Great Add-On for Soaring in FSX
RandyL AT DOT
as the thermals that come with the stock FSX are very few, far between, and
don't really have anything to do with the current weather. Recently I found
a terrific add-on for FSX that not only adds intelligent thermals, but also
adds slope lift to all areas of FSX. I have been having a ball flying the
ridge lift to the east of Hailey, Idaho (KSUN) until I am at an altitude
where I can start thermaling. Once at a decent altitude I can now start
cross-country soaring and actually have a chance to get somewhere. Last
night I towed out of KSUN, ran the ridge lift until I hooked into a strong
thermal, and cross-country soared to Big Southern Butte (U46). The CumulusX
thermals and ridge lift are much, much more realistic than the stock FSX
ones. They conform to the current time of day, season, type of terrain, and
weather. These thermals evolve over time, they lean downwind, and they have
areas of heavy sink outside of the thermal cores. The program is freeware,
and is called CumulusX. While this program is freeware, if you send in a
nominal $ contribution to register the program, the registered version of
CumulusX allows you to choose your own tow plane from the list of any
installed FSX aircraft, and also allows you to control (within limits) the
pattern that the tow plane flies around the airport. This program runs in
the background while FSX is running, and starts up automatically when you
run FSX. Or you can tell CumulusX NOT to start up automatically when you run
FSX if you don't want it to. This program is a "must have" if you are at all
interested in soaring using FSX.
You can find CumulusX here:
http://luerkens.homepage.t-online.de/peter/
And you can find some terrific FS9 and FSX sailplanes here:
http://www.fsglider.de/p_e.htm
I highly recommend the Rollanden Schneider LS-7.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/rlink01/Microsoft%20Flight%20Simulator/WoodRiverValley_02.jpg
And I recommend this webpage for anyone interested in virtual soaring:
http://www.virtualsoaring.org/
Have fun!
Randy L.
-- There are things that you know with your head
And things that you know with your heart.
Danny
installed in FS9 a few years back. It was much better than default
generated thermals and the ridge life that is non existent I believe in FS9.
Danny
"RandyL" wrote in message
news:MuWdnUbfI8gc6tzT...@giganews.com...
scott s.
news:gNOdncNMsdDpedzT...@giganews.com:
> I have never been a big fan of soaring and gliders, but I did have
> CumulusX installed in FS9 a few years back. It was much better than
> default generated thermals and the ridge life that is non existent I
> believe in FS9. Danny
For FS9 there was a program cross country soaring 2004 (CCS2004). For
that one you had to provide terrain data to compute ridge lift. The
beuty of CumulusX! is that it computes the terrain from the FSX scenery
mesh files.
scott s.
.
RandyL AT DOT
Indeed, that was one of the major factors why I decided to go with CumulsX.
I have used CCS in FS9, and while it was okay for creating random thermals,
there was a laborious process that you had to go through to create ridge
lift. Plus, I didn't like the little funky clouds that CCS used to designate
where the thermals were. CumulsX is much easier, and much more realistic.
Randy L.
-- nosce te ipsum
"scott s." wrote in message
news:Xns9F3DE5DE5F9EC...@216.168.3.70...
DonK
>I love flying gliders in FSX, but up until now it was only marginally fun,
>
>You can find CumulusX here:
>
>http://luerkens.homepage.t-online.de/peter/
I meant to say thanks when you first posted this but . . . I forgot. So, thanks. :0)
Don
Bothell, WA
The world unfolds according to its own inner algorithms of cause and effect, probability and chance without any regard for human feelings.
RandyL AT DOT
in Yosemite National Park I have photoreal scenery for Yosemite) in my
Airborne C4 hang glider. CumulusX allows me to slope-soar Half Dome or El
Capitan for just about as long as I like. Take care.
Randy L.
"DonK" wrote in message news:c57m47tsvc022g4s0...@4ax.com...