Vanishing AI in flight (FS2004)

[CAFedm]

I did a check on this forum before posting and found a related message that didn't seem to be resolved, so thought to ask again. I just finished creating a large number of flightplans with aircraft mostly intended for AI (WOAI, MAIW) but with some flyable ones that couldn't be found in AI versions thrown in. Anyhow, turns out that most of the AI aircraft disappear after having departed, say within about 5 miles or so of the airport. They just cease to exist. I've observed this at several airports and watching different types depart. Among the ones that are creating a problem are the MAIW & WOAI airliners, although using modified flight plans, but no errors have come up with regard to schedule times being overlapping or anything like that, and the AFCADs have ample parking of the proper type and are error-free. Before this AI project was completed, I recall having been able to watch aircraft departing/arriving from the maximum range of the F-16 radar gauge (e.g., about 30 mi). If anyone has any ideas I would be happy to hear them, as it seems a waste to have all these planes installed but only able to see them on the ground/while taxiing (chasing them is half the fun).

[JBaymore]

Usually that situation is a sign of not enough parking at the destination airport that aricraft is bound for.

Have you "tailed" one of the disapearing aircraft and have seen it go "poof" in front of you?  Or are you basing your observation on the resultys of the radar gauge?

If you are using ONLY the radar to verify this fact...... that opens up the possibility that the range of the radar has somehow been affected.

best,

..................john

[Kevin Jarvis]

When you say they disappear, do you mean in-flight while you're watching them?

It's a known fact that depending on the method used to watch AI, they can act strangely.

You say you're using 'modified' flightplans. How have they been modified?
Changing from VFR to IFR or the reverse can cause this depending on the aircraft and it's destination.
If the destination airport has been modified, the aircraft in question may be too large to land at that base. Or the base may not have sufficient size parking.

I can tell you from experience with MAIW that some destinations may not have AFCADs. This is due to the tremendous number of airbases that some of these birds visit. You may need to install AFCADs that have available parking.
I can also tell you that AI simply do some crazy things. As a beta tester I've seen it all. Sometimes a solution can be found and other times it cannot.

[CAFedm]

Thanks for the info everyone. Forgot to mention that FS2004 is being run here on Windows XP and Vista (two sets of install discs being used), and the problem cropped up within the past couple of weeks on XP, as this is the OS that I ususally use (Vista being mainly as backup). Anyhow, last evening while backing everything up on Vista, I tested FS9 there to see if the same problem occurred. Strangely, it did not. All the aircraft appeared on the radar and remained in flight while being "tailed", e.g., none disappeared despite being followed for consisderable distances. Looks like an uninstall/reinstall may be in order for XP.

p.s. - The flightplan mods involve adjusted destinations to a custom base which has ample parking of many types, and all use IFR. Many custom AFCADS have also been added to accommodate parking needs. I took care to ensure the cruise speed was correct for each aircraft, as well as verifying that enough time remained at rest between destinations. Pretty odd but am glad that the problem appears to be probably with my install and not with the flightplans/aircraft used, as this project took quite awhile to put together.

[CAFedm]

Just an update, I did reinstall FS2004 and all the AI traffic works properly. Never did figure out what the cause was but this fixed it.