Frequently Asked Questions

[tim arnot]

Please consult this post for answers to frequently asked questions. It will be updated as more questions get asked.

• The manual opens in PDF/A mode
  In Adobe Reader 9, the manual can open in PDF/A mode. (you'll see a banner across the top of the Adobe Reader window). In this mode, you cannot select the links, and clicking headings in the table of contents will not take you to that section.
  To turn off PDF/A mode in Adobe Reader, take the following steps:
     1. Choose Edit > Preferences
     2. Select Documents under Categories.
     3. Choose an option for View Documents In PDF/A: Never, Always, or Only For PDF/A Documents.
  You can switch in or out of PDF/A viewing mode by changing this preference setting again.
  

• I could connect to FSX with Simconnect in 0.81, but newer versions won't connect. Help!
  The connection settings have changed slightly in 0.9. Previously, the Port value was ignored for local connections, but this is not the case in 0.9 Now you need to set the port value as follows:
  
  
  
  
  • Pipe connection: Computer = localhost or 127.0.0.1. Port = blank
  • IPv6 connection: Computer = localhost or ::1. Port = 0
  • IPv4 connection: Computer = localhost or 127.0.0.1. Port = 0
  
  Please also see pages 49 - 51 in the manual.
  

My flightplan won't open in Flightsim; why is that? Flight plans in FSX MUST start AND end at an airport. If yourflight plan starts from an airstrip or other user waypoint or navaid, or ends at a navaid or user waypoint, FS will not be able to open it. In order to open the plan within FS, you will need to extend it to start and end at a 'proper' airport. How can I create a flight plan between OZx airstrips? Plan-G won't let me start at one! Plan-G doesnt let you create a plan that doesn't start at an FS airport, because such plans can't be opened from within FS. Of course you might not want to open the plan in FS, and so you can still achieve a plan that goes from waypoint to waypoint, it just takes a little more effort and some lateral thinking. Suppose you wanted to create a flight plan from Gabo Island to Mt Beauty (both Ozx strips in Victoria, and included in the default data set). You would nead to find a nearby airport to start your plan from. I'd suggest Mallacoota, YMCO as being suitably handy. Create your flight plan as Mallacoota -> Gabo Island -> Mt Beauty. Now right click on the Mallacoota entry and select Delete Waypoint (you can do this either in the map view or the Plan expander). You could also craate a plan from Mallacoota direct to Mt Beauty, and then simply drag the start point across to Gabo Island. Either way will work. You now have a plan that you can save and use from within Plan-G. But you will not be able to open it in FS. How can I restore my Plan-G settings to default? There are two small apps included with Plan-G, MapReset.exe and ClearAllSettings.exe. MapReset.exe will restore the map overlay settings to default (much like the reset button does on the ribbon bar) ClearAllSettings will clear all Plan-G registry settings, as if the program had never been installed. Next time you run Plan-G, other than having the database built, it will be as it it was being run for the first time. I'm trying to connect to FSX with SimConnect, but either I get an error, or it always connects with FSUIPC. How can I make it connect with SimConnect? You could try setting the SimConnect connection type to IPv4 - that seems to be more reliable than the default (which is Named Pipe). You'll also need to set the IP address to blank, and the port number to 0 for a local connection, or see the manual if connecting across a network. I'm trying to connect to FS with FSUIPC, but it won't connect. I Definitely have FSUIPC installed, and FS is running If you have Vista or Windows 7, right-click on the Plan-G program icon and select Properties. In the Compatibilty tab, make sure "Run As Administrator" is ticked. If the log file shows this error: FSUIPC Error #7: FSUIPC_ERR_VERSION. Incorrect version of FSUIPC., and you have a registered version of FSUIPC, check that you have the correct Key file, especially if you have recently updated it. If the log file shows this error: FSUIPC Error #12: FSUIPC_ERR_SENDMSG, it means that either FS or Plan-G is not running as Administrator. You need to set both programs to have Administrator permissions (or neither, but it cannot be mixed ). I am running two monitors.  I've noticed that when I open Plan-G on the main monitor it runs fine, but if I move it to the secondary monitor it begins to act strangely and some of the menus & buttons stop working. This is a known issue in one of the Microsoft libraries, and seems to be related to the order in which the monitors are configured.If you have a two monitor setup, ensuring that the second monitor is configures to be on the RIGHT, and the primary monitor on the LEFT, gets rid of the problem. The problem has been reported to Microsoft, who have promised to issue a fix, although they haven't given a timescale. When I'm showing large amounts of detail on the map, with lots of overlays, I keep getting script warning messages: "A script on this page is causing Internet Explorer to run slowly. If it continues to run, your computer may become unresponsive. Do you want to abort the script?" This is a normal consequence of trying to do massive amounts of work in an Internet Explorer script. When you have lots of overlays being drawn, it is very easy to get a situation where you have many tens of thousands of points being plotted, lines drawn, markers drawn, and erased etc. Fortunately it is possible to disable this message, and Microsoft has provided a tool to do so. Click on the link: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q175500 and follow the instructions. When I build the database for FSX, many of my addons are not included FSX has multiple versions of the scenery.cfg file, and in some instances, Plan-G can pick up the version for 'current user' rather than 'all users'. To point Plan-G to the correct scenery.cfg, perform the following steps: Open the Build Database Options dialog (click the small square at the bottom right of the Build Database ribbon tab. Alternatively, click File->Options->Locations) Set the FSX Scenery.cfg location to one of the following: For Vista & Windows 7: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\FSX - For XP: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\FSX Rebuild the database I want to run FS in full screen, but have Plan-G open on a second monitor Normally, FS must be run in Windowed mode if you want to see the output of any other program. But user ruespe has written a freeware-program FS-SIMtimizer that - amongst other useful functions - makes it possible to fly in fullscreen mode on one monitor and have Plan-G open on the other. You can download it from here (site is in German, but you can use Google Translate etc to translate it). How do I open my flight plan in X-Plane? I can't find a Load Plan button! Perhaps a little known trick, but all X-Plane aircrafts have an FMC (visible or not) into which your can upload an FMS plan. For example the Cessna 172 has a GPS430 with very primitive capabilities, but in the back ground there is an FMC that can direct the GPS430. Steps to do: Define a key referring to FMS/key_load (I use the backslash key "\"). Create the flight plan and save it as .fms file. Copy the .fms file to C:\X-Plane 10\Output\FMS plans\ (or wherever you have your X-Plane installed). Start X-Plane and Cessna 172 and locate the plane on the starting airport of your flight plan. Type "\" (without the quotes) and select the flight plan and load. First waypoint will show on the GPS430. Take off with runway heading set until 400 to 1,000 ft AGL. Switch CDI to GPS mode, activate LOC and activate the autopilot to fly the course. Thanks to Dempsey for this tip.

[frankturley]

Tim,

Perhaps one useful pointer to add re the airstrips -

If you use a scenery editor such as AFCAD2 you can create an airport which will show up in FSX and be found by Plan-G. For example, for the UK Farm Strips, I create an AFCAD file containing just the airport code and its co-ordinates, and I can then paln flights starting and ending at these.

Frank.

[HighGrounds]

.
Ingenious!  Many thanks, Frank.
-
-Jon
-------