Soaring In AeroflyFS 2

Oubaas · December 21, 2017 at 8:03 PM

Right now, aside from FSX/P3D and X-Plane, which are sort of lacking from the accounts that I've read, there are not many options for virtual soaring.

There are two dedicated soaring sims, Silent Wings and Condor, if you can live with the prehistoric graphics. But I'm not really into Jurassic graphics.

I have seen favorable mention of the original Aerofly, and it seems to me like this may be a great area for Aerofly FS 2 development to target. From the looks of things with Condor's continuing popularity, even in spite of the dated graphics, some well-modeled soaring in Aerofly FS 2 might bring in quite a few new virtual pilots.

MrRCSound · December 21, 2017 at 9:30 PM

Years ago I did the Silent Wings thing. Unfortunately they have not updated much over the years. The weather and thermal modeling need some work in FS2, but for now are usable. What is really lacking is tow plane and or winch.

Right now I am doing about 60/40. 60% soaring, 40% in the 172. Big airliners are not my thing.

Andrew

antigoon · December 21, 2017 at 10:26 PM

A point I've made here may times Oubaas. The thermal modelling in Condor is second to none. And AFS2 (If - like me- you are a glider pilot and have a hunger for reality) just lacks good modelling of rising air. Even ridge lift is not really made well. But - let's face it- the chances AFS2 will have the thermals properties Condor has are slim at best.

Still, at the moment I use the 29 for having fun in AFS2, with the Oculus. Why? Same reason as you. It's damn pretty. Condorsim 2 is coming soon (they promised ) That might change things, but seeing the developers of condor are 2 guys with regular jobs (AFAIK), by the time they release it - it's probably already aged.

Jet-Pack (IPACS) · December 22, 2017 at 11:17 AM Official Post

Hey everyone,

in real life I'm also a glider pilot and would like to see Aerofly becoming a good platform for glider pilots, too. The thing is, there is probably a reason why the other soaring simulators are a bit aged and that probably has to do with the small community that would buy such a sim. So from a financial point of view there just isn't enough demand which sale numbers also indicate. Sure there are a few thousand people who would love to soar in a new sim but there are so many more people that want airliners. (If they knew what they were missing...)

Modeling wind fields and realistic thermal behavior and creation is not an easy task but I think this may come with "the weather update" of the Aerofly sometime in the future. But winches and glider towing is certainly something that a lot of people would like to see and that may not be as complicated to add. Even if you just fly in calm air, if Aerofly had winch launch and towing planes it could still be a great tool for glider flying schools, instructors or for the casual pilot that wants to improve his/her own skills in the most critical phases of flight.

But on the upside, its great to hear that there is growing interest for gliders at least here in the forums and that you guys are really keen to see a new glider simulator.

Redtail · December 22, 2017 at 11:33 AM

I've never been much of a sim glider guy and never flew one IRL.

Tried them in other sims and wasn't impressed, but I did buy Condor and thought it was great. Then after a short time it couldn't hold me anymore, due to the dated graphics. I love pretty scenery.

That said, the moment I saw how beautiful AFS2 was, I had to try the gliders in VR. Man I fell in instant love!

With winches, tow planes and better thermals, I could see myself doing a lot of soaring.

Soaring In AeroflyFS 2

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