[Tug, on takeoff, sounds like it is at idle. Fix?]

Do a google search on WinchX, so much easier and you can launch from almost anywhere.

Yup, I use it, and love it. Kinda handy, if you land out, to have a winch there ready to drag you back in the air.

Discovered a useful, if unrealistic, quirk in the program. I landed on a hillside and was sitting on a pretty good slope. When i launched the winch was miles and miles away and it took me up to 10,000! Yeah, that's cheating; but it was fun once.

Still, aerotow has its appeal too, if for no other reason than I like flying formation flying, even if you are tied to the leader with a rope. (I know a guy in NJ that uses to tow a huge banner with 3 Stearmans! Imagine flying THREE aircraft tied together? But then the Blue Angles back in Hellcat days did it too, apparently.)

FWIW, I've been flying out of North Plains OR as a beta tester for the forthcoming Orbx/FTX Pacific Northwest terrain add-on. I can't saying anything specific becaue of the nondisclosure agreement I signed except that after 40+ years and 10,000+ hours of flying I have, of late, found myself stooging around the area just looking out the window and enjoying the view! The guy doing the airport details is an artist! Glider pilots will love 1OR4.

Nobody asked, but for my money this package and REX2 make FSX about as close to reality as there is. Next, I need the Discus, but untill then, Cumulus X, Wolfgang, and the default DG-808S are keeping me happy.

Thanks for the suggestion, in any event, Bruce.

[Tug, on takeoff, sounds like it is at idle. Fix?]

Anybody know how to modify the sounds of the tug so it doesn't sound like it's at idle?

I don't recall using a tug before I started using Aerotow so I don't know if the default FSX Maule sounds like it's at full grunt on takeoff, as it should, or not. But it, and all other aircraft, sure sound funny now.

Perhaps there's something that can be tweaked in Aerotow?

[Poll: Future CumulusX! functions]

Wow! You work fast (and I read slowly)!

Just discovered the new release with the great new clouds.

Thank you thank you thank you!

[Poll: Future CumulusX! functions]

Spent the last two days, all day both days, ecstatically adding soaring capabilities to FSX-- your CumulusX plus Sim-probe, LaunchX, Aerotow and several of Wolfgang Piper's fantastic sailplanes.

Endured six hours of questioning Thursday during a deposition regarding someone else's patent infringement lawsuit, which is beside the point; but the plaintiff's California attorney turned out to be a glider pilot and bragged that he enjoyed soaring in the Alps. Not to be out done, I piped up and said that sounded like fun, I don't have anything to do this weekend, think I'll go try it--as if I was going to hop in a jet and zip across the pond. Yeah right, in my dreams.

But thanks to your artistry, Peter, I did just that without the travel hassles and expenses. And I dare say I had as much, and maybe more, fun sitting right here in front of my Mac.

But to get to the point, I'd love to have that capability to do some wave flights. Every time I see a lenticular I'm reminded that I've never had the experience, and while the simulated version doesn't replace the real thing I'm blown away by how good sims are these days, judging from 40+ years of real flying. If the phrase "suspension of disbelief" is familiar or translates adequately I can honestly say it's happened to me several times as evidenced by sweat armpits trying to get back to the airport after I rode a ridge too far downwind and by another physiological response about a foot lower after shooting my first successful carrier landing in Razbam's EA-6B. (I was a Prowler crewmember 30 years ago, but helping the pilot do it--even when whatever happened to him happened to me a split second later*--isn't the same as doing it yourself.)

Any and all of your other ideas sound wonderful, which doesn't do much to help you prioritize them I admit, but I would encourage you to see if you can find a fix for the clouds. I certainly agree that making thermal clouds look distinctive may help pilots find some lift, but for me the "tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds" and the "footless halls" are huge part of what makes flying more than just a way to keep your hands busy. I'm a huge fan of Real Environment Extreme for just that reason.

Sorry for the long diatribe. As someone said, if I'd had more time I'd have made it shorter.

In any event, thank you very much for Cumulus X and a whole lot of fun.

*The right front seat is a few inches lower and further aft)