Dominic Smith Posted September 1, 2022 Report Share Posted September 1, 2022 Scenery Review: Davao International Airport by Airwil Sceneries Introduction Davao International Airport is one of three airports in the Philippines being offered by AirWil Sceneries, the others being RPVE Boracay and RPSP Bohol Panglao, and it retails on the X-Plane Org Store for $11.99. The download is 5GB in size, so you will need plenty of space to store it, and as you read on, I am sure you will see why. In the download, there are three folders including the airport details, the overlay and the ortho tiles, all pretty easy to install. The real-life airport is on the island of Mindanao in the Southern part of the Philippines, some 800 miles (1300km) from the country’s capital Manilla, and the airport is known locally as Francisco Bangoy International Airport. It is the third busiest in the Philippines, and from the information provided, I read this to be the hometown airport of the developers. Today, Davao International carries more than half a million passengers annually to destinations within the Philippines, as well as internationally to Singapore, however, pre-pandemic this number was significantly higher with almost 4.5 million passenger movements recorded in 2019. That is a serious number of suitcases for both Philippines Airlines and Cebu Pacific who use Davao as a regional hub. The airport has a single asphalt and concrete runway of approximately 3000m in length and the developer has modeled the ongoing construction of a new parallel taxiway, so we should expect updates in the future as the new taxiway is completed in the real airport. At present, turning pads are provided at each end of the runway to allow aircraft to turn, however, having a parallel taxiway will certainly make life much easier for the pilots operating out of there. The developers have also included the original terminal building as it was in operation prior to the new terminal being opened in 2003. Both terminals are worth checking out as they have a very distinctive design, very common for the region. The scenery is described as having more than 250 bespoke objects, as well as numerous features such as interior modelling of the terminals and control tower, many local liveried ground vehicles, compatibility with SAM Jetways and ALES Ground Textures (the wet appearance is fabulous), not to mention many objects quintessentially Filipino, such as Jeepneys, Filipino styled houses and many Davao local landmarks. I couldn’t resist taking a sneak peek at what lies behind the scenes using Laminar’s World Editor (WED), and wow, there are an insane number of individual objects in the scenery, hence the 5GB. A huge number of buildings are included, including local houses, warehouses, fast food outlets, car garages, convenience stores and fuel stations, the list goes on and on, not to mention placing all of these by hand, now that is impressive! Hats off to the developers, as this must have taken hours and hours of work and dedication to complete. They even have a Jollibee, and anyone who has been to that corner of the world will know what I am talking about, if not, go Google it. You got to try it…. I loved the use of Laminar’s massive X-Plane neon sign across from the main terminal, and the way the developers have combined it with a local add board is clever. I did enjoy watching it illuminate and change colour at night, a very nice touch. The night lighting is generally very well done inside and out, and it feels very realistic, particularly as the various retail outlets light up nicely after dark. I highly recommend exploring a little on foot after dark to get the most out of both the airport and the local town. Based on what I observed as I went for a walk around, the developers really have put some effort into this, and this is a side of flight simulation that I have always enjoyed. Being able to move around and get a feel for a place, particularly if you are in the VR world is truly special. There really is way more to X-Plane than just flying, and if you have never tried it, just hit that ‘C’ button on your keyboard and get those arrow keys working. I should also mention that the scenery comes with its own ortho tile which again adds a little more authenticity to the pack, and teaser photos available at the org store give you a flavour of what to expect if you are thinking of purchasing the scenery. From what I have experienced, it certainly has the feel of a Southeast Asian regional airport, so if you are looking for your next purchase in this part of the world, then this may be the one for you. The Airport & Surroundings So, what was it like inside the boundary fence? Well in simple terms, it is a very nice rendition of the actual airport from available photos I found on the internet. The buildings are well presented, and I loved the fact that the internals of the main buildings are also modelled. I appreciate that for some, this type of detail may not be top of your priority list when deciding on which scenery to purchase, however, I really enjoy features like this as it is nice just to take some time to explore more than just the apron, taxiways and runway. You really do get a sense of what it must be like to visit this part of the world, from parking, to checking in, through to sitting in departures enjoying a coffee whilst waiting for your flight. The interior details are very nice, and the quality of the textures are well done; from the TV display screens in the departure hall, to the various airline signs and advertisements. This level of detail gives the terminal a genuine feel, and again shows that the developer is committed to creating a great product. As in real life, the outside ramp areas are also packed out with lots of objects such as baggage containers, and in addition, you will find numerous animated ground vehicles going about their business. The developer has also taken the time to model the new taxiway that is currently being constructed, so as you taxi past you will see the work in progress. Outside of the fence, the general locality is very well modelled with lots of local houses and features in the nearby town, including stilt houses and boats around the water village. You will also find a few naval ships loitering near the shoreline and again the developers really have done a marvelous job of capturing the spirit of this part of the world with the bespoke local buildings and vegetation. I very much like the fact that the developers have gone beyond the airport boundary, and I guess being the developer’s hometown gives them a unique insight and access to all the local details. Back inside the airport, the SAM Jet ways worked well from the ones I tried, and Traffic Global which I used for AI traffic, peppered the apron with loads of regional aircraft, filling the stands and taxiways. The ALES ground textures add an extra layer of richness to the overall look and feel of the airfield, particularly the wet tarmac, and I can genuinely imagine the humidity and the puddles after a thunderstorm crashes on by. You will also find lots of grass and vegetation around the taxiways and within the airfield and this creates a softer overall look and feel to airside which I always enjoy. Sceneries in my experience can range from basic runways and a few simple features, all the way through to bespoke layouts and masses of detail, and I would say that Davao on offer here is very much on the right side of that mental model. Having dabbled a little myself in the world of scenery creation, there clearly has been lots of love, attention to detail and not forgetting sheer hard work gone into creating Davao International, and I am totally respectful of the craft of others as I can appreciate what is involved. However, I am sorry to say, there is one thing that just takes the shine off what is otherwise a very nice airport scenery. There is a distinct lack of people! There I’ve said it….it’s out… The airport just feels empty and has a little bit of an eerie feel to it which is odd in my opinion, although to be fair to the developer, they are not alone in this, as many sceneries I have come across are devoid of human life. Is this perhaps because there is just a lack of good quality objects out there, or some other reason, who knows, however, if this can be fixed, this would be very much appreciated. It is not so much the cherry on the cake is missing, it is more like the eggs are missing from the mix. People are a very important part of any scenery in my opinion, particularly now that X-Plane 11 has come so far, and X-Plane 12 is just around the corner, and I really hope the developers can find a way to fill in the blanks. Other than that, they have done a very nice job and their scenery is well worth checking out. Performance As far as performance goes, no issues to report on my system (RTX2080Ti, i9), as I was able to move around the airport and surroundings with framerates in the plus 50s and often up in the 80s, even when up close to the numerous ground objects or vegetation. Final Thoughts The Airwil Sceneries team have developed a very nice addition to the X-Plane world in Davao International and have really brought one of the main airports in the Philippines to life. It is great to see another new developer joining the growing number of teams that are creating great content for us all to enjoy. Airwil’s attention to detail is superb, and clearly, lots of care and craft has gone into creating this airport, which bodes well for the future of our hobby. The more developers that get involved and the more parts of the world that get attention the better, and I do hope this review provides insight into some of the scenery features as you browse the org store for your next purchase. Whether you decide to buy or not, is as always, a personal choice based on what you are looking for, however, I have totally enjoyed my time in the Philippines, and if the developers can just find out where all the people went, I am sure I will be back for more… _______________________________ Davao International Airport by Airwil Sceneries is available from the X-Plane.Org Store here: Davao International Airport Priced at US$11.99 Features More than 250 custom modelled 3D objects Old Davao Airport Terminal (with interior modelling) New Davao Airport Terminal (with interior modelling) Davao Control Tower Cab (with interior modelling) SAM Jetways (Authorized by Stairport Sceneries) ALES Ground Textures (Licensed by Pyreegue Dev Co.) Moving ground vehicles at the ramp area Moving ground vehicles at the terminal parking area Highly detailed terminal parking area Work in progress RPMD parallel taxiway Popular Davao City Landmarks (Gaisano, Grand Regal Hotel, SM Lanang, etc2 just to name a few) Filipino Houses Filipino Jeepneys Maligaya Taxi Davao Metro Shuttle Bus Mindanao Star Bus Highly detailed vicinity surrounding the airport to capture that Davao City feel Color corrected orthophoto And many many many more! We hope you enjoy the most detailed airport from Airwil Sceneries to date. Requirements X-Plane 11 - X-Plane 12 (when available) Windows, Mac or Linux 4GB VRAM Minimum - 8GB+ VRAM Recommended Download Size: 5GB Review by Stuart McGregor 1st Sept 2022 Copyright©2022: X-Plane Reviews Review System Specifications: Windows 11, a Phanteks Evolve X ATX Case, ASUS Z390 ROG Maximus XI Formula Motherboard, Intel i9 9900K 3.6Ghz CPU, RTX2080Ti 11GB GPU, 64GB DDR4 Kingston RAM, 1TB Samsung SSD, 2TB WD HHD, Thermal Take Ring RGB 360 TT Cooler, Honeycomb Alpha Yoke, Thrustmaster Pendulum Pedals, SAITEK TPM and an Oculus Rift S. (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions) All Rights Reserved Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.