Sorry, random thought. I was looking at a scenery file that adds thermals for aircraft to soar in. And then it hit me, when I fly over hot fields and pavement, I get thermals and that makes it hard to maintain my intended altitude. So, I'm wondering are thermals part of the weather generator, or do they have to be added via a design program? Or do they exist at all in FS?If thermals could be integrated according to temperature and the surface you're flying over, I think that would be the makings of a pretty good freeware or payware product. Is it possible in FS 2004?

Hi,We're working on something along those lines. The problem with adding traditional FS thermals is that they must be added to the scenery. Our approach is a bit different, by altering certain flight model parameters, wind, and even aircraft controls to obtain a desired effect. Similar effects will simulate updrafts, downdrafts, mountainous, and mechanical turbulence. This is all in very early development, with no time frames at the moment. Just wanted to let you know that at least one team is working on it :)-Damian

Does a, say, 737 feel those thermals at all in real life?I know with the archer it goes up and down :)Bruno Francescoli :-waveStudent Pilot.KOPF PA28-161.

Hey Damian, that sounds great! I appreciate the news! Yeah, if it could be done in the weather engine of a program it would make life a lot easier than having to edit scenery files. Good idea. I wish you all the best in your efforts.

Hi Bruno,While I'm no 737 driver, I'd say it all depends on the situation. Obviously the effects aren't going to be as dramatic with a heavy aircraft, but, air is air, and when it's rising, the performance of the aircraft will increase. -Damian

Sounds interesting Damian.I had hoped that the new weather engine would model thermals, or at least hill lift but I guess I was expecting far too much :-) especially seeing how many inherent problems you have had to sort out with AS2.I also noticed a couple of weeks back that rian in FS9 is not affected by wind speed or direction.You can sit on the runway and call up a gale force wind but the rain still comes down vertically, it only has some horizontal compoent when the plane is moving :-(

Excellent news, Damian.This is what I have been hoping for for a long time.Best regards,Henri

Not sure if they would be called "thermals" but I recall this classic book on aviation weather written by an old airpline pilot (Mr. Block ?) where he explains how an aircraft is going to climb faster while flying through a Low Pressure System and climb slower when flying through a High Pressure system.Michael J.http://www.reality-xp.com/community/nr/rsc/rxp-higher.jpg

"Does a, say, 737 feel those thermals at all in real life?"I fly in and out of Sky Harbor several times a year, and in the summer even the rare heavy I fly on will feel the thermals in the late afternoon, although once into the flight levels it is not so bad. For the casual GA pilot, flying "season" around here is limited to the winter. Nobody I know will fly their Cessna's in the summertime except around dawn--the thermal activity is that bad. -John (KPHX)