Suggestions for dissapearing aircraft

Live
#1

Not sure if this is fit for #live, tell me if im supposed to move it

Tagging along from this topic about issues related to dissappearing planes

Today while approaching TNCM, and entering the GPS cone i noticed a very slow flying B763 ahead of me so i slowed down to match his speed and maintain separation.

Maybe 1-2 minutes later he completely dissappeared, along with a few other planes in the area. I maintained speed, thinking that it was just the airplane dot dissapearing.
But when i got to a 3-4nm final, and the plane still wasnt there, i sped up from slowest practical speed (since traffic was crazy and i didnt want to hold up the queue, i thought he disconected)

Less than a mile from the threshold, the dot reappeared and i realised the plane was still slowing down, and had yet to backtaxi to vacate the runway and i soon promptly got a go around.

My two questions are:

  1. Do you have any tips to mitigate such issues, and situations?

  2. Whats the deal with airplane dots anyway (ie. why its always changing which planes are shown, why can i see pmanes that are 200nm away but not all that are 5nm next to me), and is there a way to fix this issue (context below)

(Context for 2.) - same flight, while still approaching TNCM at 50nm out i can see some of the planes lining up at the end of the GPS cone, then holding around the airport - i suddenly see every plane on the ground, but half of the airbourne planes are gone, on the downwind leg - planes in sequence with me appear, then dissappear again, and finally what happened on final is listed above

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#2

If it wasn’t just him, as you said it was, I’m pretty sure it’s an issue on your connection. Did you check your live server status? If that shows anything other than a green check mark there’s your problem.

Chances are you were the one that disappeared from everyone else’s map and you reappeared on short final after the controller already made the assumption that you left which caused the go around.

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#3

If this happens on the ground at the airport. I’d wait about 30 seconds before moving ahead to where the airplane was when it disappeared. If it happens in the air while on final, I’d announce a go around. And if your not near the final I’d make a left or right 360 for spacing.

Thanks,
Mason

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#4

@IanD My connection was fine, i was even on my 4G which is better than my wifi. Not all planes dissapeared, it only i think switched which were seen. I could see planes climbing out of TJSJ so i dont think that was the issue

@MJP_27 ill do that, tnx

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#5

Your first question was already answered, so I’ll weigh in on the second one. The amount of aircraft seen on the minimap (or the full map) is limited for performance reasons in Infinite Flight. I believe that the most amount of aircraft you can see on the minimap (or the full map) is 20 and they are usually the nearest ones to you. Also, if you move your map (scope and location) some aircraft may disappear and others may appear because of the limit of 20 (I think!) which are displayed which may explain why those 5nm away from you disappeared given the context. There isn’t a ‘fix’ for it, it’s how the map is designed.

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#6

As for this, I always keep 5NM distance beforehand to give the guy some time after landing. As far as I know, there’s two types of disappearing. The connection time out and a long lag spike. The difference being position after disappearing. A guy with a laggy device will appear closer after disappearing, so in this case, a go around may be required. For the connection issues they may remain in the same position while in flight after disappearing, so things can be alright in most cases. But should an aircraft disappear whether lag or not, expect the unexpected. I would at least maintain slowest practical speed while taking note of the aircraft behind you as a first step. Should the airport require back taxi like TNCM in this case, I would go around just to be safe unless he already exited the runway when he appears again.

I hope this wasn’t too much to take in 😂

This is a known issue. It works in a way like the Level of Detail system as you zoom farther away in an external camera looking at your plane. This system reduces the number of position updates for far away aircraft on the radar. For the ground aircraft disappearing, I think they have a set limit on how many non-rendered aircraft can be shown in your local vicinity, so sometimes you’ll see aircraft on the ground disappearing. I think it’s a device performance saving thing, but I’m no dev 😅

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#7

@Maxim i didnt count but id say its much more than 20. I never see only the nearest ones, as i said before i saw planes departing from TJSJ, but not someone 10nm behind on the same STAR. But ill try to keep my maps zoomed in on my location, and see if it helps. Tnx!!

@Nate_Schneller uhhh

Unfortunatly i have to use this opportunity to throw shade at the ATC. I was unable to maintain 5nm separation since i was being vectored by APP, and when i got my landing clearence i was 6th in sequence… at the start of the GPS cone. Spacing was terrible and as i said the 763 in front of me was by that point already going 145IAS so i was stuck between a rock and a hard place pretty much.
Tnx for all the info anyway!!

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#8

Bdw @Maxim

Screenshot_20200808-004420
Screenshot_20200808-0044202220×1080 788 KB

Thats a hell of a lot more than 20 :)

Simillar example, i was at TJSJ and saw planes up to TNCM, while planes around me despawned, and i tried keepeing the maps zoomed in and it didnt help much, i still got some dissappearences.

I think that in clonclusion its due to lag in general (not on the phone end) when at a crowded airport, for example today when i was landing at LIRF, where there was less traffic, i also saw a more stable minimap.

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#9

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