Runway / Airport Lights

[GaryTrammell 10]

Is there a way to force the lights to stay on at airports?

[JSkorna 137]

Hi,The smart a@@ answer would be to fly only at night!!If you reduce the visibility to less than 2 miles, then they will stay on. Other than that, no.Jimhttp://www.hifisim.com/banners/hifi-community-sigbanner.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/

[GaryTrammell 10]

DarnAirports look better with lights on

[JSkorna 137]

Hi,Another thought: Flying at dawn/dusk is pretty cool most of the time.Jimhttp://www.hifisim.com/banners/hifi-community-sigbanner.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/

[GaryTrammell 10]

Yeah, Thats why i got the Idea, I like Dusk or down flying most. Thats when FSX is at its best IMHO

[FalconAF 213]

There's a freeware utility created by someone, posted either here or at flightsim.com (maybe both), that will let you force FSX to stay in Dawn or Dusk time in the sim. I can't recall the name of it right now, but if you like flying in the Dawn or Dusk time frames all the time, it would work great for you (and keep the airport lights on for you, too!).If anyone remembers the filename or link, post it for him.FalconAF

[Fall_guy 1]

Hi Guys,I asked this question a while back and got no responce. My local airport is set in a rather wet area of the country so the lights are ON most of the time due to low visability.Its such a shame FSX can't simulate this.Kind Regards

[jvile 1]

>Hi Guys,>>I asked this question a while back and got no responce. My>local airport is set in a rather wet area of the country so>the lights are ON most of the time due to low visability.>>Its such a shame FSX can't simulate this.>>Kind RegardsYou need to go visit your local ATC Tower and see what standard they are working with.FS models the airport lighting effects (on/off) the same as what real world airports use under a standard. Two triggers define the lighting which are day vs dusk, night, dawn and the weather engine.Just because it is dusk, night, dawn does not mean you will get all the lighting to show. A airport must also be IMC vs VMC weather. That trigger is used for certain type approach lighting that pertains to Strobes per the approach chart.Real world airports can adjust the intensity of lighting as a varible based on visibility. FS uses a fixed low, medium and high intensity that is set in the varible XML code.One thing that is missing in FS is the key sequence of a mike to turn lights on after dark when landing but then again the lights never go off at night in order to use that type trigger.You can force the airport lighting on during day light hours if you vary some of the weather settings in FS (trial and error). A 20 mile visibility setting can be used to make the airport go IMC if you add a small thin layer of simulated see through fog in the cloud settings. You must use the default FS weather engine advance settings to do some of this and not a 3rd party weather engine.I see no shame pertaining to FS when they try to do most of it correctly but someone else wants to do apply a different standard.

[FalconAF 213]

>Hi Guys,>>I asked this question a while back and got no responce. My>local airport is set in a rather wet area of the country so>the lights are ON most of the time due to low visability.>>Its such a shame FSX can't simulate this.>>Kind RegardsUh...FSX simulates that very well. In the real world, airport lights are turned on anytime the airport goes IFR (Instrument Flight Rules). Minimum VFR (Visual Flight Rules) conditions are (normally) minimum 3 miles visibility. Anything less than 3 miles equals IFR conditions. There are exceptions...you can get a "Special VFR" out of the airport with lesser visibility, but only under certain conditions. Anyhow...So if you go to the Visibility Slider or Advanced Weather setting in FSX and set a visibility of less than 3 miles, all the airport lights will be turned on wherever you are, even at High Noon Local Time. ;-)FalconAF

[Guest BlueRidgeDx]

>Uh...FSX simulates that very well. Actually, FSX's simulation of the actual behavior is quite deficient. The HIRL/MIRL/ALS should only be illuminated only for runways to which approaches or landings are being made, and generally any time conditions are below 1000/5. Then, depending on the actual visibility, the intensity should be varied. Some lighting systems like the ALSF-1 and ALSF-2 are often operated as an SSALR when RVR is above 4000.That said, many airports leave the lights on well outside of the minimum envelope. FSX doesn't do any of this...yet.