Suggestion Limit adverse conditions in Live mode

[Nikyukuu]

I have a suggestion for Active Sky XP (actually I spent the last 30 minutes looking for a solution because I couldn’t believe this feature is missing).
ASXP allows to limit the fog and the winds during live mode, like „use live weather, but don’t let the winds exceed 20 knots and keep the surface visibility above 1km“. This is not possible for clouds. I usually fly VFR on the VATSIM network and would like to use live weather as much as possible (so that the active runways and wind information from ATC match my sim weather), but limit the wind to my aircraft limits and keep at least marginal VFR conditions with clouds and visibility. The last part is missing unfortunately.
I would like to have a slider for minimum cloud ceiling, just like there is for wind. Xenviro can do it, so you can, too.

 

[damian]

Thanks for the suggestion. First time I've heard of that but sounds like it could be helpful for some. I think the manual configuration system (or set max cloud layers to zero) or historical wx, or wx search is used by most to accomplish the goal fairly easily, but I can understand how wanting to fly in live wx but not be subject to live wx below a certain limit may be desired.

 

[Nikyukuu]

Thanks for the reply. The problem with manual weather is that the weather will be static (and somewhat boring). Historical weather on the other hand might mismatch the information given on the online network (historical winds favor RWY 26, currently active is 08 for example).
So, I hope this could be implemented in a future version. Until then, I will go with manual mode.

 

[jaimebeneyto]

(or set max cloud layers to zero)

How can I do this in Active Sky X-Plane?

I'd like to be able to use real live weather for everything, except for cloud and visibility. Enforce a minimum cloud base of 2500ft and a minimum visibility of 8km. It's so that I can fly VFR even though the real weather is not VMC.

 

[jaimebeneyto]

Hello,

I'm suggesting a button or tick/box labelled "Force VMC" that will force the visibility to at least 5 km and the ceiling to at least 1500 ft AGL. This is to allow some people who want to fly in their local area with the most realistic weather, winds etc, but still be able to fly VFR when the real weather conditions are IMC.

It would also be great if the VMC minima can be adjusted by the user: maybe I want at least 8 km vis and 2500 ft ceilings.

If there is any workaround to this for now, in ASXP, please let me know.

 

[damian]

Thanks for the suggestion, we will consider. There is not a way to one-button press to go to VMC minima at this time. You could set vis limits in options and refresh to get that, but will require a few mouse clicks and doesn't cover low cloud layers. You could perhaps use the P3D cloud offset option to accomplish something similar.

Personally, I'd recommend the most realistic approach: Just like in real life, plan and fly only in VMC weather and avoid IMC at all costs if you want to stay alive. Use historical mode if you want to stay at the same area.

 

[jaimebeneyto]

Thanks for the suggestion, we will consider. There is not a way to one-button press to go to VMC minima at this time. You could set vis limits in options and refresh to get that, but will require a few mouse clicks and doesn't cover low cloud layers. You could perhaps use the P3D cloud offset option to accomplish something similar.

Personally, I'd recommend the most realistic approach: Just like in real life, plan and fly only in VMC weather and avoid IMC at all costs if you want to stay alive. Use historical mode if you want to stay at the same area.

Hello Damian,

Thanks for the reply.

I am a CPL student in real life and the reason why I would like this option is because I need to practice my navigation skills at home those days when I can't fly in real life. Of course, I need VMC weather in the simulator. But I want the wind and everything else to be as close to real weather as possible so that I can plan my flight using the real winds.

I am using ASXP in X-Plane 11 so unfortunately I don't think that P3D option you mention is available to me.

This would be really useful.
Thank you again for considering.