SurClaro Flight Simulator Resources

Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2005 9:00 pm Post subject: Re-stated weather issue...

This didn't get any response the last time I posted it, so let me re-phrase it and see if anyone bites:

Background: Different PC here altogether, 512M RAM, new 128 video card, third set of FS2004 disks, probably umpteen-zillion Uninstalls and Re-installs, and every possible weather-related setting (including rate-of-change) set every which-a-way.

In the User-Defined weather, does anyone have a clue why precipitation resets itself to zero after several minutes of flight?

Here's a quick test to confirm: Using the King Air 350, do a low-level IFR flight from Toronto (Pearson...CYYZ) to Detroit (KDTW). Before you take off, set User Defined weather for London (CYXU) to Overcast clouds, Heavy precipitation, visibility 5 miles, and call for snow or rain in Advanced weather. In the K/A 350, CYXU is about 15 minutes or so down the road. Take off, fly at maybe 4000 feet, and what's the weather when you get to CYXU? If this problem is consistent, you should have poor visibility, some clouds, and no precipitation! Now go into Weather and click on the CYXU station, and you'll see that FS has set your programmed precipitation (which was Heavy) back to zero.

I'd sure appreciate if someone would duplicate this flight and tell me what you come up with...it won't take long, and there's no neeed to even go past CYXU, that should tell the story. Several MS folks have said it really is a problem with the program, several have said I'm nuts; it works just fine.

Garry

Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2005 11:44 pm Post subject:

Have you tried shutting the rate of change to none?

Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2005 12:30 am Post subject:

Garry, I'll give your scenario a shot tomorrow (Sunday) and I'll see what I can come up with. Sorry your original post was missed.

I gave up on FS weather a long time ago...it sucks. If you don't mind putting out the money, Active Sky is the best weather simulation engine out there. Actually I wouldn't even call it simulation, it's definately as real as it gets.

If it quits raining in FS, it ain't raining in the real world either.

www.hifisim.com

Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2005 1:01 am Post subject: PV and Rick:

PV:
Yeah, I tried that rate-of-change up, down, everywhere...along with anything else that even remotely seemed related to weather settings.
I'm not complaining very hard, because I think MS did a heck of a job giving us such a powerful program for so few bucks, but I'm kinda wary about trusting their feedback. Who do you believe when you've got MS developers telling you there isn't a problem, and MS developers telling you the problem is obvious?

Thanks for taking a stab it it, PV

RICK:
Appreciate the help...it'll be interesting to see what you come up with. I'm sure there are better weather add-ons, but I'd be okay with FS weather if it would just do what it says it's supposed to do.

Thanks to both of you.
Garry

Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2005 9:39 pm Post subject:

Garry, I flew the plan and:

CYYZ to 15NM from CYXU at 4500' AGL: Scattered clouds, no precipitation.

15NM from CYXU to final approach: Heavy rain, less than 1 mile visibility at 4000' down to 1400' AGL.

1NM from field all weather cleared at 1400' AGL.

Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2005 10:21 pm Post subject:

Rick:
Thank ya much for taking time to bother with this, but I'm confused: Before you left CYYZ, did you program User Defined weather for CYXU to be Broken and Heavy precip, or did you program NO precip? What I'm trying to establish is what happens when you program precip (snow or rain) at an upcoming weather station down the line, and what you see when you get there. That's my problem: I prgram crappy weather for a destination airport, but when I get there the precip is set back to zero.

Sounds like you had something entirely different than what I'm running into.

Garry

Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2005 10:31 pm Post subject:

Garry...

I programmed CYXU to have heavy precipitation (rain) before I left CYYZ and it was in fact raining when I got to within 15NM of CYXU all the way to 1NM from the field.

In other words, it did not reset back to zero anytime during the flight.

Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2005 8:51 am Post subject: Weather...

Oh Man...this is not good news at all!

This is the third set of disks from MS, because they suspected a defect early-on, but the problem has been consistent since day-one, through all the disk sets. This is also a completely different computer with a ton of memory and a bigger graphics card...so it's surely not hardware.

I've had this escalated through the ranks and all the way to the top. Along the way, some said it didn't happen on their computers, but finally the FS developers did identify it as a bona fide program bug...the case history on this is a mile long!

I guess it's one of those "some do/some don't" problems.

Thanks for your help, Rick.

Garry