November 7, 201015 yr I have been test flying the new B629 for the past several days - (though I see that it has now advanced to B638).90% of my simulated flying is at or above FL310, so I was anxious to try the new DWC option, as I value accurate and stable winds and temps at high altitudes above all else, and I noted that the new DWC was optimized for this very kind of flying.As far as the accuracy and stability of the upper winds, I can only say "Bravo!" - Without question, you seem to have nailed this - the upper winds performance is now the best I have experienced in any HiFiSim product, and I have used every release going back to AS 6.5.I flew a couple of legs of the recently-completed World Flight 2010 online event, flying with 30+ other aircraft on VATSIM, which I am sure was putting a maximum performance load on FSX and my network connection. I use FOC 2003 as my flight planning program, which downloads and applies the actual real-world winds to its generated flight plans - (the same RW winds used by ASE.) In all cases, I found the winds I experienced in the flights exactly matched what was shown in the FOC flight plan for each enroute waypoint. The ASE winds were as stable as could be, both in direction and velocity - with no tendency to suddenly shift.Temperatures aloft were also very stable as well, which has been an issue up to now in ASE. In both flights, I cruised at FL 410, and the temps aloft settled at -62C. and never varied once.This does bring up one question: Though the ASE temps were very stable, they were about 6 degrees colder than the real-world temperatures. Looking at the actual SAT in the ASE weather download, it showed -55C at FL410 - which also matched the predicted temps in my FOC flight plan - while in the sim, it was -62C. During climbs and descents, the temps in the sim also seemed a few degrees colder than what was shown on the report screen of ASE.My question: In the "new" DWC mode, are you injecting temps aloft based on a simple atmospheric model, rather than trying to use the actual reported temps from the weather download? (The latter technique seems to have been a source of most previous problems - with cloud bases below AGL causing temps aloft to suddenly shoot up from -56C to +40C, which in most add-ons will cause an immediate stall or other loss of control.)If you HAVE gone to a static model of atmospheric temps,I'm NOT complaining! I'd much rather have temps aloft that may be a few degrees "off" from RW conditions, than run the risk of a massive temperature shift that could lead to a loss of control - which is especially frustrating when it happens at the end of a 6+ hour flight!The only issue I experienced in B629 occured on my second World Flight leg, which was from Dubai (OMDB) to Karachi (OPKC). Surface weather at Dubai was exactly correct during departure, with light winds, few clouds, temps of 28C and pressure almost standard at 1013.5 hPa. As mentioned, enroute wind direction and velocity at FL 410 was spot on (255 degrees at 45 knots), with the previously-mentioned -6 degree difference in tenmps aloft. (-56C actual, vs. -62C in ASE.)Surface condiditions at Karachi were also rather "quiet", with winds from 300 at 05, few clouds at 4,500 feet, temps 26C and pressure 1012 hPa.On landing, ASE seemed to have nailed the surface conditions perfectly with one notable exception - the pressure. Though the ASE report screen was showing the reported pressure of 1012 hPa, when I bit the "B" key in FSX to set my altimeter, the pressure dropped to 997 hPa. Since I was making a visual approach, I decided to leave that be, and went ahead and landed.Once parked, I disconnected from VATSIM, but left ASE running. I tried doing an AI refresh, as well as a forced overall refresh. All other surface conditions remained accurate (clouds, winds, visibility and temperature), but the pressure being injected into FSX remained stubbornly at 997 hPa - even though the report screen for OPKC continued to show 1012 hPa.I'm not sure where the 997 hPa was coming from, because surface reports at my departure airport, and along the entire route, were all showing right around 1013 hPa +/- 4 hPa. (I did load my flight plan into ASe before departure, as I do on all my flights.)I then closed ASE, reset the weather in FSX, and re-started ASE. Once ASE re-initialzed, the OPKC surface weather re-established with the same winds, clouds and temps as before - but now the pressure was correct too, at 1012.Not a big thing, but just something I wanted to bring to your attention. I realize that the fact that the heavy traffic load on VATSIM (over 30 other aircraft on the ground within a 2-mile radius) may have had an effect, in terms of FSX's ability to process the weather.In any case, I'm quite happy with the new beta build in terms of overall stability of the weather aloft - you guys are definitely on the right track.Jim Barrett Jim BarrettLicensed Airframe & Powerplant Mechanic, Avionics, Electrical & Air Data Systems Specialist. Qualified on: Falcon 900, CRJ-200, Dornier 328-100, Hawker 850XP and 1000, Lear 35, 45, 55 and 60, Gulfstream IV and 550, Embraer 135, Beech Premiere and 400A, MD-80.
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