RustyFlyer

What a terrific post! I could not agree more- ETS2 is tremendous fun! MFS indeed has the potential to provide a varied and enjoyable aviation experience to a great many. I would disagree with one thing though: I kind of like the scenery in ETS2 lol 😅😎 and I do not think it is "cheesy", but to each his own! One minor difference for me is that, when my wife opens the den door at 2:00 in the morning, my response of late is: "I'll be in in a minute, sweetheart, I have to sink a putt for a birdie..." 😎 [I've recently rediscovered & reintroduced myself to v-golf in the form of PGA Tour 2K21. It's great fun and there are hundreds and hundreds of wonderful & widely varying courses to play... many of them created by very talented members of the community. (I started playing v-golf with Links 386 Pro during the reign of the dinosaurs lol 😅.)] Again, thanks for the great & fun-to-read post!

Hi Luc, This may sound like a worthless piece of simplictic dribble, but hey...it's worth a try, you've got nothing to lose: Perhaps your initial & subsequent aircraft software downloads became somehow corrupted during the downloads and have left their remnants behind. Try removing the Katana and downloading & installing it again after first searching your system for & removing *any* file that contains the string "DA20" ("*DA20*.*"). This was previously the case, and the solution, for me with regard to another FSX addon download. Rusty

Hey there Stephen, This is from Tim Harris regarding that particular issue: - Open FTXcentral - Hold Shift and right click the icon in the taskbar - select 'Maximise', then close FTXcentral by clicking the 'X' in the top right Give it a whirl, and let us know how u make out! Blue skies, Rusty

Hi there, Keep in mind that Flight 1's [ultimate Terrain] UTX series does not actually consist of area-texture packages per se. The primary function of the UTX series is to accurately depict roads, streams & rivers, coastlines, railyards, roadways, etc. While UTX possesses the necessary textures to accurately reflect those specific components only, it is not a true 'area-texture' scenery package in the sense of accurately representing urban areas, cities, farmland, forests, etc. It does *not* contain textures for those types of elements- that is not UTX's function. While UTX does incorporate landclass information (the mechanism by which FSX selects the most appropriate type of texture to utilize & draw for a given situation & area [cityscape for urban areas, farmland for farms, wooded areas for forests, stoneface for rock canyons, etc.]), it does not actually contain the textures for those cities, farms, forests, canyons, etc. That is left to other products. For actual area/region-textures (farmland, cities, forests, golf courses, etc.), I very highly recommend Flight 1's GEX series (Ground Environment X) consisting of GEX North America, Europe, Africa & the Middle East and [recently released] Atlantic & Pacific Tropics. These packages consist of very realistic looking, appropriate and representative area/region-textures & related autogen notation for the respective regions. I believe that they are all available both in DVD and download editions. Take a peek at the following info.: http://www.flight1.c...oduct=gexusacan http://www.flight1.c...oduct=gexeurope http://www.flight1.c...product=gextrop http://www.flight1.c...product=gexafme I find that the combination of UTX & GEX provides for exceptionally realistic, enjoyable and immersive flying, and I consider the GEX series, and the UTX one too for that matter, both indispensable & "must-haves"! Let us know how you make out! Blue skies, Rusty

bumped for Luc...Rusty

Hi Luc, In asmuch as you haven't yet added RXP instruments to your Katana, make the following small addition to your Katana's "panel.cfg" file, and this will resolve the condition you describe: In the [Vcockpit00] section of your panel.cfg file, add two forward slashes immediately before the line beginning "gauge47=rxp..." The line should read as follows: //gauge47=rxpGNS!GNS530, 1245, 1140, 790, 570 You will be good to go upon making this small modification to the file. Why AS hasn't addressed this often inquired about issue is bewildering for sure. I too have the AS Katana, and have made the panel.cfg file modification so that the airplane works wonderfully for me (and it is absolutely a terrific model). However, had I instead been a prospective AS Katana purchaser having read your initial post and unaware of the .cfg file fix, I would otherwise stay away from the AS Katana for sure. Nonetheless, make the 15 second file modification and, once again, you will be good to go! Blue skies, Rusty

Thanks folks! Although I didn't initiate this thread, this is exactly the feedback that I was looking for in my 21 April "Selecting Airports" thread! Rusty

As I understand it, all Orbx sceneries must be installed in the main FSX directory/folder (that is why it doesn't give you an option- it automatically searches Registry for the location of FSX in your system). Now, where that directory resides is another matter. If that directory resides on a separate drive, then you should be golden- Orbx should install itself to *that* particular separate drive (as long as FSX also resides there [it will install to that same FSX directory]). If, however, your main FSX directory resides on your PC's principal hard drive ("C") or on some other separate drive, and you have yet another separate drive onto which you install most of your other addons and onto which you wish to install the Orbx products, then I suspect that you may be out of luck. Rusty

You bet...you're very welcome! Glad that you are enjoying it! One more link for you: http://www.fs-shipyards.org/index.php?ind=downloads There are many categories of watercraft to choose from, and Hama has several other models there too. My wife & I will meet you at the dock...drinks are on us lol. Blue skies, Rusty

Hi there, Wondering if, for both AU and NA, you could advise as to which are the 2 or 3 most demanding airports in terms of system resources and in terms of bringing a non-gaming pc to a relative standstill. Additionally, which AU airports do you enjoy visiting the most and why? If I were to get 2 (possssssibly 3 lol) airports for AU (small and/or large), which ones would you recommend & why (again, system limitations in mind- my system, although not an abacus lol, is not an a_s-ki_king gaming system, so you probably get the drift)? Thanks again folks- Rusty (I'm really looking forward to adding a couple of these to my lineup!)

Hi, Although not kayaks, and although not designed for quiet paddling around and about, the following are sources of some nice watercraft for the FSX environment. The Aquarama is a classy runabout. Take a peek and have fun! http://www.deltasimstudio.com/ http://simviation.co...zip)= http://www.simviation.com/fsxmisc4.htm Happy flying boating! B) Rusty

Hi, The products are very different, and they compliment one another wonderfully. GEX is a texture [replacement] package, and replaces the default FSX scenery texture tiles with much more realistic & area-representative appearing ones. UTX accurately depicts roads, roadways, railyards, coastlines, rivers & streams, etc., and incorporates a more representative landclass component (the mechanism by which respective texture tiles are called into use by FSX for any given area- e.g.: city/urban versus farmland, stoneface versus forest or wooded, suburban versus urban, etc.) than that incorporated into the default FSX. I use both (for all their available regions), and can't recommend them highly enough. Get both, you will be glad that you did! Hope this helps! Blue skies, Rusty

quotes and, therefore, jab unnecessary ;) .

Hi there, Not wishing to offend you in any way, but this thread contains comments similar to those that you made in reference to the appearance of the textures in Fly Tampa's St. Maarten package (http://forum.avsim.net/topic/369801-whats-the-best-overall-add-on-scenery-for-the-caribbean/). In that thread too, graphic/texture anomalies that you observed were not observed by others. Is it possible, then, that your graphics card may starting to fail? There is no question in my mind that you see what you see; however, because these observations are not also shared by many others, it would also appear on the face of it that these graphics issues must have a cause residing more locally, potentially. Just a thought... Rusty

Thanks much, folks! I look forward then to adding one or two to my collection :). Cheers, Rusty

Hmm, Maybe it is just a temporary thing; I don't seem to experience such graphic anomalies from that package. This following is a reduced-size capture from St. Barths from the same package, the textures appare sharp, and the scenery seems quite realistic in nature to me: Cartoonish? I guess it is all in the eye of the beholder- my wife and I have actually stayed in bungelows in the islands that look very much like that..especially like the one with the green roof :).

(The title should really read "Sale vs. Missing Library Files & CTD's") Hi there, I'm giving some thought to purchasing one or two Orbx sceneries during the sale, but I have the following conern: I've come across several threads that make mention of FSX CTDs being caused by, in many instances, missing library files. I am aware of the addition that can be made to the fsx.cfg file that provides for the FSX alert thereof. I have also come across a few threads indicating that several of the Orbx scenery packages demonstrate this condition of missing library files, and that this has resulted in CTDs when flying in and around selected areas within the respective Orbx sceneries. I understand that some packages are less characterized by these omissions than others are. My concern is that I might purchase the one or two that might be less favorable to my system and that might lead to CTDs. I have read in these forums and at another that a similar condition affects the recently released Vancouver +3 scenery package, but that the designers have acknowledged the anomalies and are preparing to address them. [Once they are addressed, then I'll look forward to adding it to my setup (but not until then); I think Holger is a terrific & knowledgeable designer, and I really love his Tongass X package!] This is somewhat relevant because of the complimentary nature of the two/three packages. Can anyone steer me away from, & identify, those Orbx packages that I should avoid if I want to stay away from missing-library-entry-initiated CTDs? Thanks a bunch, Rusty

Hi there, Although not principally confined to the upper Caribbean only, the following is a sampling of some nice tropical scenery packages: http://secure.simmar...ic-page-1.chtml There's Antigua; US & British VIs; Cayman Islands; Trinidad; Kingston & Montego Bay, Jamaica; Bahamas; Tobago; Punta Cana in the D.R.; airports in Bonaire, St. Lucia, Aruba, Curocao; Cancun; St. Thomas; others and lots more... Have a look, and let us know what you end up with! :) Blue skies, Rusty [but, my favorites are Fly Tampa's St. Maarten and Grenadines packages. FT's detailing, mesh and flare for the true tropical island flavor really combine to make for immersive Caribbean flying.]

Again :), mesh's position in the Scenery Library is irrelevant. If the individual mesh is finer than the airport's inherent mesh (19m vs. 38m for example) , it will affect it, *regardless* of where the individual mesh is situated in the Library. If the individual mesh is less fine than the airport's incorporated mesh (38m vs. 19m for example), then it will have *no* affect on the airport, even if it is placed at the very top of the Library. Not sure if the words can be juggled around any additional times beyond the attempts repeated in this thread to describe the mechanism. Perhaps when you experiment, you will see that scenery is affected only by the resolution of mesh, not by where the mesh is situated in the Library. Where individual mesh is placed in the Library has.........no........effect. If the individual mesh is finer (10m or 19m) than the airport scenery's inherent mesh (38m or 76m), then it will affect it- regardless of whether the individual mesh is above the airport scenery in the Library or below it. If the individual mesh is less fine & coarser (38m or 76m) than the airport's inherent mesh (10m or 19M), then the airport will be *un*affected by the individual mesh. Again, this is regardless of whether that individual mesh sits higher in the Library than does the airport or lower. This is so even if that coarser & less fine 38m or 76m individual mesh is the very first and top entry in the Scenery Library- it will have no affect on the lower-in-the-Library-situated airport (& its 10m or 19m incorporated mesh). In a nutshell, and it can't be stated any more succinctly than this: individual mesh's position in the Scenery Library makes.........no.........difference. However, to 'hear' it straight from the horse's Holger's (the creator and developer of Orbx's Holgermesh and, I suspect, of Orbx's mesh in general) mouth, the following is an interesting thread wherein I was finally shown the light after I, too, had previously misunderstood how mesh is treated in the Scenery Library by FSX: http://forums.fsaddo...opic.php?t=2999 Hope this helps, Rusty

Just as another way to illustrate the mechanism: Say you have 38m mesh installed for all of Austria, and that you have it positioned 1st. in the Library, top of the heap! Say you also have installed for Innsbruck, Austria in the Alps (and within your larger 38m Austria region) 19m mesh, yet you have it positioned 31st. in the Library, way below the 1st., 38m mesh which sits at the top of the Library. When you fly over Innsbruck, FSX will automatically utilize the finer, 19m mesh even though it sits at position 31 in the Library, wayyyy down the totem-pole, and even though there is other "scenery", other mesh, encompassing that same area, that sits atop the Library. Hope this helps regarding the mechanism by which FSX actually summons mesh for areas of flight. Blue skies, Rusty

Hi there, The way that the FSX engine works is that, for any given area of flight, FSX will *automatically* 'call up' & use the finest resolution mesh installed, available & active on your system *regardless* of where it is situated in the Scenery Library. e.g.: if you have 173 entries/line-items in your Scenery Library, it makes no difference whether you have the mesh in question positioned 1st, 5th, 28th, 165th or dead last; FSX will seek out and utilize for a given area of flight the finest resolution mesh that exists (and that is active) on your system for that area. Yes, terrain mesh, therefore, involves a different mechanism than that by which FSX treats other items in the Scenery Library. FSX treats mesh uniquely & differently and without regard to its position in the Library. My understanding is that Orbx regions incorporate their own inherent mesh, and that the Holgermesh simply happens to be a supplementary option for those who may be flying AU but whom may not have the Orbx AU region(s). However, why not drop on over to the Orbx support forum here ( http://forum.avsim.n...ial-orbx-forum/ )- the folks are tremendously helpful there and are much more knowledgeable than I! Cheers, Rusty

One other thought: Double-check to ensure that you have "Aircraft lights illuminate the ground" checked off and selected in your Settings/Aircraft. Cheers, Rusty

Hi there, I [re]installed the AOPA Cardinal on my new system (geez, I forgot how much I like this aircraft!). For me, the Landing Light seems to be working properly- it appears correctly on the plane's nose, and, for me, it is indeed casting light upon the ground and illuminating it. With regard to the Taxi Light though, my switch does not seem to affect anything one way or the other...nothing, almost as if the switch were dead. Thus, it seems that the Landing Light switch on my installation activates in unison both nose lights- taxi and landing, and they both cast illumination upon the ground equally, and appear lighted on the nose. For me, the Taxi Light switch is redundant, and the dual lights effectively function as a dual landing light operated solely by the Landing Light switch. I came across the following interesting thread responded to midway-down by Fr. Bill (a veritable fountain of knowledge regarding all things FS! ), and he had some helpful insight into similar FSX conditions: http://forum.avsim.net/topic/247258-taxi-lights-in-fsx/ The Cardinal, then, may be a victim of the FSX programming characteristics that he described with respect to the effect of aircraft lighting casting or not casting illumination, and the taxi light issue may be a remnant thereof. I am not so adept at modifying cfg files, and there are much wiser folks here than myself that can probably offer a suggestion or two as to how this specific aircraft may be so modified. Additionally, perhaps the folks over at Flight1 (the developers- http://www.simforums.com/forums/flight-one-product-support_forum2.html ) might have some thoughts regarding all this Let me know how you make out! Rusty

I do not use the Saitek yoke (I use a joystick), however, from what you describe, your yoke returns the ailerons to a neutral positon when you let go of it. As Bill intimated, once you return the ailerons to their neutral postion after having banked an airplane, the airplane will *more or less* remain in that banked condition/orientation. When you think about it, it is logical and makes sense: you had to move the ailerons from a neutral postion in order to change its orientation from a straight and level condition to a banked one. Thus, if all you do is return the ailerons from the banking orientation to their neutral one, what will make the plane return to a straight and level condition? Answer: Essentially nothing. (Now, there are factors that will mitigate this, but for purposes of this thread, really, nothing.) Thus, to return the airplane to its straight and level orientation, the plane, in a sense, needs to be actively banked back in the opposite direction. That means that the ailerons (the yoke, really) will need to be, not just returned to their neutral position, but, in fact turned to the opposite direction to return the plane back to straight and level before the yoke can be held in the neutral positon. In a sense, the airplane actually needs to be 're-banked' back to return it back to the s&l state. One holds an already-entered bank, mostly, with the ailerons in a neutral position, not in a banking one. Hope this helps! Rusty

Aerosoft's wonderful & fictive Andras Field-Andras Airpark is a wonderful base from which to begin and/or end many European (and other!) flights. I have had many wonderful flights therefrom between southern Bavaria and Italy, France, the Balearic islands, the UK and elsewhere. In fact, my wife and I even own a home at Andras! (It's not real either :P.) It combines all the elements a GA pilot['s imagination] could want from a non-urban aviation center- seaplane base, glider operations, runway large enough for heavies, etc. It really has less to do with whether or not it exists in the real world, than it does with whether or not your mind & your imagination allows you to immerse yourself in the activity. For that matter, your computer joystick or yoke are not "really" attached to aircraft-controlling cables or hydraulics either, rather to a USB port affecting entertainment activity software. But we don't let that stand in our way of our having one he_l of a time with MSFS, right?!