Gusts and wind direction changes - suppress ?

[WilloW_737 5]

Greetings

 

Using live weather I've noticed that occasionally I am getting rather strong "gusts" and changes in wind direction.  These changes are quite sudden and always straighten themselves out in  10-15 seconds or so.  It isn't a problem during cruise; however, when they occur on an approach it's rather inconvenient.  Whilst the changes "maybe" related to real weather changes, is there a way to smooth them out or remove them altogether ??

 

I have all the appropriate boxes re: stabilization etc ticked (checked).

 

Further, FSUPIC has all weather turned OFF.  Can I activate suppress gusts in FSUPIC to solve this issue ?

 

Many thanks,     WilloW

[Opus Software 84]

Hi WilloW

 

You could turn off the DHM Bump Aircraft option if it currently enabled, that will calm things down a bit for you. I don't recommend supressing gusts in FSUIPC.

 

Cheryl

[WilloW_737 5]

Hello Cheryl

 

Thank you for your reply.

 

DHM is not enabled.

 

As a comparison, I used Active Sky and the the sharp changes did not occur.

 

It seems to occur at around 3000 feet altitude when either ascending after takeoff or descending on an approach course.

 

I will not activate FSUPIC weather parameters.  

 

Do you have any further suggestions to solve this issue ?    WilloW

[Opus Software 84]

We recommend the Opus defaults for weather update frequency and distance. If you have long periods between weather updates or refreshes then eventually, in not too long a time, FSX will drift away from its targets and start to do its own thing. Eventually when you do come to update the weather you will generate large wind shifts.

 

If you are flying with the sim rate speeded up, especially above x4 then it is possible to get wind shifts. Certain aircraft sims are more susceptible to wind shifts.

 

The easiest configuration is to set your Destination, Max Cruise Altitude and enable Adjust Options Automatically. If your system has wind shifts enable the Adjust Sim Friendly Options (as you have done), if your system has severe wind shifts then enable the Use Maximum Stabilisation option too.

 

Cheryl

[WilloW_737 5]

Thank you for your reply Cheryl

 

Windshifts occur 3 minutes after take off, so the longtime between updates appears to not be valid.

 

I have done everything you have suggested and the issue continues.

 

I also have tested on several days ensuring the live weather is a different from the previous with the same result,

 

It seems that the issue presents itself below 4000 feet (takoff and approach phase).

 

As this does not appear to be an easy fix, but I'll continue to experiment.  I checked and unchecked options so many times during testing with the same result.

 

Of interest however, was that Active Sky with live weather did NOT result in wind shifts.

 

Perhaps in a future release you can have an option to inhibit wind shifts and gusts for those of us who have issues for whatever reason.

 

There are so many variables.....    WilloW

[Opus Software 84]

Other users are reporting no wind shifts using the latest betas. Are you sure you have no other software packages injecting the weather. Disable the FSUIPC weather options (if you have the registered version). In FSX Free Flight, Weather, set your FSX Current Weather to any weather theme, just don't enable the real world weather options. Check that no other weather engines are running. If flying online don't inject weather from FSInn etc. 

 

Do you get shifts with different aircraft types?

 

Cheryl

[WilloW_737 5]

Hi Cheryl

 

I am not using the latest BETA.  My purchase was about 6 weeks ago, so I'm not sure if there has been an upgrade since then.

 

I have no other weather engine injecting weather, FSUPIC is disabled and FSX is not set to real weather options.  Further I do not fly on-line at the moment.

 

I only fly the B737 with ProSim737.

 

The only aspect that holds true is that the changes occur below 4000 feet

 

I will do some further testing if I have time over the coming weekend.   Cheers,   WilloW

[Opus Software 84]

If you are remaining at low level then its most likely due to the changing surface winds which FSX does not like. Try specifying a Max Cruise Altitude of 6000 feet using all the Recommended Practices. That way you will get both GRIB forecast data and Stabilised (Static) surface winds, until recovered that is.

 

Stephen

 

Also try the latest beta, 3.38.3.

[Opus Software 84]

We usually produce at least one new Beta per week when we incorporate new features and enhancements.

 

We maintain a list of changes here so that you can decide whether you want to download the latest beta or not. The changes are also logged in \OpusFSX\OpusReleaseNotes.txt.

 

We have introduced some further measures in the latest betas to overcome the FSX windshifts. Best try the latest beta which you can download here (at the bottom of the page). After downloading the beta uninstall your current OpusFSX via Control Panel but do not delete your OpusFSX folder which contains your config and camera files.

 

Cheryl

[WilloW_737 5]

Thanks Stephen and Cheryl.  I appreciate the link 

 

I'll do as you suggest over the next few days.  Time is a little short at the moment :(     Best,    WilloW

[ysfsim 22]

I posted this on another thread:

"Isn't wind shift problems solved by gradually changing the wind heading and speed over the course of a few seconds rather than instantly?"

[Opus Software 84]

That would be fine if you could control it but it is the erroneous calculations in FSX which cause the fault. The only solution which completely eradicates wind shifts is to inject global weather or no weather at all.

 

You will cause your own wind shifts if you disable weather updates in OpusFSX since FSX will eventually drift away and forget any targets that have been injected and do its own thing, next time you update the weather FSX will most likely produce a wind shift as it tries to readjust and accept the new targets.

 

Weather engines do not control the ambient conditions in real time, the simulator does that and it is the FSX ambient wind calculations that are in error and always have been in error. The arithmetic on the wind direction is completely flawed. Hence the wind targets have to be kept under control in order to coax the sim in the right direction, this can only happen during a weather update. It's common knowledge that globalised weather completely eliminates wind shifts because if nothing changes then the sim does not recalculate anything. Unfortunately the real world does not have globalised weather.

 

Try the latest beta and fly with sim friendly options set since these are only adjusted if we deem it necessary to prevent wind shifts.

Please read the recommended practices, these explain why you should not disable weather updates and why FSUIPC must be installed if you fly in accelerated time. The vast majority of people do not suffer wind shifts if they follow these practices.

 

Stephen