Weather is back...

Looks like there might be a solution after all...
When I opened up my saved .FLT files for the outstanding legs, and changed the "WeatherType" from 3 (real-world, 15 min.) to 2 (real-world, static), FSX used the weather that was stored at the time the save was created, and used it for the whole flight.
I only did a flight in fast-forward (2x), a bit higher that I would fly it by hand, and on autopilot, but the winds looked pretty much like I remembered them.
So, hopefully this method will also work for FS9 (which, I think, Teson is the only one using).
If not, well, then it's back to the drawing board...

Well, that variable is exactly what we wanted to eliminate on this race.
We were using actual weather before (either the in-game one, or from external weather engines), but we wanted to make the pilot skill more important, than just having luck or enough patience (to get the most advantageous weather).

Using GetWeather with the status you downloaded would be an option, but the result would be the same as just switching the WeatherType in the FLT file. Once you switch it to 2, FSX will not download new weather anymore (not at the start, and not after 15 minutes), and instead uses the weather situation it stored when the situation was saved.
(Some people say the weather for the whole world is stored when you save a flight. I haven't tried to verify that, but it is definitely enough for a 20 minute flight.)

Here is a comparison of what kind of winds you get with the different approaches (executive summary: the same...)
* Red: In-game weather in the past (while it was still static)
* Green: In-game weather now, with a saved flight, switched to WeatherType 2
* Yellow: In-game weather with GetWeather


As far as using weather themes — that would, of course, deliver static weather, but unfortunately, it's a bit too static. Once you select a theme, you have the same situation no matter where you go (which is a bit boring, and unrealistic, for bush-flying).
Here's a comparison of regular weather for this area (green), and what you get when you select the "Stormy" theme (red):

(Click on the images for full-size views.)

We had already started the weather discussion over in the Some Suggestions thread, so now, with the loss of the static in-game weather, we might have to revive it once more, to find a different solution.

Yeah, I'm afraid nobody would be willing to spend the time creating a custom weather theme for just one race.
Plus, it would really put the person designing the track at a big advantage, as he knows every little nuance of the generated weather. (When I designed this month's race I actually tried to stay as "naive" about it as possible, only having very cursory looks at what might or might not be possible for the specific legs, so that, comes race time, I could still approach it as if it were new. But if you design every single cloud then that fresh approach wouldn't be possible anymore.)

But perhaps one could write a script to generate a totally random weather theme, or one that is based on some current or historic weather (to eliminate the human factor, as well as the workload). I'll have to look into that.

Update: Actually, it seems Opus is capable of automatically creating themes, based either on the current or historical weather. I do have Opus, even though I never use it, but it looks like it may be worth a shot, just for that function.