X-Plane 12 ups the realism with simulated wake turbulence

pcinvasion.com:

Laminar Research is hard at work on the next-gen release of its ever-popular X-Plane series — the 12th iteration, to be exact. Over the last few weeks, the studio has been drip-feeding nuggets of new info. The latest of these little news updates formally announces that all aircraft in the upcoming sim will receive a very realistic feature: wake turbulence.

For the uninitiated, wake turbulence refers to the phenomenon that occurs when an aircraft rolls out and takes off from the runway. Because of the high speeds these metal machines reach at takeoff, they disturb the air around them, generating invisible “wakes” in a similar fashion to the disturbed waves that taper off from the rear hull of a boat in motion.

Since aircraft all have to take off in the same direction and then climb for a few moments, the disturbed air is felt by aircraft that immediately follow. Much like how the size of a boat will determine the size of the wakes it leaves behind, the same applies to airplanes.

For example, a small Cessna 172 trainer won’t make much of an impact. But if that same 172 were to immediately take off following a far larger Airbus A380 or Boeing 777, the Cessna is going to have an extremely violent time getting in the air. This is why there’s often a waiting period for takeoffs. The same procedures also apply when landing.

With X-Plane 12, Laminar is seeking to introduce the real-world atmospheric disturbance into the sim world.

Toggleable overlays will be available to see effects like wake turbulence in real time.

Every aircraft in X-Plane 12 that uses the X-Plane flight model will produce wake turbulence, according to a recent dev blog. This doesn’t just refer to player aircraft, but AI aircraft as well. In the same dev