Flight Sim up close

[Datalink 26]

Another one to look out for in FS - if you fly over very Northern Europe (top of Norway, Iceland, Finland etc) you'll often see the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis). I do have a screenie somewhere but can't find it right now, in FS it usually shows as swathes of shimmering green light across the night sky and is quite dramatic.

Yep, noticed this while crossing the Atlantic a while back was a nice touch :)

[NGXfanatic 85]

I'm crossing the Atlantic now at night in the PMDG MD11 from Toronto to Amsterdam, I just passed the border of Canada. I will keep a look out for the Northern Lights, but not sure I'll see it because I am on NAT track W which is quite a bit south of Iceland and Greenland. I must look closer, I just never knew FSX simulated it (XPlane does), I have done tons of night flights on the NAT Tracks, maybe I'm not up north where I can see it.Dan, that is an interesting note on the visual depiction of the VOR stations, I always assumed they are invisible, but then again I only fly heavies up high. Low and slow, I'm sure there are lots of interesting things to see!

[Turbine777 13]

Low and slow, I'm sure there are lots of interesting things to see!

That there are. It is nice to do some low flights now and then and see some of the detail of some of our other addons at work, after all this shtuff wasn't exactly cheap! I couldn't believe what I was seeing since I too am normally up a few thousand myself.@BillI never knew that either about the northern lights. That's pretty awesome. Anyone have a small screeny? Or a route would be cool too. I'll have to check that out later! Thanks.

[badderjet 181]

@BillI never knew that either about the northern lights. That's pretty awesome. Anyone have a small screeny? Or a route would be cool too. I'll have to check that out later! Thanks.

Sure! Yeah thanks for reminding, I can't remember to have seen them anytime in FSX... Maybe it's cause I don't fly that much up North usually. Or also my lack of knowledge as to NAT flight planning. How do you guys do that, do you use rfinder? I don't have anything like FSBuild, VRoute or FSC avail here.

[scandinavian13 5,192]

Because they are truly random in the real world, I think they cut the equation down for FSX. When I flew for SVA (SAS Virtual) in FS2004, I'd see them on all night flights, which isn't entirely accurate.I have yet to see them in FSX, but I'm now mostly flying in the US, real time, so never too late.Kyle

[Turbine777 13]

Ok guys, I have been doing a test since you all told me about the moon phases being modeled. I am very impressed and very glad you all mentioned it. I have taken both a screenshot in real time in both FSX as well as from my Moon Phase gadget on igoogle.Actual Moon Phase----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------FSXI wanted to do a thorough test and can now clearly see it is infact modeled. Although not all phases seem to be modeled it's more than enough for me and far better then I remember and was refering to in my earlier posts. You can see the top two screenshots from FSX look the same, as do the last two. The sim was loaded at the same time I took the screenshot of igoogle for each image. Looks like maybe they did every other phase, which again, is more than enough.Thanks again for pointing this out, it's pretty cool!

[PropPro 0]

Those northern lights are really nice to see. You can see them during any night time Asia/U.S. Route. I fly NRT/JFK quite a bit and they are usually there.

[Cras 6]

I am going to have to get my 744 fueled up and do a northern night flight so I can see these Northern Lights in FSX. Had no idea they were in the sim. I dont do much flying up north. The furtherst north I ever fly regularly is Vancouver. Any routes that depart from United States that are recommended for seeing them?

[Tristan Marchent 3]

I am going to have to get my 744 fueled up and do a northern night flight so I can see these Northern Lights in FSX. Had no idea they were in the sim. I dont do much flying up north. The furtherst north I ever fly regularly is Vancouver. Any routes that depart from United States that are recommended for seeing them?

Was flying the 744 back from Orlando to Manchester, Virgin Atlantic, early this morning (Overnight) and at about 6:10 UK Local time, at 35000 feet, there were northern lights. This was just off the coast of northwest Northern Ireland... Not sure if thats accurate..

[scandinavian13 5,192]

You can see them very, very rarely at the lower latitudes. They were visible once from the campus of Virginia Tech when I was there. Again, this is very rare. To see them in the skies of Ireland wouldn't be too far-fetched in my opinion.Kyle

[PropPro 0]

Really any international flight that takes you over or near the Arctic Circle will give you a look at the lights. As mentioned about not being able to see them as well from lower altitudes I cant say for with certainty as I am usually at 35000+ on those flights. If you want to set up a simple flight, try Iqaluit, CA (Airbus cold weather testing area) to Anchorage AK at dusk. I'm sure you will see them. Even if you dont finish the flight you should see something, and the northern lights at DUSK are really nice to see out your window!Edit: If you take off from Iqaluit in the middle of winter you also get the added bonus of seeing engine contrails while still on the runway :(

Edited October 4, 2010 by PropPro

[Cras 6]

Really any international flight that takes you over or near the Arctic Circle will give you a look at the lights. As mentioned about not being able to see them as well from lower altitudes I cant say for with certainty as I am usually at 35000+ on those flights. If you want to set up a simple flight, try Iqaluit, CA (Airbus cold weather testing area) to Anchorage AK at dusk. I'm sure you will see them. Even if you dont finish the flight you should see something, and the northern lights at DUSK are really nice to see out your window!Edit: If you take off from Iqaluit in the middle of winter you also get the added bonus of seeing engine contrails while still on the runway

Got a flight planed out from Seattle to Anchorage, plan on taking the Level D 767 up and hope to see a show in the sky.

[BIGSKY 316]

Thanks for posting the link to that file! I have been looking for that!Here is my favorite VOR,On Alter rock on Nantucket Island Massachusetts. The highest point on the island.

[badderjet 181]

Thanks for posting the link to that file! I have been looking for that!Here is my favorite VOR,On Alter rock on Nantucket Island Massachusetts. The highest point on the island.

Great! Great! Great! Thanks so much! That's a conventional one. Can't find any of them here anymore. Methinks they got the rotating stuff inside. Needs some more maintenance than the Doppler ones for sure... :(Edit:People, I wanted to add something to my navaid show thread, but I need professional advice. Recently I took a shot of what I believed had to be the marker, but I can't seem to figure out what actually is the marker?? Big problem: There are two parallel runways, we are looking at the left one here. The "long" thing in the middle would make sense as a marker to me, because it has this "fence" kinda thing poiting away from the threshold, which I could think prevents it from radiating rearwards. Cool, problem is though, there is another "long" one a few hundred feet left of the left runway! Does that make sense??Next thing: The checkerboard house there also qualifies as a marker to me, because it also has this fence or shield or screen, whatever you may call it, on its roof, with the antenna behind. Now why on earth is the whole thing rotated left by 90° if it was a marker?? Does THAT make sense? That way it would sort of radiate along the runway and not perpendicular to it methinks...I am lost. Please help me to get this sorted out. :(

[scandinavian13 5,192]

What airport is that tower from? To me, right now, it looks more like approach lighting, but it doesn't look like it's from the American standard models.Kyle