Fs global real weather and Opus

[molleh 451]

I tried all of the real world weather programs. I ended up (finally) settling on FS Global Real Weather because it has a smooth, simple interface, easy flight planning, super easy to see what the nearest reported conditions are, and I also really like the static option so that you don't see sudden immersion destroying changes in weather when the weather is refreshed.

 

Also it seems to do pretty well at avoiding all the stupid wind shift bugs inherent in FSX, at least I haven't seen them in the 5 or 6 flights I've done so far, and the winds matched perfectly what was predicted in the flight plan forecasts.

 

This program is still very new so I'm hopeful it will see continual improvements just like the other ones out there. As for the screenshots above, you can find weather depictions from ANY weather engine that don't match the real world very well. They each have their strengths and weaknesses. I have never seen one weather program get every single report "right" every single time.

[krazyk 157]

I'm not saying it's not interesting. It's just that any weather program can make any one of those depicted weather situations. I think I could even make it do all that myself with the default weather in FSX. So, I'm just saying I think it would be even more interesting to see what the weather data was for each scenario and who depicted them the best.

 

Posts like the one by Jeremy(JBZ) are a much better way to get a comparison. There you can tell that AS2012 does a much better job of depicting that scenario in KMCI.

Agreed

 

Very cool stuff of this per airport weather effects!

Wouldn't all weather engines do this inherently? I haven't tried to set up a flight into an airport where such local phenomena has been experienced but I'd think if the weather engine is gathering its data correctly, wouldn't it then depict the sudden wind changes as any other engine would? Unless, FSGRW has sort of magnified that local phenomena into a more 'in-your-face' sort of thing.

[Alec 370]

Certain areas are known for certain weather characteristics, such as thermal turbulence above a lake, a mountain nearby making the wind shift on a certain point, etc. The Metar wouldn't capture all these little things as it's only getting it's info from a single point at an airport, and these effects happen during the approach or after the takeoff. I like the idea

[krazyk 157]

Certain areas are known for certain weather characteristics, such as thermal turbulence above a lake, a mountain nearby making the wind shift on a certain point, etc. The Metar wouldn't capture all these little things as it's only getting it's info from a single point at an airport, and these effects happen during the approach or after the takeoff. I like the idea

I doubt the report an engine uses to depict weather locally is coming from a single point.

[BerndPodhradsky 5]

Now onto my points that I think need work.  The GUI does not provide a way to Refresh the weather, so most likely, your weather will be older data and if newer data is available, the program wont download it for 5 minutes.  This is enough time for you to fly an approach and have your weather change to the correct weather once you land.  Also, even though you are loading a flight plan, it doesn't set your destination weather until you're destination is closest to you.  This causes changes in the weather when you're on final.  I think these are two things that need to be worked on to compete with the other programs.

 

That's not true; the weather of the destination airport will not change when you're on final. Also, there is an option in the FSX Add-On-Menu (Add-Ons > FS Global Real Weather > Refresh Weather) to refresh the weather completely (may take a few seconds until it's initiated).

 

Regarding the depiction: difficult for me to support this one, because you can't tell the real world conditions by just looking at a weather radar. The question is: how did the weather really look like in that area. FSGRW depicts a stratus layer; if you telll me exactly WHERE this is and what time I can explain how this weather as created and what real data sources reported.

 

Bernd

[molleh 451]

I doubt the report an engine uses to depict weather locally is coming from a single point.

 

Exactly. That's the unique feature of FSGRW, it goes beyond standard weather reporting and adds in those highly localized phenomena that happen at certain airports/locales. This is specifically programmed in by hand so it's not going to cover every airport obviously (they have like 7 or 8 so far) but it is a neat feature that no other weather program has yet.

[BerndPodhradsky 5]

I doubt the report an engine uses to depict weather locally is coming from a single point.

 

Other weather engines definitely do not have that feature. Just try it out in Madeira: approach runway 05 and compare FS Global Real Weather with the other ones. However, these local weather effects will only be active when the weather conditions at the airport would also lead to these effects in reality.

 

Bernd

[JBZ 13]

 

That's not true; the weather of the destination airport will not change when you're on final. Also, there is an option in the FSX Add-On-Menu (Add-Ons > FS Global Real Weather > Refresh Weather) to refresh the weather completely (may take a few seconds until it's initiated).

 

 

Hello Bernd, technically it is true, there is no Refresh button on the GUI. I have a sim pit so my plan would be to network FSGRW as I don't really use the mouse and keyboard once my flight is started on my FSX PC. That being said, there would be no way for me to refresh the weather on my networked PC.

 

Also, the changing of the weather happened to me as it wasn't accurate to my destination until I was turning final. Next time I shall make a video.

 

 

Regarding the depiction: difficult for me to support this one, because you can't tell the real world conditions by just looking at a weather radar. The question is: how did the weather really look like in that area. FSGRW depicts a stratus layer; if you telll me exactly WHERE this is and what time I can explain how this weather as created and what real data sources reported.

 

Bernd

The time was around 1400 Zulu, here are the two latest METARs from that time:

 

KMCI 271353Z 03013G17KT 4SM +TSRA BR BKN008 BKN070CB OVC100 17/16 A2990 RMK AO2 SLP118 CONS LTGICCG VC E-W TS VC E-W MOV SE P0049 T01720161

 

KMCI 271339Z 05011G21KT 4SM -TSRA BR FEW050 SCT080 OVC100 17/16 A2987 RMK AO2 FRQ LTGCGIC DSNT SE-S TS DSNT SE-S P0040

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[BerndPodhradsky 5]

Hello Bernd, technically it is true, there is no Refresh button on the GUI. I have a sim pit so my plan would be to network FSGRW as I don't really use the mouse and keyboard once my flight is started on my FSX PC. That being said, there would be no way for me to refresh the weather on my networked PC.

 

Also, the changing of the weather happened to me as it wasn't accurate to my destination until I was turning final. Next time I shall make a video.

 

You're absolutely right, I mixed two things up here; FSGRW's GUI doesn't allow a refresh (yet).

 

However, the weather change when turning final is something that really shouldn't be the case; are you sure that the weather at the airport changed and that it was not just the change of direction that caused this effect (because in FSGRW you will see the weather in the distance just the way it is at the location you're looking at, so when you change direction you'll see different weather in the distance). What kind of weather change happened (visibility? wind? clouds?).

 

Bernd

[JBZ 13]

It was clouds, the airport in close proximity to KMCI was reporting a higher ceiling tgan KMCI. might have been due to the ASOS being shut down for the night causing the last METAR to be read. Once I started turning final into KMCI, the ceiling lowered and the clouds changed. Woyld be nice if the program forced the weather to be what the destination is reporting when you're so many miles out.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[JRBarrett 3,069]

I just took FSGRW for a test drive, and so far, I am quite impressed. Unfortunately, on my test flight from JFK to MCO, there wasn't really much r/w weather to speak of, at least in terms of clouds, storms etc.

 

I have used AS2012 and Opus extensively. I have only used AS2012 in DWC mode, as I hate the constant flashing in standard modes when METARs

update. The big drawback of DWC being that it sets the weather globally, so conditions are the same everywhere.

 

I was pleased with Opus when came out, since the injected weather actually correlated with real world conditions in any given location. With Opus, if you are in clear conditions, flying toward an approaching frontal system, you will actually see the cloud buildups along the front as you approach, while still seeing the clear skies behind the aircraft, in the direction you just came from.

 

In my FSGRW test, it appears that it works in a similar fashion to Opus in this regard. I use Foreflight Pro on my IPad, and had entered my JFK-MCO flightplan on its map, with real-time Nexrad radar overlaid. The only weather of any consequence was a band of showers lying in an east/west line just south of SWL VOR.

 

As I approached SWL from then north, I began to see the line of clouds, right where the Foreflight radar image showed it. Once I passed the line of showers, it became mostly clear further south, but even after passing the line, I could look back and still see it receding in the distance as I flew on...

 

The FSGRW flight plan feature is VERY nice. I printed it out before takeoff to check winds and temperatures aloft.

 

This is where FSGRW really shines. As I said, I have used all the major weather add-ons, but I have NEVER before seen upper winds and temps that followed the forecast conditions with the degree of accuracy that I just saw in FSGRW. The winds at each and every waypoint were exactly, and I mean EXACTLY what was in the printed flightplan.

 

When I say "exact", I mean that the direction never varied from the forecast by more than +/- 1 degree, the wind velocity by more than 2 knots, and the temperatures were also within +/- 1 degree.

 

And, it's not like the actual upper winds were constant over the 950 mile flight. Leaving JFK, the winds were quite strong (about 60 knots) from the northwest, gradually shifting to the west and diminishing to about 25 knots near Florida. The injected winds from FSGRW followed this change in direction and speed perfectly.

 

At no time did I get any sudden wind shifts or temperature shifts. Descending into the Orlando area, the winds very gradually and smoothly shifted from westerly (at FL360), to easterly below 10,000 feet, without the slightest disruption or sudden change.

 

I'll have to do many more flights to test the METAR accuracy at departure and arrival airports, but I have to say that the upper level,wind injection in FSGRW is the most accurate I have ever seen in all the years I have been involved in flight simulation.

[CVEP 13]

How does fsgwr do on a low ceiling approach, is real like Opus, or can you see the runway through the clouds?

[molleh 451]

 

 

 

This is where FSGRW really shines. As I said, I have used all the major weather add-ons, but I have NEVER before seen upper winds and temps that followed the forecast conditions with the degree of accuracy that I just saw in FSGRW. The winds at each and every waypoint were exactly, and I mean EXACTLY what was in the printed flightplan.

 

When I say "exact", I mean that the direction never varied from the forecast by more than +/- 1 degree, the wind velocity by more than 2 knots, and the temperatures were also within +/- 1 degree.

 

And, it's not like the actual upper winds were constant over the 950 mile flight. Leaving JFK, the winds were quite strong (about 60 knots) from the northwest, gradually shifting to the west and diminishing to about 25 knots near Florida. The injected winds from FSGRW followed this change in direction and speed perfectly.

 

At no time did I get any sudden wind shifts or temperature shifts. Descending into the Orlando area, the winds very gradually and smoothly shifted from westerly (at FL360), to easterly below 10,000 feet, without the slightest disruption or sudden change.

 

This is exactly what my experience has been as well.

 

CVEP, yes it does low ceiling approaches perfectly. I have some screenshots I can upload later today.

[WebMaximus 372]

This is exactly what my experience has been as well.

 

CVEP, yes it does low ceiling approaches perfectly. I have some screenshots I can upload later today.

 

Would be great if you could post some low visibility screenshots!

[CVEP 13]

Great, thanks! Looking forward to the screenshots. I think fsgwr will become my weather engine choice. Right now I use fsopen, but my yearly subscribtion is expiring.