Payware Airports and Scenery Reviews

Scenery Upgrade to XP11 : LOWS-Salzburg XP11 by JustSim/Digital Design Here is an upgrade to Justsim's LOWS Salzburg to X-Plane11 status. The original LOWS was released just over a year ago in late June 2016 and it did bring to and introduce some great new features in to X-Plane. There is no doubt that LOWS is a dramatic airport, as much for Salzburg's position at the foot of the central northern alps as much as the scenery itself. As old X-Plane hands know that LOWS was the original X-Plane9 default airport (now KSEA-Seattle). This was because of the dramatic element to introduce users to the simulator, and that drama was created by any arrival or…

Scenery Review : ENBR - Bergen Flesland Airport by Aerosoft One surprise this year was a scenery that I really liked in Aerosoft's ENGM - Oslo Gardermoen. It wasn't an overall extremely out there detailed scenery, but it was a very functional airport in that I could find many uses for and the routes to use it, and I still do use OSL and quite a lot. So I was surprised that in just a very short time after the ENGM release in that Aerosoft have now released another Norwegian scenery in ENBR - Bergen. So was I wanting to visit ENBR - Bergen... of course I was. My reasoning to which I would say is quite relevant is that ENBR would make a great co…

Scenery Review : SBSV - Salvador Bahia International by GloballArt Every region in the world has it's own providers of scenery. In the major markets of North America and Europe there is certainly no shortage of quality scenery, if anything there is too much in the fact that in some cases they are reproducing scenery just for the sake of reproducing scenery for the market? But move outside of those areas and it becomes a waste land in X-Plane. The Middle East? The East and Australasia and try to note even one major scenery in any of those regions in Payware... you can't because there isn't any, which is just plainly ridiculous and a huge market there for …

City Scenery Review : Washington XP by Drzewiecki Design Channel your inner Frank Underwood and build your own "House of Cards'. Go all out to "Own this Town!" as this town is Washington D.C, the powerhouse of political power and runaway egos. And now you can with the release of Drzewiecki Design's "Washington XP" and the XP denotes this scenery is for X-Plane. I was immensely impressed by Drzewiecki Design's "Moscow City XP" scenery, but Moscow isn't exactly close to most of your local routes, unless you are Russian. But Washington is very handy. I am on a bit of a crusade on supporting city sceneries. They are strange creatures in the…

Scenery Review : ENGM - Oslo Gardermoen by Aerosoft Some sceneries makes a big splash on release, they are all bangs and whistles in that they take a lot of the air out of anything else around them. This is certainly the case with many scenery releases, but you will need to always check out that one scenery that just slips silently on to the lists as you maybe missing something special. It has happened twice now, in first that excellent JustSim scenery for ELLX - Luxembourg Findel Airport last month and now again here with Aerosoft's Oslo airport at Gardermoen. Gardermoen is a new airport by most standards and opened on the 8 October 19…

Scenery Review : KSLC - Salt Lake City International by ShortFinal Design I will first give you the bad news with so that you can then absorb this new excellent scenery in its correct context. This scenery is not from a new developer called ShortFinal Design, but from an old and much loved scenery developer called Mister_X6, Yes the same Mister_X6 that created the outstanding KLAX, KSAN, KSFO, KPHX (Phoenix) and the overwhelming KBOS (Boston) and now you will suddenly realise what is coming next... Mister-X6's scenery is not freeware anymore, as it is now going to be payware. And this KSLC is the first payware airport from the former freeware master. …

Scenery Review : KDFW Dallas Fort Worth by Aerosoft One scenery I use a lot in reviews here at X-PlaneReviews is KRSW - Southwest Florida International Airport by Aerosoft. As it was not only a really high quality scenery, full of great features and was functional as well. The scenery was the first project by Omar Masroor under the Aerosoft banner and it set out from the beginning to be a high standard of quality scenery... so now for Masroor's follow up and the scenery is DFW. As scale goes you couldn't pick a larger airport to cover except for KATL - Atlanta, as DFW is a major international incoming hub to the United States. DFW is the third lar…

Flyin Scenery Review : ELLX - Luxembourg Findel Airport by JustSim From JustSim to JustSim, or in English JustSim's EDDH (Hamburg) to JustSim's ELLX (Luxembourg). It was only a few months ago (late February) that I reviewed JustSims excellent EDDH - Hamburg scenery, and I was very impressed. Again only after a short time there is now another scenery from JustSim in the form of ELLX Luxembourg (boy do they turn them out!) and so it just felt right to fly from Hamburg to Luxembourg to check out this newer addition to our X-Plane scenery collection, our HAM - LUX service today is provided by FlyJSim's Dash 8 Q400. The Grand Duchy of Luxem…

Scenery Review : EDDH Hamburg Airport by JustSim You have to give JustSim credit, they sure can roll out their sceneries with regular efficiency. My last JustSim scenery review was LOWI - Innsbruck Airport only a few weeks ago and JustSim's LEBL Barcelona El Prat was only a few weeks before that... and now here is EDDH Hamburg. You would think with these very quick fire releases that the sceneries noted here from JustSim would be average at best, and to also reflect their value price pricing, but as to now all I am seeing is amazing value for excellent well created scenery, so does EDDH Hamburg still deliver again here for that same value pricing? …

Scenery Review : UBBB Baku Heydar Aliyev Airport & City by Drzewiecki Design The tales of the "Arabian Nights" is intertwined with the feel and place of Baku in Azerbaijan. The Arabian Nights stories are also originally known as the "One Thousand and One Nights" and the tale of a ruler called Shahryār, Ruiling in the 8th century over Persia he is shocked to discover that his brother's wife is unfaithful; discovering his own wife's infidelity has been even more flagrant, he has her executed: but in his bitterness and grief decides that all women are the same. And so Shahryār begins to marry a succession of virgins only to execute each one the next morning, …

Scenery Review : CYBD - Bella Coola BC by Beti-X Just under three years ago in February 2014 and small art studio called Beti-x under the Aerosoft banner released a scenery called CZST - Stewart (X-PlaneReview - Scenery Review : CZST Stewart by beti-x) At the time Beti-x noted the CZST scenery was just a test of the X-Plane simulator and our sales potential. But the CZST scenery was a game-changer for X-Plane in the sheer quality and photographic 3d reality of the area, and it easily won the X-PlaneReview's Best Scenery of 2014 award of that year as well. As time went on with not only all the kudos and the rave reviews of CZST - St…

Scenery Review : EGCC Manchester Airport by Aerosoft/Icarius Childhood dreams are hard to forget, emotional and still very vivid. "Ringway" is a significant name as the noted "big" airport and the "really big" aircraft flew out of there. School friends or "aeroplane freaks" would band together with myself to do a weekend or school holiday 'sortie" to the hallowed turf of the visitor enclosure (I don't know why they called it an enclosure as it was always open and freezing), but Ringway was the place to dream and mostly hear the sounds of pure aviation thrills (in other words really dirty pure 60's jet engines) it was to a 14 year old simply heaven... or close t…

Scenery Review : KLAX - Los Angeles International by FunnerFight From any point in the Pacific Basin the main gateway into the United States is still LAX or Los Angeles International Airport. Other ports that include San Francisco, Seattle and even Portland are too far north and the current favorite in Dallas-Fort Worth is too far inland. So LAX still rules in SoCal. With 655,564 movements (2015) LAX is the third busiest in the United States and seventh in the world, this airport is a busy place. Everybody is very familiar with LAX, mainly because for the last six decades the L.A. Hollywood dream machine has created a lot o…

Scenery Reviews : LFMN Nice Côte d'Azur Airport - JustSim and LFKC Calvi - Sainte-Catherine, Corsica - Aerosoft Two sceneries were released together quite independently but are perfectly aligned to go together as a perfect double point to point route. LFMN is on the French Côte d'Azur and LFKC Calvi - Sainte-Catherine, is on the island of Corsica which are only 94nm apart or just across from each other on the Mediterranean Sea. This makes for a perfect days flying in either a General Aviation aircraft or as I have done here with a quick hop regional service. (Google Maps) JustSim are the developers of the Nice Scenery which actual…

The Pacific Islands Airfields is a scenery package that includes three airports located in the Solomon Islands. Munda Airfield Gizo Airport Barakoma Airfield All three airports are designed with a distinct 'World War II look'. This is the way these airports appeared at the end of the war, after the fields were captured by the US forces. Where are they located? The three airfields are in the Solomon Islands. The Solomon Islands are in the Pacific Ocean. They are North East of Australia and approximately 3500 miles southwest of Hawaii. Specific location of the three airfields within the Solomon Islands. General map and X-Plane map. Barakoma to Gizo…

Scenery Review : LOWS W. A. Mozart - Salzburg Airport by Digital Design You know that you are an old hand at X-Plane if you can remember the X-Plane9® default airport... Now it is KSEA - Seattle, but in the earlier days it was LOWS, at Salzburg. Throughout the run of X-Plane10 the airport once known as the face of the simulator has fallen into the past receding memory banks, but the reasons why LOWS was such a great entrance to the simulator is still there and more so now with the release of "Digital Design's" new scenery in LOWS W.A.Mozart Airport. First it is a good idea to clear up a little something in that "Digital Design" was JustSim scenery, th…

Scenery Review - Updated : LSZH Airport Zurich v2.0 by Aerosoft Aerosoft have updated their X-Plane scenery of Zurich Airport to v2.0. This is a significant overhaul of this scenery and not just a nip and tuck job and I have a little bit of history with the scenery as well. The first Aerosoft release for X-Plane was the excellent BIRF - Keflavik which is still one of my all time time favorite sceneries that I used very regularly and even monthly. Second release was LSZA - Lugano Airport and this great little gem is buried in the shadow of the Alps on the Italian side. Both were excellent but still only small scale sceneries. The first "Mega" scener…

Scenery Review : KDFW - Dallas Fort-Worth by Tom Curtis Major mega airport hubs are today a way of your in transit flying life. But besides a way of crossing a country or going from a regional centre to a major metropolis they are also very important gateways into the country and in redirecting foreign passengers to connect easily onwards to their final destination. Take Qantas an Australian airline for example. The airline changed their main route into the United States from San Francisco to Dallas Fort-Worth (San Francisco has since been returned with a limited service) and the idea is that it puts their passengers not only further upcountry into the United …

Scenery Review : Seattle, WA - Gateway to Boeing Country by Tom Curtis In another giant scenery set here from Tom Curtis is a collection of airports that are mostly significant with the aircraft manufacturer of the Boeing Aircraft Company. Which is based in Seattle in the North Western portion of the United States in Washington State (WA). The overall scenery is not new but is a collection of sceneries that have been updated and refined. KPAE - Paine Field was a separate scenery package but has now been inserted as part of the Boeing Country package. One airport is completely new and that is KTCM - McChord Field which is a large military base of some sign…

Airport Review : SBRJ - Santos Dumont Rio de Janeiro by Richard G Nunes & Nielsen Scenery To understand the location and layout of Brazil's oldest airport in Santos Dupont in central Rio de Janeiro is to delve back in to the interesting history of this iconic airport. SBRJ - Santos Dumont was originally known as Calabouço Airport, and the history of the airport can be traced back to the early 1930s. Seaplanes, which at this period of time operated the majority of domestic and international flights, and used a terminal located at the Calabouço Point, an area known today as Praça Marechal Âncora. Take-off and landings were made using an area of G…

Update Scenery Review : Golden Gate, KSFO and South Bay v1.5 by Tom Curtis Golden Gate, KSFO and South Bay is a huge massive area of scenery that covers the San Francisco and South Bay area. There are already in this scenery a large list of the areas airports including: KSFO - San Francisco International airport KOAK - Metropolitan Oakland International Airport KSJC - Mineta San Jose International Airport KHWD - Hayward Executive Airport KPAO - Palo Alto Airport - General Aviation KHAF - Half Moon Bay - General Aviation KSQL - San Carlos Airport GG01 - Clipper Cove, Located on Treasure Island GUQ - Moffett Field And not to mention other items including Golden Gate B…

Scenery QuickFlyReview: Lufker - Spadaro (1N2) Airport by Nimbus Simulation Studios If you got your atlas out to find Lufker - Spadaro in somewhere like eastern Europe then you are wasting your time. Because it is actually in Long Island on the grand olde east coastal area of US of A. In East Moriches on Long Island’s south shore to be exact, and that is not the only strange arrangement of this airport... or two airports, or even an just airport and a grass strip. Spadaro is situated just 60 Miles from KJFK or 70 Miles from Manhattan and so you have New York City right on your doorstep, and the historic DEER Park VOR is situated righ…

Scenery Reviews : LOWL- Linz Blue Danube & LEGE - Girona Costa Brava Airports by JustSim There is always a welcome to any new developer to the X-Plane Simulator. That spread of talent is spread wide from someone with great skills and the "have a go" attitude to the large team based developers that are in the business of creating a professional product and building up a portfolio of work. When I first came into the X-Plane simulator the X-Plane world was ripe with pickings and you would think that the established big Flight Simulator art houses would have easily dominated X-Plane scenery with their huge product bases. But the big surprise was that in most case…

Scenery Review - Updated : KRSW - Southwest Florida International Airport by Aerosoft It is funny in X-Plane where you find your place. I live in Australia and I do use my local airports in YBCG - Gold Coast International and YBBN - Brisbane Airport a lot in my everyday flying. But my place is set out in Florida, KLAL - Lakeland Linder Regional Airport. I even made a home there by installing a portable office and all the odds and items in fuel drums and cones and all the odd stuff I needed to make it look like it was a work place. Most reviews start there, but I do try to make different reviews match certain locations. But KLAL is still my first port of call in …

Scenery Update Preview : KORD Chicago O'Hara Intl (version 1.0.2) by Nimbus Simulation Studios Nimbus Simulation Studios have released a heavily revised version in version 1.0.2 of their KORD Chicago O'Hara Intl Airport. "Nimbus Simulation Studios" and "revised"? Yes this KORD is "Butnaru's" actual original 2013 scenery but with now a new name and a new look. This more than an upgrade, as the basic original KORD (Terminals and inner infrastructure) was already very good, but the airport textures in runways and taxiways and the empty outer boundaries were average but fine for that period. Today the expectations on scenery for X-Plane are high, as users…