Turn Up the Heat in Sims With Density Altitude Games

Testing the extremes of heat in simulation offers perspective into what would happen to the typical GA aircraft under the same conditions.

Peter James

Friday, June 28, 2024 at 03:25 PM ET

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Edited By: tccjeremy

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 offers custom weather. [Courtesy: Peter James]

Key Takeaways:

The article compares Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and X-Plane 12, using a Cessna 172, to evaluate aircraft performance and realism under various hot weather and altitude conditions.
Both simulators accurately demonstrated that increased temperature and altitude significantly degrade aircraft performance, leading to longer takeoff distances, slower acceleration, and reduced climb rates.
Specific tests, including "hot-and-high" scenarios like Telluride and extremely hot, low-altitude operations at Furnace Creek, showed dramatic performance reductions.
These unscientific experiments offer valuable insights into the critical real-world implications of density altitude, reinforcing aviation safety considerations in a simulated environment.

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Now that it is officially summer and blazing hot across the U.S., I tested both Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 (MSFS2020) and X-Plane 12 (XP12) for realism and aircraft performance with different hot weather regimes.

Using live weather was easy enough, but I wanted to test the extremes of heat to see what would happen to the typical GA aircraft under these conditions. In keeping with the theme of how it affects most GA pilots, I chose a late model Cessna 172 featured in both sims, one that many real-world pilots perhaps own or rent from a flying club.