There are a few of us, and many more starting to come on that fly the Concord and or the SR-71 way up high, so I think that this is valid, but if i am wrong please let me know. Having the winds and temperature from 39,000 feet extended up indefinatly is putting the air temps up higher way too warm VS reality of the temps up there, robbing the Concord's engines of performance, and also the winds up there can be too strong, causing some irratic performance in those planes, that is not realistic. I have some friends that are using FS METEO, and apparently the creator of that program, has written some special code that simulates weather patterns above FL 390 to be more realistic and suitable for flying realistically up there. I know from years of experience that you guys are much better than FS METEO, and is why I left that program for yours :-) But I am wondering if you guys will take a hint from FS METEO and make the weather above FL 390 more realistic for us high altitude flyers or not. I know I would appreciate it very much, and I am sure others would too. Thanks, GARY

Thanks Gary for the suggestion.JimActiveSky Supporthttp://www.hifisim.com/images/as2004proudsupporter.jpg

Hi Gary,Please let me know what the more popular add-ons are in this area, I will check them out and be sure to incorporate proper temps for their operating range. FWIW each aircraft is different, many add-ons use their own way of determining temps which may or may not work with the FS default way of doing things.-Damian

Ok, first off for the SR-71 i use the model made by Paul Varn, a very good modeller and long time friend of many years, it uses the default gauges of the Concord that was default in FS2000 so the Concord i use also uses the default Concord gauge of FS2000, still works great. There are some other models of the Concord out now and coming out, i think one is called " tribute to the concord " which uses a custom panel and gauges, and then there is always Pedro Olivers project Mach 2 also i believe using the FS2000 Concord gauge, so i am hoping it will be relitavly simple to make something that all can use. FS METEO uses a custom written logic that makes winds up high, and i am talking FL 530 up to FL 930 for the SR-71 relativly light as the air up there is so thin, and colder around the equator areas and getting gradually warmer, but when i say warmer it is relative :-) as temps up there are in the area of like - 60 and - 80 degrees F. not C. it is common to see temps of around -55 C. but that is at least 30 degrees too warm vs C. I don't have FS METEO anymore, so i can't provide a sample of the program for review, but i am sure someone here has it, i just know that Paul and a couple of other friends of mine that still do have it, swear by it, since that " other " program has come out with a new feature of a seperate WX area above FL 390 especialy for the high altitude flyers. But that is the ONLY thing that the other prgram has better, at least for now, than your program of AS2004. I dumped FS METEO when i got WXRE and upgraded to AS2004 because you guys are the best. It is just my sincere hope that you can do something about the weather up higher than FL 390 please let me know what else i can provide to help in this effort, i would be happy to beta test a revision to help if needed. I know that not everyone can fly the Concord or the SR-71 as they do fly WAY different than normal planes. :-) Thanks, GARY

Hi,Ok, I began adding a simulation of upper-altitude temperatures and winds. After I had it going, I needed to plug in realistic upper altitude figures to properly simulate it. While I've studied this before, I was a little rusty, so I went to NASA pages to brush up.Here's the deal: The Stratosphere begins at approx. 32000ft and extends to approx 160000ft. From 32000ft to 82000ft (the first half), the temperatures remain relatively constant. So far so good. Now at 82000ft, the temperatures actually begin to gradually INCREASE to about -50C as you climb up all the way to 160,000ft, where the stratosphere ends and is marked by a significant DECREASE in temperature.Basically, we already have a realistic simulation of these temperatures by duplicating the FL390 data all the way up, HOWEVER, the problem is that the flight/engine models on these aircraft rely on unrealistically LOW temps for the engines to work. This is probably an FS2004 issue rather than an aircraft issue.So the best approach I think will be to balance realism and functionality in the sim by gradually decreasing temps from the data's FL390 report (which is accurate) up to FL820. By gradually I mean 15% max. This "almost" realistic reduction in temps should provide the aircraft with enough engine power while preserving the rule that the temps remain "relatively" constant.The INCREASE in temps at FL820 up to FL1600 will not be simulated (as it stands). I don't think aircraft in FS can fly above FL999. Let me know if otherwise!Look for this enhancement in the MR2 public beta coming soon.... Thanks again for your feedback!-Damian

No you are correct, aircraft can't fly above FL 990 in FS any version :-) this plan sounds good to me, as far as reducing the temps somewhat, maybe 15-20 % from FL 390 and up, just please also smooth the winds out up there, no matter the metar report, as sudden wind gusts, directional changes at that altitude, should not exist, some wind yes, but not like 40-80 kts and some stuff like you can see at FL 310 - 390 if that is pushed up to the top, like it is now, will not be very realistic, the air up there is so thin, it does not support wind speeds and gusts, and directional shifts like it does at the lower altitudes, i apprecaite the fast response time to this request, as i thought as long as you were making changes for a " newer and improved " enhancement, now would be the time to mention it :-) thanks again so much for making your product the best that there is out there, any improvment is a good thing, have a great day, and please let me know if there is anything i can do to help. GARY

My friend sent me this link saying that this is the info used by the author of the other program to model the upper altitude WX posting this hoping it helps. Thanks, GARY http://www.atlanticstorms.com/understatmos.htm

Hi,Considering several new Payware versions of the Concorde that are coming out, it would be nice to see some kind of high altitude support. At this time, it's near impossible to fly certain models at high altitude with your current setup. Others have managed to help along those lines, and I'm looking forward to be able to use AS also when flying this type of aircraft. Currently anything, (depending on other factors such as winds of coarse), flying above 50k at high speed starts having some issues with this program. Mostly due to temps being too high. I'm not so sure that these models engines are configured for too low a temp. Perhaps in some of the airliner models that fly in the FL350-FL430 range. I've seen some really bad engine modeling that's for sure. Very few models fly at the altitudes I'm refering to. There's just not that many models of this type around. I can't agree that duplicating the temps from FL390 is correct from what i've seen while flying ActiveSky. It's been a few years since I've looked at NASA information also, but seems to me the fairly steady temps you refer to at those altitudes were much lower than what I'm seeing in the program. 10 degrees is a biggie at M2.0 in the Concorde or (M3+(classified):-)in the SR71. I'm currious to know what you think the temp change should be from FL820 to FL900. I agree that it may start warming up, but how much in that 8000ft. +1, +10 degrees? I seldom fly the SR above FL800, but I have had it up to FL90+ in FS2k4, so I'm not that concerned. IF the temp is fairly steady from FL390 up to FL820, what range are we talking about here? I'm going to do a search on NASA and a few other sites to refresh my memory on what it's suppose to be, including information on winds. Considering reports at those altitudes are far and few between these days, this could be an interesting search. I will be looking forward to some advances and your thoughts for some of us die hard fans of high fast flight. It's fun to fly across the pond in real time without falling asleep. Would be nice to be able to do it with ActiveSky.Marv

Hi Marv,From FL820 to FL1600 (top of stratosphere) temps gradually rise to approx 220Kelvin, or -53c. (about .2c rise in temp per 1000ft)So while temps may be -70 or so at FL820 up to FL999 the difference will be exteremly minor (1 or two degrees). I am not planning on modeling this warming of temps since FS's max altitude simulated is 99,999.What we have done so far, while working with the flight model developer of the Concorde, is decrease temps from FL390 to FL820 gradually about .5 degc per 1000ft. So far in our tests things are very positive, but we have a few minor adjustments to make yet.In the next MR2 beta build (due in a few days) this new upper-altitude simulation will be complete and ready for testing... This also effects winds, by decrease velocity accordingly as you go higher.-Damian

Ok,Thanks for the effort's. I will look forward to testing this. The temp range sounds good and should be workable.I also see no point in trying to simulate a warming above FL820, it's certainly not worth it considering the limitations to FS.Thanks, Marv

I am also looking forward to seeing this improvment, thanks for the hard work and interest in making this happen, looking forward to flying way up high again, have missed this for a while. :-) GARY

Have been in the loop from Concord developers, this is starting to look real promising, this will be the last post by me on this thread, thanks again for all the hard work and interest in making AS the best available, i shall continue to recommend this to anyone looking for something better than whatever they have. Have a wonderful day. GARY

Hi Gary and all,Thanks for the words and for your support!! The new upper altitude simulation has just been given 2 thumbs up by the beta team and the Conc flight model developer! MR2 B113 public beta starts very soon!-Damian

Public Beta out soon, this is good news. Can't waitto get my hands on it. Paul's Conc. is pretty nice. The FSUIPC betaseems to be working well. I think the packagewill be the best yet. Things are finally startingto come together.Marv

i too am waiting anxiously, the conc developer seems to be enthusiastic about the new developments, i can't wait to get them myself, have another customer for ya too in a week or so, his name is Matt Jamieson, he is in the KSLC ARTCC and also does a lot of flying, but has been using something else, he will be buying the new version on his next payday i have been telling him how much better AS is over anything else, so we will have another user in the family soon :-) Have a great day, and thanks again for the hard work and wilingness to make it even better then it was. GARY