Realistic Simulation of Mountain Flying

[Guest]

I have a question about how realistic mountain flying is in Fly!II. I'm flying between Lake Country Airport (KLXV) Colorado and Aspen over a 12,000 foot pass. In real life, this area is flown by Cessna 172s and 182s, but it is quite challenging. There are a lot of downdrafts and winds along the high slopes and the 172 doesn't perform great at these high altitudes. But in Fly!2, I have no problem flying right over these high mountain passes in the Flyhawk. Here are my questions:[ul][li]Are there things I can do in Fly!2 to create a more realistic/challenging mountain flying environment?[li]Is engine performance of the Flyhawk affected by high altitude in Fly!2?[li]Do others feel that Fly!2 is too easy in this area?[li]Do other flight simulators do a better job at creating challenging mountain flying or is this a common problem for flight simulators?[/ul]I will admit, that I only have a few actual flight hours toward my PPL, so I'm not yet a professional. If others feel that Fly!2 is challenging for mountain flying, I'd love to know.Here are some pics of flying the Citabria and Flyhawk at 13,000 FT with no problems:http://home.earthlink.net/~finsdad/FlyII/p...teScenery_F.jpghttp://home.earthlink.net/~finsdad/FlyII/p...teScenery_G.jpgAnother side question: are these pics that I'm posting too large to download for other users? They're limited to 700px wide, but are almost 50K each.

[Guest Fly II Pilot]

Dan:I assume that you have all the realism settings set to maximum.Fly! II does simulate the effects that altitude and temperature have over the engine performan. To verify this set yourself with the C172 at Lake Tahoe (for example), set the parking brake, start it and apply full throttle. Go to the weather menu, to the Other section make changes to the temperature and the atmospheric pressure confirming by pressing the OK button each time you do it. Observe how the RPM's vary. Note the maximum RPMs and you'll see they're very different to what you get at SFO, for example.As far as the slope wind, there's an entry in the Fly.ini file called ignoreSlopeWind and most likely you have set to =1. That's because in certain cases, while trying to land at an airport, you would get this updraft that wouldn't allow you to land at it, no matter how much you "sink" your nose. It seems this feature was not fully implemented but maybe it does work around mountains.Hope this answers your question... Stay away from those lenticular clouds!!!Alejandro AmigorenaCheshire, CTFly! II Beta Team MemberAthlon XP 1800ABIT KR7A-RAID768Mb RAMMSI GeForce 3 Ti 500 64MBSB Audigy GamerCH Flight Yoke USBCH Pro Pedals USB

[Guest]

By the way, what scenery is this?Thanks!

[Guest product]

I was going to ask the same question- great views!Best,Joel

[Guest]

This is 1/4 tile satellite scenery I'm working on for a section of the Rocky Mountains (Leadville to Aspen). I posted some screenshots of this earlier this week. I'm still working on downloading and piecing together the images and working on getting the colors right. When I'm done, I'm going to upload a Terrascene Kit that will give others the chance to reproduce the same scenery on their own machines.

[LAdamson 240]

I've done a reasonable amount of real life mountain flight over the Rockies. With a Piper Archer (180HP), I made it to 12,500' msl with three of us aboard. The density altitude conditions just seemed favorable that day. I also stopped at 12,500' for oxygen requirements. Other day's, it's struggled to get to 11,500'. I figure that a 172SP, also at 180HP should do just as well. I've flown the SP versions & they're quite like the Archer performance wise at higher altitudes. Of course down drafts make all the difference on how much you want to try to clear a peak by..L.Adamson

[Guest Henri W]

Dan,Attached a shot I took near Green Mountain Reservoir (Williams Peak, South of Kremmling, Colorado) when flying at 18000 feet in my hang glider. No major turbulence, except for the thermals ;-)Best regards,Henrihttp://hifi.avsim.net/activesky/images/wxrebeta.jpg

[Guest]

I get vertigo just looking at that picture...what a thrill. You're a brave man, Henri. Looks like a blast.

[Guest Henri W]

Dan,You won't believe it. I have fear of heigth. I do not dare to go near the edge of a clife. However, as soon as I am strapped to my glider I don't care. It feels very safe then and depending on the weather conditions it is. Once in the air it feels as if I am riding my bicycle, only the view is a million times better.Cheers,Henrihttp://hifi.avsim.net/activesky/images/wxrebeta.jpg

[LAdamson 240]

>Dan, >>You won't believe it. I have fear of heigth. I do not dare >to go near the edge of a clife. However, as soon as I am >strapped to my glider I don't care. It feels very safe then >and depending on the weather conditions it is. Once in the >air it feels as if I am riding my bicycle, only the view is >a million times better. >I'm somewhat the same way. I will look over the edge of cliff's & high buildings, but it somewhat bugs me. And you'll never see me "rock climbing" or doing tight rope acts! I even have nightmares of falling off high places. But on the other hand, I've done many spins straight towards the ground, and it doesn't get to me at all! For some reason a "wing" just offers some security.L.Adamson

[Guest Jan]

Hello Henri.Is that the old Wills Wing name on your glider? I used tohave an UP Comet 165 some years ago.Realy miss it sometimes.Converted it to a weightshift trike.French Cosmos.Then sold everything. :'( Jan

[Guest Henri W]

Hi Jan,The glider on this picture was a Wills Wing Sport. After that I transfered to the HP AT 158 and now I still own a Wills Wing RamAir 154. I was heavily involved in competition for a long time. Due to lack of time I did not fly during the last two years. I just decided to sell my glider. I cannot say how much that hurts me :'(Take care,Henrihttp://hifi.avsim.net/activesky/images/wxrebeta.jpg

[Guest DSandberg]

I have to say that I'm fascinated by this (actually, "blown away" is probably closer to the truth). To be that far up in the heavens and basically suspended from a tiny, frail kite ... well, wow. :)I have a couple of idiotic questions (seeing as how I know next to nothing about this), if you don't mind taking the time to answer them:1) At what altitude did you initially start at?2) How long did it take for you to work your way up to 18K feet?3) How much oxygen (duration) are you able to take with you for such a flight?4) Do you wear a parachute?[table cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0][tr][td width=320]http://www.usinternet.com/users/mystic/infomsig.gif[/td][td width=170 align=center]God wants Richard Harvey to be his copilot.[/td][/tr][/table]

[Guest Henri W]

Hi David,This was a truely extrordinary flight, since I had an incredible thermal. I took off at 10000 feet, which was about 2000 feet above the landing zone. After flying for a little while I sank out, but caught a thermal about 200 feet above the valley floor. This thermal took me up some 12000 feet, where most of the climb (during 5 minutes if I remember correctly) I had an average climb rate of 1400 feet per minute. A friend of mine was keeping track of my altitude using a stop watch; my variometer at that time only went to 1000 feet per minute. You can calculate now how high I finally got ;-) . I stayed at that altitude for 15 minutes perhaps, certainly suffering from some hypoxia, since I did not have additional oxygen. However, I lived at over 5000 feet at that time (Boulder, CO) and camped every weekend at 10,000 feet. In total I was at or above 18,000 feet during 1.5 hours, during which I could make a nice cross country flight. And finally, yes, I do have an emergency parachute. Every hang glider pilot does. BTW, a hang glider can withstand the same forces as a normal plane. We are just a lot lighter.Cheers,Henrihttp://hifi.avsim.net/activesky/images/wxrebeta.jpg

[Guest DSandberg]

1400 feet/minute? That altitude without supplementary oxygen? Wow.[table cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0][tr][td width=320]http://www.usinternet.com/users/mystic/infomsig.gif[/td][td width=170 align=center]God wants Richard Harvey to be his copilot.[/td][/tr][/table]