The Hang Gliding Files App
An application to build, create, and share Hang Glider flying sites for use in MSFS 2020.
This is a windows desktop application that you can use to create your very own Hang Glider flying sites with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 (MSFS).
Hang Gliders generally do not use airports to fly. They can use any airport and towplane or winch that exist within MSFS 2020, but normally they do not. What you really want to do is go to Hang Gliding sites in the mountains, or beaches, or grass fields for towing. None of that exists naturally in MSFS 2020. But by using this application, you can make anywhere in the world a hang glider site. You can use our MSFS 2020 Widget tool to then teleport you to your new site. If you don’t have that widget, click here to download.
There is literally 100’s of thousands of possible flying sites on Planet Earth. We can’t make them all! We need your help. Build your own sites, but please share those sites with us or at least with your flying friends. This app is built to let you do that.
Features:
Add/Edit/Modify information about any flying site.
Site searching.
Any site can have unlimited defined launches, setup areas, and landing areas.
Site locations, altitudes and heading information can be captured directly from the simulator. So even if you just start with a general area from a map, you can move your glider in the sim to the exact location you want and have that information updated directly into your database.
Any sites you add your desktop database are automatically updated and ready for use with the widget teleportation toolbar app. If you have it installed.
Use this app to teleport to any known location as well.
Find any defined site using our built-in map.
Import site information from other sources. These could be files shared by your friends, sites you download from this website or any other source that can create the proper JSON formatted file.
Share your site or sites with anybody by creating a JSON file that you can give to anyone.
Share your site with us (THGF) directly using email. Right from the app. We will include your site in the next app update!
Keep a database of fun flying tasks. These are courses that you can make on your own or get from your friends or many other soaring web sites. We use standard formats such as MSFS 2020 flight plan format or XCSoar task format.
Create realistic MSFS 2020 Scenery:
One of the best things about MSFS 2020 is the realism and immersive quality of the scenery. This is especially true for flying hang gliders! You start your flights from scenic locations and fly in scenic locations and you are not encapsulated within a cockpit, so you have a full 360 view of the world while flying.
We make it easy for you to build your own site scenery!
Once you have any site in your database, you can use the app to directly generate a scenery package that can be put directly into MSFS 2020!
This scenery will include:
A windsock and Point of Interest marker on every launch
A windsock and Point of Interest marker on every Landing Area
You must build this package using the MSFS 2020 SDK tools and follow the instructions for installing the package into your community folder to make this site a permanent modification to the simulator!
Add anything you want to your site scenery!
You can also add other objects into your scenery if you want (but it is not required).
You can add vehicles, gliders, ramps, people, buildings, signs, anything you can think of. We have provided you the framework to do any of this.
You can build your own or use objects from any other model library, including ours making these types of modifications basically point and click.
Modify existing geography and vegetation!
The simulator is pretty good at getting the scenery right, but not always. Sometimes it gets it wrong, and you may have to modify more than just adding interesting objects. You may have to remove trees, change vegetation, change the ground type, modify or fix roads and parking lots. The package we create for you allow you to do just this. It takes some practice, but again, it is just point and click once you know how.
Download the ZIP file and extract the installer application.
Once the ZIP file has been extracted, just run THGF.exe installation and follow all instructions.
If this is an upgrade to a previous installed version,
PLEASE NOTE: Your existing data will remain intact and not be changed. You will not get any new site information automatically. You can upgrade your local site database from the new factory sites by using the IMPORT feature within the app and import sites from the factory settings.
If you are updating your existing application, remember to check for new factory sites!
The install will not overwrite your existing database of sites. This allows you to create and manage your own personal site database. But you may want to see what other sites pilots have been creating and sharing. Each updated version is likely to have many new sites. Check them out.
Release Notes
3.0.4.5 May 10, 2024
General enhancements and bug fixes:
- Fixed layout on task turnpoint page
- Fixed useability on map page.
- Added clear search button on search page and it now goes to the site detail page when a site is clicked.
3.0.3.2 April 27, 2024
General enhancements and bug fixes:
- Factory Sites
Fixed bug where factory site database was overwriting existing database. This no longer occurs. You must import factory defaults to get updated sites now. - Task Editing UI
Fixed UI issues when editing and creating new flight tasks. Now much easier to use.
- New site recovery feature using site scenery.
Created a new import function that can create a site database entry from site scenery source.
- Fixed CUP file reading
Cup files are a definition of waypoints that can be used to create a task. The code to read a file of this type has been enhanced to be tolerant of variations in content as this style of data is highly variable in how people create these files.
Release version 3.0.1.0 March, 30, 2024
This update includes many new features and enhancements to the desktop PC application. Many bugs and UI issues have been resolved and we thank those who have let us know when you encountered issues. We try and fix any issues we have been alerted to.
- Site Database
- Now includes 360+ site
- Improved UI
- We have modified the main menu by bringing some existing functionality to a higher level to make access to those functions quicker and easier. Also, existing functionality like site searches and site editing workflows and useability have been greatly improved making using the app much easier by doing things in a more refined way.
- We have also modified the main menu by bringing some existing functionality to a higher level to make access to those functions quicker and easier.
- Creating site scenery
This is now a main menu level function and has been completely reworked. Users can now have custom scenery created and installed with one button click. Based on user feedback we hope this makes the process easy to use so more pilots use this feature. - Managing vario/flight tasks
You can now import, export and create flight tasks easily in the app. This will also let you put any task directly into any glider’s flight computer for use. - Connection to MFSF 2020
We have modified the application so that it manages its connection and interaction with MSFS 2020 automatically. You never need to manage your interface to the simulator again. - Sharing tools
Sharing information with others has never been easier. - Editing sites
We have modified the main menu by bringing some existing functionality to a higher level to make access to those functions quicker and easier.
Release Version: 2.2.3.0 January 31, 2024
Fixed some issues with the settings page default directories.
Release Version: 2.2.2.0 January 24, 2024
Functional update for full release
- Site Database
- Now includes 320+ sites.
- Improved UI for site data entry
- Moving between pages when editing a site is much easier and seamless letting you have more confidence while managing your data.
- New site data entry information
- We have streamlined the site data entry screens and added new information pages that let you define more data about a site. This will allow you to find sites using much finer criteria.
- Advanced search feature
- You can now filter and find flying sites by many new criteria. The text search feature will find any site that contains the text in any description, county, state, or name of any site, launch or landing area.
- Biome information page
- This page will let you define in much more detail the type of site you are building. This includes: the type of flying, the biome of the area, and other options.
- Soaring information page
- Allows you to define soaring information about a site. This includes preferred wind directions and speeds, nearest real-world weather reporting station, the time zone of the site (required to calculate the time of day), as well as get the current real-time, real-world weather at that site to help you find flyable real world flying conditions.
- Custom weather presets
- We have added the functionality for you to be able to automatically update every single weather preset (61+) provided by THGF to be wind compatible with any site. This way, you can find a site, change all possible weather conditions to be favorable to this site and then go into MSFS 2020 and all THGF weather condition presets will be tailored to this site. Choose you flight weather by type without having to worry about wind direction.
1.4.14.0 (October 22, 2023)
- New sites
- Updated task export
** 1.4.10.0 (June 12, 2023) **
NOTE: You should un-install any prior version before installing this version. The installer needs to put the application in a more open directory so that the app can run in administrative mode when necessary.
- Added new sites! You can add them to your existing database by using the import from factory settings.
- Added the ability to automatically create compiled scenery packages in MSFS 2020. No need to use the SDK menus anymore.
- Cleaned up site data entry dialog to be more user friendly in the saving of the data. It saves changes you make much better now.
- Added a lot of new task files
1.4.8.0 (May 30, 2023)
- added message boxes to warn on any delete
- Cannot paste in a non-decimal number into Lat/Lon (testers were pasting degree symbols, etc.).
- Made the lists of takeoffs, setups and LZ to be scrollable list as opposed to a combo box. Testers did not understand that there were more than one. It was not obvious. It is now.
- Made it more obvious what the old GET button was for. Now says get current location from simulator.
- Cleaned up general UI on details.