A good reason to use FSMetars all the time...

O

OBIO

Retired SOH Admin
I have found a really good reason to fire up FSMetars with every flight....OAT...out side air temperature. Yesterday, I started a flight out of Orcas Island in Brian Gladden's Beechcraft Volpar..which has been spending some time in my Orcas Island based aircraft restoration facility, and noticed that the OAT gauge was reading 114 degrees! I minimized the sim, fired up FSMetar and went back the my flight....and the OAT gauge dropped to a nice cool 60 degrees.

I don't know how well FS9 simulates the effects of hot (and thus less dense air) on flight performance, but if it even models the effect on a half way accurate level, then having proper air temps would be a great benefit for flying sim aircraft. So, from now on, I am going to fire up FSMetars to pull in real world weather and air temps.

For those who use FSMetars, Jeppsens or what other weather engine thingies there are out there...this may be a step you might want to follow to give yourself more accurate/real flying experiences.

OBIO
 
OBIO said:
I don't know how well FS9 simulates the effects of hot (and thus less dense air) on flight performance, but if it even models the effect on a half way accurate level, then having proper air temps would be a great benefit for flying sim aircraft. So, from now on, I am going to fire up FSMetars to pull in real world weather and air temps.



OBIO
Click to expand...

not very well, afaik only 2 published sims ever use the computational fluid dynamics
associated with t's and p's; namely the Flight Unlimited II/III series and X-Plane

ttfn

Pete
 
I always use real weather when I fly. With the "Fair Weather" theme, you can set the Sim to Dec 21 and set up a flight at Fairbanks AK and the air temp will still be 51°F!

I don't know about temp and pressure, but try getting the C172 off the ground out of any high altitude airstrip and you'll see how well it handles altitude vs. performance. Heck, you can't even do a Ctrl+E start because the Sim automatically sets the mix full rich, which ends up flooding the engine. You have to manually set the mix about mid-way and then crank the engine with the mag/starter switch.
 
If you like flying in the colder climates, this might interest you?

This gauge is provided as a way of making winter flying in the sim (FS9 or FSX) a little more realistic. It has been tested and works in both FSX and FS9.

Contrary to some popular belief, structural icing is simulated in both versions of the simulator. However, icing rarely appears in cloud layers generated by either the real-world download of the standard sim or from most add-ons such as Active Sky. When icing is placed in cloud layers, it is rarely more than "light" icing. The ice accumulation rate in both sims is so slow that only "severe" structural icing is liable to cause any noticable change in the aerodynamics of your aircraft, especially if you are flying a larger one.

This is good, generally, because many FS aircraft do not have working de-icing systems because aircraft panel designers haven't understood the parameters for enabling de-icing in their airplanes, and often their structural de-ice switches don't work. So, the wimpy ice simulation is offset by the ignorance about anti-icing, so all is well in the sim world.

If you want to understand the truth, and how this gauge can help you, read the 'Icing.txt' file in this package.

To install this gauge, create a folder under your sim's 'Gauges' folder called ICE, then copy the contents of this zip archive into it. To install the gauge on a panel, do it like this:

gauge45=ICE!IceWarning,250,20,40,20

This is from the default FS9 172SP. Substitute the appropriate number for the 45, and adjust the position and size to suit yours, of course.

I hope you enjoy this little product and the research that led to it, and happy flying whether sim or real!

Charles (Dutch) Owen
Click to expand...

search the authors name over at FlightSim
 
OK Obio, I think you all know I sometimes need direction. Where do I put the key info to get FS Metars to install and run? Yeah, I know, slower than snail snot running uphill in Vermont in the winter!
 
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