By which I mean, those of us who have done a Mountain Rating, does the Sim / Weather accurately necessitate these techniques and skills, or is it just boring plain day VFR regardless?
Not accurate at all. For one, the ridge lift is modelled as a simple vertical column which the wind doesn’t affect. There is also no mountain lee wave as far as I can tell. Generally, all the awesome ad stuff they were showing in their promos was just that — an ad to make you think it’s there. But it’s not.
Ridge lift is not a simple vertical column in this sim and I find it much better than the one I could find in X-plane at least in the areas I know IRL. Just to prove that it is not a simple vertical column, in my area were mountains are very rounded, we can soar far behind the ridge line because the rising air do not stall right behind the ridge as it does on a cliff. MSFS makes the Shock Ultra soar right where it would. Beside, ridge lift and lee side turbulence are present on all obstacles, not only ridge but also buildings, try to approach the lee side of a building with the Shock ultra if the wind is above 15 kt, you will get in trouble…
Thermals are not yet present as far as I know. However I have found valley winds going uphill on the sunny side of alpine terrain, they were almost like thermals but they were chopped by the wind inconsistency.
Interesting. I couldn’t soar behind the ridge nor did I encounter any lee turbulence. Perhaps, I need to check again.
last time I tried ( about 3 versions ago) when the wind is strong, and you go and taxi behind a building, where you should be sheltered “out of the wind”, the wind is blowing you just as hard, as if you were out in the open.
Maybe that has changed recently … I should try again
Agree with @PierrePhot68.
I have done some trips through the northern Canadian Rockies and Coastal mountains, reliving some of my more memorable bush trips. Flying low through narrow valleys, you do need to be aware of downslope winds and turbulence. Trying to set down on some of the old strips back in the mountains has resulted in some extreme downdrafts and some very bumpy approaches.
Ridge crossings can be a bit hairy and if the local winds are up I have seen some nasty turbulence. A recent departure out of Vancouver in the King Air, heading north to Terrace resulted in a stretch where although trying to maintain Va I was seeing both overspeed warnings and stall warnings constantly. Hand flying 3000 above the rocks was an adventure. One of those days when you land and go looking for icepacks for your belt-bruised hips and shoulders.
Some of the effects are a bit overdone and some are not well done but overall, for a sim, I am impressed with the attempt.
I will try with aiports buidlings (generic and handmade), I am not sure about them but other buildings for sure.
If you want a clear test, go to Barcelona, the city does not have a lot of skyscrapers, most of the buildings are middle sized, however there are towers next to the marina, one has a helipad. On a windy day (real weather is better because gust percentage seems lower to what we can set with custom weather), try to approach the helipad from different angles and you will notice the difference: lift and turbulences…
It would be nice (maybe you can) turn on some depiction of wind vectors, in the Dev Console. If it cannot do that already, it sure would be a nice feature to add… would help in a lot of wind diagnostic & testing development.
Currently, it seems CRAZY that you can park a c172 next to a windsock, with winds at 150 knots, and the Plane is rock steady … but as soon as it starts to move, it suddenly gets affected by the wind. !!
There is also some strange Instantaneous Wind Transition as you touch down on a runway … also like some weird logic has been added
If “on the Ground”, Then ____________________ !!!
Right now I’m flying the Savage Carbon around Camarillo KCMA 20-32kt, I confirm no wind sheltering behind buildings…
My understanding is that Photogrammetry buildings interact differently than autogen. I can attest to there being a turbulence effect in play around autogen buildings at least.
However, I think if you want to experience what the thread/op are discussing, get out of the city and into the mountains.
Thanks, so that is still not Real World… maybe that may improve once the Mountain updraft/down draws are better implimented.
Wind around Building will be an interesting addition, especially when flying low near tall buildings !@! Flying down the Vegas strip below 1000ft will become more of a Challenge, both the flying, as well as the not getting reported !!
There is no sheltering but you already have the turbulence…
yes, in some case too much !!
Why does the Min Wind Gusting setting with Custom Weather only go down to 50% ??
There are plenty of occasions when the wind is pretty steady, at a give speed, (ie little to no Gusting) but that cannot be set in the UI (only by manually editing a Custom Weather file)
Agreed. Not perfect, but pretty impressive nonetheless. At least in my experience.
About mountain flying, if you want to have some thrill, try the DR400 which is under powered for mountain flying, taking it from point A to point B through mountains in in real weather is an adventure, you will have to take advantage of ridge lift, avoid lee side. If you are on the wrong side of the mountain, it will never reach its advertised ceiling, watch for the clouds on high pass… You will have to lean the mixture even if it isn’t well simulated, full rich won’t make it in the Alps with the DR400.
I am having even more fun with the Bleriot XI but it is a payware.
With under powered and light airplanes, the fun in this sim is to make the good choice given the weather.
If you want to enjoy the scenery and be a little more comfortable, go for the cubs, but you will still have to deal with mountain flying techniques and weather…
Pretty well applies to the whole game… the release adverts are so far away from the released product it is a joke… a bad joke that is
Update one this one: with a converted glider from FSX and artificial weather, it is true indeed that the lift seems to be modeled as a simple vertical column above obstacle.
What is weird however is that soaring behavior with Asobo light planes with live weather, feels much more like what I experience when I soar IRL, so I am puzzled…