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Actually it's a bit simpler, I've been playing around with that page and found just entering an ICAO code in the "station ID" block and pressing "fetch" gets me the current metar for that airport in a couple of seconds, it appears in the METAR String space above that. I can then type in a name and save as a new template and that appears in the upper left box. Now it's a matter of deciphering those three options at the bottom to get the selected template to load for the next flight, or maybe I'm not selecting the correct options in FS2004 (got it to work once, don't know how, and had an interesting flight from Seattle to Vancouver in heavy clouds, light gusty wind, and scattered rain ...the current weather at KPAE).

Well, donned a pith helmet, grabbed a machete and backpack of supplies, and made a foray into the dark realms of the hall closet in search of the CD or DVD which had my AS6.5. By a remarkable stroke of luck it was on the 8th FS disc I scanned. Apparently it will input metar data - Though I would appreciate any assistance on downloading, saving, and implementing this data. (I've never done this before, AS was a wonderful "set it and forget it" software that handled everything in the background.)

From where would I save these? And how to get AS to use them? (I still have AS on a disc somewhere so can reinstall it.) I miss the variable, almost random, nature of weather when flying with AS, it's not the same when you consciously select a theme before a flight, plus AS drew from a huge pool of textures for its display.

I was away from FS for a couple of years (system ate its mobo), when I returned AS6.5 wasn't working, the magnanimous devs having shut down the servers. I asked here if there was anything AS could still do or should I just delete it. Consensus was it is now useless. After I deleted it someone posted you could download weather files and load them into AS, but when I asked from where to download the files and how to load them into AS ...everyone got quiet.

The ActiveSky servers were taken down years ago, so there is no source for their weather data. I've been told you can download weather files and AS will display them (but people are reticent to tell you how). All the others are online. There is FSrealWX, payware with a 30 day free trial. I have been unable to get it to work (it installs, runs, downloads something, then complains that I have no internet connection), others say it works well but not as good as AS. And FSGRW, another payware, no demo/trial so I've not tried it. You can also create weather themes to load before a flight. There are a few available for download, a set of around forty by Adrian Shortall, another set from ORBX, and I've been told FSX themes will work in FS2004.

Rules are rules! And there are exceptions to everything. I doubt anyone objects to you getting an extension to complete the event. Remember Rule #1 - Have fun! I had no trouble with paperwork. At each stop I told them the next aircraft had it.

For me what is included is secondary to what may be created. FS has always been open ended so third parties have provided virtually anything you could want to fly. Let us hope FS does not follow the trend of some race sims who've made modding so difficult that most people don't bother.

Boxed DVDs easily available on amazon and ebay

The title says it all. My system easily maintains 30fps except at very busy airports such as Heathrow, where it may drop to 20. But this EC-135 gets around 10fps even when flying alone out in the sticks. It does have a full interior modeled, but I have business jets with full cabins which have no fps issues. Textures are standard 1024x1024, so that shouldn't be a problem. Is there anything I can do to improve this situation? (running in lower res is not an option)

Yes, the really big ones always float to the top.

You should have no trouble removing Steam. In fact many of their games will run normally after uninstalling their "management software", and I've never heard of their software interfering with anything else on a system. But I find their business paradigm so execrable that they will never get a penny from me.

Well, I'm finally attempting my US Capitals Tour in a helicopter. Also flying Iqaluit-Ushuaia in a DC-3 (these are, respectively, the northernmost and southernmost airports in the western hemisphere with regular scheduled airline traffic). And an air rally route from Tunisia to England in a Cessna 150 (thanks to whoever posted that map).

Steam is a totalitarian outfit who have convinced a generation of gamers they are the only source of computer games. But their draconian demand that you accept installation of several hundred meg of "management software" along with those games has turned many against them; this software monitors everything on your system and reports back to Steam, it also allows them to "update", add, remove, or move any of their software at their discretion ...without your knowledge, much less permission. Gaming sites are rife with threads of "what happened to my saves?" or "where are the cfg files?", to which the answer is always, "oh, Steam updated last night, those files were moved to ....". The fanboys tell you that all this can be disabled. Really? If I can truly disable all this, why force me to install it in the first place? As I wrote them many years ago, "You could offer me your entire catalog for one dollar, but if that entails mandatory installation of anything other than the games themselves, it is 'thanks but no thanks'. On the other hand, do away with that unnecessary and unwanted software and you could quadruple the price of your games and I would be there, credit card in hand". Also note that many Steam games do not contain the full original game contents. But my complaint is less with Steam itself, which I can otherwise ignore, as with those developers who decide to solely release their game via Steam, thus depriving me of the option of where to spend my money. With anything else I buy, from a hamburger to a new car, I have a choice of where to make the purchase; but these devs are telling me "if you want my game, buy it from Steam", and I say, "if you want my money, give me an option". Just my opinion ...and we know what opinions are like.

I take much of this with a grain of salt. Compare his recommendations (values often in the 200000+ range, with nothing to support this choice of values) with those of others who point out a max value is 4 and anything above that is set to 4 in-game. Not saying don't try this but consider this is the only site proposing such extreme settings.