Simviation Forums

If I were to use the real weather update and fly into the gulf of mexico, would there be 100+MPH winds? I tried flying through Charley in southern Florida a few weeks back, but I only got 50MPH winds max. I was flying at 3000 feet though.

I have found that with real world weather that sometimes it doesn't behave like you would think.
Most every hurricane that I will attempt to fly into i will get winds in excess of 100 mph.
I tried Ivan last night and hit some winds at 80 so not that realistic.
I don't really know how the real world weather works besides the fact that it downloads Jeppesen info but most of the time it is accurate. I would guess it will have a lot to do with the accuracy of the information from the closest weather station at the point your flying, so if your trying to fly in a "real" storm with a strength as Ivan it can be expected that some weather stations may not give accurate info due to damages it might have sustained in the storm.

Or you could considering the size of Ivan, create user defined weather

I flew my Cessna from Key West when Charley came ashore and was blown upside down, sideways and then slammed into the ground! I tried again and it was totally impossible to fly a plane this size. Then again I was running Active Sky 2004. It may be more realistic than the default "real weather" engine.

Dave

I flew my Cessna from Key West when Charley came ashore and was blown upside down, sideways and then slammed into the ground! I tried again and it was totally impossible to fly a plane this size. Then again I was running Active Sky 2004. It may be more realistic than the default "real weather" engine.

Dave

When Charley came through, I just stayed in the center hallway, hoping that the wind wouldn't blow the front door (it didn't).....

Apparently, CAT5 and CAT4 hurricanes cause disruptions in communications (surprise, surprise) and i submit if NOAA can't give current online weather updates http://adds.aviationweather.gov/metars/ no one can. Even KBFM online wx reports are offline as we speak.

bill
p.s. Good luck to those hit by Ivan

"Sept. 16, 2004

When Charley was over the Carribean I flew through some of it using real world weather.  Wind speed was around 60-ish and despite this there was still AI traffic at the airport flying Cessnas and Pipers.  I guess I wasn't the only one doing some storm chasing!

I only got 50MPH winds max. I was flying at 3000 feet though.

Actually, unlike a normal convective thunderstorm, the winds tend to concentrate at lower altitudes.
I flew into Birmingham, at the leading edge of the storm, last night. The winds at the field were reported at 090*and 12kts/gusting to 20. At the same time, while we were on final, our GPS showed 110* and 45kts. That was at about 2,000 ft/agl.
.........for what it's worth............

I flew online on IVAO from Tallahassee to Birmingham, in a Socata Trinidad, and did get winds of 57 kts. Although it didnt seem like it, but it was definitely IMC, and pouring down rain. Had to make an ILS approach at Birmingham because you couldnt see NOTHING until you were almost at the runway  :o

I had a great experience flying through Ivan Wednesday might (8 pm EDT).  I took off from KJAX (Jacksonville) and headed west through Tallahassee, Pensacola and landed at New Orleans.

I encountered light winds until 50 miles E of Tallahassee, when they became a consistent 35 mph.  I went through feeder bands, alternate periods of clouds and clear (mostly clouds)

Approaching New Orleans winds increased to a max of 70 knots (I've never seen my KingAir flying sideways before this!)  and I was severely buffeted by swirling winds on final.

Strange, I never encountered any rain.