Microsoft Flight Simulator Handbook

by Jonathan M. Stern

Manual Setup

Enter the World/Weather menu. If automatic weather generation has been selected, disable it to allow specific settings. Disable automatic weather generation by selecting Edit Area and then deselecting automatic weather generation.

Barometric pressure should be set to the standard 29.92" Hg. Temperature at sea level should also be the standard 59°F.

You need two wind layers. First, from 2,500 to 5,500, set the wind from 100° at 27 knots. Second, set the wind from 100° at 30 knots from 5,500 to 7,500 feet.

You can also select clouds if you wish. I suggest that instrument flying neophytes make this a no cloud flight—IFR in VMC (that's visual meteorological conditions). More experienced users may want to program in some clouds to increase the difficulty of the trip. Detailed instructions for programming weather conditions appear in the chapter entitled "Meteorology."

To use Flight Simulator for instrument flying, you need to be aware of a quirk in its programming. When air traffic controllers advise pilots of the weather, any reference to cloud heights is given as height above ground level. With Flight Simulator, references to cloud heights are to height above sea level (MSL). Therefore, to program cloud heights, you must add the height at which you want the clouds to appear to the ground elevation and enter that sum in the Clouds selection under World/Weather. Control tower and ATIS reports of cloud heights are to mean sea level heights with Flight Simulator version 5.0 and above ground level (as in real life) with version 5.1 and later versions.

From the World/Airports menu, locate the Cessna at Boston's Logan airport. That selection is in the New York scenery area. Set up in the takeoff position on Runway 4L.

Table of Contents
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