Bad Weather Event

[Guest Yun Chase]

Question,..

 

For the upcoming bad wx event tonight, does my Active Sky pull the wx from our FSX event server or does it pull the wx from their own usual wx server (which would mean, I need to disable AS2012)?

 

Not sure how AS2012 works... :?

[Erik VanderWerf]

I think that it would be best if you turned it off. The only thing the weather engine does is create a weather environment, which BVA will already have.

[Guest Yun Chase]

Thanks Erik!

[Guest george bruton]

Can someone explian how to set the correct settings in AS12 so that it just pulls the info from the server?

[Guest Brandon Carter]

I don't think you can. All ActiveSky users: don't open it during the event.

[Erik VanderWerf]

Same for REX. Turn it off by turning the dial in the upper-right for Essentials users.

[Guest Yun Chase]

That was extremely fun last night! I loved it. While it's a pretty boring visualization being stuck in the soup all the way to minimums but that was some horrific weather you guys setup last night. :shock:

 

On my first approach in the King Air, I really did not know if I was ever going to see the rabbits.... but right at minimums, I did see the lights but without much forward visibility (1/4 sm).... which made it extremely challenging to land the plane not having the full situational awareness of the ground. I hope we continue to have this bad-wx challenges from time to time... It is a great tool to keep sharpening our IFR skills. :D

[Christopher Murphy]

Let's be honest...if it were not a simulator I might have killed myself last night! :shock: Yes it's embarrassing, but I took off and suddenly realized manual flight in a small two seat jet was the worst idea I've had in a LONG time. I couldn't tell whether my screen froze or I was in a stable climb! I have to say, it was a ton of fun, but the most memorable part was "N311AL, welcome to New York, exit left when able." :lol:

[Guest Bill Serra]

A memorable challenge indeed. On my return trip to KBOS everything went perfect till the wheels hit the ground. I saw 22L when I was practically over the numbers. Two seconds later I hear this horrible noise and the next thing I see is one wheel on the runway and the other on the grass. I managed to get back on the runway but when I turned right to exit I found myself on the grass again.

 

I probably caused thousands of virtual dollars worth of damage to the ground textures so I’m expecting a hefty bill from the scenery team. Evan was at the tower; he probably rolled his eyes but being the courteous Canadian he is, he didn’t add to my embarrassment.

 

Let’s do it again!

b.

[Evan Reiter]

Evan was at the tower; he probably rolled his eyes but being the courteous Canadian he is, he didn’t add to my embarrassment.

Being Canadian has nothing to do with it. I've learned long ago not to upset the person who has direct ability to eject me from FlightDesk and FSX! I had a ton of fun on BOS_T last night handling a myriad of arrivals and departures. I think we had a departure lineup a number of times on Runway 22R.

 

I'm very impressed with the quality and abilities of our pilots that I saw last night. We had 2 people go around at KBOS and about 8 at KJFK, for various reasons (low weather, bad runway breaking action, etc.). FlightDesk says I spoke to about 42 pilots. I don't know what the weather actually turned out to be but from the reports of pilots breaking out at minimums (everyone said they had the lights "at minimums", one pilot reported breaking out at 210') but here's what you had to contend with:

 

• Wind 290(M) at 12 gusts 19. At KBOS, this works out to a crosswind component of 15 knots.
  
• Visibility 1/4 up to about 3500', then 1 mile up to about 7000', and then clearing above that
  
• Layers with light to moderate turbulence, moderate wind shear, and some light icing thrown in for fun
  
• Thunderstorms, heavy rain
  
• Ceiling 190 overcast, with CB's up to 100, then cumulus the rest of the way up
  
• Tops somewhere in the low FL's (FL200 or so)

For a while there I thought folks weren't going to be able to land in the event at all. Well done everyone!

 

The next scheduled event is the Alaska VFR Challenge at the end of July. However, since we have some time, we'll schedule one more IFR Challenge around the ZBW between now and then. Great pilots and a good turnout almost always make for a great event -- let's do it again soon! Here's a few screenshots from the event to top things off (EJA151 was on my frequency at the time, that's why he's the only one being tracked):

 

[Evan Reiter]

For the next one: thoughts on a KLGA/KPWM event? We could do KLGA in VMC (I think) and leave KPWM in IMC. That gives people the hard-core approach at KPWM and leaves us open to bring in the Expressway Visual Runway 31 Approach as the other half of the challenge. Target date is July 8 at 3-6pm ET.

[Jeremy Valentine]

I like it! We'll see how many "VFR into IMC" instances we end up dealing with. I can see ZBW_C getting hit with a bunch of pop-up requests!

 

Looking forward to it!

[Guest Dave Wegner]

I had a great time flying in the challenge. Thanks to the admins for a great idea. This was my first simulated approach to minimums in my several years of flying in FSX. I was actually shaking in my seat while I flew over the lights and realized I still had some distance to the ground. BOS T asked me about 2 miles out for a break-out and braking action report after I pulled off the runway (then landing clearance came a mile later) - all I could say was, "I saw the lights, then the asphalt, then the red REILs, but they didn't go under my nose, so I guess braking action was sufficient."

 

I have been so impressed by the controllers and pilots on this server and am very grateful to be onboard - and be a part of a professional ATC community now many years since FSX has been out. Kudos!