I’m not one to record videos or take screenshots - I tend to forget when I’m focussing on flying - but I just wanted to mention that I took a flight out of Carlisle, Cumbria UK, yesterday in the Carenado M20R for a trundle over the Lake District, and I was blown away (not literally, if you see what I mean)
Low lying cloud at Carlisle, was first advised by built-in ATC that conditions were not suitable for VFR and take-off permission denied. Never had that before. Could override though, and carried on regardless. Temperature was 2degC. At about 300ft, broke out of the cloud and the temperature climbed up to 5degC - a temperature inversion. Lots of cloud down below nestled in the valleys etc. Mountains of Lake District standing proud and clear of the cloud below.
Absolutely stunning. How they model all this is beyond me. What a remarkable achievement.
I had a very similar experience yesterday flying from Fort Augustus Airfield through the Scottish Highlands and landing at Broadford Aerodrome on Skye. All in VR and with the best possible settings I could squeeze out of my 1080 Card. The low level haze and clouds in the Valley gently swirling around were amazing and the breakthrough to clearer air above the haze was quite something.
Took a screenshot after stumbling upon the Glenfinnan Viaduct by accident. Apologies for the quality but it was taken in VR and it doesn’t do the atmosphere any justice, but kind of gives an impression of what the live weather was like yesterday.
What really rounded it off was seeing wingtip lights of two other multiplayer aircraft approaching Broadford from the East whilst I was approaching from the South… Signs of Life! Unplanned, these guys had been headed to the same airfield and we landed within a minute of each other.
Dougal McTav and youir buddy who’s gamer tag I missed in the screenshot, if you’re reading this, it was a pleasure meeting you on the apron and I hope you enjoyed your flights as much as I did.
Just a thought…It would be pretty good if there was a way to save a “snapshot” of the live weather conditions on days like these where everthing felt just right to be able to load up again.
Had a similar experience last week. I fly mainly from a small regional airport sat on the outskirts of a city in southern Europe. Loaded the sim up for an early evening flight to be greeted with some ground fog and so ATC were having none of it with VFR flying.
Checked the current weather forecast just out of curiosity online and yep, forecast was for fog. Metar check for the airport showed the same with reduced visibility. If there was any doubt the city’s live webcams put that to bed, so can’t argue with that or the accuracy of the live weather in sim.
Went IFR and took off up through the fog and was greeted with a cracking view of parts of the city and it’s lights below as what was left of sunset faded in the distance. Was definitely one of those weather ‘snapshots’ I wish I could revisit.
Nice to see this topic. I think the weather engine in the sim is a stunning achievement. It’s so much more advanced than anything else I’ve seen.
When I was studying for my PPL many years ago, I was driving to Biggin Hill for my ‘land out’ (a first solo flight to land at another airfield - in this case Biggin - Manston) I was getting ATIS in the car and there were thunderstorms forecast for all along the route. I arrived at the flying club and said to my instructor that I guess the flight is off due to weather. Not at all, he said - just flying around the thunderstorms and rainclouds - you’ll see them coming he said! I was nervous but he was right, you could see the big CB building and the rain underneath, and I just avoided them!
I’ve long wondered if I’d ever see a sim in my lifetime that could model that, and FS2020 does it admirably. I’ve flown between weather fronts, seen rain in valleys… thick cloud on one side and blue skies on the other. As you approach a front the clouds get lower and darker… it’s all brilliantly modelled. Perhaps I’m lucky because, for me, the live weather engine makes a decent depiction of the real weather 9 times out of 10.
The weather makes the sim seem alive and keeps surprising and amazing.
So I have just been for another cruise around the Highlands and have discovered you can actually save the weather you’re experiencing in the sim as a new preset with a small floppy discs icon at the top right of the weather menu… “Snapshots” and reliving certain conditions seems to be possible at first glance (need to test it a bit).
Away from the Live Weather issue it is truly amazing. This is my first flight sim but I’ve been into weather for 45 years so having these subtle effects like a good old winter temperature inversion is superb. The Har on the North East coast last week was impressive.
Distant lightning is my big gripe at present. You can see lightning upto 300 miles away in the right conditions at night but storms seem to be a local thing in the sim, no distant rumbles and lightning reflections above the clouds from a distance.
