One of these days, I was talking with my cousin, who is a NG captain, and he told me that "level-d" simulators are "95%" close to reality because they don't simulate thermals and pressure variations very well etc. Some days ago, I was landing in a real 737-700, so I observed how many thermals, changing winds and god knows what more an aircraft has to deal with on landing. What a difference from the FSX! Anyone knows how to simulate something closer to reality in the FSX? Maybe some add-on software can do it? Anyone knows a simulator or project that is giving close attention to this aspect of the flight?Thanks,Teo Halfen

One of these days, I was talking with my cousin, who is a NG captain, and he told me that "level-d" simulators are "95%" close to reality because they don't simulate thermals and pressure variations very well etc. Some days ago, I was landing in a real 737-700, so I observed how many thermals, changing winds and god knows what more an aircraft has to deal with on landing. What a difference from the FSX! Anyone knows how to simulate something closer to reality in the FSX? Maybe some add-on software can do it? Anyone knows a simulator or project that is giving close attention to this aspect of the flight?Thanks,Teo Halfen

Active Sky Evolution has given me some great moments over the years. Specifically in light aircraft when experiencing a thermal.Rise of Flight has some of the most realistic feeling weather I've seen in any sim to date.

One of these days, I was talking with my cousin, who is a NG captain, and he told me that "level-d" simulators are "95%" close to reality because they don't simulate thermals and pressure variations very well etc. Some days ago, I was landing in a real 737-700, so I observed how many thermals, changing winds and god knows what more an aircraft has to deal with on landing. What a difference from the FSX! Anyone knows how to simulate something closer to reality in the FSX? Maybe some add-on software can do it? Anyone knows a simulator or project that is giving close attention to this aspect of the flight?Thanks,Teo Halfen

Hifi sim ActiveSky Evolution (ASE) will simulate thermals (updraughts) and downdraughts and ridge lift, I have been caught out in the piper cub doing some mountain flying when I was caught in a down draught stronger than I could climb, I had to head for the upwind side of the ridge to get some extra lift.

I would like to take advantage of this to ask you, what is it better: REX or ASE. TALKING ABOUT CLOUDS RESOLUTION AND HOW REALISTIC IS IT DRAW; ALSO IN TACHNICAL ASPECTS SUCH AS ACURACY TO DOWNLOAD WEATHER INFORMATION AND CHANGES IN THE WEATHER. And does REX have this thermal simulation?

Activesky is the best you can buy. But I use REX for the textures. Activesky only does the weather and uses FSX textures unless you got REX. If you do get Activesky Evolution check the following thread for tips on setup.http://forum.avsim.net/topic/350389-my-weather-config-for-pmdg-planes-part-ii/page__p__2127745__hl__weather%20settings__fromsearch__1#entry2127745

I'm pretty excited to see what Active Sky 2012 brings to the table and how much different/better it will be than ASE.Sean Campbell

One thing simulators do poorly on is weather. Sim developers time and time again overlook convection and its results on an air mass, and as a result flight sims are often viewed as poor representations of flight. It's sort of silly when you think about it: Aircraft fly in a medium, in a fluid we call air. Air twists, turns, compresses and expands depending on so many variables - all of which are extremely predictable (Cold air sinks, fronts slide over or under each other, and moving pressure zones rotate). Despite the fact that every single aspect of flight is directly dependent on the weather and the movement of air, sim developers ritualistically turn a blind eye to it.In FSX, you can't even find convection strong enough to push a 172 SP out the sky - no matter how strong you make the front or how much hail and turbulence you throw its way, you'll NEVER lose control of your aircraft. When you think about it, the holy grail of making a super-realistic Flight Simulator is not graphics power, but the simulation of an atmospheric fluid. If for some reason Microsoft decided to make a simulator that actually simulated aerodynamics beyond lift/drag/thrust/weight they'd be wise to make their next simulator simulate the actual fluid motion of the atmosphere. Only then will we have a simulator worth boasting.

One thing simulators do poorly on is weather. Sim developers time and time again overlook convection and its results on an air mass, and as a result flight sims are often viewed as poor representations of flight. It's sort of silly when you think about it: Aircraft fly in a medium, in a fluid we call air. Air twists, turns, compresses and expands depending on so many variables - all of which are extremely predictable (Cold air sinks, fronts slide over or under each other, and moving pressure zones rotate). Despite the fact that every single aspect of flight is directly dependent on the weather and the movement of air, sim developers ritualistically turn a blind eye to it.In FSX, you can't even find convection strong enough to push a 172 SP out the sky - no matter how strong you make the front or how much hail and turbulence you throw its way, you'll NEVER lose control of your aircraft. When you think about it, the holy grail of making a super-realistic Flight Simulator is not graphics power, but the simulation of an atmospheric fluid. If for some reason Microsoft decided to make a simulator that actually simulated aerodynamics beyond lift/drag/thrust/weight they'd be wise to make their next simulator simulate the actual fluid motion of the atmosphere. Only then will we have a simulator worth boasting.

I doubt that Microsoft will put extraordinary focus on realism and fidelity concerning whatever they'll release next in the "Flying game" market.Amazing graphics, special effects and cool gameplay are the money makers. And money is all what it unfortunately boils down to.What we as hardcore simmers are asking for has only a small overlap with what Microsoft would want to implement from a money-making perspective.

what I HOPE ms does is to easily make it available so that a third party company could develop the atmosphere in which you just described and that it could then get "plugged in" to Flight and run from the outside in..

I have ASE and I love it! For me it is the best weather generator for fsx and fs9!You'll see a big difference especially if your coming from REX.

There is also a free program that does an excellant job with FSX weather.....FSrealWX..http://www.rs-transline.de/index.php?page=self&id=2

There is also a free program that does an excellant job with FSX weather.....FSrealWX..http://www.rs-transl...?page=self&id=2

I thought that was payware now?

I thought that was payware now?

Nope, still free so far, I use it almost every day

The current problem on FSrealWX is that the upper winds are wrong. Even when you download from NOAA

The current problem on FSrealWX is that the upper winds are wrong. Even when you download from NOAA

They are pretty close here, and I checked from numerous sources, maybe it depends on where you are flying.