Jump to content

Madeira X Visual Aids Missing


maDBoos

Recommended Posts

Really nice scenery indeed, amazing landscape. Being Madeira resident and working at the airport, found it very detailed. However, noticed some visual aids missing in the scenery which are crucial in real life and could bring some more realism and detail to scenery which are:

1) PAPI's on right hand side when landing runway 05 are missing (white and red lights which provide visual slope information in a 3º degrees angle). In real life runway 05 has it on both sides (captain and first officer sides) and runway 23 has only on left hand side (captain's side);

2) Lead-in guiding white lights on runway 05 right base course don't flash at all, except the first one. In real life all lights flash in sequence to help pilots performing right base to reach runway 05 final.

3) Other details, but less important are fences missing around the airport, mainly in front of widebodies parking stands (A13/A14/A15/A16), and parking stands numbers on vertical signals are all the same, nr. 01 :|

In case I find other details, I will be updating in this very topic.

Best regards

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 61
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Very nice scenery indeed, but to me the lack of working running lights is a real drawback. The lights do not work during the day, at night only the first one is flashing. They were working in the FS9 version of Madeira, though.

I once flew into Madeira as a passenger, and I recently flew the runway 5 VFR approach in the B737 simulator of the Sabena Flight Academy at the Brussels airport and those running lights appeared to be an important part of the landing procedure over there.

Jean-Jacques

Best regards

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I once flew into Madeira as a passenger, and I recently flew the runway 5 VFR approach in the B737 simulator of the Sabena Flight Academy at the Brussels airport and those running lights appeared to be an important part of the landing procedure over there.

Definitely, those running lights (lead-in guidance lights) are crucial, specially at night or during foggy days, for a successful approach for runway 05, and for some reason they're mentioned on LPMA charts.

Best regards

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Definitely, those running lights (lead-in guidance lights) are crucial, specially at night or during foggy days, for a successful approach for runway 05, and for some reason they're mentioned on LPMA charts.

Best regards

The lack of approach lighting is a serious problem. The manual says the following:

Q: Why can´t I look through the runway bridge at LPMA - Madeira?

A: It was possible at one time. But... because of this the runway/approach lighting would not show. As Madeira has a special approach we just had to give the priority to the lighting system.

This implies that the lighting should be working.

Regards

Howard

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There must be some misunderstanding. The only runway/approach lighting close to runway bridge are Runway 23 PAPI's (Precision Approach Path Indicator) which are located on the left hand side when approaching rwy 23, and missing on the right hand side on runway 05 on Aerosoft's Madeira X scenery. These kind of visual aids shall always be on left hand side and optionally on right handside as well in order to provide visual slope indication for at least the captain (left side) or for both captain and first officer (left and right side), which is the case in Madeira's runway 05. Now, the white flashing lights on runway 05 approach/base leg are not flashing, except the first one which looks like an isolated lighthouse.

Regards

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There must be some misunderstanding. The only runway/approach lighting close to runway bridge are Runway 23 PAPI's (Precision Approach Path Indicator) which are located on the left hand side when approaching rwy 23, and missing on the right hand side on runway 05 on Aerosoft's Madeira X scenery. These kind of visual aids shall always be on left hand side and optionally on right handside as well in order to provide visual slope indication for at least the captain (left side) or for both captain and first officer (left and right side), which is the case in Madeira's runway 05. Now, the white flashing lights on runway 05 approach/base leg are not flashing, except the first one which looks like an isolated lighthouse.

Regards

Indeed i also noticed that the lead-in guidance lights are not present, altough they are mentioned in the manual. Even with autogen settings to max i can"t see them.

Any suggestions??

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Indeed i also noticed that the lead-in guidance lights are not present, altough they are mentioned in the manual. Even with autogen settings to max i can"t see them.

Any suggestions??

Strange that nobody from Aerosoft has jumped in yet, 11 days after the first post!

The box version is out now, so I wonder if the running lights have been corrected in it now.

J.J.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello Folks,

I'll get them checked out and then see whats happening with these.

Hello Mr. Shaun.

As mentioned in the portuguese customer support section, please feel free to request any help since I work at Madeira Airport Operations Service, the very same service which guided and assisted your photographer when he came here to collect several photos for Aerosoft scenery. I'll be very glad to assist you in any question or doubt.

Best regards

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • Developer

Just bumping this topic. This looks like an impressive product, but I can't justify buying it without the lead-in lights working. Has there been any progress in resolving this?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just bumping this topic. This looks like an impressive product, but I can't justify buying it without the lead-in lights working. Has there been any progress in resolving this?

Michael, considering that Aerosoft has not reacted to this post, I think that they are absolutely not interested in this issue that some of us have with the non working running lights. I purchased the FSX version because 1)up to now I have always been happy with their products and 2)I had also purchased their previous FS9 version of WM which had working running lights.

I have un-installed Wonderful Madeira from my computer and I am going to look at the possibility of re-selling my version of WM second hand. But I first want to look at the legal implications of doing so.

Jean-Jacques

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello Jean-Jacques,

I believe that Aerosoft did respond and I will be asking about whether we can get this issue looked into with the developers.

Thank you Shaun. You must be "in the secrets of the gods" as I have not yet seen a response from Aerosoft, but maybe I missed it somewhere...

Jean-Jacques

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello Jean-Jacques,

Ah I see, but you are getting a getting a personal response from Aerosoft ;)

Check out the mugshots on this page here.

One you will recognise.

Hello Shaun,

OK, so if I am "translating" correctly you are giving me a response that you will be asking if the developers can look into that issue?

So, I'll be waiting and will check here from time to time, and if this issue finally gets resolved I shall re-install Wonderfull Madeira on FSX. In between I'll use the FS9 version...sigh

Thank you

Jean-Jacques

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is this just a case of some users not seeing the lead-in lights.....can anyone confirm they're there at all?

I must admit, I too find it a little disappointing that this amazingly detailed scenery is effectively useless for me without lead-in lights and have only tried twice. I'm assuming that I'm in the minority here and that everyone else can see them. Surely the whole point of this airport is the well know to be difficult approach?

Either way, it wouldn't hurt the developer to show his face here and either acknowledge the problem, or explain why only some people have it.

Paul

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello Folks,

I spoke to Mathijs regarding the Lead In lights and he told me the following.

Apparently in FSX there is no way to get sequenced lights as in the FS2004 version as it cannot be done.

However if they were to use the old FS2004 coding to get it to work it would slow the scenery down to a crawl.

So I'm afraid we are stuck with the way it is now util such time as it becomes possible to do this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello Folks,

I spoke to Mathijs regarding the Lead In lights and he told me the following.

Apparently in FSX there is no way to get sequenced lights as in the FS2004 version as it cannot be done.

However if they were to use the old FS2004 coding to get it to work it would slow the scenery down to a crawl.

So I'm afraid we are stuck with the way it is now util such time as it becomes possible to do this.

Thanks for letting us know Shaun.

But it is too bad this was not clearly published on the product information page, because I would never have purchased the scenery if I would have known that the running lights were not implemented in the FSX version. I am not making a big deal out of this, but a little bit of honesty on Aerosoft's part would have been welcomed here. I have purchased quite a few products from them and this is the first time that I feel trapped. But I wanted to add that the scenery is beautiful and that the lack of running lights should not be a showstopper for those simmers that are mereley interested in enjoying a beautiful scenery.

Jean-Jacques

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for letting us know Shaun.

But it is too bad this was not clearly published on the product information page, because I would never have purchased the scenery if I would have known that the running lights were not implemented in the FSX version. I am not making a big deal out of this, but a little bit of honesty on Aerosoft's part would have been welcomed here. I have purchased quite a few products from them and this is the first time that I feel trapped. But I wanted to add that the scenery is beautiful and that the lack of running lights should not be a showstopper for those simmers that are mereley interested in enjoying a beautiful scenery.

Jean-Jacques

I was about to echo you Jean-Jacques, in that maybe making it clearer in the description would be good. I mean, even at night it's very difficult to find these lights and having all but one of them static, makes life harder.

However, having said that, I've spent some time with Google and Youtube trying to find evidence that the lights should at least be brighter i.e. easier to find. There is none! So for anyone looking at this thread and wondering if it's worth it, have no doubts. The 05 approach is a bit difficult and to be honest, I think earlier versions of this airport made the approach unrealistically easy, but, if you check the charts first and make sure you're in the right place at the right height it's not that bad.

One thing I did notice from the various videos, aside from the fact that those lights aren't very bright in real life, is that many of these approaches use a staggered turn and not the nice smooth turn suggested by the charts. One of the reasons for wanting to see the lead-in lights is that it's not easy to see where you're going when looking toward the runway from the left seat during a turn. Well, it seems this is true to real life approaches as well! The cure that I've seen in use is to simply stagger the turn by making momentary adjustments to level the wing and take a glance to the right before banking again.

And, yes, the rest of the scenery is amazingly detailed!

Paul

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was about to echo you Jean-Jacques, in that maybe making it clearer in the description would be good. I mean, even at night it's very difficult to find these lights and having all but one of them static, makes life harder.

However, having said that, I've spent some time with Google and Youtube trying to find evidence that the lights should at least be brighter i.e. easier to find. There is none! So for anyone looking at this thread and wondering if it's worth it, have no doubts. The 05 approach is a bit difficult and to be honest, I think earlier versions of this airport made the approach unrealistically easy, but, if you check the charts first and make sure you're in the right place at the right height it's not that bad.

One thing I did notice from the various videos, aside from the fact that those lights aren't very bright in real life, is that many of these approaches use a staggered turn and not the nice smooth turn suggested by the charts. One of the reasons for wanting to see the lead-in lights is that it's not easy to see where you're going when looking toward the runway from the left seat during a turn. Well, it seems this is true to real life approaches as well! The cure that I've seen in use is to simply stagger the turn by making momentary adjustments to level the wing and take a glance to the right before banking again.

And, yes, the rest of the scenery is amazingly detailed!

Paul

Hello Paul,

In August this year I spent 45 min flying a B-737-500 simulator at the SFA (Sabena Flight Academy) at the Brussels Airport (a gift for my 70th birthday!). I asked for a visual approach runway 05 at Madeira. During that day-flight, I could'nt miss the running lights: they were bright and well visible. I also remember landing there as a passenger during my professional life. I was lucky to be seated on the right side of the plane and I remember clearly seeing the running lights during downwind.

Jean-Jacques

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello Paul,

In August this year I spent 45 min flying a B-737-500 simulator at the SFA (Sabena Flight Academy) at the Brussels Airport (a gift for my 70th birthday!). I asked for a visual approach runway 05 at Madeira. During that day-flight, I could'nt miss the running lights: they were bright and well visible. I also remember landing there as a passenger during my professional life. I was lucky to be seated on the right side of the plane and I remember clearly seeing the running lights during downwind.

Jean-Jacques

This is what bothered me to start with Jean-Jacques. I was lucky enough to have around 3 hours in the ATR simulator at Toulouse last year and we split the time between Madeira and London City. As you say, the running lights simply couldn't be missed and it was pretty simple to make a very smooth right turn toward the island and pick up the lights and follow them until on the runway heading. I assumed that was what they were there for?

With this scenery, even at night, this is not possible. The lights are visible at night, but they are certainly not easy to find!

The reason I spent some time looking for actual video of the approach is that I've not seen the approach myself in real life, and I was wondering if the ATR simulator left me with an unrealistic impression of the brightness of the lights. Whilst the video I found made the lights look no brighter than they are in the Aerosoft release, a comprressed video on Youtube is no substitution for real life exprerience!

So...................if the developers are looking (maybe a forum mod could alert the developer to the thread?), whilst I understand the reason for there being no chance whatsoever of having all the approach lead in lights flashing, would you please consider making them much brighter (and bigger?). Finding a way to light them during the day would be nice too :-)

Cheers.

Paul

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So...................if the developers are looking (maybe a forum mod could alert the developer to the thread?), whilst I understand the reason for there being no chance whatsoever of having all the approach lead in lights flashing, would you please consider making them much brighter (and bigger?). Finding a way to light them during the day would be nice too :-)

I am 100% with you on this Paul. So, dear Shaun, you've got a mission from both of us: go & get those developers! I wo'nt be able to come back on this thread before sunday evening, as my wife and I will be travelling back from warm & sunny Spain to cold and rainy Belgium on saturday and sunday, but for sure I'll be checking-in on sunday evening

:D

Cheers,

Jean-Jacques

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
Hello Folks,

I spoke to Mathijs regarding the Lead In lights and he told me the following.

Apparently in FSX there is no way to get sequenced lights as in the FS2004 version as it cannot be done.

However if they were to use the old FS2004 coding to get it to work it would slow the scenery down to a crawl.

So I'm afraid we are stuck with the way it is now util such time as it becomes possible to do this.

O.K. so as I understand it, there is for the moment no way to get those running lights working correctly in FSX. I had purchased the scenery based upon my appreciation of the FS9 version who had working running lights. But Aerosoft did not mention this lack of an essential functionnality of Funchal's airport. So I feel trapped.... Shaun, would please take me out of your mailing list? This is the last product I will have purchased from Aerosoft (and I have purchased quite a few over the last years). You know, in the long run, being honest with your customers pays better than anything else.

Anyway, I am wishing you a Merry Christmas.

Jean-Jacques

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. Privacy Policy & Terms of Use