The Great American Eclipse in Flight Sim World
August 21, 2017, millions of people across the United States, from the Pacific to the Atlantic, will see a total eclipse of the Sun. You can take part in the experience, from virtually anywhere in the world, using Flight Sim World.
The introduction of trueSky technology in the program Flight Sim World from Dovetail Games means that anyone can experience the Great American Eclipse, even if you’re not on the path covered by the Sun and Moon in this unique celestial show. Let’s be fair, you can participate, but the experience inside the simulation will never be the same as seeing it in real life.
In fact, unless Dovetail Games manages to adjust, in the coming days, some aspects of the trueSky technology used in FSW, you’ll be faced with a problem: the Moon in the program is too small to cover the Sun, and only reveal its atmosphere, the Sun’s corona. Because, for the rest, everything seems to be perfectly aligned and working, as I’ve had a chance to confirm, flying virtual to different spots along the path to check the position of the Moon and Sun.
Before we continue, let me say that I took the time to try to replicate this in Microsoft Flight Simulator X, the Steam Edition, and there is no celestial phenomena to see, as documented by one “photo” I took. So, Flight Sim World with trueSky really gives us a representation of the sky around us. Now Dovetail Games and the company behind trueSky, Simul, just have to make sure we get the real deal, because, at least from my perspective, it would be a great asset to the program, extending its functionality beyond the flight simulation. I will expand on this below, so please keep reading.
The images published here are from different places in the United States, along the path of the eclipse. I used the map published by the website https://www.greatamericaneclipse.com/ to pick the locations for photography. Because both Moon and Sun are too high in the sky it is not possible to get many images with the landscape, but this gives you an idea of the potential. Although there are problems with the representation of the eclipse, I decided to go ahead and publish this series, because, it may help others to decide and give it a try. The static images do not reveal it, but flying in the areas affected you do get the feeling of the ambient light being reduced as the Moon moves in front of the Sun, besides seeing some more effects.
If you’ve Flight Sim World, give this a try, it’s an interesting experience. Now, just imagine how it would look if Dovetail Games and Simul got the Moon in trueSky the right size. There is documentation available online related to resizing the Moon in trueSky, along with comments about it being too small in certain situations, so I guess that’s the problem we’re facing in FSW right now. Because, although NASA suggests that in the future the Moon will be too small to fully cover the Sun’s disc, meaning solar eclipses will be a thing of the past, it will only happen some 650 million years from now.
Besides capturing images from different spots in the path of this year’s eclipse I also jumped to the total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024, and the representation is the same: a small black dot in front of the Sun. These experiences confirm that the potential is there and I sincerely hope that soon we will be able to use Flight Sim World to more than flying around. In fact, I always looked at flight simulators as tools to travel not only in space but also in time. Celestial phenomena are one good reason to travel in time, if they can be replicated. I’ve used Microsoft Flight Simulator since version 9 — when the weather engine was overhauled , if I remember well -, to fly to specific periods of the year to try/view some weather conditions. With FSW and trueSky we reach a new level of sophistication, one which I think Dovetail Games can use as an asset. Being able to “ferry” people to different dates to look at the sky expands on the potential of a flight simulator that is not just a lesson in flying, but also a way to be a virtual tourist.
The tools for this experience are already inside Flight Sim World, but to have full control of the date, hour and conditions of each flight at the different destinations, I used FS-Flight Control, which allows me to define the exact hour I want to be one spot, making the control of the whole experience much easier. FS-Flight Control also allows to define the exact weather theme to use, which was important in this eclipse chasing, to guarantee I had clear skies to watch the Sun and Moon, something that is not going to happen in real life, according the the meteorological indications available.
Through FS-Flight Control I not only control many more aspects of the experience, I can also adjust different parameters, as the weather, without having to go through the different menus or even leave the simulation. The program just loads the data and FSW continues from wherever you were in the flight. That, for me, confirms that FS-FlightControl is an essential piece in the puzzle that flight simulation can be. And because the program works with most of the simulations available on the market, if you already have FSXSE, Prepar 3D or X-Plane, you’ll discover a new level of control using this interface. I know I’ve!
Back to the Great American Eclipse in Flight Sim World, I really hope Dovetail Games can adjust the Moon and other parameters in time for people to try it with results more close to reality. My initial effort makes me hope that they will accept the challenge and get someone to work on this. Because there are more eclipses in our future, starting with 5 in 2018. And with the power of FSW, it is always possible to travel back and fourth to experience many others.
This educational aspect of FSW — which is generally present in flight simulators — is something that interests me and I want to explore, even more so now that trueSky expand horizons. Expect to see more notes about what can be done, now that a real sky engine is included in Flight Sim World.
