Victor and Jet Airways - MEA is always zero?

**freddy** · 09-21-2009, 06:59 AM

I have noticed when accessing the World - Map option in FSX that the MEA (Minimum Enroute Altitude) shown for Victor airways and for Jet airways always seems to be ZERO regardless of which one you click on or where in the world you are.

I am currently doing some flying in Tasmania (that small island off the south coast of Australia) and I can assure you that if you flew at an MEA of 0 feet you would certainly hit mountains.

Why does FSX not correctly show MEAs?

**ReggieF5421** · 09-21-2009, 02:55 PM

The FSX Map view is not intended to replace VFR and Low/High Altitude Route charts.

FS does have a world grid system with a MSA (Minimum Safe Altitude) for each grid.

When you create a flightplan, FS will set the altitude for the highest MSA for the grids the flight plan crosses. FS is not setup/ programmed to varying altitudes on different segments of a flight plan, rather one altitude in the FP.

You have the option of varying your altitude by requesting different altitudes, but you have to do the research from external real world sources.

**freddy** · 09-21-2009, 05:45 PM

I have on occassion used real world sources to obtain the appropriate information. And, yes, I note that flight plans created within the sim do provide an MSA.

I personally find it a great disappointment that for everything that is good about FSX, there are some things that also let it down. Considering some of the great scenery packages out there, it is not uncommon to want to jump in to a plane and just fly some VFR. Without simple and quick access to basic MEA information, one has to either set up a flight plan or "do a little extra homework". For me, it ruins the spontaneity and detracts from the instant fun. Not to mention one of the very definitions of VFR.

I consider the lack of MEA information on the map page to be a bad omission. If you hover your mouse over the airway line and the program displays the balloon tip with MEA in it, then what is the point of coding that if you are not going to populate it with valid information? It you aint gonna code it properly, then leave it out in the first place. I won't miss what I didn't already have. It wreaks of yet another thing that simply got left and probably forgotten at the time the code was written or didn't get picked up during the BETA phase. As someone who works in IT, I completely understand how timelines, release schedules and other similar factors can inadvertently cause that result. And I also understand that BETA testing cannot be expected to test and pick up every single thing. But, with two Service Packs, I am a little bemused it was not fixed, or removed if there was too much work required to add in the details.

**ReggieF5421** · 09-21-2009, 06:26 PM

FSX is filled with many what we call place holders. Things with properties, capabilites which are not yet used, like airway MEA.

We saw some of these filled and used in the transition from FS2004 to FSX, but there are still dozens not yet used.

One of the big problems with the way FS development was done is that things like the AI engine were written by short term contractors, and the coordination with the full time staff appears to have been minimal.

One of the most glaring is the parking spot assignments for user aircraft and AI aircraft. We can pretty much pinpoint where AI aircraft will be assigned to park even on an airport with 100-200 AI aircraft. We can also pinpoint the spot for the user aircraft, however, all the elements which allow us to make AI parking consistent - most do not work for the user aircraft.

We can see they use different unrelated .DLL routines. Something as simple as parking codes is key for the AI routines, and totally ignored by the user process.

**freddy** · 09-22-2009, 03:18 AM

Ah, you are talking my language. As I mentioned, I work in IT. So I am familiar with "Place Holders". I am also familiar with the difficulties that can arise working with short term contractors. Been there, done that. (And doing it right now as we speak in fact.)

Now that you have mentioned "Place Holders" and various (other) capabilites that are in there but are still not used, I can clearly see a reason behind how and why MEA would be showing as zero on the map. And you have reminded me that FSX was developed based on adding, updating and improving upon code from earlier versions; over time. So the zero MEA makes sense to me now. I may not like it showing as zero, but with an understanding of why it is like that, I can in a strange kind of way, "forgive" it.

**ReggieF5421** · 09-22-2009, 07:53 AM

Those place holders are some of the things I regret most about the closure of the FS/Aces development team.

Things like taxiway weight limits and parking spot pushback control. I don't know if anyone was ever planning to write the .DLL code to make those effective.

Oh the potential, which will never be used. Makes me want to cry sometimes.

**freddy** · 09-22-2009, 05:30 PM

Originally Posted by ReggieF5421

Those place holders are some of the things I regret most about the closure of the FS/Aces development team.

Things like taxiway weight limits and parking spot pushback control. I don't know if anyone was ever planning to write the .DLL code to make those effective.

Oh the potential, which will never be used. Makes me want to cry sometimes.

Agreed. It is an unfortunate situation.