I'm experiencing the following issue: I attempt to customize a surface wind from ground level up to 3,000 ft at 30 KTS crosswind. During rollout, I only see the wind at 15 KTS, and as it passes through about 1,000 ft, it gradually reaches 30 KTS. I wonder why this is happening. This was an issue in MSFS 2020 but not in MSFS 2024. We should be able to customize this. Is this new in V4?

MSFS 2024 could be modeling the surface wind based on 30kts at 3000 ft. If this is the case, it might be correct, as in general wind slows down when near ground due to friction. 

7 minutes ago, FlyIce said:

MSFS 2024 could be modeling the surface wind based on 30kts at 3000 ft. If this is the case, it might be correct, as in general wind slows down when near ground due to friction. 

aka boundary layer.

 

MSFS surface wind is attenuated significantly to target 1/2 the reported wind speed at the surface when below approx. 100 AGL in 2020 (I believe it is higher, about 1000AGL in 2024 SU4). The surface wind speed is also influenced by the layer above it (if any) and apparently interpolated/blended. So setting a duplicate layer matching the desired wind surface wind speed will help lower the transition altitude. To get the actual surface wind speed configured to be depicted at the surface, you can add multiple thin stacked surface layers (with doubled wind speed) transitioning to non-doubled surface wind speed layer above about 1000AGL and then to normal aloft layers above that. The net effect is normal expected transitioning between aloft and surface wind conditions all the way to runway. In reality, some attenuation is common very near the surface (~33ft anemometer height and below, depending on terrain/mechanical influence) but this is all very exaggerated in MSFS and way worse in 2024SU4 IMO.

Edited December 11, 2025Dec 11 by Damian Clark

1 hour ago, FlyIce said:

MSFS 2024 could be modeling the surface wind based on 30kts at 3000 ft. If this is the case, it might be correct, as in general wind slows down when near ground due to friction. 

No, that's not entirely correct. A 30 KTS surface wind is precisely that, not computed at 15. When you are cleared for takeoff, and the tower gives you surface wind, like in our case, 30, it should not be 15. You see, all the take-off computations are based on that value, not on something like 1/2 of it. That's an incorrect computation; also, you can have winds at 30 kts descending through, let's say, 4,000 ft, and a surface wind in excess of 40. Many factors contribute to wind velocity and direction, and it's not correct to assume it slows down near the ground. It might or might not. It shouldn't be like that.

6 minutes ago, LRBS said:

No, that's not entirely correct. A 30 KTS surface wind is precisely that, not computed at 15. When you are cleared for takeoff, and the tower gives you surface wind, like in our case, 30, it should not be 15. You see, all the take-off computations are based on that value, not on something like 1/2 of it. That's an incorrect computation; also, you can have winds at 30 kts descending through, let's say, 4,000 ft, and a surface wind in excess of 40. Many factors contribute to wind velocity and direction, and it's not correct to assume it slows down near the ground. It might or might not. It shouldn't be like that.

Right. Wind speeds are measured from 10m (~33ft) which create the ATIS/METAR reports. 3000ft wind levels are accurate at 3000ft, and surface wind levels are accurate at 33ft AGL. Below that, some attenuation/lowering of speed at the surface is realistic, but not above 33ft AGL.

27 minutes ago, Damian Clark said:

Right. Wind speeds are measured from 10m (~33ft) which create the ATIS/METAR reports. 3000ft wind levels are accurate at 3000ft, and surface wind levels are accurate at 33ft AGL. Below that, some attenuation/lowering of speed at the surface is realistic, but not above 33ft AGL.

Exactly right. Those meteorological stations are at 33 ft high. Our airplane is about 63 ft tall, and the fuselage sensors are at roughly at 40 ft. However, other airplanes have heights above 33 ft, and the wind data on the ND or PFD accurately reflect the reported values. I believe this discrepancy is intentional, meant to compensate for or mitigate those dynamics. 

 

To follow up on this issue, I reset MSFS2024 to its default settings, tested multiple scenarios, and observed the same issue.

Wind velocity is always at 1/2 of the value. For example, if the user tries to create an x-wind condition of 15 KTS, they must enter 30 KTS; if you want to practice a 30 KTS crosswind, you need to set a value of 60 KTS. This is a significant issue for anyone seeking authenticity. 

Then, I hear statements about the nature of improved psychics. I tested only the 737, 787, and the 747, airplanes that I flew quite extensively, and unfortunately, moments of inertia are way off. They need a total overhaul in flight dynamics. It would be interesting to find out which airplanes have modified their flight characteristics.

 

55 minutes ago, LRBS said:

Then, I hear statements about the nature of improved psychics. I tested only the 737, 787, and the 747, airplanes that I flew quite extensively, and unfortunately, moments of inertia are way off. They need a total overhaul in flight dynamics. It would be interesting to find out which airplanes have modified their flight characteristics.

Asobo unfortunately has yet not updated all/most of their fleet to take advantage of all the 2024 flight and ground dynamics capabilities since release, including the latest inertia related FM parameters in SU4.

As they stated in the SU4 release notes below, the inertia related changes were only done for the C172 and Extra 330 (I really hope they get going on updating other major aircraft in the default fleet, but of course very glad they implemented these features in the FDE toolkit so that 3rd party aircraft devs can at least adopt as they see fit):

• С-172 (classic and G1000), Extra 330LT:
  • Integrated full inertia tensor support, MOI recalculation fixes for aircraft weight changes, and rotational dynamics fix.
  • Added support for a full inertia tensor used in aircraft rotation modelling via the new “empty_inertia_tensor” parameter in the [WEIGHT_AND_BALANCE] section of flight_model.cfg file (see SDK for details).
  • When this parameter is specified, it also enables the following fixes:
    • Fixed incorrect effect of payload stations on MOI changes. Note: if you previously compensated for this by increasing the empty aircraft MOIs, re-adjustment may now be necessary.
    • Fixed incorrect MOI recalculation during in-simulation weight changes.
    • Fixed several issues in rotational dynamics modelling: the laws of conservation and evolution of angular momentum and rotational kinetic energy are now satisfied with high accuracy.
    • Increased limits for angular velocity (to 10 revs/sec) and angular acceleration (to 100 revs/sec^2). These limits only safeguard against crashes from incorrect flight model settings and are not expected to trigger in normal gameplay.
       

Edited December 11, 2025Dec 11 by lwt1971

23 minutes ago, lwt1971 said:

Asobo unfortunately has yet not updated all/most of their fleet to take advantage of all the 2024 flight and ground dynamics capabilities since release, including the latest inertia related FM parameters in SU4.
 

Thank you so much for clarifying those details. I will try that C172, and maybe we can share our views on that front. The problem for me is that I'm completely unfamiliar with how that airplane behaves, and I need to find out the demonstrated x-wind component and whether there are any limitations on it. If you know, please share the info.

And @lwt1971 I found out the x-wind limitation: 15 KTS. There is a significant improvement in the airplane's handling, as far as I can see. Now, as I mentioned, to get 15 kts, we need to enter 30 kts (double). That problem needs to be addressed to ensure the correct outcome.