Very interesting PSX-MSFS experience yesterday

[Will]

Yesterday I was flying into an airport in central Asia that was in a valley that was nestled up against a small mountain range. MSFS was providing the view out the cockpit, PSX exterior visual were turned off. From 90 nm out, the skies were clear as far as I could see. The ATIS was daunting though, RVR 600 ft and ceiling 0, in snow pellets and freezing fog. Hmmm. I double-checked the METAR, and PFPX (my AI dispatch office) agreed with the ATIS in PSX.

The airport was in a bit of a valley, so I was thinking that the clouds--which I couldn't see yet--might be covering the low-lying terrain. Turns out I was right; as I got closer in, I could see the clouds in my MSFS windshield, stretching to the sides of the mountains. Somewhere underneath was the airport.

My trusty AI First Officer hadn't turned on the anti-ice yet, so I assumed I was still in clear skies in the PSX universe. Of course, PSX and MSFS are known to disagree when it comes to visibility and clouds in the enroute environment, but I trusted my First Officer.

The approach had a long final segment at about 4000' AGL before intercepting the glideslope, and for that lengthy final, my aircraft was skirting just above the cloud tops in MSFS. Skimming above them at 180 kts. My F/O still hadn't turned on the anti-ice yet.

Glideslope alive, then a few moments later: gear down, flaps 20, speed brake armed, and follow the glidepath down into the clouds. MSFS showed the skies darkening, and just as the visibility went to zero in the clouds, my trusty F/O turned on the NAI.

Part of this fun was the run-of-the-mill seamless connectivity: Navigraph reading position from MSFS and showing it accurately on the moving map and charts, real-time live METAR agreeing on three platforms: PFPX, MSFS, and PSX. So far, so good. But the really nice part was that the MSFS visuals and PSX both agreed as to where the cloud tops were. Seeing the nacelle anti-ice turn on as we descended into visible moisture in cold air was a really nice touch, made all the more interesting because of the congruency between the apps.

The fun of flight simulation always involves a bit of suspension of disbelief, but those little moments--like seeing the green NAI indicators illuminating right as the aircraft visually gets into IMC--take it from suspension of disbelief into even a bit of wonder.

TL;DR: MSFS and PSX both knew what the METAR was, which isn't surprising, but they both agreed on where the cloud tops were as well, which made for a really nice approach experience.

[Hardy Heinlin]

Beautiful :-)

How was the landing? Did MSFS actually generate a 600 ft RVR on the rollout?

[Will]

Yes. I let it autoland, and I didn't see the runway lights until touchdown. Taxying was challenging. I could see the yellow line, but only just in front of the aircraft.