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 tests Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 (MSFS2020) and X-Plane 12 (XP12) using a Cessna 172 to evaluate aircraft performance realism under various hot weather and altitude conditions.
Both simulators effectively demonstrate how high temperatures and altitudes significantly degrade general aviation aircraft takeoff performance, requiring substantially longer ground runs and reducing climb rates.
Specific tests showed a dramatic increase in takeoff distance and time when moving from sea-level hot conditions to "hot and high" scenarios, with ground runs more than doubling in some cases.
The author concludes that flight simulators offer a valuable and safe tool for pilots to understand and experience the critical real-world implications of density altitude on aircraft performance.

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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.