First test: a couple of impressions

[alexf]

I just downloaded, installed 365 patch, and tested a short flight in Southern UK. The product looks very nice. Congrats to the author(s)!

I looked at the message forum and could not see the answers so please bear with these, which may be common knowledge, except for newbies like me.

• Is there/will there be an option to turn off your own a/c icon? It's nice to fly by dead reckoning and using the program as a printed map (I prefer to fly old a/c or single engine props). Your own a/c icon's gives away the position and makes it too easy, like using GPS which I try to avoid as unrealistic or maybe plain boring to navigate./li]
  
  • I grab and scroll the map away from my aicraft, plan and within a few seconds it reverts to center around my airplane. This should not be so. There should be a "center aircraft" button instead
  • The plane information starts with wind 000/00 and expects user input. The waypoint info reads from FS. Shouldn't the starting point read from FS weather too?
  • The plane information box asks user to enter desired plan speed in kts. Some a/c show it in mph so you have to do some math to enter it. Maybe it should have a radio button to choose between the two?
  
  Sorry if this list is old hat to you guys. Just my first impressions after one flight.
  
  I already like the product!
  
  Alex
  

[jschall]

Hi, Alex. Welcome aboard!

I can answer some of those points:

Is there/will there be an option to turn off your own a/c icon?
- Yes. Click the "G" AppIcon and select the "Options" button at the bottom. Under "User Aircraft" you can deselect "Display" and "Show Trail"

I grab and scroll the map away from my aicraft, plan and within a few seconds it reverts to center around my airplane.
- Same "Options" menu as above, deselect "Tie Map to Aircraft Position"

Your other points are good, but I don't know the answers (yet).

- Jeff

[tim arnot]

Those boxes somewhat mimic the real world where you only have the forecasts to go on for winds etc (you did say you didn't like things too easy!  ;)) and it was anticipated that you'd get the winds from a METFORM or similar (this was before I had the Simconnect interface). And still if you connect to FS, the METARs only give wind at ground level, not at 2000ft, 4000ft or whatever altitude you're flying at. I can't guarantee the user has winds aloft set, or that the data will be available.

Besides, having to type the number in, forces you to think a bit about the conditions you'll be flying in...  ;)

I take your point about the airspeed though -- I can make the units selectable.

[alexf]

Thanks. Makes sense.

[Srgalahad]

Those boxes somewhat mimic the real world where you only have the forecasts to go on for winds etc (you did say you didn't like things too easy!  ;)) and it was anticipated that you'd get the winds from a METFORM or similar (this was before I had the Simconnect interface). And still if you connect to FS, the METARs only give wind at ground level, not at 2000ft, 4000ft or whatever altitude you're flying at. I can't guarantee the user has winds aloft set, or that the data will be available.

Besides, having to type the number in, forces you to think a bit about the conditions you'll be flying in...  ;)

I take your point about the airspeed though -- I can make the units selectable.

Tim,
First of all, I'm impressed!! ;D  Saw the "news" item on FlightSim.com and decided, instead of flying, to take a look at Plan-G - it's a winner.
Ive got a couple of minor problems  that are likely part of the learning curve but I did a test flight and overall I'm quite happy (and happy to recommend it to others)

However, regarding the winds aloft issue... I use WeatherSet2 when I'm flying precise nav trips, partly because it does pull the winds aloft from the downloaded winds via FSUIPC. In the real world, we can get at least some winds aloft via FSS (only for the stations that report it and I know FS9 is overly generous by giving more), but... would it be possible to have the data show in the weather data as an option (radio button?) since it is available in the sim? Mostly this would just reduce the task/window switching to have it all in one source.
I haven't had a chance to test all the configurable data but I know what your intent was and it seems to be good - I'm just greedy . ::)

Oh, surprisingly, after beating the sim + Plan-G for an hour, I got the old "out-of-memory" error (FS9 on a Quad-core Q9300 with 6 Gb of Ram) that I've never had before, even on my old Athlon 3500 -- maybe too much flipping around options and display calls?

Keep up the great work... !

Rob