Soaring in an FSX glider

Skybird · 10-10-11, 05:33 PM

Today I have done more intense testing with the Discus X by Aerosoft, which I use together with a tool named "Cumulus!" that adds geography-depending upwinds in mountains and more realistic thermals. This allows for more realistic ridge-soaring, and customizable difficulty (=physics parameters) of thermals. Another tool that gets automatically installed from CD, is Winch!, which adds the option of a "catapult-launch"

, its' parameters (tow length, speed) again can be manually set.

The Discus by Aerosoft is a nicely done plane, it comes in three versions, two of which have support propeller motors stored in their backs, and of these, one can even launch the plane while being on the ground (the other propeller version only can be launched by the wind of the already moving glider). Another fourth version, the K-version, is available as a separate package, it is specialised for aerobatics.

The cockpit is virtual only, but very crispy and sharp, nice reflections on the canopy, everything animated, realiostic wear and tear on the paint and instruments. Comparing it to "Condor", the FSX-independent soaring simulation, the Discus is superior in instrumentation, and very much so, it has a fully functional C4 Competition computer, three different Variometers (giving you different values indeed), and a PDA. The C4 comes with the original manual of the manufacturer, also the orginal manuals of the producer of the real gliders are included as scanned PDF's.

The exterior model also is well done, and imo surpasses those of Condor. No rough edges, plenty texture details in the motor section, nice canopy.

Sounds are nice, too, and give a much noisier impression of the wind around the canopy, especially when opening the small side-window. The airframe is protesting when pulling Gs,, the engines are so loud that you fear they are broken, and there is nothing to give evidence that gliders are soaring silently through the empty blue air up there.

It should be like that. Soaring is noisy business inside the cockpit.

The flight characteristics together with the improved thermals and wind environment remind me very much of Condor, to be honest I would not even be able to differentiate the two. Which I think is a compliment for FSX! The glider pretty much did and behaved like I expected when I circled in thermals or flew manouvers. Just one thing I missed, that is the wingtip moving upwards when that wing comes into contact with a thermal, which allows oyu to decide on which side of the glider the stronger lift is. But that is just a locked feature of Cumulus!-tool. The tool comes free, but it has some features locked which can be unlocked by a private licence for 10 Euros. None of the major and important features are missing, though, it is more about commanding the towplane to which side to turn first, the upmoving wingtip, and in the main that is it.

I tested in two locations, at Innsbruck in the Alps, for which Cumulus has specially dedicated files, and at the Grand Canyon ridge near the airfield of the same name. The thermals were pretty much like I like them, their size and dimensions, their power and duration can be set, but the default settings alread worked fine. I was able to witness lees on according sides of mountains, upwinds on those mountain sides were I would expect them, depending on sun position, wind anmd wqeather conditions, and time of day, I did ridge soaring and what I maybe correctly identify as wave soaring, and I was glad to have had that additional inflight-started propeller when at one time I had messed it up, found no thermal and no ridgewind, and without that propeller would have crashed.

Cumulus! melts nicely into the FSX weather, no matter whether static, downloaded, or self-altering. It adds some cloud formations to help identifying thermals, but they do not look as sophistioacted as the FSX default cliuds, or REX. They can be "outblued", too (=deleted), the option is really called that way.

The scenery when soaring in FSX is of course superior, even when you compare it to Alpi 3.0 photo scenery for Condor. Since evertyhing looks better, the cockpit being more functional and complex, with air physics and flight behavior being - subjectively felt - en par with Condor, I have little or no reason to go back to Condor. I got along with the Discus much better than with Condor, which maybe indicates that Condor does something more or less realistic, at least differently - but I cannot nail it down to what it is, so: for me this Discus/Cumulus! team does a sufficiently convincing job of soaring simulation. With less than 20 bucks you are in the game of soaring in FS - and in a sufficiently convincing quality that that soaring novice that I am is completely happy and satisfied.

The Discus does not compare to the default glider in FSX, but surpasses it in all regards. Aerosoft says they needed one and a half year to get the Discus done, and due to the enormous problems they met becasue of inherent porblems and deficits of FSX, they had to restart from scratch 3 or 4 times to find solutiuons. All instruments they needed to reinvent and program on their own, since FSX offered no default examples on which to build. The result of these efforts is indeed convincing!

For glider fans, absolutely recommended, not only because it is quality stuff, but because you have no alternatives in FSX anyway. The frame impact was such that I see no need for warnings, at least on my system (i5 2400, 8 GB RAM, GTX460, Win64Pro x64)

Cumulus also comes with a 30+ pages manual. Homepage with descriptions of the tool and download link is here: http://luerkens.homepage.t-online.de/peter/ The free versions should serve most people'S needs, I think.

Winch! is included with Discus X.

---

I got an email this morning that the Aerosoft F-16 has shipped. If I'm lucky, it lands tomorrow on my desk, else one day later. I'll let you guys know.

10-10-11, 05:33 PM	#1
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 40,456 Downloads: 9 Uploads: 0	Soaring in an FSX glider Today I have done more intense testing with the Discus X by Aerosoft, which I use together with a tool named "Cumulus!" that adds geography-depending upwinds in mountains and more realistic thermals. This allows for more realistic ridge-soaring, and customizable difficulty (=physics parameters) of thermals. Another tool that gets automatically installed from CD, is Winch!, which adds the option of a "catapult-launch" , its' parameters (tow length, speed) again can be manually set. The Discus by Aerosoft is a nicely done plane, it comes in three versions, two of which have support propeller motors stored in their backs, and of these, one can even launch the plane while being on the ground (the other propeller version only can be launched by the wind of the already moving glider). Another fourth version, the K-version, is available as a separate package, it is specialised for aerobatics. The cockpit is virtual only, but very crispy and sharp, nice reflections on the canopy, everything animated, realiostic wear and tear on the paint and instruments. Comparing it to "Condor", the FSX-independent soaring simulation, the Discus is superior in instrumentation, and very much so, it has a fully functional C4 Competition computer, three different Variometers (giving you different values indeed), and a PDA. The C4 comes with the original manual of the manufacturer, also the orginal manuals of the producer of the real gliders are included as scanned PDF's. The exterior model also is well done, and imo surpasses those of Condor. No rough edges, plenty texture details in the motor section, nice canopy. Sounds are nice, too, and give a much noisier impression of the wind around the canopy, especially when opening the small side-window. The airframe is protesting when pulling Gs,, the engines are so loud that you fear they are broken, and there is nothing to give evidence that gliders are soaring silently through the empty blue air up there. It should be like that. Soaring is noisy business inside the cockpit. The flight characteristics together with the improved thermals and wind environment remind me very much of Condor, to be honest I would not even be able to differentiate the two. Which I think is a compliment for FSX! The glider pretty much did and behaved like I expected when I circled in thermals or flew manouvers. Just one thing I missed, that is the wingtip moving upwards when that wing comes into contact with a thermal, which allows oyu to decide on which side of the glider the stronger lift is. But that is just a locked feature of Cumulus!-tool. The tool comes free, but it has some features locked which can be unlocked by a private licence for 10 Euros. None of the major and important features are missing, though, it is more about commanding the towplane to which side to turn first, the upmoving wingtip, and in the main that is it. I tested in two locations, at Innsbruck in the Alps, for which Cumulus has specially dedicated files, and at the Grand Canyon ridge near the airfield of the same name. The thermals were pretty much like I like them, their size and dimensions, their power and duration can be set, but the default settings alread worked fine. I was able to witness lees on according sides of mountains, upwinds on those mountain sides were I would expect them, depending on sun position, wind anmd wqeather conditions, and time of day, I did ridge soaring and what I maybe correctly identify as wave soaring, and I was glad to have had that additional inflight-started propeller when at one time I had messed it up, found no thermal and no ridgewind, and without that propeller would have crashed. Cumulus! melts nicely into the FSX weather, no matter whether static, downloaded, or self-altering. It adds some cloud formations to help identifying thermals, but they do not look as sophistioacted as the FSX default cliuds, or REX. They can be "outblued", too (=deleted), the option is really called that way. The scenery when soaring in FSX is of course superior, even when you compare it to Alpi 3.0 photo scenery for Condor. Since evertyhing looks better, the cockpit being more functional and complex, with air physics and flight behavior being - subjectively felt - en par with Condor, I have little or no reason to go back to Condor. I got along with the Discus much better than with Condor, which maybe indicates that Condor does something more or less realistic, at least differently - but I cannot nail it down to what it is, so: for me this Discus/Cumulus! team does a sufficiently convincing job of soaring simulation. With less than 20 bucks you are in the game of soaring in FS - and in a sufficiently convincing quality that that soaring novice that I am is completely happy and satisfied. The Discus does not compare to the default glider in FSX, but surpasses it in all regards. Aerosoft says they needed one and a half year to get the Discus done, and due to the enormous problems they met becasue of inherent porblems and deficits of FSX, they had to restart from scratch 3 or 4 times to find solutiuons. All instruments they needed to reinvent and program on their own, since FSX offered no default examples on which to build. The result of these efforts is indeed convincing! For glider fans, absolutely recommended, not only because it is quality stuff, but because you have no alternatives in FSX anyway. The frame impact was such that I see no need for warnings, at least on my system (i5 2400, 8 GB RAM, GTX460, Win64Pro x64) Cumulus also comes with a 30+ pages manual. Homepage with descriptions of the tool and download link is here: http://luerkens.homepage.t-online.de/peter/ The free versions should serve most people'S needs, I think. Winch! is included with Discus X. --- I got an email this morning that the Aerosoft F-16 has shipped. If I'm lucky, it lands tomorrow on my desk, else one day later. I'll let you guys know. __________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert.