Gliding is fairly underrepresented in the sim and this forum, but there is indeed a very active gliding community in msfs.
Let’s share pictures of our soaring adventures in this thread.
First flight of my DG Aviation LS8-18 in MSFS 2024. Used a Towplane to lift off from Hilo (PHTO), hoping to reach the summit of Mauna Kea:
This was using live weather. Winds were only light ( ~ 10 knots) from the east. The initial climb was not too bad:
But I struggled to gain altitude:
This was as far as I could get:
So rather than land on the slopes of the volcano, turned around & headed back to Hilo:
Looking good to land:
As this was my first flight in this aircraft, I was quite pleased that I managed to stop on the centerline!:
[MSFS 2024, Live weather, Build v1.5.13.0]
Tried out the Stemme S12-G today, with a 2-hour flight from Truckee-Tahoe (KTRK) to Lake Tahoe (KTVL). Since this was my first flight in the Stemme, I planned to hop-scotch from airport to airport. If I could not hold my altitude, I could land. As it happened, with a 5 - 20 knot north-easterly breeze, I managed to glide the entire way, using powered flight only during take-off & climb to 10,000 ft, and a short period near Pollock Pines on US-50 where expected ridge lift never materialized.
My route roughly followed I-80 west to Blue Canyon (KBLU), cross-country to Nevada County (KGOO), then south following CA49 to Alta Sierra (09CL), turning back east at Auburn (KAUN), cross-country to Georgetown (E36) and Swansboro Country (01CL), then following US 50 to Lake Tahoe.
Off we go!
Climbing to gliding altitude. I-80 is below:
Propellers retracted for soaring:
Turning south at waypoint #2 at KGOO:
Turning east at waypoint #4 at Auburn (KAUN):
Waypoint #5 - Georgetown (E36):
Following US-50. Jenkinson Lake / Sly Park Recreation Area is below:
Starting our descent to KTVL:
Slightly off the centerline here!!
Rolling to a stop just off the runway:
Not too bad a landing for a 1st flight in this aircraft!
[MSFS 2024 v1.5.21.0, live weather]
