A Couple of Questions Please

[Guest Glenn]

Hi Guys,OK, I've been using the Alpha 2 release with AS2 for a bit now, and have a couple of questions. Unfortunately, I'm frequently getting instant wx changes, some sudden wind transitions, etc. An area that I fly in seems to be very prone to these types of issues, probably because it is somewhat remote and stations are a bit further apart. That is namely Prince Rupert (CYPR) on the coast of B.C., Canada, and Watson Lake, YT, Canada (CYQH). Pretty consistantly, if I fly northeast out of Prince Rupert, I get a pretty quick change fairly soon after leaving the airport. Now one of the points made in the Alpha 2 release was that with Global Writes ON, if a flight plan is loaded then the destination wx is written in to global areas. If there is no flight plan loaded, then it is nearest station only that is written there. My questions then, are these:1) With Global Writes on and a flight plan loaded, would that global wx not change rather suddenly from your departure point's wx to the destination point wx if the two stations are quite far apart (i.e. the destination wx is very different from the departure station), and you are transitioning through a "global region" immediately after leaving your departure? This might be particularly true if you encounter a few widely spaced reporting stations enroute. You would be jumping quite quickly from departure wx to destination wx, to something enroute as you fly over a reporting station, back to the destination wx as you leave that station's sphere of influence, etc., etc.2) With Global Writes off, does the program (with the Alpha 2) default to the nearest station report regardless of flight plans loaded or not? If not, what wx is it reading?3) Even under condition 1 or 2 above, are these transitions not supposed to be more of a gradual process rather than an instant one? If so, would this be true of changes in altimeter settings and winds as well?Case in point: I flew (or tried to) fly a flight from Prince Rupert (CYPR) to Woodcock, British Columbia. As the METAR's for CYPR and CYXT were not great, and CYXT being completely below minima, I decided to try the route to the north towards Kincolith and up the Nass River Valley. That's about 30 or so nautical north of CYXT (Terrace) on the other side of a ridge. I thought that I might be able to get up the valley since there may be a reporting station closer to the north of my route than CYXT was to the south. In any event, if it started to deteriorate then I'd just turn around and head back. As I took off out of YPR, about 3 miles north I went from rain and 1500 overcast w/1 mile vis to about 7000 broken and 15 mile vis instantly. When I looked behind me, there was no sign of the low clouds and poor vis. I was staying under the low stuff initially, so I was at around 1000'. I toodled along in these improved conditions until hitting the Nass Valley, and started up it. It looked like things were going to hold, and there were no clouds on the horizon, so I decided to climb up over the tops of the mountains and go direct. By now it was pretty much clear. As I was climbing, I suddenly found myself solidly in the soup without warning of any kind. What had happened was that the YXT wx kicked in with no transition, and that was why I found myself in a total IFR environment. I had no choice at that point but to abort the flight altogether, as it was just a matter of time 'til I hit a valley wall.Another instance/issue I've found, is that I can go through as many as 5 or 6 noticeable altimeter setting changes in the space of one to two minutes as I approach and pass over a station. These changes are quite rapid and hard to explain as a single altimeter setting change that results in a 300 foot difference in altitude is not "normal" over the distance of 5 or 10 miles. It looks like a new setting comes in, gets replaced by the old setting again, then goes back to the new setting once again, and that cycle repeats several times. Needless to say, it's tough on the autopilot (and the passengers ;-) ).I guess with the questions above in mind, is the new update that Damian is working on, going to address these issues (I think all of these have been reported by several posters here over the past month)? Are more remote areas more difficult to deal with than highly populated areas, and are there instances where the Global Write is better to be turned off?I do apologise for the longish post, and I hope it is understandable. My aim wasn't to rattle off every instance of what I perceived to be an issue, but instead to note and summarize what I was finding in repeatable scenarios. Thanks very much for your time.Glenn

[Damian Clark 1,332]

Hi Glenn,I am in a hurry at the moment and can't reply in detail yet, but you should know that many of the things you mentioned here will be improved in MR1.I have some questions on your findings and some more info for you.. I'll email you directly soon when I have some time.. Thanks for the input Glenn!Damian ClarkHiFi Simulation SoftwareDeveloper of ActiveSkyhttp://www.hifisim.comhttp://www.hifisim.com/images/as2004betateam.jpg

[Guest Glenn]

Thanks Damian - no rush. I know you're pretty busy.Glenn