Active Sky is very easy to use and integrates with FS2004 without you having to make any changes to the simulator. As you are flying enroute and are beginning to plan your approach, you can set up better for it if you know what weather conditions to expect when you arrive. No problem, enter the ICAO of your destination airport into Active Sky and at the click of the button you have the weather METAR. If you are not as proficient at reading the info as some, fear not as Active Sky decodes it all into plain and simple English for you.

Another neat aspect of Active Sky is the ability to use previous weather conditions. If you have made a flight in the past that the weather has made enjoyable, for any reason, whether it be challenging to fly in, great screenshots etc… If you can remember the date of this weather, you can download it from the Active Sky servers to enjoy again (since May 1 2005).

The program also simulates winds aloft data, and unlike the default FS weather, when you move from one weather station to another instead of the change in wind being very drastic, it is a smooth transition to the new wind data.

Once you have selected your weather, decided on your flight plan and chosen your aircraft, it's time to load up FS. When you are loaded and at the gate, just sit tight for a couple of minutes while Active Sky communicates with FS to set the weather, and when it does, the results are jaw dropping. There are almost limitless cloud textures. Their website boasts that over 1,000,000 unique cloud texture results are possible. I now love flying at dusk and dawn. With Active Sky running I have managed to capture some of my best screenshots. On some of the flights I let the autopilot do all the work and I just sit and watch the weather. Long flights seem to pass very quickly if you have some nice eye candy to look at. But Active Sky isn't just about eye candy, far from it. It sets out to simulate the weather, and it does that. There is so much more on offer compared to the default MS weather it's untrue. If you set up wake turbulence simulation, you've got to keep an eye out for other aircraft as flying too close behind them or crossing their path can produce temporary lack of control. You can also experience wind shear, which makes for an interesting landing when it strikes just as you are about to land! As you pass through the cloud layers, you will experience turbulence, which makes for some fun flying in the smaller GA aircraft. You can even set the strength of the turbulence too via the options menu.

The developers have inserted 500 new virtual weather stations to provide more accurate weather depiction, and now when you are cruising over oceanic zones, even these are depicted with realistic aloft conditions and smoother transitions.

What about support and updates after you have purchase Active Sky? There is a dedicated Active Sky forum hosted at www.avsim.com which is very active, and you can read about future updates here and for any problems you have, any post will be sure to be answered very quickly (usually within a couple of hours), or you can search through the forum to see if anyone else has had the same problem! If you have a problem and don't want to post on the forum for any reason, why not email the support team? The support offered is superb, which is something I really like about this product, as sometimes products are released where little support is offered. The development team also welcomes any suggestions you have to improve the product even further. After all, it's you who is using it, so you're the most qualified person to suggest what needs improving and adding!

But when you buy Active Sky, you don't just get Active Sky, you also receive Active Sky Graphics.

This provides enhanced cloud, sky and environment textures providing thousands of different combination possibilities. And once again, it's a doddle to use. Just scroll through the many textures in the several categories, and select the texture you want. When you are happy, click to send your selections to FS, load up the sim and away you go. And if you don't have the time to make the selections individually, or don't know what you want because of the massive choice, just select everything to random! Some of the effects you get from Active Sky Graphics are out of this world, as I hope some of the included pictures testify. If you like the theme that you have created, you can save it so that you can use it over and over again as and when you wish.

A side note about Active Sky Graphics is that it requires Microsoft.NET Framework v1.1 or later. Most XP users will already have this via Windows Updates.

So what about simulator performance? All clouds and weather depiction within FS will cause a performance hit, and Active Sky is no exception. Most users with a good graphics card wont notice the hit as much as users on lower end systems, but with the variety of options available for the types of texture you use (DXT or MIP) and the dozens of customizable options of Active Sky, you will be able to get a good level of performance for your system. If you can gain acceptable performance with the default FS9 weather, you should be fine with Active Sky.

The whole product comes with a User's Guide and Guide to Aviation Weather as PDF files. This are very simple to read and get you up to speed on how to use the Active Sky and Active Sky Graphics to their fullest, so if you are unsure, just refer to the manuals.

One of the questions you need to ask yourself when considering purchasing a new add-on for FS is ‘Can I do without it?' In the case of Active Sky, you can fly without it as there is an in-built weather generator from Microsoft, so you don't have to buy it, but in my opinion, you would be very foolish not to buy it! It's superb and brings a whole new dimension to you FS World

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