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PFE Frequently Asked Questions?
Try our FAQ search!
Q: I'm using Vista and when adjusting the FP altitudes after
saving them I get an ok then I get a runtime error 91 box popping up.
"Object variable or With block variable not set" then it shuts down.
A: Sounds like you may have had a installation problem. Go
to your main PFE folder and double click on the file named
XInstall3.exe
Q: Sometimes PFE ATC spells out the entire airline name rather
than use the call sign.... other times it's correct.
A: The problem can occur when using Super Traffic Board and
telling the aircraft to 'depart now'. If you leave aircraft to depart at
their correct times this problem does not occur.
Q: Few seconds after starting PFE it locks up and doesn't respond
to anything, i have to close it via task manager.
A: (1) Go to the main PFE folder (2) Open the
PF_Emulator.ini file (3) Look for AutoUpdates=1 and change it
to AutoUpdates=0 (4) Save the file.
Q: PFE has started to lock up on me and/or it takes an unusually
long time to respond.
A: If you are using multiple security protection program try
disabling the default Windows Firewall. If that doesn't work try
disabling the others one by one, simply as process of elimination.
Whatever system you use you must ensure that the PF_Emulator.exe and
Updates.exe programs have access to the internet, which is required for
the auto updates feature to work.
Q: Can PFE be used on a networked pc?
A: Yes it can by using Pete Dowson's WideFS utility...
available HERE. When
using PFE on a networked PC please remember to use the client's keyboard
when making any changes to PFE's options but use the main FS keyboard to
communicate with ATC when PFE is connected to FS during your flight
Q: After I create my flight plan and compile it PFE will not load
it and complains about it NOT being a valid ADV file!
A: It would appear that some regional settings can cause this
problem. Recent correspondence from a Japanese user resulted in him
changing the Unicode setting (Control Panel\Regional Settings) to
English, which cured the problem. To the best of our knowledge most
regional settings are valid and PF2K/PFE work just fine.
Q: Every time I try to start ProFlight it give me an Error 13
message! What can I do.
A: We are unsure why this occasionally happens to some users,
but here's a simply workaround. Please download this small utility from
HERE..... unzip it into your MAIN PFE Folder then run it. Once
complete you should be able to start ProFlight 2000
Q: Why do I hear ATC calling the aircraft make rather than the
actual airline call sign?
A: Please check under the Technical Tab in FSUIPC (or look
under the GENERAL section the FSUIPC.INI file) and set the TCASid entry
to FLIGHT. Programs such as AIBlast and FSHotSeat appear to change these
settings which make them incompatible with PFE
Q: I tune to ATIS but all I hear is static noise... what's wrong?
A: One user found that this only occurred when using a
particular aircraft. Try the same frequency using another aircraft and
if that does not help please email support at pfe@oncourse-software.co.uk
Q: When running Spyware Terminator it identifies and removes a
file named SCLabel.ocx. After that PFE will not run!
A: Do NOT remove this file. It is NOT spyware and is an
ActiveX control for display most of the text that appears on the PFE
screens. Without it PFE will NOT run! You can configure Spyware
Terminator to ignore it rather than remove it. If you have removed it
you will need to reinstall PFE.
Q: When I select one of the new call signs to use as my own call
sign a message pops up telling me to select one of the new voices for my VCP.
WHY? I want to use one of my old favourite voices from the original set.
A: The reason is quite simple... only the new expanded voice
sets include the newly recorded 1000+ additional call signs. So if you
have an original voice set selected it couldn't possible use a new call
sign because the recorded wav file simply isn't there to use. So if you
want to use an original voice set for your pilot's voice you have to
also use one of the original airline call signs. If you want to use one
of the new airline call signs you have to use one of the new voice sets
for your pilots voice.
Q: I've just downloaded and installed PFE version 2.0 from
Aerosoft but I can't here any ATC chatter. What's wrong?
A: If you downloaded PFE version from Aerosoft between 27th
June 2008 and 1st July 2008 please go to your Aerosoft account and
download it again. Uninstall PFE from your system then reinstall using
the new download. Unfortunately there were a number of files missed from
the install install pack. If you have the new expanded voice pack
install you do not need to uninstall that.
Q: I've just downloaded and installed PFE version 2.0 from
Aerosoft but have some strange problems. I can't hear any ATIS even though
I'm tuned to the correct frequency.
A: If you downloaded PFE version from Aerosoft between 27th
June 2008 and 1st July 2008 please go to your Aerosoft account and
download it again. Uninstall PFE from your system then reinstall using
the new download. Unfortunately there were a number of files missed from
the install install pack. If you have the new expanded voice pack
install you do not need to uninstall that.
Q: I've just installed the new PFE voice set expansion pack but I
still hear ATC using the three character airline ICAO instead of the full
call sign
A: This can happen for a number of reasons... (1) you are
using the original and new voice sets together, so if the current
controller's voice set is using one of the original voice sets the
number of full call signs is restricted to approximately 150 call signs.
When only using the new voice sets the number of call signs available is
over 1,000.
Q: Do I have to buy and install the new PFE voice set expansion
pack
A: Certainly not. PFE version 2.0 will work quite happily
using the 44 original voice sets. However, the new voice sets have a
much wider vocabulary and therefore offer enhanced capabilities. Amongst
other things they offer an additional 1,000 airline call signs so you
will hear the full call sign being used by ATC rather than the three
character airline ICAO code
Q: I've just installed the new PFE voice set expansion pack and
now I can't see any pilot voices to select from the PFE options screen
A: You must start/stop ProFlight 2000 after installing the new
voice sets and before you run PFE. This was the last instruction
displayed after you installed the new voice sets. If PFE is still
running, please stop it. Then start ProFlight 2000... exit from it....
now start PFE and all should be well
Q: I've just updated PFE to version 2.0 but I can't hear any of
the new call signs mentioned.
A: You need to purchase the PFE voice set expansion pack from
HERE, which provides version 2.0 users with an additional 59 newly
recorded voice sets
Q: PFE used to work but now it won't compile a flight plan even
though the Compile button works and is not greyed out.
A: A few things to check in ProFlight Settings... please
ensure you have your Cruise Altitude set to at least the same altitude
as that in your flight plan... also ensure the Center Altitude is not
too low (you may need to experiment with this one but tests have shown
it can be too low which can prevent PF compiling the flight plan.... the
default is 14,500)... also make sure the Center altitude is lower than
the cruise altitude... if your regional currency settings are set to a
comma rather than a decimal character that can also prevent PF from
compiling the ADV flight file. If all else fails please try setting your
regional settings to English just to see if that cure the problem.
Q: Whenever I create an ADV Flight File the cruise altitude is
always wrong (too low) and the cruise speed is showing a ridiculously high
value.
A: Start ProFlight and select the Select Spec option to
check the cruise speed set for your aircraft. Check the MACH setting is
valid. ie. Mach .74 should be entered as .74 and not 74
(If you have a missing decimal point your ADV Flight File will be
wrong.)
Q: I can't see any of the new call signs in ProFlight
A: New call signs will not be selectable or displayed in
ProFlight settings. To use one of the new call signs you must select it
from the PFE main options page.
Q: ProFlight 2000 won't start. All I get is an Overflow Error 6
message
A: Somehow ProFlight has allowed a change to one of the
following settings to an incorrect value, resulting in the overflow
error message. If you open the PF2000.CFG file and scroll down to the
FlightInfo section (almost at the end of the file) you will see three
entries as follows:-
CruiseSpeedIAS=238
CruiseSpeedMACH=0.74
CruiseSpeedTAS=420
If you check these you will probably find one or more of the values to
be very high... Eg. A cruise speed of 4000 would obviously be incorrect.
To correct the problem simply enter a correct value and resave the CFG
file... then restart PF2000. We are currently unsure as to how these
values get changed... PFE most certainly does not change any of them...
so if you discover how to recreate the issue please let us know.
Q: I'm using Co-pilot Mode 2 but PFE
doesn't detect when I get near to the active and so doesn't tell me to
switch to the Tower.
A: PFE waits for you to be within 700' feet of the
active runway before issuing a 'Contact Tower on...' command. If you
happen to be taking off from a position other than the end of the active
runway you may well be more than 700' away from that detection point.
Should this be the case you would need to manually switch to the Tower
frequency, then use Hotkey 6 to contact Tower and request takeoff
clearance.
Q: The ProFlight 2000 Compile button is greyed out so I can't
compile an ADV Flight File
A: There are a couple of reasons why this may occur. Firstly,
if the flight plan you are attempting to load is not in the correct
format. Remember ProFlight requires FS2000 format flight plans so FS9
and/or FSX flight plans require converting, which you can do from within
PFE. Secondly you need to select the Use Real Weather
option in the ProFlight Settings page... turning that option off makes
the Compile button inactive so please ensure it is on.
Q: I'm using FS2004/FSX to create a flight plan for PFE but
I get errors when trying to compile it.
A: ProFlight requires the flight plan to be created in
FS2000 format, after all, it was developed back in FS2000 days. Flight
planners used during testing for this purpose included FSBuild,
Ultimate Airlines, FSNav and NAV3. We have also provided a means to
convert FS9/FSX Flight Plans for use with ProFlight 2000.
Q: PFE ATC routed me to fly right into a mountain.
A: In such hazardous areas it is vitally important to
create a good flight plan to ensure PFE delivers safe
approach vectoring. PFE is not aware of mountains or
obstacles on your approach route so you, as the pilot, need to ensure
you plan your flights correctly. Remember also that YOU are the Captain
in charge and if, during approach vectoring, you consider ATC to be
issuing a bad and dangerous turn you should ignore it and use the #1
hotkey to request a 'Cleared to Final Approach'
Q: I had to reinstall ProFlight 2000 and now PFE will not
work
A: If you have the PFE Standard Edition
you cannot reinstall ProFlight 2000 without reinstalling
PFE. Should you ever need to reinstall ProFlight you
must then run the PFE_1 and PFE_2 installers. You may run the
PFE installers at anytime without having to reinstall ProFlight
but you cannot do it the other way around.
Q: I never got handed over to any Centre facilities during
my flight.
A: PFE (ProFlight) determines which control centres to
hand you over to dependant on the altitude you are currently flying. If
you don't reach a centre's specified altitude you will remain
under the control of a Departure or Approach controller. This altitude
setting can be changed from within ProFlight's settings page
and defaults to 14,500'
Q: PFE is working and I can hear the controllers talking to
me but I can't hear the pilot's voice.
A: Check the Game Commander option in ProFlight and ensure it
is unchecked
Q: When compiling my flight plan I chose the option to write the
flight plan data to the GPS. However, when loading the GPS I don't see any
flight plan data.
A: Please remember ProFlight 2000 was written for use
in FS2000, consequently certain options (like writing to the FS GPS) are
no longer functional. Please see the section "What does not work
that used to work in ProFlight" for more details on what ProFlight
features do and do not work. Also please see the section "First
steps... only steps..." for details on using flight plans with the
FS GPS.
Q: I have been trying to generate weather in ProFlight but
it doesn't seem to work!
A: That's because it doesn't work! Please see the
section "What does not work that used to work in ProFlight" for
more details.
Q: I'm using
ActiveSky ATC vectors me to land VFR on runway 21. At the same time all AI
were landing and departing runway 03, the opposite end. Why?
A: This can happen when
using an external weather programs such as ActiveSky. Pro Flight ATC
reads the weather and chooses the correct runway, but ASV6 may update
the weather forcing a change of the active runway. FS9/FSX ATC will
change the active runway, but PFE has already made its choice, hence the
incursion. To avoid this, it is necessary to use the "suppression"
options according to the type of flight/aircraft. Using the New Route
and Navigation Log will be helpful too.
Please see your ActiveSky manual for details and how to use these
powerful features, it is usually located (Windows XP) at:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator
9\Modules\ASv6\User Guide
If one chooses not to take these extra steps in
ActiveSky, then using the default FS9/FSX real weather instead of
ActiveSky will prevent this issue from happening while using PF ATC.
Q: I changed my call sign
in ProFlight, recompiled the ADV Flight File, but I'm still hearing my old
call sign.
A: Check to see if you
have a call sign set in PFE option. If you do then you
must delete it. Pilots Voice, Airline and Call sign each override the
same settings in ProFlight but can be useful if you always want to use
the same call sign even if using an ADV Flight File created by another
user with their embedded call sign.
Q: The approach to my
destination was rubbish. I was far to high when cleared for the approach!
A: Adjust you flight plan
descent profile during compilation. Remember, your flight will only be
as good as your flight planning, just as in the real world.
Q: I found a bug whilst
using ProFlight. How do I report it and when will you fix it?
A: The actual ProFlight
2000 program has not been changed by us nor will it ever be. ProFlight
2000 was developed by Tom Main and Robert Mackay and released in 2000.
It is not our program, we do not have the source code and there will be
no fixes for any problems found.
Q: After PFE had a
problem and crashed my Regional Settings appear to be wrong and numbers are
not being displayed correctly?
A: Restart
PFE then immediately close it using the Exit button - That
should reset your numeric regional settings to their original state.
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Latest
Releases
1st March 2024
PF3 version
3.22.0
Latest
(Free) update for PF3 - ATC
at its best, for use with FS9/FSX/P3D, MSFS and XPlane. Use it alongside FDC for the ultimate flight
experience.
11th April 2023
FDC version 3.14
After more
than 20 years of service to nearly 30,000 users we have finally
retired FDC. Support for FDC continues .
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