HamSammich

Jim, Thank you for that! BTW, could you tell me where (under which heading, and the command name) to find the toggle for the nose-wheel steering? Best, Marshall

Hiya Greg! Just did a flight from your KSNA to KSFO and did not crash. I disabled XEnivro. Whether that did it, or whether it's coincidental, I don't yet know. For Goran, again with the understanding that this is not a fully XP11 plane, and that you've said so, I picked up an issue you and Jim might want to look into as you port it over. The list of commands in the Joystick and Keystroke menu of XP11 doesn't populate. I've enclosed a screenshot. And keep up the great work. It's a wonderful plane! Best, marshall

I'll try. But, just to be clear, apart from the irregularities you mention, is XEnviro actually causing hard X-Plane crashes as well? best, Marshall

I, too, am crashing. No JAR plugin for me. Only with the Saab. Best, Marshall GizmoLog.txt Log.txt

Discovered a workaround for the vanishing menu: Just invoke one of the keystroke-bound boxes, such as Map (M). Then close it, et voila! The menu's accessible, again, either through mouse-hover or the Esc key. Best, Marshall

Appreciate it. For my part, I'll keep yanking plugins to see if there's a culprit there that's toxic in combo with SMP/RWC. A shame. Overcast from above, with the HD puffs is finally looking very plausible. And good. Pass onto Frank, though, that his choice of avoiding layer collisions by making ground fog "retreat" near low-dipping clouds seems somewhat more artfully hidden, but not much. IMO the visual oddities of such "collisions" are still preferable to the visual oddities of fog "retreating" or "advancing" as you climb or descend. One jars a little. The other makes shooting instrument approaches unfaithful to RW. Best, Marshall

>====>Preface, because Cameron thinks I've got an axe to grind: It's a MUCH improved program visually, and performance appears good. Also, I do understand it's a Day One release running on a beta platform. That said. . .Simple but fatal problem: The SkyMaxx and/or RWC plugin makes accessing the top menu bar impossible. Symptoms are repeatable and go away when SilverLining and RWC folders are removed from resources/plugins. They return when this is reversed. Accessing SkyMaxx's config window sets it off. Once it is opened and closed or, sometimes opened and "apply" is invoked, the menu bar becomes inaccessible. Neither moving the mouse to the top nor hitting the ESC or ALT key brings it back. It also corrupts the 3D panels of some, but not all, planes, turning some of the parts white. Rebooting Gizmo doesn't help. Nor does rebooting SASL. Again, this is totally repeatable and reversible. And, again, clashes with the personnel, notwithstanding, the product looks significantly improved. I have a video on this. I'm holding off posting it until you guys have a cance to diagnose and fix the problem. Best, Marshall MAXX_METAR.rwx GizmoLog.txt Log.txt

To Yidahoo, Lovely pictures. . .Now back to the fights. To Cameron, "Im really puzzled by this continued dialog which has undertones of distrust, frankly I am getting sick of it since it isn't what we are about." And there's the nub of it, wounded pride, and a sense of being misunderstood. A friend does high-level PR and hears this a lot. CEOs tell her this and she gives them a simple answer: Tough. Too bad. Suck it up. She also asks them to consider what they've done to earn this impression, because the alternative is they've got a uniquely different bunch of customers and, even if they do, it's suicidal to let the customers know that. So her bottom line to these executives is if they think they're misunderstood, mistrusted, etc., then they have somehow earned it. For Cameron, ask yourself why IXEG is not mistrusted, why LES is not mistrusted, why both have earned a reservoir of good will and SkyMaxx has not. As for your wounded pride, because you yourself know you're not getting rich, it's hard work, you put in long hours, the X-Plane platform makes it hard to develop weather add-ons in: All of that is praiseworthy. And irrelevant. Person-to-person? I admire it. Truly. Customer to company, especially if the product is subpar? I. Could. Not. Care. Less. Best, Marshall

Gcharrie, I'll just say I'll be as happy as anyone if you're right. Best, Marshall

Frank, Then I'll be very straightforward. This customer uses both and would dearly love it if your product were as good as, or better than, the competition. The Saab is. The IXEG, within their own stated limitations, is close. SkyMaxx, in my view, and with all due respect to your hard work and good intentions, simply is not. Perhaps not yet. Perhaps not ever. That's your riddle to solve. Best, Marshall

Appreciate it, Saul. Amen to recognition and acceptance. I know a news anchor who once praised a writer of his this way: "You take 'I hate it' better than anyone I know." Which, in this anchor's case, was really just extreme shorthand for saying that his writer knew how to mine criticism for ways of improving the end product. Ah, but we're speaking in parables, now, aren't we? And I'm looking forward to a high quality release, too. Best, Marshall

>>Hopefully that willingness was a delight as well. << It was certainly a plus. As is this conversation, believe it or not. :-) Best, Marshall

Cameron, Deduce? Sometimes I can barely find my way home at night, let alone deduce. :-) I only was saying that anyone using AS2016 would have easily spotted the problem I did. I mean, editors at The Times read The Washington Post. GM tears apart Hondas. Wal-Mart shadow-shops Target. That's what I was getting at. Best, Marshall

Cameron, You misunderstand. I wasn't asking whether you're interested in the platform. I was asking whether you, or the rest of the SkyMaxx people, look at a competing product, one that is widely seen as being state-of-the-art, and benchmark against it. Do you look at it, see how it renders a given METAR, how it draws and manages transitions, how it depicts clouds? It's like Mercedes buying BMWs, Lexuses, Cadillacs, etc., tearing them down, and using the knowledge to make better Benzes. They do it all the time. I guess I'm a little surprised that you don't. I was happy to help you fix a problem with low clouds and fog recently. Had you been benchmarking other weather apps that do it right, you wouldn't have needed me to bring it to your attention, and you'd probably have a better shot of finding other shortcomings sooner, fixing them and delighting your customers. Best, Marshall

Cameron, I'd like to be wrong. I'd really, really, really like to be wrong. When it comes to this, though, I'm always feeling like Charlie Brown, with my best friend's sister on the grass in front of me, holding a football. How long, approximately, before this thing comes out and I'm gloriously proven wrong? And if I can gently administer a little internet truth serum and ask, Cameron, do you benchmark against Active Sky, and in what ways do you see it as better or worse than SkyMaxx? Best, Marshall

Sorry to play house skeptic but. I dunno. Pictures 1, 3, and 5 seem to suggest unnatural "edges" of cloud coverage. I might be mistaken, but picture 1 shows signs of it in the distance, while 3 and 5 have evidence of the old "No clouds here, tons there" problem in the foreground. Hope I'm wrong, but looks no different from past releases. Can someone from SkyMaxx give me reason to believe this is not the case, and this time will be different?

I'm also a prevert--I like using VNAV+FD but no AP, to climb and descend. On descent, I'll eyeball it, and if the altitude or airspeed looks funny, I'll tweak by hand, using the flight director as a flight suggester. Best, Marshall

I generally use it most on the descent, but not the actual approach--unless, of course, it's an LNAV/VNAV approach.

Ooops. I see this has been answered.

What a highbrow operation you're running there! Best, Marshall

Nicely flown and a treat to watch. Thanks! Best, Marshall

Well, in so doing, you've sacrificed the reward that comes with the (considerable?) heartache of being a small business-owner. Namely, being able to make it right, and not relying on a cookie-cutter, bureaucratic system. You're a three-person company and you can't just "make it happen?" If so, then what's the point? Might as well be working for the Fortune 500. Best, Marshall

Yes. Well, that's just dandy, (insert your smiley face here). I asked you to solve the problem by this weekend because I've got an important (potentially important to YOU) demo to do and, instead, you reply you'll solve it in the order received. Well, naturally, it is NOT solved. And I cannot do the demo. But, hey! That's all right. No nice demo for SkyMaxx. Nice. No working version of SkyMaxx or RWC for potential customers to see. Groovy! You took the effort to reply, but not the effort to, you know, make it right. So. . . Oops! Thanks. All the drawbacks of a shade-tree operation, and none of the benefits. C'est la vie! Best, Marshall

Frank, Cameron, John: Several Windows reinstalls and I can no longer reactivate my RWC and SkyMaxx. I left a pair of tickets, but am messaging here as well because I've got big flying event this weekend and would be grateful to have the problem (my problem) solve by then. BTW, how to prevent this in the future? Will using the uninstallers each time release the activation slots? I fear I neglected too try. Now it's too late. The order numbers follow-- Thanks! ORDER NUMBER: 33463 (DELIVERED) Download Links: Real Weather Connector Link expires: Friday 24 February, 2017 2 downloads remaining. Order Date: Friday 15 April, 2016 Billed To: Marshall Arbitman Products: 1 Order Cost: $14.95 View ORDER NUMBER: 33422 (DELIVERED) Download Links: SkyMaxx Pro v3 Link expires: Friday 10 March, 2017 2 downloads remaining. Order Date: Thursday 14 April, 2016 Billed To: Marshall Arbitman Products: 1 Order Cost: $27.95

John, Frank, Just wanted to thank you for the VV fix. It works nicely. If there's a "season-to-taste" aspect of the interpretation, I'd suggest a little heavier, but by and large it's beginning to do the trick. Now you can see the danger you're about to fly into from above. It adds immeasurably to the realism because it adds to the decision-making equation. Can't wait for the fog. Thanks, again! Marshall