Cross-Country Soaring 2004
User Guide 
14. Troubleshooting
If you encounter a problem that isn't corrected using the following information, you can get help from other Cross-Country Soaring users at the SOAR Message Board. Also, feel free to e-mail me, and I'll try to help (see Contacting the Author).
I experienced a problem.
If you have not fully registered (i.e., paid for and entered a registration key for) FSUIPC, then make sure you have manually registered CCS with FSUIPC. Click here for instructions and an explanation of the issue.
I launched CCS for a flight (or topo scan or glider performance test), and nothing happened (CCS didn’t appear to launch successfully).
Other FS modules have been known to interfere with CCS and prevent it from running. Uninstall or temporarily disable any other FS modules (or other types of programs using FSUIPC), and try again. Another potential cause is an improper upgrade of FSUIPC. If you have ever had another version of FSUIPC installed than the one that’s installed now, re-read the FSUIPC special instructions in this user guide’s Setup section.
I flew to a thermal (pointed to by a thermal “cheat” key), and there was no lift (or weaker lift than expected).
It’s possible that three thermals (the one to which you were headed and two others) were overlapping and that you were already in these two other thermals. CCS does not yet accurately handle the overlapping of more than two thermals. If you’re in two thermals, you’ll experience the combined lift from the two but will not experience the lift from any other thermals overlapping your current position. The best way to find out if this is the case is to fly directly through (within 0.1 miles of) the thermal (pressing the appropriate “cheat” key often to help you navigate precisely) with wings level. After the thermal is ~1 mi. behind you, turn around and fly right back through it. If there’s still no lift, then approach the thermal from 90 deg. different bearing and repeat.
When I pressed one of the thermal “cheat” keys, I got the message "Don’t expect much lift at this time of day."
It's either too early or too late in the day. Refer to Auto-Generated Soaring Conditions, and set the time of day to a time that is known to have lift.