X-Plane 12
FSGRW for X-Plane 12
Weather that varies across the map, the way it does outside. Distant storms are visible as storms, and the weather at the airport matches its ATIS.
Requirements
- X-Plane 12.3.0 or later (location-based weather API)
- Windows, 64-bit: the plugin is available for Windows only so far (X-Plane 12 itself also runs on macOS and Linux)
Features
Weather that varies in space
A weather point for every station around the aircraft, each covering the area it represents. A thunderstorm 50 nm away is out there, not smeared over the whole region.
Airports match their reports
Every airport around you gets its own weather record, from its own report or interpolated from the reports around it, so ATIS and the weather at the field agree.
Winds aloft and turbulence
Winds aloft go into X-Plane's wind layers for your position, updated every 5 nm or 60 seconds. Turbulence comes from the forecast for each pressure level.
Smooth transitions
A new snapshot every 15 minutes, blended in over one to three minutes. Old clouds dissolve and new ones build up, with no jumps in the weather.
Self-checking
A few minutes after each update, the plugin compares what X-Plane shows with the file. If X-Plane is still showing the old weather, the plugin applies the new weather again.
Simple control
One menu checkmark switches FSGRW on or off. Switching it off hands control back to X-Plane's own real weather.
How it works in the simulator
FSGRW uses X-Plane’s location-based weather API. Instead of one weather setting for a whole region, it places weather points around the aircraft: one for each weather station within range, each with the radius that station represents (15 to 25 nm over land, 50 nm over the open ocean).
- When you start a flight, change airports or relocate, the plugin sets up all weather points around you at once. A short on-screen message shows when it is ready.
- In flight, it only sends what changes: stations entering your range are added, stations leaving it are removed. X-Plane blends these changes in over one to three minutes.
- When a new snapshot arrives, every point is updated and blends in the same way.
While FSGRW provides the weather, X-Plane’s own real-weather download is switched off. When you start a new flight, X-Plane switches back to its real weather, and FSGRW notices and takes over again.
Installation
- Close X-Plane.
- Copy the
FSGRWfolder intoX-Plane 12\Resources\plugins\. - Start X-Plane. On first start, FSGRW creates its settings file,
Resources\plugins\FSGRW\data\fsgrw.ini, which explains every setting.
The Plugins > FSGRW Weather menu has three entries:
- FSGRW weather active switches FSGRW on or off. Switch it off here before you disable the plugin in X-Plane’s Plugin Admin, because only the plugin itself can remove its weather points.
- Reload settings and re-initialize weather reads the settings again and sets the weather up anew.
- Log weather at aircraft writes what X-Plane’s weather engine reports at your position to
Log.txt.
FSGRW writes its messages to X-Plane 12\Log.txt, each starting with FSGRW:.