mwa05

Mirage 111

Thanks for finding that Ray! So it was a Saturday, which is why I remember my Dad was home (we did not really see him during the week) and all the other parents were in the street. The times closely align to my memory, which just shows how impressive and memorable it was that I remember the details 48 years later 😀 My Dad is still with us, he’s 82 and a very competent e-mail and internet user, I will send him that link! Thank you. We were only talking about it a month or so ago, as my parents have some polaroids (printed photos that spat out of a camera for the younger set) of it 😀

Hi Ray, There was a total eclipse in Melbourne, Australia in 1976. I was 7 and I remember it to this day. The whole street went outside (it may have been a weekend or Easter or something as I remember everyone was home) and all the birds started going to bed and it was about 2 o’clock in the afternoon, Even our dog went into her Kennel! The darkness lasted about 10 minutes and then dawn broke and all the birds started tweeting again, It was literally pitch black and the stars were out. I have never seen anything like it since. If it is coming to America, well my friends, be apart of it as you will never forget it. Mark

I have had this as well, and it was caused by the locked RAASPro that comes with the PMDG 777. It requires the 2016 Access Database Engine to run properly and mine had become corrupted causing P3D to launch into the background. Removing and reinstalling the Access Database fixed it. There was a thread on a website that lead me to the fix (it may have been on the PMDG forum, I can’t remember now). However I took screenshots of the fix and labelled it so it took me two seconds to find it for this thread! Also run repair on the 777. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=54920

Hi Keith, I still maintain my P3D5.4 installation including my FSLabs A319/20/21 however I have not flown a flight in P3D since October 2022 according to the log. I have just fired up P3D and selected the JQ A320 and pre-flighted it, pushed back, engine start and then exited the program. So it still works and is serviceable as I expected as I said, I still maintain it. The reason for the pre-amble is I went through quite a time a few years ago having constant CTD’s with the FSLabs and I had to sort it myself as I never really got any useable assistance at the time however I would also acknowledge that this was pre MSFS and P3D was THE sim and this was a new product and I was but one voice asking for help. In the end, what solved it for me was updating runtimes. In fact this recently fixed an issue I was having with MSFS. So, my recommendation is to download https://www.techpowerup.com/download/visual-c-redistributable-runtime-package-all-in-one/ and run the batch file, reboot your computer. Caveat, this solved my issue however, doing the above will not harm or damage your computer, so it is a no loss try, the worst outcome is the problem will not be solved however you will not be worse off as the files are all the latest Microsoft issued runtimes. Kind regards and Merry Christmas, Mark

Hi Bruce, Flight Dispatch will calculate performance and for NZQN and they will use conservative assumptions in the Boeing OPT in order to provide the flight crew some wiggle room based on actual conditions. Dispatch will use plus 1 degree, minus 1mb and to the nearest 5kts lower wind from the forecast and run that in the OPT (EFB) and apply the calculated regulated take-off weight from those assumptions to the flight plan. The crew will then manage the actual, you can have 1kt of wind change at NZQN and lose 800kgs of performance. So in answer to your question, given you won’t have Boeing OPT, you will need to work backwards, go into the aircraft, calculate using the EFB your RTOW (what your take off weight can be) and then exit and flight plan using that limiting weight. Regards, Mark

I was having this issue (freezing on the welcome screen, etc) and CTD’s. Using event viewer, I was able to ascertain that it started on 20OCT23. Tracing back I was able to ascertain that the only change to my computer was a Nvidia driver update (545.84) which I installed on 18OCT23 via GeForce Experience (and I have always updated when a new driver was available, and for years), Current driver on system was 546.17. I did a fair amount of googling which lead me to a Reddit Nvidia page, where it seemed from that chat from users that the last stable driver was 537.58 and this seemed to be almost universally agreed especially for 4080 4090 graphic cards. So I uninstalled GeForce Experience (logging out first as per Reddit) and using DDU, removed 546.17 and I then installed 537.58.which I had downloaded and had ready to go. Result? No CTD’s. I have had no issues at all since I took this action in the last week of November and have flown error, freeze and CTD since. So be weary of Nvidia drivers higher than 537.58 if you have a 4080 or 4090 card.

I have been suffering from CTD’s and Freezes for about a month and I purchased and installed MSFS on a brand new, custom built computer in October 2022 and had never had a CTD. I have been sick for a few days so have not been to work and today I decided to look into the issue. Using event viewer, I was able to ascertain that it started on 20OCT23. Tracing back I was able to ascertain that the only change to my computer was a Nvidia driver update (545.84) which I installed on 18OCT23 via GeForce Experience (and I have always updated when a new driver was available, and for years), Current driver on system 546.17. I did a fair amount of googling which lead me to a Reddit Nvidia page, where it seemed from that chat from users that the last stable driver was 537.58 and this seemed to be almost universally agreed. So I uninstalled GeForce Experience (logging out first as per Reddit) and using DDU, removed 546.17 and I then installed 537.58.which I had downloaded and had ready to go. Result? No CTD’s and have flown two full, stutter free, error free flights tonight. So be weary of Nvidia drivers higher than 537.58. It has been so uplifting I feel better and have reported fit to crewing.

You can still buy the iFly 737 which in a number of ways was better than the PMDG 737 for FSX. http://www.flight1.com/products.asp?vid=flt1sf&pid=ifly37x

A bit like Jazz above, I bought it as an experiment as well, as I had decided as part of moving from P3Dv5 (which I still have) to not buy airports that were provided as enhanced by the MSFS package. I would get about 51 FPS at the Asobo EGLL in the Fenix, and I get exactly the same at the iniBuilds EGLL (with Asobo uninstalled). Interestingly it makes zero difference if I select the SD textures and move every slider to off! 51 FPS… and I have verified that the configurator is disabling the appropriate files. Having said that, it is a smooth experience as I have a proper Nvidia G-Sync monitor. I am on W11, MSI Z590 Pro WiFi, i7-11700K 4.85GHz, 32GB RAM, Gigabyte RTX 4080, and use Frame Generation. I suspect if I did not use FG, and used VSYNC 50% refresh rate (so capped 30 FPS) as I did when I had a Gigabyte 3080Ti that maybe the options may make a difference? Anyway, that is my experience thus far over the last 24hrs, I plan on flying a flight to EGLL later today to test the arrival experience…something short like EIDW-EGLL to have a look see. It is quite a life like scenery, better than any previous rendition (and I have had them all going back to FS9).

I PREFER MSFS over P3D5 because it quite simply has a much more realistic depiction of the holistic environment (although it has quirks and issues in a number of cases however I did use the word holistic). I PREFER the FSL holistically as it is a more complete simulation of the A320 series. However, I fly almost exclusively in MSFS with the Fenix A320 as holistically (there is that word again) it is an overall better experience if you want to get the best environment possible with the best airplane possible. If you want the best airplane regardless of environment then that is FSL in P3D5. If you want the best overall experience then Fenix in MSFS. Lastly from a consumer engagement point of view, Fenix talks to you, and engages with you, so you are a happier customer even though it currently does not have IAE or SL. I have never understood the FSL community engagement strategy to the extent it exists. Thus in summary whilst specifically FSL is a better product, Fenix is a better partner in a better environment and looking at my logs, I last flew FSL in P3D5 on 22OCT22 and I have done almost 70hrs of flying with Fenix in MSFS since, except tonight where I am doing a FSL A321 flight in P3D5 because I wanted to fly a very specific flight in very specific (A321 SL) airframe.

Thank you for fixing this Oliver, I still use it, every sim session, it is my favourite App. I had just been putting up with the slow load times… I just changed my routine to account for it. Kind regards, Mark

Hi Oliver, Virtual beer, virtual High Five and a big thank you. Whatever you did, LLTX is now back in business.. Thanks again, Mark

Hi Oliver, Yes, the IATA flight designator i.e.EK seems to be what is being sent by RealTraffic now rather than the ICAO designator i.e UAE. So put another way, in LLTX, if I don’t have Fill in traffic selected, no flight is ever picked up. If I select Fill in traffic, I will get traffic but under the flight column, it will be QF1588 for example with the airline column showing unknown. Whereas before the update, the designator under the flight column would be QFA1588 and the airline column would be populated with Qantas. When I look at the RealTraffic radar screen, the aircraft data now says for example QFA867 (QF867) B738 VH-VXE where as before the update, it would say QFA867 B738 VH-VXE. The (QF867) data seems to be is being sent to LLTX, and of course, that does not match the .cfg which is why the airline column says unknown and the aircraft will be the right type but a random airline i.e.my JQ743 (should be JST743) is a Vietnam Airlines A320 taxiing at the airport, rather than a Jetstar A320. I hope that assists a bit more. Thanks again, Mark

Hello Oliver, RealTraffic has just released a new version 9 build and Lorby Live Traffic 3.03 b05_P3D_V5 does not seem to be able to read the data from the new version. Unfortunately RealTraffic auto updates and I can’t revert back to the previous version to check whether the new version 9 is definitely the issue. It seems the issue is RealTraffic is sending the two digit airline code i.e JQ when Lorby Live Traffic uses the three digit ICAO code i.e JST. It was only when I selected Fill in traffic was I able to get a stream and the flight number column was showing JQ460 not JST460. I hope you are keeping well? Kind regards, Mark