Soaring in FSX

[Distorted Humor]

How do you find thermals or ridge....I for the life of me cannot find a thermal or ridge uplift...

[RyanbATC]

Well I think the ridge lift is only in missions.

But to visually display thermals (say if you have real world Wx chosen), you have to go into options, and I believe it's under the "weather" tab. There should be a tick box something like "show thermal visualization" It will then display a green spiral in-game.

[tigisfat]

This is a problem. I want to soar in-game, but even if I create an unstable atmosphere I can't find many strong thermals. Maybe I'm not a good sailplane pilot, I dunno. There just doesn't seem to be many thermals out there. I've even gone to the world-famous soraing locations.

In the real world, you hit thermals all the time in GA trainers if you live in a convective area. I haven't noticed that in game either. Maybe they are all something that must be modelled in-misison. There's gotta be a group of guys somewhere making soaring missions, I'll go check it out.

[deepsea345]

i believe there are things called "Soaring Sceneries" that could be downloaded whic add thermals for soaring

[InsyleM]

Ive hit thermals in game for Soaring and by accident in small GA Planes like the Cessna 172. Go to Display options and for thermal it should have a box to select natural, off and schematic. I Turn it on schematic for soaring. Then glide toward the springs in heaven for the thermals. Kinda bumpy to fly through one in a GA plane.

[lnuss]

In FS you're more likely to find stronger thermals in the early afternoon, especially in warmer weather. You'll also find that, just as in real life, they drift with the wind as you climb,

[tigisfat]

In FS you're more likely to find stronger thermals in the early afternoon, especially in warmer weather. You'll also find that, just as in real life, they drift with the wind as you climb,


You fly gliders, right? Have you felt that you've accurately soared in FSX?

[lnuss]

You fly gliders, right? Have you felt that you've accurately soared in FSX?

I think soaring in FSX is pretty good, though I have yet to find any good ridge lift or mountain waves. Once you're in a thermal, it's a lot like real life but, of course, not quite as real as it might be, and aircraft flight models can use some work, as well as thermal behavior.

I have a friend who is more of a soaring nut than I am (and more experienced in real life, as well), and he also feels the thermals are pretty decent. They're a bit too predictable, in some ways, and there's not quite enough variation, but it's easy at times to almost forget you're in a sim. Probably the biggest thing I miss in the sim is the kick in the pants when you hit a sim, or the sudden sinking feeling when you hit sink. Still, as in all areas of the sim, soaring could stand some degree of improvement, though I give full credit to ACES for the marvelous improvements they've made in FSX soaring.

The towing experience, unlike the soaring experience, has a long ways to go, but still, it's there now, unlike in previous versions. Now if they'd have the "tow pilot" search for thermals, instead of going in a straight line, and if he'd respond to my tugs when I go far left or right to signal a turn, yet leave a way for me to box the slipstream, it'd be a LOT more realistic, though there are still a few other changes in tow plane behavior that I'd desire, but those are the biggies.

[freddy]

You fly gliders, right? Have you felt that you've accurately soared in FSX?


I think soaring in FSX is pretty good, though I have yet to find any good ridge lift or mountain waves. Once you're in a thermal, it's a lot like real life but, of course, not quite as real as it might be, and aircraft flight models can use some work, as well as thermal behavior.

I have a friend who is more of a soaring nut than I am (and more experienced in real life, as well), and he also feels the thermals are pretty decent. They're a bit too predictable, in some ways, and there's not quite enough variation, but it's easy at times to almost forget you're in a sim. Probably the biggest thing I miss in the sim is the kick in the pants when you hit a sim, or the sudden sinking feeling when you hit sink. Still, as in all areas of the sim, soaring could stand some degree of improvement, though I give full credit to ACES for the marvelous improvements they've made in FSX soaring.

The towing experience, unlike the soaring experience, has a long ways to go, but still, it's there now, unlike in previous versions. Now if they'd have the "tow pilot" search for thermals, instead of going in a straight line, and if he'd respond to my tugs when I go far left or right to signal a turn, yet leave a way for me to box the slipstream, it'd be a LOT more realistic, though there are still a few other changes in tow plane behavior that I'd desire, but those are the biggies.
I have flown gliders in real life. I completely concur with lnuss. In the FSX glider, I have, at times, almost forgotten I am in a sim. The thermals could be a little better, but the "search" for them in the glider and what happens when you find one seems quite realistic indeed. Follow the variometer, listen carefully to the tones and what they are trying to tell you, keep an eye out for the right cloud formations or for birds circling (or springs in the sky), locate a possible updraft, head for it, hit it, variometer confirms lift, work out which direction you need to turn (left or right) to enter the thermal and then put it all together. Now, try to stay "in" the thermal. Do you need to turn fairly tightly, or not much at all in this one? Watch your speed, do not pull too hard, let the thermal do the work. Etc etc etc. It is challenging and a lot of fun. And, yes, it can be done in the sim. In my opinion, it feels pretty close to how it is in real life.

However, yes, it probably could be a bit better. A few more thermals about the place would make it seem more realistic to me. Then again, I am yet to try soaring in the SUMMER season in the sim. Yes, the early afternoon does seem best for thermals.

(Hehe, I usually encounter the damn things when I don't want to - in the prop planes near the end of runways as I am on finals - I saw the circling birds and that explains why I am now CLIMBING on finals! Grr!)

I also agree with lnuss that the tow plane experience in FSX is not great. It isn't very realistic at all to me. The sim makes it a little too easy to let go of the stick and let the tow plane "carry you" or "pull you along". In real life it isn't that simple. Not to mention the usual procedure is to sit slightly "ABOVE" the tow plane so as to avoid the wash from his prop - but not too high or you can pull his tail up and cause him problems. You can do this in the sim, but it can be hard to see the tow plane properly and judge your position (due to the limitions of using a computer monitor). The same applies with not flying too far left or too far right of the tow plane (due to your own bad piloting or just a factor of the winds). You just don't affect the tow plane enough if you get yourself in to the "wrong position". In real life, you need to fly "in the box". And the sim is just a bit too forgiving on this and the whole tow plane experience in general for my liking. Still, previous versions didn't have the tow plane, so I am not complaining. :-)

So, all up, apart from a few little niggles, FSX does still do a pretty good job of the soaring. And, as lnuss said, full credit to ACES for the marvelous improvements they've made in FSX soaring. Despite the tow not seeming as realistic as it could be, and the number of thermals perhpas being a bit thin (we'll see what happens in the summer season), I still really do quite enjoy the challenge of soaring in FSX.

[Distorted Humor]

Thanks for the infomation! :)

[harvey2407]

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