Ultimate MSFS Glider Tutorial | Beginners Guide to Gliding in Microsoft Flight Simulator

Welcome to 𝐒𝐢𝐦 𝐔𝐊 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖𝐒 Microsoft Flight Simulator Beginners Guide to Gliding.
00:00 Glider Tutorial INTRODUCTION
01:35 MSFS Glider Controller Setup
07:35 MSFS NEO Glider Cockpit Tutorial
15:59 MSFS Glider Take-off Tutorial
19:18 MSFS Glider Flight Mechanics
21:14 MSFS Glider Stalls
22:43 MSFS Glider Soaring Thermals and LIFT Tutorial
26:46 MSFS Glider Landing Tutorial
30:07 MSFS Glider Where to Fly + Mods
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#SimUKReviews #SimUKUltimateRealism #MSFSGliderTutorial

[@ericbochat]

Ahah i love that most of this tutorial is recorded around Grenoble, one of my favorite holidays spot

[@SimUKReviews]

I imagine it is Heavenly there?

[@ericbochat]

@@SimUKReviews it is indeed, lots of gliders every summers, such a peaceful sight

[@will_gliding]

I had to preform my first winch launch irl a couple of days ago fun but I had made progress through my flight training so quickly it was mental

[@SimUKReviews]

Never done it, but looks like it would be intense?

[@trevorphillips9220]

Haha, same but yesterday.

[@basfinnis]

Oh cool. Have a great 2023 matey 😘

[@SimUKReviews]

Cheers Basil.

[@billB101]

The strongest thermals on cumulus clouds in MSFS seem to always be found according to wind direction at present. If, for example, you are flying into the wind the thermal will be on the far side of the cloud. If you're flying North and the wind is from the west then you'll find the strongest thermals on the West side of the cloud etc. Not sure if this is true to real life but that seems to be how it's working here. And I say this from gliding the entire UK coast in MSFS over the last month or so. 🙂

[@WuTangChillaBee]

Thats how it is IRL! 👍

[@CrafterMaxxx]

I'm currently starting with my gliding license and in IRL the winch start is actually a lot of fun it gets u up in the air so fast and its beautiful to watch to. Altough u should not right away pull all the way back on ur stick but rather wait until the glider starts flying itself and the nose will come up from alone as soon as u have reached a safe altitude u can start pulling back all the way on the stick, until u feel that it gets more flat then pull less on the stick as soon as the cable self detaches from the glider push the nose down pull on the cable release 3 times and then pull back up so that u can use the overflow energy in speed to get it into hight it can give u like 20m or something like that more and then alway fly at minimum at the yellow arrow. with the speed but rather look out and get a feeling for the horizon instead of looking on the speedmeter all the time because it has a delay(atleast in Real life) hope anyone finds this interesting or read it at all never the less dont pull back on the stick right away xD. Safe flight. ;D

[@SimUKReviews]

Much appreciated 🙏

[@ozradar]

At 17:54, regarding following the towplane... you say wings to match towplane (tug) and rudder to turn. Don't do that. Use wings to match tug, but you don't need to use rudder as the rope will pull the nose of the sailplane towards the tug. IRL, if you use the rudder, you will find that you will be swaying behind the tug! Cheers from a gliding Instructor.

[@SimUKReviews]

Thanks for the tip, will test that out next time I fly.

[@will_gliding]

Personally I recommend checking the ASI for the winch it gives a more accurate idea of how you are taking off in real life messing up here can lead to fatal accidents

[@SimUKReviews]

Thank you.

[@paradoxicalcat7173]

FS2020 physics are junk. Notice how the glider gets off the ground after the tug! Total shite. The glider should be flying before then.

[@b21-soaring]

Hey congrats - you put together a very nice gentle introduction to a tricky subject. I'll recommend this video when I eventually get around to an 'update on gliding' video myself. I'd like to add that multiplayer gliding has proved to be popular, with 30+ pilots regularly flying quite long (but friendly) races. Also there are now enough good quality freeware and payware gliders to provide some variety. Thanks for producing this great intro!

[@SimUKReviews]

Thank you, please do feel free to share a link here. Maybe I can join a race someday.

[@BPond7]

I’ve completely ignored gliders until today,in May 2024. I bought the payware Discus, and was quite surprised at how enjoyable and relaxing it was. I think I’ll have to turn down the turbulence a notch, however, as MSFS turbulence seems to unrealistically shake your craft, as if by an invisible hand. In spite of the shortcomings, which I don’t believe have been addressed since you published this vid, it was still a lot of fun, and I plan on doing a lot more of it. 🖖😀

[@SimUKReviews]

Fantastic, challenging to do long distance gliding in MSFS

[@halfgrey3356]

Awesome Video. I was wondering have you found out in the meanwhile how the key binding is called for the power engine button?

[@SimUKReviews]

Thank you. Unfortunately MSFS Keybinding system is a total mess. I am REALLY Hoping that MSFS 2024 Changes it so that each plane can create its own Keybind list....Fingers crossed.

[@TheSuperslicks]

Lasham Gliding Society in the Uk, Probably the largest Gliding Club in the world, this game does not do it justice. but still worth a visit.

[@SimUKReviews]

Thanks, will do.

[@MrDertien]

Cumulus clouds are an indication, but not a certainty for thermals, since the thermal may be closer to the cloud and you could be in your glider below the cloud and below the thermal. What is a certainty to find thermals are concrete parking lots or industrial buildings on a hot summer day, yellow hay fields as well. Green grass and water stays cool even when the sun shines on them, so they will produce less or no lift at all in the case of water. The sun heats the ground and that 'bubble' of air when hot enough will start rising as hot air does. That hot air is replaced by cooler air which will in turn be heated up as long as the sun keeps on shining on a surface that has the ability (like concrete parking lots) to get very hot indeed. That is the bubble you want to be in with your glider. On some hot summer days you won't even see any Cumuluses, but there will be thermals. We called this 'blue thermals' meaning 'blue' as the sky and 'thermals' because of the lift. Then there are straits, meaning that more than one cumulus cloud or different cumulus clouds that form a 'strait' (on a really beautiful day) where you will not need to make turns to get the lift. Cumulus clouds and their more aggressive sibling, the cumulonimbus or CB will only be seen when relative humidity allows condensation to occur, and which creates the white puffy clouds or the more violent CB's. In Europe the most I've experienced, and that was about 30 years ago in Belgium would be max around +5 to +6 METER per second on the variometer. That means every second you are in the thermal you are in an elevator gaining 5 meters. On beautiful days I would say that 1.5 to 2.5 and 3 Meter per second lift would be the norm. We were flying above DIEST, a city which had a lot of large concrete and industrial building roofs, that got very damn hot in the summer. The thermals would dissipate to +1 or 0 at sundown and you could keep 'buttering the stick' as we called it to remain at the same altitude and try to stay aloft for as long as possible at the end of the day half a kilometer or so from where you would start the pattern for landing. On a Schleicher Ka-8 which is an old machine, the start for the pattern would be around 350 meters, with enough altitude to spare for a decent landing. So, bottom line, if the developers of the simulators will not start looking down (and focus on the surface that the thermals are formed) but force us to look up at randomly procedurally generated 'cumuluses' we are a far cry from reality. Then there is of course the wind speed, direction, relative humidity, inversions and other details to consider when making a 'soaring engine', and I would doubt sincerely that Microsoft got that one right, since like X-Plane and AeroflyFS, these simulators are 'jacks of all trades'. X-plane is available as a 'pro' version and used for commercial pilot instruction. Condor could be spot on, since I never flew that, but then again, who wants to be stuck (in VR) with graphics that look 20 years old? MSFS 2020 looks pretty that's for sure, and if you are enjoying it, why not keep doing just that.

[@SimUKReviews]

Thank you, one of the best explained examples of thermals I've ever read. Thank you for this.

[@MrDertien]

@@SimUKReviews No worries, glad to have illustrated it. I have no experience with flying gliders in the mountains, which is a completely different ballgame with the wind blowing onto a mountain side and thus providing lift, but that is NOT a thermal. Look at thermals like 'bubbles' of hot air, that were warm enough to detach and lift from the surface they were created over thanks to the sun warming up said surface. The thermals in games that seem to be represented like invisible upward facing 'cylinders' or circular shaped whirlwind patterns of hot air which is completely false. Like I said, the bubble is 'taking off' when the air is hot enough as explained above, and replaced by cooler air moving down on to the surface, until it is hot enough to rise again. Love your channel. I'm looking at Highfleet right now, and boy is this a complex game.

[@SimUKReviews]

Highfleet is so good :-) Thanks again.

[@Dick.BaileyReading]

During the 30 years of real life gliding that I did up to the mid 1990’s the term was ‘cloud Street’, not Strait, because they formed at street you could glide down. They always lined up running downwind and occurred when a strong thermals source, eg a town, a power station (eg Didcot), etc., keeps triggering a succession of thermals each of which drifts downwind after the previous one and form a Street of rising air. The trough of descending air on either side of the Street also tends to reinforce and maintain the Streets structure.

[@zaelu]

Self Launch Glider is a glider that has an engine capable of launching the glider so it can take off and climb without a tow plane or a winch. So in MSFS currently we don't have self launch gliders but we do have one (of the two anyway) that has that sustainer electric motor. It's not clear in your introduction if you mean the gliders in MSFS are or not self launching gliders. Also The airbrakes of the gliders are called Spoilers.... because they spoil the lift mostly... as opposed with aerodynamic airbrakes that try to slow the plane down without messing with the lift. Like fighter planes have on the fuselage rather than the wings. :D .

[@SimUKReviews]

Apologies if I wasn't clear. MSFS calls them both Spoilers and Airbrakes...Hence the potential confusion.

[@jMP0131]

Thanks for this video. I just bought MS Simulator since I used to fly sailplanes in California at Hemet, Elsinore and El Mirage and in NY at Elmira. While your instructions seem to be clear when I try to find a configuration for a glider for my Thrustmaster T Flight Stick X from a PC I find nothing of that sort. Is there a work around to designate ballast dump, air brakes and cable releases on the Thrustmaster? Is there a sailplane in the stable with terminal dive brakes or a drogue chute?

[@SimUKReviews]

Hi, many thanks. OK, so I had to quickly Google the last two, to make sure I knew what they were 😆 but...right now, I am not aware that they exist in MSFS. One of the biggest problems in MSFS is that controls are pre created by ASOBO in an attempt to accommodate EVERY SINGLE BUTTON, SWITCH AND LEVER you can think of (instead of each aircraft having a bespoke controller sheet). What this means is that there are naming convention issues, repetition, missing inputs and defunct inputs. In short, it is a bit of a bloody mess. On the left there are three inout/search bars. Through trial and error using the top one, enter a logical element name for what you are searching for and then once located, bind THAT to any button, switch or lever of your choosing. I have a great video called how to setup just about any controller on MSFS : I can't find anlink atm. But that might hell you?

[@jMP0131]

@@SimUKReviews Thanks for your reply. I watched your YT more carefully then replicated the default and modified the controls as you described. What a great tuitorial! Given that you weren't using a Thrustmaster I picked other nonuseful buttons to map to the desired controls. The only function I was not successful at mapping to the Thrustmaster was the camera switch from inside the cockpit to the outside trailing view, so I left that on the keyboard. It is curious that MS FS doesn't say what the stall speed is for the aircraft that they are training on, but I looked it up on the web and used the standard formula of stall speed + .5 stall speed +wind speed to determine the landing speed. I found that the training for a slipped and crosswind landing to be very challenging even though I had landed real sailplanes with the same maneuver. I had not flown anything with a 45:1 glide ratio which can explain part of this. I can perfectly align the glide path with the runway and straighten out the crab due to the crosswind just as I touch down. but I cannot manage to do this without getting a landing gear damage message. I will keep practicing to find the trick.

[@Enzo-fp4hx]

thank you for this video!! can you share where you found your weather presets please. and: how did you open the canopy? mine doesn't do that

[@SimUKReviews]

I'm sorry, I actually cannot remember. The canopy opens by clicking on the handle in the cockpit...if it doesn't work you may have cockpit clickable turned off in settings.

[@Enzo-fp4hx]

interesting@@SimUKReviews , i can click all other spots, but not the door handle.... wonder what causes that.... anyways thx for the reply, and the video

[@SimUKReviews]

Interesting. There might be a lock somewhere?

[@kctx3]

My best glide location so far has been Sochi. Ride the tug into the mountains and enjoy. Discovered bc I fly through the same mtns in DCS often, but in flankers lol

[@SimUKReviews]

Nice, will check it out thanks!

[@davidperry7128]

I used to sit and watch the gliders taking off on the Long Mynd near Church Stretton, no idea if this is possible in MSFS.

[@SimUKReviews]

I suspect it probably is.

[@salokin1]

Some free scenery on flightsim.to for the Midland Gliding Club (which is on the Long Mynd). Set up a brisk westerly wind and enjoy some ridge soaring.

[@thegamingsidetothings3712]

One thing I don't like about MSFS gliding is there is no adverse yaw in real life you want to turn you have to use the same amount of rudder as alerion at the same time

[@SimUKReviews]

Agreed.

[@neonz2712]

I tried both the plane launch & the winch launch at my local municipal airport in MSFS and, every time I tried to take-off, the glider would start rapidly turning right on the ground until it either flipped or the winch snapped. I can't seem to figure these things out for the life of me, but I'm going to keep working at it.

[@SimUKReviews]

Check you don't have something double bound?

[@Dick.BaileyReading]

Don’t forget you only have a single wheel just under you seat and long wings only 3/4 ft. off the ground at the tips. Concentrate very hard on keeping wing level on the initial roll out. Don’t forget you’ll start well below flying speed so you’ll need almost full aileron deflection if a wing drops to keep them but within a few meters the ailerons will rapidly become very effective. Best strategy is to ensure the stick is kept central until airborne but be alert and correct any wing drop quickly.

[@mpaw23]

Recommendation on where to soar: EPZR

[@SimUKReviews]

Thank you!

[@WilhelmvonFahrvergnugen]

4:55 All very well, indeed , however there appear to be strings attached .

[@SimUKReviews]

😆 yes, I deliberately pulled away from the tow plane to highlight the disconnect & used that footage a few times 😳

[@WilhelmvonFahrvergnugen]

@@SimUKReviews Alright, alright. So I suppose its confession time for me as well...I reether enjoy playing that tow plane something like a yo-yo, so I have had similar 'strings attached'.

[@SimUKReviews]

:-)

[@LyroLife]

So is there any other Gliding Simulator that does it better than msfs?

[@SimUKReviews]

None that look better...but there are a few alternatives: World of Aircraft Glider simulator. Condor Soaring Maybe some others.

[@livingmodern]

so thermals are not working great...I just did some gliding and versus FSX I could barely get the altitude I used to get

[@SimUKReviews]

This is what I found also.

[@WuTangChillaBee]

Is there a way of pasting joystick setup bindings for gliders if MSFS doesnt recognise the joystick and do it automatically?

[@SimUKReviews]

Please explain again?

[@WuTangChillaBee]

Must we input each joystick binding individually when installing on a new pc, or is there a way of fast-tracking this? I have done this once before but just wonder if there is a way of copying yours for example and feeding this in directly somehow?

[@SimUKReviews]

I understand now :-) Good question, I am hoping that MSFS 2024 implements much better controller binding setup. I haven't tried it but IF I can locate the controller binding source, then it should be possible to copy and paste my keybindings straight to you (theoretically) so long as we are using the exact same controller....UNLESS MSFS identifies each controller by the USB port it is plugged into (then it will be complicated).

[@WuTangChillaBee]

@@SimUKReviews True. I knew it would be a long shot, but thank you 😊

[@ihmpall]

What controller is that ? What should I buy if I'm complete noob I only have an xbox controller

[@SimUKReviews]

This is a Saitek (Now Logitech) X56....I don't really recommend you get one, the action is not that smooth. Have you watched this? : kzbin.info/www/bejne/m5yQkHuiYtJ3mbs I would recommend you don't buy ANYTHING until you are certain you want to fly long-term. At that point decided if you want a HOTAS or a dedicate Yoke and Throttle Quadrant.

[@bogdanrotaru6101]

so thermals are wack? I am a real life soaring pilot, if thermals are not at least as in condor 2, there is no point in playing this game

[@SimUKReviews]

I've never tried condor 2 so I cannot comment. My advice is join the discord mentioned at the end of this video and discus with other real world glider pilots.

[@buzzinbritain8222]

No matey the atmospheric model is still pants.....as are the default sailplanes..........stick to Condor 2 for gliding, and 3 will be out soon......

[@MrDertien]

Condor 2 might be about spot on with the thermals... it's a shame the graphics look like the 2004 edition of Microsoft flight simulator. 30 years ago I used to fly K-7's and a K-8's every weekend and did this for about 6 years. Took up the Blanik once when on holiday, in Australia. So I'm not an expert, but I do know what I'm talking about. I had good vibes about Aerofly FS at launch but the majority of players are not glider pilots, the crowd there wanted Boeings and Airbuses, so the implementation of thermals didn't happen as it should have. After that, I put my money on X-Plane 11 a couple of years ago, and I will continue to fly GA and gliders there, the addition of real weather and free hi-definition landscapes like Corsica, Ireland the Alps and Spain is enough to keep me happy and that in VR with excellent visuals. X-plane 11 does it quite well as your wing 'bumps up' when it crosses the thermal and it gives you an indication to which side to start doing your turns. Coming back and around you will find the thermal and you can keep in it as in real life. X-Plane 11 has a few motor gliders like the Falke, which we had at our Aero Club as well. Too bad I only flew it once IRL. The Falke (virtual skylabs) is payware, but there are some very good, payware worthy free gliders available for X-plane 11, including a modified ASK-21 in glider and electric motorglider configuration. A Pik 20 is also available for free. I'm staying away from X plane 12 for a couple more years now. I don't think I have to explain why (no pun intended). I stay clear of Microsoft 'simulators' in general. Condor has one part of the spectrum (the thermals and gliding) worked out. The devs of Condor should now focus on upgrading the visuals of their product at least a few notches if they wish to appeal to anybody else than the spartan crowd that has been playing condor since its inception.

[@haltux]

@@MrDertien Condor 2 has for sure less than 5% of the budget of MSFS. There is simply no way it can compete in terms of graphics. Also Condor 2 is extremely smooth, you can make it run at 90 fps in VR, which makes a lot of difference in terms of responsiveness and making you feel that you actual fly a glider. Graphics improvements would have a cost in terms of smoothness. Also it's only day and night with MSFS if you are at low altitude, which is the case when you are ridge soaring but not when you are thermaling. I use to fly in northern France (downloaded sceneries) or the alps and it really looks nice in VR, clouds and landscape from far away look really nice. I personnaly find it looks better than X-Plane.

[@buzzinbritain8222]

Are you a real life sailplane pilot? - because I'm really worried about some of the things you say ..........

[@SimUKReviews]

Well, I start the video explaining I'm not...😆 But please feel free to correct me on anything.

[@belaveghseo9217]

Water ballast does not give you better glide ratio but same glider ratio on a higher speed...

[@SimUKReviews]

OK thanks.

[@user-yf1oo6lg5t]

the "staying up" part (soaring) part of the tutorial was very short, bit too short. I don't mind you talking about the fire alarm, but that is not what a glider tutorial is here for.

[@SimUKReviews]

The staying up part is the easy part. Find a cloud showing signs of updraft, or a mountainside and fly into it. Either circle or repeatedly soar into it to gain altitude...then head towards your next best guess as to where you can find updraft.

[@user-yf1oo6lg5t]

@@SimUKReviewsthank you for the explanation. I have the "thermals" switched on, should I level my wings, bank them "towards" the updraft (they are usually going a bit sideways), should I go towards the thermal lines or fly "with them". That would help me, because sometimes even with clouds I don't have any updraft using real weather.

[@SimUKReviews]

MSFS is NOT great at recreating realistic weather....sadly. Mountainsides require you to fly alongside the mountain. IN a cloud you would circle at an angle which mostly keeps you within the thermal as you go round and round.

[@TijsVsN]

Great video! But isn’t it 50 meters forward for every 1 meter sunk instead of feet?(For the neo at least?)

[@SimUKReviews]

Thanks for the feedback. I've looked into this and I think it can be measured in either feet or meters. So example: 30:1 meters is the same as 98:1 feet. But I'm no expert as I said, so I might have that back to front. This link uses feet, and feet makes more sense to me in aviation; but if you have alternative info I'm interested to learn more. www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/glider_handbook/media/gfh_ch03.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj9rP_yiNz8AhU6QEEAHdlnCt0QFnoECAwQBg&usg=AOvVaw2JX8agygvnOc9uy_pZ09qw

[@WUTPanserbjorn]

It's a ratio -- if both sides of it are using the same unit, you could measure it in whatever unit you want

[@TijsVsN]

@@WUTPanserbjorn So.... My glide ratio is...... 50 Kitchen chairs to 1 kitchen chair

[@WUTPanserbjorn]

I know you're attempting to mock me, but sure, if you're using a standard size for your chair and that''s your preferred unit of measuring distance.

[@TijsVsN]

@@WUTPanserbjorn Funny

[@Husterization]

Grenoble?

[@SimUKReviews]

I think maybe so, yes

[@paradoxicalcat7173]

Another YTer who gets this wrong. Increased wing loading does not improve nor reduce glide ratio; it merely increases the speed at which you need to fly to achieve a specific glide ratio!!! If your best L/D speed is 50 kts without ballast, giving a best glide ratio of 50:1, then you add ballast, this could increase your best L/D speed to 60 kts, but you will then achieve 50:1 at 60 kts instead!! The exact figures are dictated by the polar for your specific glider, so be sure to check that out. FS2020 is totally wrong here, and will reduce the maximum glide ratio when loaded with ballast, decreasing glide distance for a given set of conditions when loaded with ballast. It can't be said enough: FS2020 flight model sucks. It's bad. Microsoft clearly gave a bunch of YTers talking points, because you are all making the same basic mistakes.

[@SimUKReviews]

So: 50kmph at 50:1 will allow you to travel 2,500km. 60kmph at 50:1 will allow you to travel 3,000km. Your glide ratio might stay the same, but the distance you travel increases which was the point I was making. But thank you for pulling g me up on the finner points.

[@nilskrumel1320]

the thermals in msfs are very bad

[@SimUKReviews]

I agree.

[@thomasvleminckx]

"...maybe it will improve in the future..." This is Asobo. Nothing will improve. They will just add another content update, while breaking the previous ones even more

[@SimUKReviews]

Yes, well I might have to agree with you there.

[@bensisneroz7027]

If you love gliding/soaring just get Condor 2 simulator.

[@YT_Dillan]

We have a lot in common. Want to be KZbin friends?

[@SimUKReviews]

Feel free to join my discord at the end of the month.