Scenery Review : ESGG - Göteborg Landvetter Airport by Chudoba Designs

[Stephen]

 

Scenery Review : ESGG - Göteborg Landvetter Airport by Chudoba Designs   

 

It is in finding those great hub and spoke routes that can be versatile in creating a good, if a clever route network. And here is one in Sweden. Göteborg Landvetter Airport is an international airport serving the Gothenburg (Swedish: Göteborg) region in Western Sweden.

 

So why is it an interesting scenery. Well it is nicely positioned between three mega hubs, EKCH-Copenhagen, ENGM-Gardermoen, Oslo and the Swedish capital Stockholm in ESSA-Arlanda on the Kattegat. All three can be an easily triangle with less than hour flight time in a nice regional airliner, say the Dash DH4 Q400.

 

The airport is named after Landvetter locality, which is in Härryda municipality. It is positioned 11 Nm (20 km; 13 mi) east-southeast of Gothenburg and 40 km (25 mi) west of Borås. It is operated by Swedavia, the national airport company. Since the closure of Göteborg City Airport for commercial operations, it's now the city's only commercial passenger airport.

 

Landvatter airport was opened by King Carl XVI Gustaf on 3 October 1977. Passenger services were previously at Torslanda Airport, west of Gothenburg, and were moved to Landvetter in 1977. In 2013 the international terminal was extended significantly with new shops, and in 2014 the domestic and international terminals were joined together into a single terminal.

 

This is another Chudoba Designs scenery, overall most Chodoba Designs sceneries are excellent, this Göteborg Landvetter is their biggest scenery to date.

 

Install

Downloading Chudoba scenery uses a third party system to Authorise and Download the scenery. When you purchase the scenery you are given a Authorisation key and then are directed to the Chudorba Design (Antileak) website. You paste in the authorisation code, then select the ESGG - Göteborg Landvetter scenery, then the site will check your credentials and verify your purchase...

 

 

... when completed you then press "Download". Which is about a 2Gb download.

 

 

With the download there are several options...

 

 

If installing X-Plane 12, you just move the "STEP 1_X-PLANE 11 & 12" folder to your "Custom Folder. If using X-Plane 11, there is another folder (STEP 2) with an "Earth nav data", file to change over.  Chudoba also uses their own Library, provided here as well. So you have to install that folder in the Custom Folder as well, but if you already have the Chodoba "Library", I would still replace it with the new one, to cover any new library changes. A Manual is provided.

 

Final install note is to make sure the zzz_ChudobaDesign_ESGG_Mesh is below the main ChudobaDesign_ESGG folder in the "scenery_packs INI" text list.

 

I had a lot of issues with the Antileak site when downloading LROP - Bucharest by Chudoba, but it all worked fine this time around with ESGG-Göteborg Landvetter.

 

ESGG - Göteborg Landvetter Airport by Chudoba Designs   

 

 

Göteborg Landvetter Airport

Göteborg Landvetter flygplats

IATA: GOT - ICAO: ESGG

03/21 - 3,300m (10,826ft)

Elevation AMSL154 m / 506 ft

 

 

Field is an easy layout. Runway 03/21 is to the West, then the central old/new terminal buildings, with Cargo to the North and Landside to the East.

 

It is very easy to separate the two Terminals, the older 1977 Terminal has the green Airbridges, and the newer 2014 area (International) with the three darker Airbridges. There are altogether eleven air bridges, at gates 12–17 and (International) 19-23 . Gates 10–11, 18A–H and 24A–E transport passengers to the aircraft via an airside bus transfer. Traditionally gates 10–15 used to be limited to domestic flights but nowadays 10–19 cater to all flights within the Schengen Area, which are treated as domestic flights.

 

 

Terminal modeling is very good, and the buildings are highly detailed, you can feel the concrete panel constructions, and the glass is excellent (see-through) and looks realistic which is very hard to do. Central prominent lounge and lower bus transfer area is also excellent, highly stylised and it looks very realistic, this Terminal section is visual centrepoint of the airport on arrival.

 

The three gate new section is also well done, modern, but the building seems to levitate from a few of the ground angles? It is very well done, but overall it feels a bit plain.

 

 

Early (Green) Airbridges are excellent, with a very Swedish feel to the design, the Newer Airbridges are a bit more glass and they look quite nondescript,  but still done well...   all are Scenery Animation Manager "SAM" enabled (Plugin Required).

 

 

In the bays, there is not a lot of clutter, a few ramp vehicles, but generally they all feel quite empty (worse is the International Terminal), more detail is certainly required here, there is a lot of airport animated airside traffic, but they go through walls and turn, turn, turn a lot, so the animations are not at all efined here either.

 

There is some minor internal detail, just basic stuff, like graphics and seats, mostly for the external view...  you really need more for X-Plane 12 detail.

 

 

Terminal Landside arrival/departure is well done with building detail, but sparse otherwise...  animated flags are nice to have.

 

Landside has a lot of detail, and perfectly correct via the Google Maps....  highlights are the well done carparks, all with nice murals and loads of advertising.

 

 

But there is an old-fashioned X-Plane problem here close up... roads and building are all set directly onto average ground textures, it looks fake, and it feels fake with no photo (Ortho ground images), there are textures under the whole airport scenery, but they work against the work and not for it, so this is a very dated X-Plane look, and we have moved on a long way on from this by X-Plane 12. The Landvetter Airport Hotel also looks not to be finished, with no windows in the hotel building?

 

 

Control Tower at ESGG is set in a very weird place...  at the back of a carpark, and it is way behind the Terminal complex. You can see the runway, and the approaches, but in no way can you see the ramps and aprons? very weird. There is no internal tower detail, but the tower itself is well done and modern.

 

 

All open carparks are excellent and well detailed with 3d cars and vehicles, creating nice fill to the whole of the Landside areas. Scandic Administration building stands out, and is well worn in detail.

 

 

ESGG-Cargo

Swedavia announced a 10-year long contract with DHL Express to build a new 7500 m2 large cargo terminal, replacing the old 1700 m2, and that facility is included here, overall the Cargo section is very large, for a regional airport, with SAS Cargo, Zimex, FedEx and DHL all represented. The areas around the building however are again a bit devoid of cargo ground clutter, and creates too much empty spaces.

 

 

Stands 1 - 10 cover the Cargo parking. Stand 1 is also for the VIP "JET CENTRE" situated in the Cargo complex.

 

 

The huge "Airport City Landvetter" faclity with tenants of Schenker Logistics, PostNord, Vätterleden Logistik AB and RAJA. Is well represented and highly visible on the Runway 21 Approach. To the side is a Service Station and McDonald's, but both are a bit underwhelming and in need of far more in detail.

 

 

Textures

Overall the textures are a weak point of the scenery...  Up close and there is some surface detail, but look in context and the ground textures are a bit generic and the hard edges show like at LROP. Yes generally the ground textures are passable, no grass to the field doesn't help either in showing the generic feel, so textures here they are nothing special.

 

 

As ESGG-Göteborg Landvetter airport is in a far northern European position, then so you would get a lot of winter aspects up here. The Chudoba scenery is also X-Plane 12 configured, so you get excellent winter (seasonal) seasons...  and very good it is.  

 

 

Images here are set in the "Medium" winter setting, but it all comes across as very realistic and you would get a lot of winter style operations out of the scenery if using X-Plane 12.

 

Lighting

ESGG lighting is mostly basic, just the usual ramp and apron lighting, but it is not overwhelming...  Approach lighting (adjusted in X-Plane 12) is very good.

 

 

You feel the lighting needs to be a fair bit brighter, more vibrant...  to bring the scenery to life at night.

 

 

See-through glass at night can be troublesome, but it fine here...  works well with the old graphic backlit in the older Terminal, but makes the International look sparse, empty and and bland?

 

 

Landside lighting is dull and flat with no life...  needs a lot more differential lights and more lit advertising...

 

 

...  nothing like advertising your own, and the lit sign looks great, just the Landside needs a lot more of it?

 

Very quickly I was pumping services between Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm, in my trusty Dashy Q400..  a lot of fun, and Göteborg Landvetter was an instant new cog in the machine...  to me that makes it a great scenery and valuable.

 

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Summary

Göteborg Landvetter Airport is an international airport serving the Gothenburg (Swedish: Göteborg) region in Western Sweden. With great close connections to Copenhagen, Oslo and the Swedish Capitol Stockholm.

 

Chodoba Designs have been around for a few years and are a dedicated X-Plane developer, and this medium-sized ESGG-Landvetter is their best scenery yet.

 

Overall ESGG is a very nice scenery, with all the required Terminals and Infrastructure associated with the airport and it's surrounds. There is only a single runway 03/21 here and the two original terminals have been joined to create a domestic and (new) International Terminal in one.

 

Building quality is good with see-through glass, and all come with a lot of detailing. A full Landside has the required carparks and open-air long term parking, Control Tower is oddly placed (real world not developer) but again well done. X-Plane 12 seasonal effects are also excellent, which is a big bonus in Northern Sweden.

 

But there are a few niggles...  Ground textures are quite generic, if old-style X-Plane in look in many areas. These aspects can be covered in grass or clutter, but those clever features are missing here if you are not using photo based textures, hence the bland ground look and feel. In areas it all feels a bit unfinished, Internal areas, missing Hotel windows, Basic Service Station and McDonalds, and not a lot of ground clutter Air or Landside either, and lighting is average and in a lot of areas slightly dull as well.

 

Overall I really like Chudoba's Göteborg Landvetter Airport. It's perfect position at the top of the Kattegat, between Denmark and Norway in Sweden, is simply great for regional flying, and will certainly give me a perfect days services between these capital cities.

 

Value is in use and quality, and I will use as noted this scenery as a great junction for Nordic Services, that too me is already a winner scenery... and priced at under US17.00, ESGG-Göteborg Landvetter Airport is great value as well.

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Yes! - the ESGG - Göteborg Landvetter Airport by Chudoba Designs is NOW available from the X-Plane.Org Store here :

 

ESGG - Göteborg Landvetter Airport

Price is US$16.99

 

Requirements

X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11

Windows, Mac or Linux

4 GB VRAM Minimum - 8 GB VRAM Recommended

Current version: 1.0 (March 20th 2023) Initial Release

 

Download for ESGG - Göteborg Landvetter Airport is 1.92Gb. The download and Authorisation is done via Chudoba Designs own application, called Antileak, you get an automatic referral to the site. Install is different for X-Plane 11 (STEP 2) as you have to install a different "Earth nav data" (Provided) file...  You install three folders;

• ChudobaDesign_ESGG
• ChudobaDesign_Library
• zzz_ChudobaDesign_ESGG_Mesh

 

zz_ChudobaDesign_ESGG_Mesh has to be set lower in the scenery-packs_INI order.

 

Full Installation is 1.31Gb in your Custom Scenery Folder.

 

SAM3 Plugin - Scenery Animation Manager - Suite 3.0 is required for this scenery,

 

Documentation:

• ESGG_Manual.pdf

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Aircraft Review by Stephen Dutton

20th April 2023

Copyright©2023: X-Plane Reviews

 

Review System Specifications: 

Windows  - 12th Gen IS1700 Core i7 12700K 12 Core 3.60 GHz CPU - 64bit -32 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - PNY GeForce RTX 3080 10GB XLR8 - Samsung 970 EVO+ 2TB SSD

Software:   - Windows 11 Pro - X-Plane 12.05b3 (This is a beta review).

Plugins: JustFlight-Traffic (X-Plane.OrgStore) US$52.99 : Global SFD plugin US$30.00

Scenery or Aircraft

- FlyJSim Q4XP (DashQ400) (X-Plane.OrgStore) - US$79.95

 

(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

 

[Medellinexpat]

Normally I would buy this as Chudoba generally produce reasonable sceneries, plus a the article says its in a good location. But it uses SAM and if you thought SAM in XP11 had issues, just wait until you try SAM in XP12. Developers really need to rethink using SAM because it provides no options. No SAM and you’ll be taxiing through a field of spring daisies. With the ground handling and moving jetways in XP12 SAM serves little or no purpose. And Stairport have been unreasonably quiet about their plans.