I really haven't been using MSFS even though I was one of the original testers before the release. Mainly when it was released, I felt that it still needed a few years to mature to a point where I would feel like it was the sim that I was looking for. I would keep updating the sim as new Sim Updates and World Updates would roll out but after each update and a brief flight around in the new version I would feel like it was still not ready. However, after the past few Sim Updates, the release of the TDS GTNXi750 as well as the Just Flight Arrow III to support it, I gave the sim a more closer look as to where it was. 

I did a cross country flight in real weather with showers in the area. This was my first time flying in non-clear skies using real weather. I really got to see how I was able to see the bands of rain and allowed me to avoid flying into the rain as well as how there were different degrees of rain from light to heavy. While the rainbows werent realistic in the fact that at altitude they are a circle and not half circle, they did appear, intensify and disperse in a very natural way. The airport that I was landing at had a huge rain cell sitting on top of it so I had to land in some low viz, heavy rain and all the effects of the weather on that flight really had me appreciating just how far the weather system has advanced over any other sim in many area.

I am very much looking forward to what XPlane 12 brings to the table as well as what MSFS will be like once it introduces gliders and helicopters with its thermals and drafts plus seasons. All in all what I got from that flight was that the pros of MSFS out weight the cons enough for me to really start using more since I've been more or less XP11 only. Well with the exception of AeroFly FS2 for its R22 use as that is one of the best sims for flying helos in..especially in VR.

Keep looking for those circular rainbows - I have seen them more than once 🌈 

Rare for me Circular double rainbow today...couldn't quite get the whole rainbow in pic

Do you see the circular one from the VC or just in spot view?