Erratic wind direction control

[Guest]

Andy's help (thanks!) got me to the point where I was able to control the wind (what power!) but I discovered that it wasn't doing what I put in - the wind direction wasn't accurate at all. Moving the indicator by 2 or 3 degrees would swing the sock almost 180 degrees but in other directions it wasn't as sensitive. It was never right though. I had to park next to the sock, put in a 50 knot wind and just experiment until it was across the strip. With a 100 knot crosswind I could make the 172 hover and that was fun for awhile. Anyone know whats up with the wind indicator? The sock reflects what the wind is doing but it's a trial and error effort for something that seems straight forward. I'm flying out of Brigham City, UT if that makes a difference (where the wind doesn't blow, it sucks :-)

[Guest Stompy]

Hey there! I think I've caught the tail end of your conversation, but maybe you and this Andy fellow can help me out with a problem that seems to be related...I remember reading that with a steady wind you can actually watch the clouds drift by while you're sitting on the tarmac. Well, I thought that sounded cool so one night when I had nothing do to and no ambition, I fired up FS2K2, threw in a broken layer at 1000 at KCGX, and added in a Moderate crosswind. Then I hit okay, got back into the cockpit, watched the clouds fade into existence, and then waited. The sock, and the clouds, were both motionless. Sure enough, when I went back into the weather options the clouds were still set the way I left them but the wind setting had been reset to nothing, and that's the way it is every time I try to change it by hand. The rest of the time I use FSMeteo, but then I can't tweak it for good cloud watching.Any ideas, or is there a thread I can do a search for?Thanks!

[Guest]

In playing around with this last night I "think" the way it works is this: first you have to hit alt-E to get the smaller window with the World menu on top (along with File and Edit,etc., pull that down and select the local weather and then the wind tab. Set all the parameters including the little + and - radio buttons at the top so you can add a "wind layer". You will need one at the ground to see the wind sock move and you can set the altitude (MSL) high enough to get the clouds in, too, in one layer. I tried 25 knots to get the sock to stand out. Then "OK" out of the templates. (I set the map just before that to make sure I was close to the sock so I could see it). I was able to fiddle with it a lot without it changing back to zero, but then I saved it using the file menu so I could practice the crosswind landings. Alt-E back to the large screen. I would like to know if you have the same problems I did adjusting the direction - it is just erratic.

[Guest]

Your post doesn't indicate if you are using FS's "Real World Weather," Meteo, or if you have cleared the weather and are just experimenting with setting various wind speeds and directions, but I have lately encountered many of the problems your post addresses. On any given flight, I can get four different wind speeds/directions at any given airport, and the windsock display may/may not be in agreement with one or the other of them. A dl of "Real Weather" may initially show the windsock in agreement with wind speed and direction, but hitting shift+Z may indicate somewhat different or greatly different speed/direction, and the ATIS report may be entirely different from either. That's three. But, if I have previously gone online to get the airport's current METAR surface winds, as I generally do, I can add a fourth that may be mildly or wildly different from the other three wind indications.To add to the confusion, this afternoon (5/18/02) I began a flight from KPNS (Pensacola, Fla), where I spent a lot of time learning to become a naval aviator, to KCRP (Corpus Christi, TX) where I spent even more time--three years--as a flight instructor in the Navy's Advanced Flight Training Command at NAS CC. Between Mobile, AL and Houston, TX, I encountered at least six abrupt "Real Weather" wind speed/direction changes from 004@8kts, to 093@12kts, to 246@22kts. These changes reoccurred all along my IFR flight path at haphazard intervals until I finally gave up trying to hold course on the airways as I approached Houston and deleted the FS2002 flight. I suspect there is something amiss with FS's "Real World Weather." http://home.kscable.com/rfromholz/ady.JPG