Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
Moose4

2 quick questions on winds aloft and online ordering

Recommended Posts

Hey there...I have two wxRE questions.1) Right now I'm using Weather Center 2.3.1 when I fly online on VATSIM (with FS2004), and am suffering through sudden and massive winds-aloft changes. We're talking winds going from, say, 220 at 105, to 110 at 70, instantly, or just dropping out altogether. (And this isn't in the middle of the Atlantic, it happened last night all along a route from KDTW to KLAX.) Does the current, or will the new v2, of wxRE fix that? Kinda makes it tough to fly when you're getting 140-knot wind shears...at least the passengers get a plane ride *and* a thrill ride for the price of one virtual ticket. :)2) I ordered wxRE 1.91 through eMetrix on Saturday. They charged my credit card, but I haven't gotten the download instructions yet, and I verified I gave them the correct email address. Is there normally a delay in getting that info, or did something get hosed in transit?Thanks, looking forward to trying the product. I wish I'd tried it before using WC...then again, you guys ended up with WC anyway, so maybe it's destiny that I buy wxRE, I dunno. :)Lewis "Moose" GregoryColumbia, South CarolinaSolent 644

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi Lewis,1) AS2 was designed specifically to handle these kind of FS2004 issues.. the results are impressive in this department so far!2) This is not normal.. there was an email problem, or maybe your spam software deleted/moved it. Please use their www.emetrix.com/cs page, issue support request for another download link, explaining the situation. They are very prompt. Thanks!Damian ClarkHiFi Simulation SoftwareDeveloper of ActiveSkyhttp://www.hifisim.comhttp://www.hifisim.com/images/as2betateam.jpg


Damian Clark
HiFi  Simulation Technologies

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

To avoid confusion..wxRE and AS2 are not the same products. wxRE will probably receive some updates as necessary and will continue to be supported as our FS2002 solution.AS2 is our new product only for FS2004. wxRE will never be "updated" to AS2.Darn product names... I never meant to add confusion but it looks like I've done just that! ActiveSky WXRE (v1.91) / ActiveSky 2 (v1.0). Hope that helps..Damian ClarkHiFi Simulation SoftwareDeveloper of ActiveSkyhttp://www.hifisim.comhttp://www.hifisim.com/images/as2betateam.jpg


Damian Clark
HiFi  Simulation Technologies

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Damian:I came to the Active Sky forum specifically looking for an answer to the question that was asked above about the wind shear issue with FS2004.Like the gentleman above, I have received hundreds of complaints from passengers who think I'm a bad pilot as a result of the violent changes in airspeed, yaw, and pitch that are caused by these shears. :-)So, if I may, I'd like to dissect your comment about AS2004 being designed to handle these kinds of FS2004 issues: are you saying that this particular wind shear issue does not happen with AS2004?If your answer is "Yes, it doesn't happen (or happens to a significantly lesser degree)" then I'll buy AS2004. If you're answer is "No, it still happens" then I'll stick with FSMeteo v6.4.Thank you,James

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi James,Do we COMPLETELY and TOTALLY solve ANY problems with FS9? No, that is impossible.We've added route-based wind smoothing, local and update suppression features, and intelligent wind writes to ensure that FS9 doesn't mess things up more than it has to. FS9 has a known bug with its wind smoothing, we all know that, and no we didn't SOLVE it. We worked around it as much as possible to ensure the best experience we could get. We think you'll be very pleased but, as you state "If the Answer is NO, it still happens" (yes, it can still happen sometimes), then you're not going to purchase, so you won't know, but I hope you'll come back and read reviews and other comments in this department and see what we're talking about.Hope that helps!-DamianStandard disclaimer:We've solved many FS9 issues, vastly improved many more, but some were unavoidable, so we're not going to advertise this as fixing ALL of FS9's less-than-desireable issues... That is impossible. But this add-on was specifically designed to make the most of FS2004 and get around these problems as much as possible. Damian ClarkHiFi Simulation SoftwareDeveloper of ActiveSkyhttp://www.hifisim.comhttp://www.hifisim.com/images/as2004betateam.jpg


Damian Clark
HiFi  Simulation Technologies

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest rugerdog

Damian,I really appreciate your candor on this subject. Wind smoothing is my number one issue with FS9 and I do understand there are inherent limitations with FS2004 that just can't be got around. But I have to confess that if AS2004 can't stop the drastic changes completely, flying with FS9 is still like playing a lottery with winds aloft - I'm never sure if I will be able to get there in once piece :) I wish AS2004 the best of luck but I think I'm going to erase FS2004 completely and go back to tried and true FS2002. FS2004 and a short-sighted development team AKA Microsoft have completely worn me down and I simply don't get any more enjoyment trying to fix everything that is wrong with it to gain a realistic flight experience. Thanks again for your upfront and honest approach about this issue, it says a lot about how high a regard you hold your customers, that is more and more of a rare thing among most businesses these days!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi James, Thanks for the words..It should also be said that the reason we are delaying release is because we have had some important findings in the wind smoothing department and as we speak, we are working on a solution to solve ALL HARSH WIND TRANSITIONS using an extended version of the route-based wind smoothing... More info soon..Damian ClarkHiFi Simulation SoftwareDeveloper of ActiveSkyhttp://www.hifisim.comhttp://www.hifisim.com/images/as2004betateam.jpg


Damian Clark
HiFi  Simulation Technologies

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest Glenn

Well, that IS good news indeed, and well worth waiting for. I must admit, I agree with rugerdog on one count (and I know there are a LOT of folks out there who feel the same), FS' handling of winds in this version is incredibly bad. I too have had some crashes on landing since just as I hit the flare, I'd hit a 30 to 40 kt increase in windspeed, and unfortunately FS aircraft don't handle like the real thing when that sort of thing happens. As such, you end up off the runway somewhere. It's as though if they call the winds at 10G15kts, they mean that the winds will gust to 15kts ABOVE the steady-state speed, which just isn't correct. So, if you can solve that one, that will make FS9 useable under all wx conditions, which will be a HUGE bonus.Thanks Damian, keep at her and don't look at the clock - this is more important :-).

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi Glenn,That issue is already made non-existant when using flightplan process with route based wind smoothing.. when you get within vicinity of destination all winds begin going forced based on surface destination settings, so you'll avoid any harsh transitions here during your approach..The newer extended route-based wind smoothing process we are working on is in effort to solve transition issues elsewhere during the flight....Damian ClarkHiFi Simulation SoftwareDeveloper of ActiveSkyhttp://www.hifisim.comhttp://www.hifisim.com/images/as2004betateam.jpg


Damian Clark
HiFi  Simulation Technologies

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest Glenn

Ahhh! Terrific! That's better than I hoped for then. I had that aforementioned problem when using another popular wx add-on which also had the forced option turned on w/a distance of 45 nm, but it seems to me (at least at times) that FS ignores some commands from both that program and FSUIPC (latest, registered). Of course, it is entirely possible I have/had a switch not selected correctly (pilot error??? :-eek. Nawww, not possible :-hah).Thanks for this Damian. Sounds really good!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest Glenn

Actually, I have to correct myself on my last post on this. The aforementioned gusty winds were the destination METAR winds (actually they were 35G50kts). So, the program was responding correctly, but it was FS9 that handled it so badly. My approach speed was 90 kts, which then suddenly jumped to 140 kts. The actually change in speed I should have seen would have been +15 kts giving me a temporary airspeed of 105, which would have been manageable. However, as I said before, I was suddenly showing 140 kts plus, which was enough to cause a sudden jump in altitude. It then dropped me below my stall speed as the gust quit, and down I went. I know these windspeeds are high, but the aircraft should have been able to handle it, and the associated turbulence (it does in the RW), but with FS9's dynamics, it wasn't possible here (not many airplanes can handle absolute gust speeds of 50 kts). Now, whether it is possible to smooth that sort of thing out, I really don't know. If AS2 is able to recreate the winds as they should be (in this case, 35 kts with gusts of an extra 15 kts instead of a gust of 50 kts above the steady-state winds), then you've got a true fix here. Whether or not FS9 will allow for that much modification is something you will know much better than I :-). "Should you decide to accept this mission Mr. Phelps..." :-lol. Good luck Damian, and thanks! :-)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest LLgaz

Well, this is great news indeed. If you can solve the problem, or at the very least, dampen/dramatically smooth, the problem with winds aloft transitions, then I think you will see sales going through the roof once word of this gets out. This is the MAIN reason why I registered FSUIPC...only to find out that there's nothing Pete can do about it. As a result, Marc cannot do much either, although I think he's also working on solving this problem.I too was gonna just stick with FSMeteo given that I've already invested heavily in it. But if you can solve that problem then I'll label you Heroes, Knight you, then purchase AS2.Looking forward to its release and reviews on these forums.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Well Damian, you did it: nice sales job, I will be purchasing AS2004!!!Violent wind transitions are a real shame in FS2004, and it sounds like you guys have made some significant progress... so, I'll make the purchase (and enjoy all the other AS2004 enhancements also!)Thanks,James

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

  • Tom Allensworth,
    Founder of AVSIM Online


  • Flight Simulation's Premier Resource!

    AVSIM is a free service to the flight simulation community. AVSIM is staffed completely by volunteers and all funds donated to AVSIM go directly back to supporting the community. Your donation here helps to pay our bandwidth costs, emergency funding, and other general costs that crop up from time to time. Thank you for your support!

    Click here for more information and to see all donations year to date.
×
×
  • Create New...