In FSX we all know we can limit or visibility to simulate real life fog and haze.But, how is it really in real life, when at high flightlevels, what is a "usual" maximum visibility when having clear weater? Can it get up to 200miles?I'm locking mine at 100miles and clouds at 110miles, which gives me nice clouds coverage for the visible area, or so I believe :( What do you use and what is IRL?

In FSX we all know we can limit or visibility to simulate real life fog and haze.But, how is it really in real life, when at high flightlevels, what is a "usual" maximum visibility when having clear weater? Can it get up to 200miles?I'm locking mine at 100miles and clouds at 110miles, which gives me nice clouds coverage for the visible area, or so I believe :( What do you use and what is IRL?

G'Day Word Not Allowed,I think it is 60 miles the human eye can percieve I believe. I maybe wrong, but i'm sure it is 60ml. Cheers

all depends on how high you go as to how far you can see as its line of sight so there will be a limit. I have taken off with an instructor in 5k vis, climbed above the overcast and its gin clear. Last month I flew to le2k from West London, over the channel it was like a wall of fog, no visible horizon with the sea blending into the cloud, very disorientating. Put it this way, on a clear night when you gaze into the night sky how far can you see? certainly more than 60 miles!heres a good thread on pprune http://www.pprune.org/archive/index.php/t-46386.html

Some of it depends on the altitude and the slant range (through the atmosphere) of what you are looking at, for example, in the UK there is very often an inversion layer at 3-4,000-ish feet AGL, and that will really limit visibility big time when you are at or near that level, as pollution and a thin layer of cloud gets jammed under that temperature inversion that prevents clouds climbing up higher and dispersing. As you climb above the inversion, you can see further because the slant range when looking through the inversion layer is changing, so you'll be looking downwards more directly through a thin portion of the inversion layer at further distances the higher you go, but it will often completely obscure the horizon line regardless of how high you go.Some of that visibility will depend on the time of day too, for example, in the evening, the sun often looks a very different colour when it gets low down, because the light is having to pass through a lot of the atmosphere to get to you, and in doing so, some of the spectrum of light can get filtered out. That phenomenon of certain wavelengths of light being more readily filtered out by clouds and inversion layers when taking slant range into account is why visibility can sometimes be crappy even on what from the ground can look like a beautiful clear day. You've probably noticed that the distant hills look bluish, which is a similar kind of thing, where other colour wavelengths are being filtered out by the atmosphere, so again, a lot of what you will see depends on the atmospheric conditions even if the sky is apparently rather clear.Thus, if you have a cold day, you'll probably be able to see further, since there is less likelihood that an inversion layer will limit the visibility, when having to look through a lot of it to see the horizon.Al

But, how is it really in real life, when at high flightlevels, what is a "usual" maximum visibility when having clear weater? Can it get up to 200miles?What do you use and what is IRL?

Hi Word Not Allowed, and everyone.On a perfectly clear day, all levels severe clear, and the size of the object you are trying to discern, you can easily make things out over 150 SM. For example you can easily see Catalina Island from Big Bear, at around 10,000 Ft.If you get up to 26-30k altitude you can make out Catalina from half away to Las Vegas. In addition, the optical illusion of being much closer than you are is incredible, coming over the mountains at Big Bear you feel like you can easily touch the Coast / Long Beach Harbor. You may only get 4-5 days a year like that, but when you do it's an experience you never forget. TV

A prime example of this is at night. In the midwest United States, one can be at 41,000 ft over Springfield, MO and be able to see the lights of St. Louis, Kansas City, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Wichita and maybe even Omaha and Memphis. Easily 100+ miles away. A house fire will stick out like a sore thumb a looooong way away.

Take the X-15-2 from xtremeprototypes for a spin to FL3500 (not a typo!) and see for yourself! You will not be disappointed.Cheers,- jahman.

thanks for that link for that add-on, looks amazing... but it says compatible with acceleration, I wonder if it would work with SP2 only?

thanks for that link for that add-on, looks amazing... but it says compatible with acceleration, I wonder if it would work with SP2 only?

From the site: Flight Simulator: Microsoft® FSX (FSX SP2 recommended, Acceleration Expansion Pack optional)Al

thanks, I totally missed that ! - that ad-don really looks awesome.

The X-15 is an amazing aircraft (rocket, actually!) to fly, and to land: The landing pattern entry point is at FL300 and 300 KIAS!You might enjoy watching these videos (in this order, for effect):

2. (The announcer sounds like a certain ex-President!)
3. Cool X-15 vintage video reel, done entirely in FSX! Note the uncanny resemblance with the NASA Documentary.

Cheers,- jahman.

At night I can see stars far far away :(

Thank you guys, while some replies do help me to understand why and how, I still don't see any replies which help me decide what is "usual" visibility in the high level flight (FL300-400). I understand that there are 5 days in the year where you have visibility of 150nm... but that's not really what I'm after.I can hardly also believe that a human eye can see max 60nm.I need a ballpark figure. An opinion. Basically to what to set ASE visibility to get most of the realism. Thanks.

In that case, based upon where you typically fly in FS, take an 'average day' and work out whether there will be an inversion layer or a lot of clouds, then use the visible horizon distance based on height formula which you can find on this site:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HorizonDoing that myself, I'd guess about 50 miles would be a good average in Europe before atmospherics start to make colours so pale that perception of ground features becomes difficult.Al

I need a ballpark figure. An opinion. Basically to what to set ASE visibility to get most of the realism. Thanks.

Hi Word Not Allowed , and everyone.For VFR (VMC), I use Unlimited, and only fly at Dusk, even at this setting you can hardly see Catalina from Big Bear. For IFR I use 1/2 SM with all layers solid IMC, and still get to see some parts of the Airport further than I would like, and or you see them in Real flying. TV