Hi folks, I have recently been dipping my toes into flying a glider in fsx, with a view to finding a decent location where me and my friends mightenjoy a bit of friendly competition gliding, i.e. height and/or distance, that kind of thing. I had about 5 or 6 outings myself in the glider so far, from places likeSwitzerland to Death Valley in Nevada, but I'll be danged if I even came across 1 solitary thermal or the slightest ridge lift so far! This is very frustratingindeed. My question is, do thermals even exist outside of the tutorials or in multiplayer FSX? is there a software download somewhere that does this?yours curiouslySooZ

I know the feeling, I have Aerosoft's Dicusss glider package which I really like and it comes with Cumulus program that is suppose to add thermals and ridge lift but I haven't experienced any myself, I'm sure I'm just not set up correctly. I will be watching this thread, wanting to learn more myself. I love gliding in FSX

FSX comes with a sort of "autogen" thermals, the thermals are tied to the landclass definitions and is set in the file ThermalDescriptons.xml. If you turn on the "green spirals" in the settings, you should be able to readily see where thermals are being generated.It is possible to create "scenery" thermals and ridge lift via bgl files, but these are tied to specific locations so aren't really a world-wide solution. It is also possible to inject thermals and ridge lift into the sim via simconnect, primarily as part of missions.CumulusX! program also uses simconnect, but tries to use local weather and terrain to intelligently create thermals and ridge lift. Some real weather generating programs like Active Sky also create thermals. CumulusX! also has the possibility of playing scripts, to ensure that the same thermal and ridge lift is seen in mulitple FS machines, for use in multiplayer or competitions.There is support/discussion of soaring on the Soar message boards, currently hosted on Aerosoft:http://www.forum.aerosoft.com/index.php?showforum=161scott s..

holey smokes! well after i started this thread I went and had another bash at it, towed to 8k in death valley and started criss crossing the the hills with the intention of making my way back toL09 (Stove Pipe Wells) in Ca got back on the flats to about 3.5k and south of the runway my glider started to judder and i thought, hello whats going on here, the down up meter started to swing up and downeven the wings of the glider were flexing, next thing bleep bleep bleep bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep! yahoo! my first thermal, i made several swings and passesover that sucker, rode it clear up to 17000feet!, heck i even called in a couple of my friends and they joined in the fun too, haha - what a blast :) Restored my faith in what can be done in FSX with a glider :)got that SOAR link too, thanks Scott

Get the Aerosoft Discus glider- it is a lot better than the default FSX. Install CumulusX! And try ridge flying rather than thermals. A good location is Dillingham in Hawaii, preferably with aerosoft's excellent pay ware scenery. Just set the wind direction so it is onshore.Cheers,Noel

I have been browsing around today and Im wondering if any of you experienced glider pilots would reccomend CumulusX as a nice add-on for FSX. I run REX2 with the HD version and im wondering if CX would cause any software conflicts. If I get the base version of CX can I add the licenced version at a later date?TIASooZ

I have been browsing around today and Im wondering if any of you experienced glider pilots would reccomend CumulusX as a nice add-on for FSX. I run REX2 with the HD version and im wondering if CX would cause any software conflicts. If I get the base version of CX can I add the licenced version at a later date?TIASooZ

No conflicts with REX2 that I've experienced, and yes, you can add the licenced version later. I do recommend CumulusX as an add-on, and the author has continually improved this little app.

No conflicts with REX2 that I've experienced, and yes, you can add the licenced version later. I do recommend CumulusX as an add-on, and the author has continually improved this little app.

Absolutely, REX2 is fine with CumulusX.

I love the winch launch ability that comes with the Aerosoft Discuss, that is a real rush launching that way!

anyone got an alternative download site for CX?the official one seems to be putting out a corrupt zipfile for mety

I agree Brian. I was beginning to think Condor was the only real choice for gliding enthusiasts, but with the Discus and Cumulus X we can now fly in FSX :( I've made some great 2hr+ flights across the FTX Oz landscape landing at any of the wonderful grass strips. Create a FSX flightplan with all your turn points, load it into the Gliders custom GPS, and you're away!A tip - you must rename your ThermalDescriptions.xml found in the FSX root folder, otherwise you get some wacky results when flying. It does mention this in the manual but hey, I was in a hurry :-)

Greetings folks ! I am a newbie to gliding simulation ! I am trying to find out if I need SP1 and or SP2 for Microsoft Flight Simulator X Deluxe ? they are rather large files to download they are not zipped ! Can anyone help me please ? best regards revboy.

Welcome revboy! I would definitely recommend them. They make the sim run much smoother.

Thankyou Chase,

 

revboy (Nev)

Hi, I too enjoy occasionally flying gliders in fsx. I learned on some of the old models Ka7, K13, Blanik, Bocian, etc. Some of Wolfgang Piper's gliders have given me hours of fun recreating some of those filghts:

 

http://www.fsglider.de/

 

To add to the realism, I used RW12 to place objects youmight find on a glider field at some of the fields I used to fly from. Winches, tractors, land rovers, piles of tyres, glider trailers, etc.

 

Whilst searching the net one day, I found that Wolfgang had made static objects from his gliders, so I now also have lines of gliders waiting at the launchpoint as well.

 

Great fun. IAN