Very odd problem after loading Comanche

[Stratocruiser2]

Not having used the Comanche for a while, I recently tried to fly it again on FSX-A after applying the Accu-sim update. However it behaved very oddly after loading, tipping back on its tail and slowly moving backwards almost as if it were in slew mode (although slew was not activated). Although it should have been in a cold and dark state, the engine was running but the throttle, prop and mixture controls were not responding to my CH-Pro levers so basically the aircraft was unflyable. As I had bought the original from the now defunct Flight Sim Store, I arranged to transfer the purchase over to my account at the A2A store, uninstalled the original and reinstalled a fresh download from the A2A Store, ran the update and tried it again, but the problems kept reoccurring.

A bit of research on these forums made me wonder if this was a Simconnect issue so I reinstalled this but it made no difference. I also tried repeat downloads, uninstalling and reinstalling each time while ensuring that all Comanche related files were deleted (including those in the FSX A2A folder and in the Users\......Documents folder) but all to no avail.

I should point out that I have seven other Accu-Sim aircraft all of which appear to be functioning flawlessly as indeed are various other addon payware aircraft. Although I have encountered many issues in my 20+ years of flightsimming, I have never come across a problem like this before and haven’t found any references to anything similar on the forums. I suspect that there is some residual file which has become corrupted somewhere on my system from the original Comanche installation but, as I don’t quite know where to go from here, some assistance would be appreciated!

Bill

[Nick - A2A]

Hello Bill,

This is indeed rather an odd one.

It sounds like you've already deleted the files in "Documents\A2A\FSX\Comanche250" which would have been one troubleshooting suggestion.

It may be possible the issue is related to the way in which your FSX flight is loaded or to some other add-on.

Please can you let us know which aircraft loads with your default flight in the sim, and if you have any other add-ons running at the same time? (For example, utilities like FSUIPC or AH2 can sometimes be linked to unexpected behaviour.)

Thanks,
Nick

[Stratocruiser2]

Hello Nick,

Thanks for the fast reply!

In answer to your queries, I always start FSX using the default Baron initially and then put that into a cold and dark state before loading any A2A aircraft. I have the payware version of FSUIPC but have never used it to configure any of my controls. The only other addon that I routinely have running is Active Sky 2016. As far as I know I don't have AH2 although I have to admit I'm not sure what that is!?? I forgot to mention in my initial post that I don't use the Input Configurator for any A2A aircraft.

Lying in bed this morning (often a good time for thinking!), it crossed my mind whether Accu-Feel might in some way be involved in all of this. So later I checked in ...."Documents\A2A|FSX|Feel" and found the PA24_250 listed there which I thought was odd as I couldn't recollect ever using Accu-Feel with the PA24. I started FSX and loaded the PA24 (again behaving strangely) and then opened the Accu-Feel control from the drop down menu and confirmed that it was not activated for the PA24. I then shut down FSX, deleted the PA24_250 from the above folder and uninstalled the PA24 yet again together with all the residual stray files, shut my PC down, restarted it and then reinstalled the PA24 and ran theA2A update again. I thought I had cracked it as the PA24 loaded perfectly on the next test flight and I was able to fly a complete circuit. I then shut down FSX and used the Aircraft Configurator to load the Flight 1 GTN and switch to custom Landing Lights but unfortunately the PA24 was back to square one on the next test flight with non-functioning power levers, etc although this time it was slowly moving forwards (with the engine stopped) rather than backwards. Perhaps I was grasping at straws, but, because of that, I wondered if the Aircraft Configurator had anything to do with it, so I repeated the whole uninstall / reinstall process as above and started another test flight without loading the GTN or Custom Lights but on this occasion unfortunately the same issues recurred. I am not sure if anything I have described in this paragraph might be of any relevance but I thought I should let you know the sequence of events, in case that provided a clue, given that it managed to load successfully once!

Kind regards,
Bill

[Nick - A2A]

Thanks for the detailed info Bill.

Please could you just try a quick test flight with FSUIPC disabled. The easiest way to do this is just to move the FSUIPC4.dll to another temporary folder.

If the problem persists with FSUIPC not being loaded, at least we can rule it out. In this case, it's probably also worth loading FSX without ActiveSky too, just to see if there's any change.

If these steps down't help, please let us know and we'll have to delve a little deeper.

Kind regards,
Nick

P.S. Sorry, AH2 = Air Hauler 2

[alan CXA651]

Hi.
The default flight in FSXA is the trike , have you saved anyother default flight , if so , one of these might be corrupt.
regards alan.

[Stratocruiser2]

I tried your suggestion Nick and disabled FSUIPC as you recommended and an initial test flight with the Comanche was successful with no issues. I then reactivated FSUIPC and the problem recurred suggesting this was the culprit. However, on a further attempt with FSUIPC once again deactivated, the issue unfortunately reared it’s head yet again, which was a disappointment!

With regard to Active Sky, I have done a few test flights with this disabled and it made no difference.

Alan, I will try your suggestion of using the default Trike flight, as I use a different flight with the Baron but if something is corrupt In my default flight I would have thought it would also affect some of my other aircraft.

Many thanks to you both for your continued input. I guess if all comes to all I could try uninstalling and reinstalling all my Accu-sim aircraft to see if that makes any difference but I am a little reluctant to do that if it can be avoided.

Kind regards,
Bill

[Nick - A2A]

Thanks for the update Bill, but please don't do anything too drastic just yet in terms of reinstalling your A2A fleet. Typically, multiple reinstalls don't help, and they can sometimes make it harder to pin down any issues. If the aircraft sometimes loads successfully, this suggests that the files themselves haven't been corrupted, but instead it seems likely that something in the way the flight or the sim itself loads may be amiss.

Alan's suggestion to delete your custom flight is a good next step, and if that doesn't help there a few other things we can investigate.

Kind regards,
Nick

[Stratocruiser2]

Thanks Nick - I will take your advice and not complicate matters by reinstalling my A2A fleet then!

I changed my default flight to the FSX Trike at Friday Harbour today, restarted my PC and ran a few tests. Unfortunately the Comanche could not be successfully loaded during any of these - on the first and fourth tests it bounced around uncontrollably on loading and I received a Simconnect error message and on the second and third tests it was simply unresponsive and I received an "Attempt to call a nil value" error message. I also did a fifth test starting with this default flight just to check that other aircraft were ok and loaded the A2A Bonanza during this without any issues. I have not reinstalled Simconnect again, because, as I mentioned in my opening post, I had already tried this and it didn't help.

Kind regards,
Bill

PS I just rechecked at my .......Documents\A2A folder and a Spitfire folder has appeared there dated two days ago with two files in it named Unknown.f and v2_Unknown. The reason I mention this is that I don't have the A2A Spitfire! The times on the two files probably correspond to the previous time I attempted to use the Comanche, if that is of any relevance.

[Nick - A2A]

Hmm - this is definitely an odd one Bill.

Please can you let us know exactly which A2A products you have installed, and can you briefly describe how you launch the sim too? For example, do you just launch in the normal way using an icon or shortcut on your PC, or is any other software involved?

Also, as you mention several reinstalls of the Comanche, please can you try manually deleting the following file...

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\A2A\Comanche250\Update_fsx\client.wyc

...And then rerun the Accu-Sim update from here.

Thanks,
Nick

[Stratocruiser2]

Hello again Nick,

I deleted that file as you suggested, then restarted my PC and ran the Accu-Sim update again but unfortunately this did not help and the issue has persisted.

I use the following A2A/Accusim products: C182 Skylane, V35 Bonanza, PA28 Cherokee, PA24 Comanche, J3 Cub, B17, B377 COTS and Constellation COTS. As I think I already said, I have checked all of these since I discovered the issue with the Comanche and all appear to be functioning properly. In addition I use Accu-Feel for my non-A2A aircraft and Shockwave 3D Lights Redux.

I usually launch the sim using SimStarterNG which I have used since 2016 although occasionally I launch FSX directly from a shortcut icon on my desktop bypassing SSNG. I am not sure if you are familiar with this utility but I have created a number of simulator configurations depending on whether I am going to fly VFR or IFR and on the anticipated VAS usage of the aircraft/scenery combination and these are saved in SSNG and one is selected before flight. I set these up in 2016 and I don't think I have modified them since then, so I would be surprised if these are affecting the Comanche which I was able to fly quite successfully during 2017, although I guess it is possible that something could have become corrupted in the meantime. I also have created a number of scenery sets in SSNG and I sometimes add or remove airports from these sets depending on my planned flights but this should only affect the scenery.cfg. Sorry, I should probably have mentioned earlier in this thread that I use this utility in case it is connected but I completely overlooked it .

I appreciate all your help and patience in trying to resolve this Nick and thank you once again,
Bill

[alan CXA651]

Hi.
I have not used this product myself , but have you got a saved comanche setup with this program , if so it might be corrupted and causeing this issue , but i cannot be certain .
regards alan.

[Stratocruiser2]

Hi Alan,
Thanks for the suggestion, but I don’t have a saved Comanche setup as such on SIMStarterNG. In fact I don’t have configurations for any specific aircraft types but I choose which configuration to activate depending on the likely requirements of a particular flight, eg. VFR or IFR and the likely VAS footprint of any addon airport or aircraft which is going to be used. I appreciate that one of these configurations could possibly have become corrupted but it’s strange that none of my other seven Accu-Sim aircraft or any other addon aircraft are having problems using these configurations.
Kind regards,
Bill

[Nick - A2A]

Hi Bill,

Thanks for the clarification on the startup method and for trying the forced update. Since this problem has started occurring, have you tried launching FSX in the 'traditional' way without using SSNG at all?

Cheers,
Nick

[Stratocruiser2]

Hi Nick,

Yes, I have launched it from my desktop FSX.exe shortcut without using SSNG and the same problem occurs with the Comanche. However, thinking about it, when I start it like that, it probably still utilises the FSX.cfg file last used by SSNG, so if there was an issue with something in the SSNG generated FSX.cfg file, then that might remain a problem even if I launch it without using SSNG. I guess the only way to get around this might be to deactivate the current FSX.cfg file and then allow FSX to create a new one after launching it from the desktop icon. I might try that and then test the Comanche again, which should at least confirm whether or not SSNG is implicated in any of this. If I do that I just need to steel myself up to clicking a gazilllion permissions as the new cfg is created! Wish me luck!

Best regards,
Bill

[Nick - A2A]

Okay - sounds like a good idea Bill. Let us know how you get on and we'll take it from there.

Good luck!
Nick