I'm getting into flying gliders, I still have FSX:SE installed so I ran through the glider training mission it offers a few times to learn the basics.  I think I understand the different kinds of lift now and I want to go gliding in both FSX and P3Dv5 and do some free flights but I'm not sure how to decide where the best places to fly are.  I understand of course the weather is a big factor (wind) and mountainous areas are probably the best but I'm not sure what else to look for when deciding where to fly them.  What are the things a glider pilot look for when they are looking for a good place to fly?  What is the best kind of weather to look for?  Also if anyone has any suggestions for good places to fly I would be interested to hear them.

Another question, does anyone know if the default FSX DG808 will work in P3Dv5?  It's been years since the last time I tried flying it before now and it's pretty fun to fly and I would like to fly it in P3Dv5 if possible.

Also if anyone has any other advice for a new glider pilot I would love to hear it.  I still have much to learn about flying them.

Edit: One last question I have is about the P3Dv5 Thermal Visibility setting.  What exactly does a "Natural" thermal look like?  I looked in the P3D learning center and all it says is something about birds flying in circles so does that mean I will see actual birds flying in thermals in the P3D?  I've always left it set to Natural and I've never seen any birds flying around anywhere in the sim.  Even all the years I've flown in FSX I've never saw any birds ever with it always set to natural in my many many hours of flying.

Thank you

Edited August 26, 20232 yr by Kalnon

I managed to get CumulusX works in P3Dv4, no tried in v5 then, it provide thermal with it's own cumulus which looks kinda OK with P3Dv4's cloud, but probobly would stand out too easy if it even works with v5's EA could then...

I believe both MSFS and XP12 provide much better thermal, although still not without their own bug then (it seems thermal are not working at all in XP12.06beta then).

Here are some discussion from years ago, since then MSFS and XP12 actually evolved a lot.

 

34 minutes ago, C2615 said:

I managed to get CumulusX works in P3Dv4, no tried in v5 then, it provide thermal with it's own cumulus which looks kinda OK with P3Dv4's cloud, but probobly would stand out too easy if it even works with v5's EA could then...

I believe both MSFS and XP12 provide much better thermal, although still not without their own bug then (it seems thermal are not working at all in XP12.06beta then).

Here are some discussion from years ago, since then MSFS and XP12 actually evolved a lot.

 

Interesting thread.

Yes I have CumulusX installed for FSX which is one of the reasons why I want to still use it for gliders, because it's not compatible with P3Dv5.

I haven't tried gliders in XP12 or MSFS yet.  I want to be able to do it in all my simulators, both old and new.  I switch between all the different flight sims I own often depending on my mood 😄

I know each simulator has it's limitations but so far I'm having plenty of fun using gliders in FSX and P3D.  Someone pointed me to a website that a whole bunch of free gliders that I've started messing around with and I plan to buy some of the few payware ones out there like the Aerosoft gliders.  I got the free ones here: https://www.fsglider.de/index.htm

I started with SFS v2, then v3... v4 never saw the "light of the day"...

4 minutes ago, jcomm said:

I started with SFS v2, then v3... v4 never saw the "light of the day"...

Hahaha!  Boy that is really going back.  I never heard of it before but I would try it just for fun.

3 minutes ago, Kalnon said:

Hahaha!  Boy that is really going back.  I never heard of it before but I would try it just for fun.

It was great in terms of "strategy"... Graphics already outdated by it's time ...

Condorsoaring, and then SilentWings, were probably the top.

But I used CumulusX quite extensively. Also bought the two gliders released by Aerosoft for fsx. They were surely fun to fly 🙂

 

 

1 hour ago, jcomm said:

It was great in terms of "strategy"... Graphics already outdated by it's time ...

Condorsoaring, and then SilentWings, were probably the top.

But I used CumulusX quite extensively. Also bought the two gliders released by Aerosoft for fsx. They were surely fun to fly 🙂

 

 

Interesting.  I never heard of those two either.  I did though have a DOS combat flight simulator called Jetfighter that I played a lot as a young kid, I thought it was amazing back then...

Yeah I'm going to get those gliders for sure, and probably this one which looks very interesting

https://secure.simmarket.com/a1r-design-bureau-a1r-a-15-fsx-p3d.phtml

I don't know if it will work in P3Dv5 or not but I just use it in FSX if not and I will still have fun with it.  It's also very inexpensive compared to the Aerosoft gliders.

My advise is to stick with MSFS for sailplanes. Install this free addon from flightsim.to:

https://flightsim.to/file/56827/soaring-weather

read the instructions.

Then you will have compelling soaring conditions anywhere in the world using the included weather presets.

There are also a bunch of free gliders on flightsim.to

My favourite is the Discus.

Try Ridge Soaring Gliderport in Julian PA. You can fly up and down the Appalachians for hundreds of kilometers on the ridge and in thermals.

Very popular in real life soaring and great scenery.

20knots perpendicular to the ridge makes for fast flying along the ridge. Stay close to the ridge when you are below the top.

Move further out from the ridge the higher you get. Don't get caught in the lee side.

Use an axis for spoilers, not a button.

7 hours ago, FBW737 said:

My advise is to stick with MSFS for sailplanes. Install this free addon from flightsim.to:

https://flightsim.to/file/56827/soaring-weather

read the instructions.

Then you will have compelling soaring conditions anywhere in the world using the included weather presets.

There are also a bunch of free gliders on flightsim.to

My favourite is the Discus.

Try Ridge Soaring Gliderport in Julian PA. You can fly up and down the Appalachians for hundreds of kilometers on the ridge and in thermals.

Very popular in real life soaring and great scenery.

20knots perpendicular to the ridge makes for fast flying along the ridge. Stay close to the ridge when you are below the top.

Move further out from the ridge the higher you get. Don't get caught in the lee side.

Use an axis for spoilers, not a button.

Thank you so much, I greatly appreciate all of your advice.  I will certainly check out the Appalachians.  Thermals I figured out how to fly in pretty quickly but ridge lift I didn't fully understand how to take full advantage of so I will try your advice.  Do you have any advice for how to best take advantage of wave lift?  That is the type of lift I am struggling the most in trying to take full advantage of.

I will certainly check out MSFS for gliders..  I own most major flight simulators out there and I plan to try it in MSFS soon as well as XP12.  One of the reasons why I still use FSX for example is partly for nostalgic reasons (among other reasons) because I've been using it since I first bought the box version way back in 2006.  I know gliders in FSX and P3D may not be the best but I'm still having a lot of fun anyway.  You are right about the spoilers too, being able to control the amount of spoilers used allows for much better control so I definitely have it bound to a throttle quadrant axis.

3 hours ago, Kalnon said:

Do you have any advice for how to best take advantage of wave lift?

No, I've never flown in wave and I don't think its simulated in any game except perhaps Condor2 which someone I think mentioned earlier. But by all means if you see lenticular clouds there will be a ridge you can use to get into the wave or perhaps you can get in there in a thermal if you also have a CU layer. If you are climbing on a ridge and you suddenly find yourself at FL300 you in wave.🤣

Thermalling in a glider is quite nuanced bit ridge lift is quite easy provided you have a nice stiff wind against the ridge.

Centering a thermal is tricky. First you have to find one. Typically they are under cumulus clouds. The more towering the cloud the stronger the lift. The thermal is usually tilted into the wind so fly under the downwind side of the cloud and slow down. Usually you encounter some sink before you hit the lift. When you hit the lift see if you can discern a wind lift. If you do turn in that wing lift. Fly a complete circle. In sink tighten your turn. In lift flatten out your turn and then tighten it again. Its a constant effort. But if you a going up your doing it right. You'll get better with practice.

Wave is not modelled, as FBW737 mentioned, in MFS, FSX or earlier versions of P3D + CumulusX!, X-Plane or Aerofly FS.

Both Condor v2 and SilentWings do model Wave in a rather simplistic way, Condor v2 being a bit more detailed.

Good gliders in FSX / P3D are as good as the gliders in MFS. X-Plane gliders can feel different, in some aspects more realistic, but they also miss some important characteristics although some really talented authors have been able to overcome some of those limitations.

Aerofly, which I tested up to v2, does have nice glider flight dynamics, of what I recall superior to those of both MS FS and XP.

Honestly if you want to get the closest to real soaring weather and aerodynamics, go Condor v2. If it's just for the fun of trying many gliders, some really nicely modelled graphically, then FSX, P3D, MFS and XP will work.

SilentWings would be another good option, but I believe development stopped 😞

Major advantage of using MFS, particularly if you fly for real, is how close to RL terrain can be, sometimes being great to familiarize with zones where you've never flown before, or even to study alternatives for eventual land-outs ... Unfortunately flight dynamics and soaring weather wise the simulation of soaring in MFS is rather poor, and not different in XP ... CumulusX! did some great stuff for it's time. I was a big fan of it in the good old FSX days 🙂

Edited August 27, 20232 yr by jcomm

4 hours ago, jcomm said:

Wave is not modelled, as FBW737 mentioned, in MFS, FSX or earlier versions of P3D + CumulusX!, X-Plane or Aerofly FS.

Both Condor v2 and SilentWings do model Wave in a rather simplistic way, Condor v2 being a bit more detailed.

Good gliders in FSX / P3D are as good as the gliders in MFS. X-Plane gliders can feel different, in some aspects more realistic, but they also miss some important characteristics although some really talented authors have been able to overcome some of those limitations.

Aerofly, which I tested up to v2, does have nice glider flight dynamics, of what I recall superior to those of both MS FS and XP.

Honestly if you want to get the closest to real soaring weather and aerodynamics, go Condor v2. If it's just for the fun of trying many gliders, some really nicely modelled graphically, then FSX, P3D, MFS and XP will work.

SilentWings would be another good option, but I believe development stopped 😞

Major advantage of using MFS, particularly if you fly for real, is how close to RL terrain can be, sometimes being great to familiarize with zones where you've never flown before, or even to study alternatives for eventual land-outs ... Unfortunately flight dynamics and soaring weather wise the simulation of soaring in MFS is rather poor, and not different in XP ... CumulusX! did some great stuff for it's time. I was a big fan of it in the good old FSX days 🙂

How can that be that it wave lift is not modeled in FSX?  That really just doesn't make sense to me because the first FSX tutorial glider mission has you experience all three types of lift.  You start at the airport in Mindin Nevada and takeoff with a tow plane, first it has you go through a couple thermals, than over to a ridge then it tells you to go over the mountains to catch wave lift.  You have to be able to catch the wave lift to be able to gain enough altitude to go through some gates and complete the tutorial.

All those sims are good enough for me though I would be willing to try Condor v2 as well as Aerofly.  In fact, I've been debating whether to try Aerofly FS4 for a long time.  It's one of the only flight simulators I never tried.  I'm not sure about it because I wasn't sure if it was a real flight simulator or not and if it's worth my time.  I had a difficult time finding any good and complete reviews of it when I looked it up on the web so I'm not sure exactly all that it offers.  One thing I read is that there is only scenery for the west coast of the US, part of the east coast and a small part Europe which is very disappointing if true.  I've read there's no clickable cockpits.  If it does have good physics though I may be interested to try it, especially if I can catch it on sale.

I do have the best scenery you can get for FSX and P3D.  I have all of the Orbx global range scenery including Base, Vectors and all the openLC's as well as some regional scenery and I also have good mesh globally so I am able to follow and memorize the terrain pretty well.  I know it's still not as good as what MSFS looks like but it's plenty good enough to memorize.  I have to admit though that MSFS is very beautiful compared to any other simulator but often I prefer the other sims over it for various other reasons.

Edited August 27, 20232 yr by Kalnon

8 hours ago, FBW737 said:

No, I've never flown in wave and I don't think its simulated in any game except perhaps Condor2 which someone I think mentioned earlier. But by all means if you see lenticular clouds there will be a ridge you can use to get into the wave or perhaps you can get in there in a thermal if you also have a CU layer. If you are climbing on a ridge and you suddenly find yourself at FL300 you in wave.🤣

Thermalling in a glider is quite nuanced bit ridge lift is quite easy provided you have a nice stiff wind against the ridge.

Centering a thermal is tricky. First you have to find one. Typically they are under cumulus clouds. The more towering the cloud the stronger the lift. The thermal is usually tilted into the wind so fly under the downwind side of the cloud and slow down. Usually you encounter some sink before you hit the lift. When you hit the lift see if you can discern a wind lift. If you do turn in that wing lift. Fly a complete circle. In sink tighten your turn. In lift flatten out your turn and then tighten it again. Its a constant effort. But if you a going up your doing it right. You'll get better with practice.

Thank you again for all this great advice, this is all extremely helpful information that I did not know.

5 hours ago, Kalnon said:

Thank you again for all this great advice, this is all extremely helpful information that I did not know.

Your welcome! Sorry about the typo's but I guess you figured out my meaning.

BTW I'm sure MS just faked that wave in FSX tutorial. I don't recall ever trying the gliding tutorial but if I recall correctly winds in Vanilla FSX didn't go up hill either and the thermals were baked.

Also their are other kinds of lift that gliders can use. Cold front lift. As a cold front moves in it pushes and lift the warmer air in front of it. That's why you often see a line of clouds along the front. You can climb up these fronts in a sailplane. I've never done. Also along a coast line a see breeze can be pushed up over the body of air over the land and you can fly along the coast line like a ridge when these condition exist. Their may be more but that's about the extent of my knowledge. One more I recall is polar vortex. That one will get you into space if you encounter it.🤪

Edited August 27, 20232 yr by FBW737

9 hours ago, FBW737 said:

Your welcome! Sorry about the typo's but I guess you figured out my meaning.

BTW I'm sure MS just faked that wave in FSX tutorial. I don't recall ever trying the gliding tutorial but if I recall correctly winds in Vanilla FSX didn't go up hill either and the thermals were baked.

Also their are other kinds of lift that gliders can use. Cold front lift. As a cold front moves in it pushes and lift the warmer air in front of it. That's why you often see a line of clouds along the front. You can climb up these fronts in a sailplane. I've never done. Also along a coast line a see breeze can be pushed up over the body of air over the land and you can fly along the coast line like a ridge when these condition exist. Their may be more but that's about the extent of my knowledge. One more I recall is polar vortex. That one will get you into space if you encounter it.🤪

I see, I believe you, strange though that MS would fake it in FSX just for the tutorial.  What's the point of learning about it in the tutorial if it's not in the rest of the sim lol

I do understand what you were saying.  I didn't know there's other types of lift too.  I decided to go check out Condor 2 just out of curiosity, I went to their website and had a chat with some of the people on their forum and I'm really interested in trying it.  I plan to buy it now when I have some extra money to burn.  I think I'll have a lot of fun with it too.

Polar vortex haha, I have a historical space flight simulator called Reentry if I want to go to space, or I play Elite Dangerous or Star Citizen 🤣

 

 

Edited August 28, 20232 yr by Kalnon