Does anyone know the right setting so that u can see the building and runway lights during normal rain like in real life. It seems that even the lightest rain will make landing difficult especially at night.
Thank you
Post moved from Discussion Hub, as the User Support Hub is a more appropriate category when seeking assistance.
Hi @HawthorneA4136
I don’t think I have an special settings for seeing runway lights from a reasonable distance once I’m below the ceiling. But I’ve never had any real issues with seeing runway lights.
This is a shot of an ILS approach about 2.7 nm from the runway, and you can see the runway lights. The rain doesn’t show up worth a darn in a screenshot, but it was raining at a medium rate. Enough rain to make an interesting approach.
A couple of thoughts:
If the flight is at night, make sure the field you’re going to actually has runway lighting. I’m sure most of the fields you’re going into probably do have lighting, but if it’s smaller fields, you might double check.
Keep in mind, that even during the daytime, just because it’s raining doesn’t not make the field IMC, and so the lights might not be on. I don’t have any idea if the sim actually simulates that condition. IRL, one easy test to see if a field with a rotating beacon is IMC, is to see if the beacon is operating. Beacons “normally” will not be activated during daytime (as defined by the FAA in the U.S.) unless the field is IMC. Not sure the sim models that accurately either!
But if the field you’re going into has runway lighting, and it’s “night” or the field is IMC in day or night, and you’re not seeing the lights, let me know and I’ll show you want settings I use. ( Many fields also have conditions of visibility or just policy, that even if they’re VFR, they’ll run the lights on during the day, either full or part time, or on demand.) But I don’t think there are any settings that would prohibit the field lights from being on when appropriate. And probably not modelled in the sim anyway.
If you’re looking for approach lighting, then lots of fields will run them full time or on demand, depending on the usage of the airport.
These are some general comments and conditions. There’s always more to the FAR’s guidance on lighting. But for your question, the answer should be that you should see them without any special settings that I can think of right off hand.
Regards