Michael Garrett Posted September 14, 2022 at 06:54 PM Posted September 14, 2022 at 06:54 PM Hey guys, what do you use for weather? I'm returning to flight simulation after several years. Looking to try x plane for the first time ever, as well as the new fs2020. I recall in my days with fsx having to use add on weather apps like active sky x. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Board of Governors Don Desfosse Posted September 14, 2022 at 10:59 PM Board of Governors Posted September 14, 2022 at 10:59 PM I don't have any hard data, but my guess is ActiveSky is generally considered the (gold) standard in our community. I'm trying to think, but everyone that I can think of that I fly with uses it. Welcome back! 2 Don Desfosse Vice President, Operations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Geckler Posted September 14, 2022 at 11:28 PM Posted September 14, 2022 at 11:28 PM MSFS weather is excellent on it's own - no add-ons required. 4 Ryan Geckler - GK | Former VATUSA3 - Division Training Manager VATSIM Minneapolis ARTCC | FAA Miami ARTCC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Garrett Posted September 14, 2022 at 11:59 PM Author Posted September 14, 2022 at 11:59 PM Ok thanks guys. I appreciation the replies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Board of Governors Don Desfosse Posted September 15, 2022 at 12:28 AM Board of Governors Posted September 15, 2022 at 12:28 AM Thanks Ryan, hadn't heard that. Then again I still have yet to come out of the stone ages and embrace MSFS 🙂 1 Don Desfosse Vice President, Operations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thimo Koolen Posted September 15, 2022 at 05:23 AM Posted September 15, 2022 at 05:23 AM 5 hours ago, Ryan Geckler said: MSFS weather is excellent on it's own - no add-ons required. Is it? I've heard quite some complaints that it's not always very accurate. 1 ACCNL4 (Training Director) - Dutch VACC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Waldon Posted September 15, 2022 at 03:07 PM Posted September 15, 2022 at 03:07 PM Hello Michael, welcome back to flight simulation! X-Plane has good built-in weather but you can definitely use addons that are available. I don't use MSFS, so I can't speak on that. Just a quick word of caution. Flight sims have advanced to an extremely realistic level in the last few years. Be careful, it's going to be addictive! 😉 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Geckler Posted September 16, 2022 at 12:29 AM Posted September 16, 2022 at 12:29 AM 19 hours ago, Thimo Koolen said: Is it? I've heard quite some complaints that it's not always very accurate. I've found ActiveSky to be significantly more inaccurate, but that's just my observation. YMMV Ryan Geckler - GK | Former VATUSA3 - Division Training Manager VATSIM Minneapolis ARTCC | FAA Miami ARTCC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Shearman Jr Posted September 16, 2022 at 02:36 PM Posted September 16, 2022 at 02:36 PM On 9/15/2022 at 1:23 AM, Thimo Koolen said: Is it? I've heard quite some complaints that it's not always very accurate. My anedotal observation is that the data source seems to lag behind real-time -- so if a line of storms is visible on SkyVector which has just moved through Chicago and is now sitting off to the east, in the sim it may be over top of the airport now or is just west and still moving into the area. I haven't spent a lot of time making careful notes to confirm this hypothesis but it's my current working theory. Cheers, -R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Garrett Posted September 16, 2022 at 02:50 PM Author Posted September 16, 2022 at 02:50 PM This is a lot of interesting info. Thanks you guys. The thoughts about a time delay in real VS sim weather makes sense. I'm ok with that. Additionally, the point about simulations and how far they've come since I was last involved is exciting as well as it may be dangerous to a person's wallet! 😅😂😎👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Garrett Posted September 16, 2022 at 04:35 PM Author Posted September 16, 2022 at 04:35 PM On 9/15/2022 at 9:07 AM, Tim Waldon said: Hello Michael, welcome back to flight simulation! X-Plane has good built-in weather but you can definitely use addons that are available. I don't use MSFS, so I can't speak on that. Just a quick word of caution. Flight sims have advanced to an extremely realistic level in the last few years. Be careful, it's going to be addictive! 😉 Due to the expected increase in technology requirements compared to 2007 I've saved up for a new pc. I get to order it next month. About 5 or 6 weeks from now. I'm hoping it will be good for 5 years or so at least. 😅 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Fuchs Posted September 17, 2022 at 08:13 AM Posted September 17, 2022 at 08:13 AM (edited) If you go for MSFS, you will NOT need an additional weather program, because Microsoft has not opened the weather interface (yet). For X-Plane the live weather function that comes with the simulator is good for starters. I do own ActiveSky for X-Plane 11 and always used it. The cool thing is that you can define custom weather areas which is good when you want to fly VFR and the actual weather is bad. Simply take a real world METAR and replace all those nasty cloud layers with "CAVOK" and you will be good to go, while the temperature and QNH will remain like in the real world. As usual: before you buy anything, try the weather function(s) that come with the simulator first. Edited September 17, 2022 at 03:34 PM by Andreas Fuchs 1 Cheers, Andreas Member of VATSIM GermanyMy real flying on InstagramMy Twitch streams of VATSIM flights and ATC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Crowley Posted September 19, 2022 at 02:43 PM Posted September 19, 2022 at 02:43 PM (edited) The MSFS weather engine is good enough to surprise me on what seems a fairly regular basis now. Climbing out of Vegas the other night, with the Metar reporting reduced vis in blowing dust. Not only did the sim render reduced vis as you'd expect... it looked like a layer of blowing dust. It was night and these pics are badly compressed (sim does not show any of the banding of course) but you can see the color difference between dust and clouds in the moonlight: https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/be/c5/X3Dok1Qd_t.png https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/01/f9/ZQ7PQOX6_t.png And here, it's picking up and displaying wildfire smoke in the Sierra: https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/99/9f/DbApH1zN_t.png Edited September 19, 2022 at 02:48 PM by Andrew Crowley 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Saucier Posted September 19, 2022 at 05:31 PM Posted September 19, 2022 at 05:31 PM On 9/14/2022 at 6:28 PM, Ryan Geckler said: MSFS weather is excellent on it's own - no add-ons required. It has been rather good surprisingly. And I believe they will improve on it over time as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Stockton Posted September 20, 2022 at 12:36 AM Posted September 20, 2022 at 12:36 AM It seems to me that once our client logs into VATSIM it would download raw weather data from VATSIM. This way we're all on the same page. Our individual simulator renders the raw data. 1 N313GM, P0: X-Plane 12.01r3, Windows 11, i7-13700k, RTX4080 (16GB), 32GB DDR4 4800 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Cummins Posted October 16, 2022 at 12:18 AM Posted October 16, 2022 at 12:18 AM Is there a weather map/app/add-on that most of you use. I noticed that simaware doesn't show everything and some aircraft don't show weather on displays. Not a weather generator. But an add-on weather radar of sorts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Waldon Posted October 16, 2022 at 03:25 PM Posted October 16, 2022 at 03:25 PM Here are two great sources for world-wide weather (and flight planning). They both feature layer mapping which allow you to customize what is displayed on the map. You can keep the webpages running in the background, or on a second monitor if you have one. https://skyvector.com/ https://www.1800wxbrief.com/Website/interactiveMap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Cummins Posted October 18, 2022 at 12:10 AM Posted October 18, 2022 at 12:10 AM Thanks dude!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Kolin Posted October 18, 2022 at 12:52 AM Posted October 18, 2022 at 12:52 AM On 9/16/2022 at 10:36 AM, Robert Shearman Jr said: My anedotal observation is that the data source seems to lag behind real-time -- so if a line of storms is visible on SkyVector which has just moved through Chicago and is now sitting off to the east, in the sim it may be over top of the airport now or is just west and still moving into the area. I haven't spent a lot of time making careful notes to confirm this hypothesis but it's my current working theory. Having built a few of these systems in the past I can absolutely confirm this. The radar maps you see have a latency of between 5-15 minutes. Cheers! Luke ... I spawn hundreds of children a day. They are daemons because they are easier to kill. The first four remain stubbornly alive despite my (and their) best efforts. ... Normal in my household makes you a member of a visible minority. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Flemming Hansen Posted November 28, 2022 at 01:59 PM Posted November 28, 2022 at 01:59 PM I have come to use xE for X Plane 11 a lot. I do also have ActiveSky, but I don't like the XP11 vanilla clouds. Cheers, Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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