed in the CS Knowledge Base, but sadly they have completely divorced themselves from FS2004 and almost all of the old KBs are gone. So I came here, only to find I was a month late in deciding to take her up. Is that "appropriate forum" the CS Forums at their site, because if it is, there is no scetion for Legacys, or FS2004 products and no "general" section where one could post a legacy question. As I said, they are divorced from FS2004 and have been for some time. If those requests to close the unofficial forum were from CS they weren't truthful, because I can get zero support for my Legendary C-130 at CS. See above... Where, exactly, is the "appropriate" forum? Please don't say CS, they won't talk to FS2004 users. Their answer will be "Buy the FSX version and we can help you." Does anyone remember what the Taxi Light-TCAS Warning solution was? I went through the closed Unofficial CS Forum and saw a couple of my posts about the generator switch, but not the taxi switch triggering the TCAS warning. I know there was a fix in the CS KBs, but as I explained, that KB has been purged and sent to "who knows where". Randy

I can't top the clay tablet, Father Bill, but I did learn how to use an Abacus in high school...just because. Cobol and college. When I took Basic Computer Science at the Univ of Idaho in the 70's we "typed" out our programs on 3x7 data punch cards and then took the stack to a card reader to "run" the program. Wanna guess how hard it was to "debug" a program that involved hundreds of cards? I believe the program was called Fortran. I even used that "experience" in my resume for a few years after graduating until I realized the computer world had moved on. I saw someone earlier mention the Tandy 1000. That rang a bell and I believe that is what I "traded up" to when I quit the TRS-80, but not for certain. Even stranger, my system is a 4 year old Dell Dual Core...antiquated by today's standard, but runs FS2004 amazingly and FSX very well...Win7 64-bit Pro version, yet just the other day I clicked on the wrong drive and "remembered" that it came with the A:/ drive as a...3-1/2 inch floppy disk reader. Now if I could only remember where all those 3-1/2 inch floppies were! Randy

I loved Oregon Trail. My kids and I would play it for hours. Rafting down the Dalles...or was it the Wallowas...was tough! I actually searched for a version my current system could play recently so my grandson could experience the fun I had with it and learn some History...albeit somewhat slanted...at the same time. No luck, nor with finding a playable version of "The President is Missing". Randy

Also from the Wiki... Lotta good memories coming out here! Randy

Weatherford, OK. Was thinking Vance AFB based on your signature, but 115 miles is quite a commute. Only reason I know that is my middle name is Vance and comes from Vance AFB...yep Air Force brat and former USAF Transportation Officer. Best game I had for the TRS-80 was "The President is Missing" and the cassette recorder was crucial to learning where he was. I cannot recall the brand of my first PC, but I know it came from Radio Shack like my TRS-80 did. First game I installed on it was Sublogic's Airline Transport Pilot. I remember a B747 simulator for the Commodore 64 as well, plus Space Shuttle and the ever present Apollo 18, the final mission that never happened so 17 was our last landing, unless the movie is to be believed. Randy

AOL charged $2.95 an hour versus $5.00 an hour for Compuserve. Way beyond my means. "Trash 80", really, way to bust a guy's bubble... Randy

Ah, a fellow former TRS-80 user. I had one years...and years...and years ago as a young lad and kept bumping my head on highway overpasses I was so proud. Couldn't resist making this tongue in cheek post after I finished reading "Ready Player One" and it brought back some great memories despite being set in the future. Will be going to see the movie version, too. Seeing all the "Will I be able to play P3Dv4 on this system?" pushed me along as well. Randy