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Unable to load a flight plan in the Demo pf3
http://www.ocs-support.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2914
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Author:  PDahlgren [ Sat Jun 23, 2018 10:27 pm ]
Post subject:  Unable to load a flight plan in the Demo pf3

I fly general aviation planes, mostly short flights, VFR. I would be satisfied with the default ATC in Prepar3d, V. 4.2, if it were not for a common problem, of the ATC window being grayed out and inactive. I am trying the pf3 as an alternate. However, when I try to load a flight plan, either one made directly in P3D or in FSTramp, I get a message that "there was a problem whilst processing this flight plan" and I should contact this forum. If I try again, I get a different error message, about locked files. I admit I have not read the entire pdf manual, but the section on loading a flight plan says nothing about any special format of a flight plan needed. I would assume that one generated in the flight sim program should work.

Is this a problem with the Demo version? I would hate to invest in the full program only to find that it is somehow not compatible with P3D.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Author:  Dave March [ Sun Jun 24, 2018 11:51 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Unable to load a flight plan in the Demo pf3

Try reinstalling the demo and if you still have the same problem please attach one of the offending flight plans here for us to try. My guess is though it an installation issue. Did you install and run the program under Admin? Also you should NOT install into your C;\Program Files folder.

Author:  PDahlgren [ Sun Jun 24, 2018 2:24 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Unable to load a flight plan in the Demo pf3

I did a total uninstall and reinstall of the program. I let it go to it's default location, a folder it created (C:/FS_Addons/PF3DEMO). Both when installing and testing, I made sure to use the "run as admin" feature. And the result was the same. I tried running and loading a flight plan both with and without P3D also running. No difference. I got the same two messages, the first about a problem, and the second about locked files. Unfortunately, I seem not to be allowed to upload a flight plan. "The extension is not allowed. The upload was rejected because the uploaded file was identified as a possible attack vector." It was a very simple plan created in P3D, from an Groton New London airport (KGON) direct to Central Jersey Airport (47N). Is there any alternate way I could upload it, or another plan for you to test?

Author:  Dave March [ Sun Jun 24, 2018 2:57 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Unable to load a flight plan in the Demo pf3

You need to ZIP it first :)

Author:  Dave March [ Sun Jun 24, 2018 3:13 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Unable to load a flight plan in the Demo pf3

Also, please recreate the problem up to the point where you get the first error message, then ZIP and attach all the files from your PF3\Flight\FPP folder

Author:  PDahlgren [ Sun Jun 24, 2018 7:21 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Unable to load a flight plan in the Demo pf3

Thank you for your assistance. I went through the uninstall and install procedure again, to get a fresh start for getting the files you requested. And now for some unknown reason, the program will load a flight plan. Unfortunately, it is not intuitively obvious, at least to me, how to use the program in my virtual flight. I will have to study the manual to see if I can get it to do what I want. My first impression is that it is far more complex than what I am looking for. I fly GA aircraft, mostly single engine Cessna's and Piper's, on short VFR flights of a few hundred miles. Even with the non-functioning ATC in P3D, I can get ATIS information by manually setting the frequency. But, until P3D offers a patch or new version to rectify the ATC problem, I can not communicate with the tower at a controlled airport. That was what I hoped PF3 would do for me. When I get time I will see what I can do about learning how to actually use the program, and during that process if I again have the failure to load a plan problem I'll follow up with your recommendations for what to send you.

I'm not asking you to explain how to use the program. I assume the manual does that, and when I have time I will study it. But, perhaps you could tell me from my description of what I am after whether PF3 is a potential solution. From what I see now it looks like it was designed for simulated commercial freight or airliner use.

Again, thank you for your prompt responses to my questions.

Author:  Dave March [ Sun Jun 24, 2018 7:38 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Unable to load a flight plan in the Demo pf3

PF3 works quite happily with IFR or VFR flights.

Perhaps some other kind (VFR) user will chip in here to put your mind at rest, as I can be a little bias :D

Author:  bobsk8 [ Sun Jun 24, 2018 9:37 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Unable to load a flight plan in the Demo pf3

PDahlgren wrote: *  Sun Jun 24, 2018 7:21 pm
Thank you for your assistance. I went through the uninstall and install procedure again, to get a fresh start for getting the files you requested. And now for some unknown reason, the program will load a flight plan. Unfortunately, it is not intuitively obvious, at least to me, how to use the program in my virtual flight. I will have to study the manual to see if I can get it to do what I want. My first impression is that it is far more complex than what I am looking for. I fly GA aircraft, mostly single engine Cessna's and Piper's, on short VFR flights of a few hundred miles. Even with the non-functioning ATC in P3D, I can get ATIS information by manually setting the frequency. But, until P3D offers a patch or new version to rectify the ATC problem, I can not communicate with the tower at a controlled airport. That was what I hoped PF3 would do for me. When I get time I will see what I can do about learning how to actually use the program, and during that process if I again have the failure to load a plan problem I'll follow up with your recommendations for what to send you.

I'm not asking you to explain how to use the program. I assume the manual does that, and when I have time I will study it. But, perhaps you could tell me from my description of what I am after whether PF3 is a potential solution. From what I see now it looks like it was designed for simulated commercial freight or airliner use.

Again, thank you for your prompt responses to my questions.
Unfortunately, aviation in general requires some basic knowledge in the fundamentals, and there is no getting around it. Read the PF3 manual, try a short flight, with a simple flight plan, and build up from there. It's simple once you learn how to do it.

Author:  ThomasAH [ Mon Jun 25, 2018 8:25 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Unable to load a flight plan in the Demo pf3

PDahlgren wrote: *  Sun Jun 24, 2018 7:21 pm
I fly GA aircraft, mostly single engine Cessna's and Piper's, on short VFR flights of a few hundred miles.
I'm usually flying Cessna aircraft with one or two engines, and "few" is 2 or larger, then I'd consider these already as long flights :)
Most of the time I'm using an IFR flight plan though, because VFR at or above 5000 feet (or 3500 feet AGL, whichever is higher) in Germany has to be CVFR, which basically is "IFR, but you have to be able to see the ground".

So for true VFR I'd use a flight plan of less than 100 miles and only very few waypoints.

But I'd recommend trying PF3 with IFR (CVFR) first, ideally with VCP mode 2, i.e. letting your co-pilot doing the comms for you, so you can learn what PF3 expects to be done.

So start PF3, load an IFR flight plan (without SIDs or STARs), contact Clearance (or Ground or Tower if no Clearance is available at your airport) by tuning to their frequency and pressing "0", and enjoy the ride.

Author:  ThomasAH [ Mon Jun 25, 2018 8:29 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Unable to load a flight plan in the Demo pf3

By the way, here are two transcripts of flights I have made in PF3, so you can see how it will look:
IFR/CVFR in a Cessna 337: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2085
VFR, probably in a Cessna 182: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2869&p=17431#p17431

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