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Bruce (a.k.a. brian747)

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Posts posted by Bruce (a.k.a. brian747)

  4. P3D and the costs of moving across

    in Prepar3D Series

    Posted

    :huh:   I'm *still* in two minds about moving to P3D. It seems an awful lot of hassle, considering that the process will break many of my older airports some of which date back quite a way (OK maybe I can get some of them back with the Flightsim Estonia Migration Tool, and maybe not), but worse still, financially speaking it would also force me to re-buy my PMDG titles and various other things such as the RealAir Turbine Duke and the Flight1 GTN 750, so they would all have to be added to the rapidly-mounting cost.

     

    My FSX runs well and looks good (in DX10 mode, thanks to The Fixer), so it ain't bust and I keep telling myself not to fix it. But the thing that has always bugged me about FSX since day one — the missing cloud shadows on the ground — still irritates me enough to make me return at intervals to the possibility of moving across....

     

    OK, I think I understand the license thing (strictly no entertainment or recreational use because that would compete with Micro$oft, right, right  ;)  :P ), but $199 is £137.90 before I even start re-buying the add-ons.

     

    Nonetheless, the latest v3.3.3 has got me looking at P3D again....   <sigh>

     

    In view of the significant additional costs of the re-purchased add-ons (grrr...), here's a question (I apologise, but I can't find the answer on the LM site) — how often do you have to re-buy P3D? If I bought v3.3.3, is it then upgraded for free (seems unlikely), or do I have to pay for each upgrade? Or do I pay for each *major* upgrade, e.g. when it moves to v4?

     

    I keep telling myself that maybe if I wait until P3D becomes 64-bit....   :whis:

     

    But if anyone could suggest a huge benefit which would help to motivate me to move across, I'd be interested to hear about it.    :)

     

    Cheers,

     

    bruce

    a.k.a. brian747

     

    • Like 1

  5. Longest duration scheduled flights

    in Commercial Airliners

    Posted

    Here in Europe, most people feel aggrieved if their holiday flights are more than about five hours in duration. But in the world of intercontinental travel, there are many flights which are seriously longer than that. Some may recall Singapore Airlines’ almost 19 hour, 9,534-mile trip from Newark to Singapore — although the all-business-class Flight 21 was axed in 2013, nine years after it began.

     

    Today, two airlines compete for the title of the world’s longest non-stop flight: the tied winners are Emirates Flight 449 from Dubai to Auckland, New Zealand, and Air India from San Francisco to New Delhi. Both take 17 hours and 15 minutes, though the Dubai-Auckland mileage is considerably longer — 8,819 miles compared with 7,690.

     

    However, Singapore Airlines plan to take the title back when they resume their non-stop service from New York to Singapore in 2018, which is when the airline takes delivery of the first of seven A350-900 ultra-long-range aircraft.

     

    For more info (and a map) concerning the current top nine contestants for the 'longest flight' trophy, follow this link.

     

    Cheers,

     

    bruce

    a.k.a. brian747

     

  7. FTX - The Definitive Guide - May 2016

    in News and Press Releases

    Posted

    Cheers, Wayne!   :)

     

     

    @Joe

     

    FYI — I just clicked the "Orbx Guide" link in FTX Central, and what it brought up was not the May 2016 Definitive Guide. (Presumably they haven't updated the link yet).

     

    The version I get from the link in FTX Central has a green band with "Volume 1" at the top left-hand corner, and is called "An Introduction & Overview". (It has 41 pages)

     

    The May 2016 'Definitive Guide' (downloaded from the links I gave in the first post in this thread) has no such green band, and has "MAY2016" below the words "FTX" and "The Definitive Guide". That one has 46 pages.

     

    Whatever....  YMMV, but I'm working on the simple basis that the latest is the greatest....    :P

     

    Cheers,

     

    B.

     

  10. FTX - The Definitive Guide - May 2016

    in News and Press Releases

    Posted

    I've just noticed that Orbx have issued a new version of "FTX – The Definitive Guide", this one dated May 2016. (If you've got an older version you'll find that it isn't vastly different, but it has been updated in places).

     

    The Guide tells you about all the stuff you need to know when installing (or uninstalling) Orbx scenery — how to use the insertion point to get the Orbx files at the correct position in your scenery.cfg hierarchy, the place and function of the various Orbx scenery offerings in what they call 'the simulator "Layer Cake"', useful options when using FTX Central, the importance of doing OrbxLibs last in any installation session, and a lot of other useful information that will explain what you're dealing with if (or when) your scenery goes down the Orbx route.

     

    You can download the new version from here, although I've also saved the May 2016 version as an attachment to this post, to save you a click or two. [Joe, please delete it if you feel that it might adversely affect your bandwidth!  ^_^ ].

     

    The Guide is 46 pages long, but I reckon that if you're using Orbx then it pays to be aware of everything that's in there.   :)

     

    Cheers,

     

    bruce

    a.k.a. brian747

     

    Orbx FTX Definitive Guide May 2016.pdf

    • Like 2

  11. Saitek 52pro

    in General

    Posted

    > "  It worked fine plugged into USB3 on my old iMac ..."

     

    :huh:     Ah c'mon, Tim, you're not saying you've gone over to the Dark Side?     :whis:

     

    The USB3/X52 problem relates only (AFAIK) to Windoze boxes fitted with certain current motherboards, notably some some <*cough*> Asus variants. 

     

    Allegedly (but YMMV).    :P

     

    Cheers,

     

    B.

     

  12. Saitek 52pro

    in General

    Posted

    Agreed about the X52. Having said that, however, the X52 does suffer from one teeny problem if you're using it via USB3 — you need to disable Intel xHCI mode on your motherboard to get it to work. This wasn't an option for me, which is why my X52 is back in the loft. I'm assuming, though, that the OP's machine won't be fitted with USB3, so the difficulty hopefully can't arise.

     

    But it might be worth mentioning here, just in case anyone else runs into this.     :cool:

     

    Cheers,

     

    bruce

    a.k.a. brian747

     

  13. Help

    in General

    Posted

    > "BIG SOB."

     

    <sigh>  We sincerely feel your pain, Phil, but please understand also that we do appreciate your problems from our own personal experience.

     

    Miracles are in very short supply; and AFAIK there are no multi-millionaires at Mutleys....   :(

     

    Please accept that sometimes it's kinder to tell someone the truth rather than to suggest sticking plaster solutions for problems needing major surgery....

     

    Good luck, and do let us know when you get things sorted.

     

    Cheers,

     

    bruce

    a.k.a. brian747

     

     

  14. Help

    in General

    Posted

    Hi Phil!

     

    And a warm welcome to Mutleys!    :)

     

    But your problem is a difficult one, sadly. As Matt gently intimated, your choice is between sticking to your present machine and <*cough*> not having a good experience, or else going to the likes of Scan, Chillblast, Overclockers UK, Mesh, or whoever and getting yourself an overclocked i5 paired with an nVidia graphics card that has at least 2Gb of memory — and then you will have the sort of experience that sims are meant to give. Flight simming isn't a cheap hobby when it comes to that initial hardware outlay, unfortunately.   :(

     

    Since you're effectively starting from scratch, I would suggest that your sim of choice should probably be the latest version of Prepar3D (others sims are available).   ;)

     

    A few more details of your kit might help confirm the gloomy diagnosis, but one can't help feeling that two cores at 1.9GHz probably aren't going to cut it, I fear — for some time now the generally accepted lower limit for good performance with flight simming has been four (or eight) cores at 4GHz or above.

     

    On the positive side, when you *do* get back into flight simming again you're going to be amazed by the improvements since fs98 — take a look at our screenshots section to give you some idea, although nothing beats the fun of having it all happening on the screen in front of you, with you at the controls....    

     

    Whatever you decide, do let us know, and we'll offer you the best advice we can.    :cool:

     

    Cheers,

     

    bruce

    a.k.a. brian747

     

    • Like 1

  17. Advice would be appreciated....

    in General

    Posted

    Hi Martin!

     

    TBH, it's extremely difficult to be helpful about increasing frame rates on "an 'average ' computer that is a few years old". A generic answer to such a generic question would probably be along the lines of "get yourself a faster CPU" — an answer which is technically correct, but not necessarily useful to you.    :cool:

     

    You're focussing entirely on frame rates, and hence the most effective solutions will tend to be hardware-related (rather than tweaks to fsx.cfg which only make a significant difference if your fsx.cfg was in bad shape previously). However, if you were to give us some specifics of your machine (e.g. CPU type and speed, memory amount, HDDs and SDDs used by fsx, graphics card details, along with any other relevant factors such as DX10, type of scenery you use (photographic?), shaders, and so on) we might perhaps be able to make some slightly more helpful suggestions.

     

    What frame rates are you seeing at present? If you're landing a PMDG 777 at London Heathrow the result will be rather different to when you're landing the default trike at Friday Harbor, so please qualify your answer accordingly.

     

    However, since frame rates are so often hardware (notably, CPU) -related, I'm also wondering what kind of "products" you had in mind when you asked your question?    :)

     

    Cheers,

     

    bruce

    a.k.a. brian747

     

  19. As Real As You Get?

    in General

    Posted

    @JohnA

     

    <sigh>  It's even worse than that at my local airfield (see here).

     

    It is used as a VVIP bizjet airport within easy reach of London but where its customers (notably the stars of stage and screen, politicians, and royalty) can emplane and deplane with no photographers or paparazzi being able to get a long lens on them. It can handle anything up to a BBJ, and any photographs published are required not to show tail numbers.

     

    Only the very rich need apply. Money talks, and all that jazz.

     

    Cheers,

     

    bruce

    a.k.a. brian747

     

     

  21. Norway F-16s Shoot Up Control Tower

    in Real World Aviation

    Posted

    I'm with JohnA on this, and the phrase "not unprecedented" also rings true with certain recollections of mine with <*cough*> another Air Force.   :cool:   As I have reason to know from personal experience, these things happen (boys and their toys etc.).    ;)

     

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarva_(Norway)

     

    Note that the RNAF has a firing range in the vicinity....   :th_blush:

     

    Cheers,

     

    bruce

    a.k.a. brian747

     

     

  23. Welcome to new members.

    in Mutley's Hangar News and Announcements

    Posted

    Hi, Lucy!

     

    And a very warm welcome to the Hangar!   ^_^

     

    Great to hear that you're already branching out, moving from a C172 to a Dash 8. Simming is great for exploring the aspects of aviation that interest you the most, and here at Mutley's we cover pretty much every aspect of the obsession oops sorry hobby. So please don't hesitate to ask lots of questions if you need to; and we'll always be interested to see your screen shots, and of course to hear your views on everything that goes on here.

     

    Have fun!   :D

     

    Cheers,

     

    bruce

    a.k.a. brian747

     

     

    P.S. If you're just starting out hauling pax around the skies, then may I gently suggest taking a look at the Commercial Airliners section — in a sticky near the top you'll find a link to some 'downloads and documents' that you might possibly find helpful.   ;)   Also (as you may already know) on pp 52-55 of the May-June edition of PC Pilot there's an article by Jane Whittaker about entering a flight plan into a Dash 8 Q-400's FMS.

     

    B.

     

     

     

  24. FTX Global Base - Few questions

    in Scenery

    Posted

    Jim, if you look at the Orbx product page for any of their England airports — for example, Southampton — and then scroll right down to the bottom of the page, you will find the simple words:

     

    "This product requires you have the following installed: EU England".

     

    (Incidentally, the same 'check the very bottom of the page' trick can also be useful when you're trying to work out which of the NA regions (CRM / NCA / NRM / PFJ / PNW / SAK / SCA) one of their many North American airports is located in).   ;)

     

    As confirmation, note what it says on the Orbx England product page, just above the airport pics:

     

    OrbxEnglandairports.jpg

     

    So yes, for the airports to work you would need England first, I'm afraid.   :(

     

    The freeware packs for FTX Global that m'learnèd friend Needles/Brian/Bib Fortuna mentioned can be downloaded here: https://fullterrain.com/freeware/global — for a list of the airports in each pack, look on this page: https://fullterrain.com/freeware#

     

    As regards the extent of the (inevitable) ear chewing, I suspect that Global Base *and* an England airport would probably be cheaper than an upgraded SSD? Just saying....    :whis:


    Cheers,

     

    bruce

    a.k.a. brian747

     

     

     

  25. EZDok and P3D v3.2

    in Prepar3D Series

    Posted

    Hi, John!

     

    It still sounds to me like a problem with your EXE.XML file. I assume you've checked the formatting of the sections in there, but have you taken a look at it in a binary editor to see whether there are any control characters or line feeds or whatever invisibly buried?

     

    FWIW you might find something useful in this thread: http://www.avsim.com/topic/428438-ezdok-help-root-section-in-exexml-file-not-found/#entry2872798

     

    Cheers,

     

    B.

     

     

     

     

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