Dauntless Aviation
 
FAA Written Test Prep
Checkride Oral Exam Prep
Pilot eLogbook System
Aircraft Systems Reviews
EASA Theory Exam Prep
China ATPL Theory Prep
UK PPL/IMC Theory Prep
Transport Canada Theory Exam Prep
Aircraft Recognition Tutor
SimPlates IFR Plates
FAR/AIM Reference
All Software and Apps
Aviation Freebies
Free Aircraft Checklists
MetalWings Diecast
 
Products by Platform
 
Support
Knowledgebase / FAQ
Contact
Employment
SBD Dauntless
 
Bulk Purchases
Site/Lab Licensing
Affiliate Program
 
Home
 
Important Message

Customer notice / "Product Not Found"

We have been recently informed of what appears to be serious problems with our merchant provider.

In short, while our customers have successfully placed orders and received their products without issue, our merchant partner has withheld paying us(and, based on what we read on internet forums) and many or all of their other clients for several months.

For customers who bought from us via them, you received your order and from your standpoint there are no issues. You're fine.

However, as obviously we need to get paid to do business, we have taken the rather drastic step of turning off all orders via our website. This mostly affects PC software. It does NOT affect iOS, Mac, or Android apps -- all those run as normal. This also does not affect already purchased products.

If you can, we ask you to please buy the equivalent app or service from us via the iOS, Mac, and/or Android/Google Play app stores. There is no problem there whatsoever for us or you.

Windows PC app orders are totally on hold. You will now get a 'product not found' message if you try to order.

We will try to find another merchant provider as soon as we can to try to begin taking orders via our website. However, this is not an easy or fast process so it may take quite some time.

We are shocked by this, as our merchant provider provided us and related parties with reliable services for over 20 years. They were considered a gold standard in the industry. In fact, they just had a roll-out of impressive back-end systems that we as merchants use. So, we don't know what's going on there.


We will keep you informed as we can. We will also set the prices of our products unbuyably high for the time being to prevent people from buying in case we missed some ways for users to get to the sales pages.

This is not in any way terminal for us despite this very significant likely total loss. But it will take us some time to make the necessary adjustments.





Dauntless Helpdesk
Helpdesk Home | Submit Issue | Knowledgebase | Search | Your Issues | Keycode/Login Help | Update Your Info

FAQ > SimPlates
Common Fixes to most SimPlates issues

Simplates Updating Database on every startup? We are aware of this issue which was caused by an obscure programming bug that did not reveal itself until one random day not too long ago. We apologize for this bug and understand that it is slightly annoying. We are working hard to correct this, but ask for your patience as while it may seem simple, remarkably, it's actually quite tricky to fix. It is not necessary to write to us letting us know about this - we are aware. Again, we deeply apologize and thank you for your patience.
If you have trouble downloading plates:
  • VERY VERY VERY IMPORTANT: Start the app, "check for updates" (or similar) from the main menu. Make sure you have the latest SimPlates master database.
  • It may be that our servers are temporarily down. You can check our site www.SimPlates.com AND ALSO www.FAATest.com. If you can reach both sites with your web browser, then our servers that send many but not all of the plates are probably UP.
  • If you just can't view USA plates but can view non-USA plates (try a few to check!) then it may be that the FAA's site is temporarily unavailable or having issues.
  • Try updating the OS on your device (make sure you have the latest non-beta Windows, iOS, AndroidOS, MacOS version and all pending updates) and REBOOT YOUR DEVICE.
  • Even if there were no pending OS updates, try rebooting your device. This can often fix things, including effectively "fixing" DNS issues caused by your ISP.
  • Make sure no security issue is causing issues. Problematic items can include any of the following
    • Proxy Servers / VPN
    • Anti-virus or security "suites" (these are often very problematic, even if they come from a "big name" source).
    • Windows Firewall or the firewall built into your OS
    • National Firewalls if your county, region, or ISP is the sort which censors internet traffic
    • etc.
  • Uninstall SimPlates, reboot your device, re-install it from SimPlates.com or an official app store / app market link that you can find from there. Once you start SimPlates, use the "check for updates" feature.
  • CHECK THE OTHER FAQ ITEMS AT WWW.SIMPLATES.COM/FAQ AS THERE IS MORE HELP AND GUIDANCE FOR ALL SIMPLATES ISSUES THERE.



  • The following may help
    1. (Applies to all versions) Make sure you have the latest program/app and database (update as necessary). In the PC version, click on 'Help/About' to check. In other versions, use the 'Check for Updates' or equivalent button from the main menu to get the latest database and/or use your appstore's way of checking for app/program updates to see if there is a new version of the main program.
    2. (Applies to PC and Mac versions) Try the 'external PDF viewer' option under help/about.
    3. (Applies to PC and Mac versions) Make sure you have latest Adobe PDF Reader installed - this solves "localized string not found", white screens and other similar issues.
    4. (Applies to PC version especially) Check your internet 'security' software. Certain "security" suites create more problems than they solve and may be interfering.
    5. (Applies to Mac and PC versions Try re-installing Adobe Acrobat reader from Adobe's website. Make sure it's actually from Adobe's website and not some third-party site where the version may be old.
    6. (Applies to ALL versions) Try rebooting your computer / device. This fixes many issues.

    PDF Issue on PC or Mac Version? Try the above! And if it doesn't work, carefully read steps 1-2-3-4 above!

    If you are having problems viewing ALL plates and are getting errors that look like PDF or Adobe Acrobat errors, try the steps above. If you are just having problems with a tiny number of plates, then occasionally that plate may have gotten corrupted, either on your PC or on our servers. We will do our best to track down such plates if/when they occur, but we apologize that we cannot always correct all such corrupted plates. (Note at the time of this writing we have not yet detected any actually corrupted plates - we write this 'just in case').

    Related Issues
    USA plates are not loading correctly.
    Non-USA Plates are not loading correctly.
    When I try to view a plate, nothing happens or I get a 'white window.'