14. Wind Selection

This window lets you select your wind conditions for your Flight Session. Select from over 220 wind scenarios.

To reach this window from a Fly Screen, click on Wind in the menu or on the Wind pane on right, or press W and type a few letters of the wind’s name to search.

• On this window, scroll through the list of wind conditions.

• When you find a wind that you like, click on it. Details about that selection are then shown in the description box.

• To use this wind, at bottom left click Ok.

• To revert to the wind you had before (not save any selection), then, at top right click on Return to Main Menu to return to the Main Menu.

Press F for a quick search of the list. Type a few letters of the wind’s name and the list narrows as you type. From a Fly Screen, W opens the same search without visiting this window.

14.1. Wind Types

The list includes many different types of winds.

14.1.1. Steady Winds

• The first “Steady Winds: 0 mph at startup” is the default wind and will have zero wind speed at startup. Use keys Home / End (for wind speed) and - / = (for wind direction) to change the wind while in a Flight Session. The default wind blows out of the south. World | Reset Wind on the menu bar puts the wind back to the flying site’s startup state.

• “Steady Winds” have the same speed and direction everywhere. These winds require the least computing power.

14.1.2. Steady Winds with Ground Boundary Layer Shear

• “Steady Winds, BL 1” include an atmospheric ground boundary layer (“BL”) that has higher winds aloft. In other words, near the ground, the wind speed decreases due to friction. This type of atmospheric wind profile simulates what is found over open areas like grasslands and large bodies of water.

• “Steady Winds, BL 2” simulate the boundary layer found over wooded areas, rolling hills, and city outskirts.

14.1.3. Turbulent Winds

• “Turbulent Wind” includes realistic turbulence. This wind selection requires more computing power.

14.1.4. Turbulent Winds with Ground Boundary Layer Shear

• “Turbulent Winds + BL1” include both turbulence and an atmospheric ground boundary layer. This case requires the most computing power, and on some computers it may interrupt the smooth operation of the sim during a Flight Session. If this occurs, close other programs and see if there is any improvement in computing power.

• This is the most realistic wind setup in the sim, but it will be hard for slow computers to run it.

14.1.5. Thermals

• There are 15 different wind cases that include thermals. Some are set up to work best with specific flying sites that are mentioned in the description.

• Find the “Thermal Set” winds 1 through 15 near the bottom of the wind list.

• The easiest way to catch a thermal is to use “Thermal Set 1” with the Frasca Airport flying site (a “3D” flying site). With a straight hand launch down the runway, a thermal will be found after flying a short distance.

• The chapter on Flight Training includes a section on Learning to Thermal with the “Thermal Set 10” selection.

• On faster computers, pick a thermal set with more thermals for greater realism.

• To see the thermals, use World | Thermals in 3D on the menu bar. Each thermal is drawn as a translucent column shaped by its real usable lift. The thermals also show on the Field Map and the Orientation Map, sized to their lift.

Thermals in 3D at the Frasca Airport flying site. Each column is one thermal, and its width follows the usable lift. The rings are the column’s outline drawn at several heights.

14.1.6. Slope Soaring and Dynamic Soaring

• “Slope Soaring” winds let you soar upwind of a ridge or hill. Choose the Flying Site with the same name listed in the wind description/name, e.g., the “Jockey’s Ridge” site.

• “DS Winds” account for wind shear of the type required for dynamic soaring with sailplanes. Choose the Flying Site with the same name listed in the wind description/name, e.g., the “Blanca Crater” site.

14.2. Keyboard Controls for Wind

Keyboard controls for the wind include the following.

Wind Speed Change

• Hold down Home or End . These keys are above the arrow keys. To see your changes, use the
  Wind Compass.

Wind Direction Change

• Hold down - or = . These keys are side-by-side on the main keyboard, not the numeric keypad.

• The same keys with Left Shift held move the sun instead. See Sun/Sky Selection.

Wind Meter

• Press Left Shift + W for the Wind Meter: the wind at your airplane as an aviation-style readout with gusts, lull and peak markers, and a strip chart.

Wind Compass

• Press W to show the Wind Compass widget. Press W again to hide it.

  The Wind Compass points to where the wind is blowing from. It simulates a perfect weathervane, having no inertia. Like the Magnetic Compass, which you see by pressing C , the Wind Compass on-screen indicator is relative to the camera look direction. So if the camera faces north (the look direction) and the wind blows from the west (hitting your left side) then the Wind Compass naturally points to the left. The situation described is shown below.

  The number inside the Wind Compass indicates wind speed, in the units you chose in Options | Physics. (The font size will reduce going from two digits, and then to three and four with higher and higher winds. The highest winds measured on planet earth reached 231 mph in year 1934.)

  The simulator does not impose a limit on the wind speed you set.

  The indicated wind is the speed of the wind at the aircraft position, not at the location of the ground pilot nor location of the camera. Climbing through a ground boundary layer (wind shear) will show the wind speed increase aloft as in real life.

• Press M to see the wind on the Field Map widget, along with the windsock and its tail cone pointing downwind. Pressing M repeatedly cycles through the five maps.

• It is recommended that you always begin a flight with the Wind Compass shown. That way you are aware of wind conditions (zero wind or not). The Wind Compass will increase your Situational Awareness.