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Scenery Review : Western Dolomites 3D by Frank Dainese and Fabio Bellini


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Western_Header.jpg

 

Scenery Review : Western Dolomites 3D by Frank Dainese and Fabio Bellini

 

This is the fourth of five sceneries that will cover the Dolomite Mountain Ranges in the eastern north of Italy. This new area covers the Western area and Val Gardena adjoining both the Cortina - Cadore and Belluno areas. Here are the four regions... with Drei Zinnen National Park in red, Cortina-Cadore in yellow and Belluno in purple and this new Western section is in orange.

 

Map Western wide.jpgMap Western.jpg

 

The areas covered include the Alto-Adige (Sud-Tirol) region and the large valleys of Badia, Gardena, Fassa and Funes.

 

I rightly predicted in the review of the Belluno scenery of the next section would be the area west of Marmolada (3,343m) or Queen of the Dolomites, and so this aspect has now been completed in this Western scenery. So we will cover the area from the same base in Alleghe and take the same initial route around the Marmolada and Pala Group of ranges and then down the long Fassa Valley. Obviously these Belluno areas (or the third "Belluno" scenery) are required to cover both sides of the valleys as they fill out the eastern aspects and now these new Western aspects are on the other side. Images shown here cover both installed packages.

 

Alleghe to Cembra

Map Western route 1.jpg

 

Our first route is basically flown fully down the Val de Fassa, Val di Fiemme and Val de Cembra valleys and all valleys are in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol district.

 

Departure from Alleghe is still stunning under the backdrop of the Monte Civetta, you fly a short distance north and then do a tight turn to the west down the Val Pettorina, and at the end of the valley is the eastern side of Marmolada.

 

Map Fassa Valley 1.jpgMap Fassa Valley 2.jpgMap Fassa Valley 3.jpgMap Fassa Valley 4.jpg

 

A flip north again while climbing hard from 3,500ft to 6,500ft to circle the base of Marmolada until you reach Lago di Fedaia, and once over the lake you suddenly realise ahead it is very different forward view from the last flight down here with just the installed Belluno scenery...  now more peaks fill the windscreen that were certainly not there before?

 

Map Fassa Valley 5.jpgMap Fassa Valley 6.jpg

 

A turn (and a slight drop in altitude) into the Val de Fassa itself and around the next bend reveals the Sassolungo Group directly ahead which we will come to in a minute, as up to the north first on the left is the dramatic Sella Group... 

 

Map Sella 1.jpgMap Sella 2.jpgMap Sella 3.jpgMap Sella 4.jpgMap Sella 5.jpg

 

The main peak of the Stella Group is Piz Boè at (3,151m), other peaks in the massif are the Cima Pisciadù (2,985m), the Boèseekofel (2,910m) and the four Sellatürme (2,696m), Sass Pordoi (2,952m) and the Brunecker Turm (2,495m) peaks. A nice detail is the Rifugio Piz Boè  with a cross and a huge board. We will see more of the Stella formations in the northern pass in the Covara section of the review.

 

Map Sella 6.jpg

 

Now we are in the Fassa Valley itself and the Sassolungo Group (Italian) or Langkofel Group is next and again on the right... compare the very basic default version from the Belluno review (below) to the added vista of the newer Western section (below right), you can see the huge even massive differences in the same visual aspect.

 

Map Belluno Marmolada 24.jpgMap Sella 7.jpg

 

The formations of the Sassolungo massif are very Dolomiti in design... 

 

Map Sassolungo 1.jpgMap Sassolungo 2.jpgMap Sassolungo 3.jpgMap Sassolungo 4.jpgMap Sassolungo 5.jpg

 

There is some brilliant detail here, the 3D models are obtained from DEM (digital elevation models) and transformed into 3D objects as if they were buildings, with hundreds of thousands of triangles. In the transition from DEM to 3D object (obj), which is also mandatory to obtain an object compatible with X-Plane. in this Gruppe you can clearly see that amazing detail.

 

Summits in the Group are clockwise, Langkofel (3,181m), Langkofelkarspitze (2825m), Grohmannspitze (3081m), Fünffingerspitze (2996m), Grohmannspitze (3,126m), Innerkofler turm (3081m), Zahnkofel (3000m) and Plattkofel (2,969m). Overall the gruppe is extremely impressive.

 

Another bend in the Val de Fassa and another glorious range comes into view...  This is the Rosengarten group or Catinaccio Group (Italian)

 

Map Catinaccio Group 1.jpgMap Catinaccio Group 2.jpg

 

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One peculiarity of the Rosengarten is the pink shade, owing to the presence of the mineral dolomite, which takes in the sunset and "glows", as celebrated in the Bozner Bergsteigerlied. Meaning "Rose garden" in German, the name refers to the legend of King Laurin and his Rose Garden. 

 

The highest peak is the Kesselkogel (3,002m)  above sea level. Other peaks include, Rosengartenspitze  (2,981m), Vajolet-Türme  (2,813m), Laurinswand (Croda di Re Laurino) - (2,813m), Tscheiner-Spitze (Cima Sforcella)  (2,813m), Rotwand (Roda di Vaèl)  (2,806m) and theTeufelswand (Croda Davoi) (2,727m).

 

Map Catinaccio Group 6.jpgMap Catinaccio Group 7.jpgMap Catinaccio Group 8.jpgMap Catinaccio Group 9.jpg

 

All the main villages in the Fassa Valley are represented, and set below the Rosengarten are both Pozza di Fassa and Vigo di Fassa as an example...

 

Map Fassa Valley 7.jpgMap Fassa Valley 8.jpgMap Fassa Valley 9.jpgMap Fassa Valley 10.jpg

 

...  not to forget that the eastern side of the Fassa has been changed as well, although part of the Belluno scenery the sides of the valley and the cablecar networks can now also be seen or completed.

 

And again the contrast must be made between the old Belluno review and the now filled in valley of the Fassa.

 

Map Belluno Marmolada 30.jpgMap Fassa Valley 13.jpg

 

Map Fassa Valley 11.jpgMap Fassa Valley 12.jpg

 

Next on the right is the most western high mountains in the Dolomites of the Latemar Range. This mountain range is characterised by its form of a horseshoe, open towards east. It has got two subgoups: one a north group which includes the peaks from the Cima Poppe (2,460m) to Mt. Torre dei Muss (2,402m), whereas the mountains of the second group tower up round Mt. Agnello (2,358 m).

 

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Set between both the Rosengarten and Latemar massifs is the ski resort of Carezza Karersee, and the iconic view of the Latemar formations from the Lago di Carezza, and both are represented here.

 

Map Fassa Latemar 5.jpgMap Fassa Latemar 6.jpg

 

 Still following the Fassa Valley I now reach Predazzo and where last time in the Belluno review I took a hard left and went back deep into the Belluno scenery down the Val Paneveggio, to the Pala Group that can be seen on the left...

 

Map Fassa Valley 14.jpgMap Fassa Valley 15.jpg

 

Past Predazzo we are now in the Val di Fiemme valley, and the landscape spreads out more as you fly south, but there is still a lot to explore flying down this long area, you can of course fly up these valleys from the south and go from low to high...

 

Map Fassa Valley 16.jpgMap Fassa Valley 17.jpgMap Fassa Valley 18.jpgMap Fassa Valley 19.jpg

 

...   villages covered are Ziano di Fiemme, Panchià, Tesero  and Cavalese. The Chiesa Santa Maria Assunta at Cavalese as is the Stadio del Ghiaccio (Ice Hockey stadium) have both been replicated. The town was also the site of the Cavalese cable car disaster in 1998, when a US aircraft tore down the cable-car connecting the town to the nearby Cermis mountain during a training exercise, killing 20 people.

 

Next is the exquisite Lago di Stramentizzo...

 

Map Fassa Valley 20.jpgMap Fassa Valley 21.jpg

 

...  the villages of Capriana, Segonzano and then finally Cembra high up on the right, which is our stopping point here as it is the most far southwest H Pad - HELCE in all of the Dolomite sceneries.

 

Map Fassa Valley 22.jpgMap Fassa Valley 23.jpgMap Fassa Valley 24.jpgMap Fassa Valley 25.jpgMap Fassa Valley 26.jpg

 

The Western Package does go on further for a few valley turns to the very start of the Val di Fiemme at Ceola...  all in all there is a huge amount of distance to explore down these two significant Fiemme and Fassa valleys.

 

Cortina-Cadore  to Covara

 

Map Western Covara.jpg

 

In distance this route is quite short, more so is that most of the route flown here is also mostly in the Cortina-Cadore package, but the point of view from Cortina is important. Departure is from Cortina's LIDI airport, then we track south down the Cadore Valley until over Cortina then turn westwards...

 

Map Covara 1.jpgMap Covara 2.jpgMap Covara 3.jpgMap Covara 4.jpg

 

....  as per usual you then have climb high up and over the Passo Falzarego, the Cinque Torri is on the right, but directly ahead is a new formation that was not there before...  the Sass de Stria.

 

Map Covara 5.jpgMap Covara 6.jpg

 

The Sass de Stria is directly in front of the famous Lagazuoi (2,835m), and a nice combination they make... but beyond is a bigger vista that is the western Dolomites.

 

Map Covara 7.jpg

 

To my left is the Cortina - Cadare formations of the Cimi Di Fanes, Conturines and P.ta South and that spectacular Fanes group scenic rim...  this was earlier the most western point of these Dolomite packages, but now the Fanes have been pushed back well into the overall area as it now goes far more out west...  in the far distance is the Kleiner Peitlerkofel or Sas de Pütia which in the new package is now also modeled in detail.

 

Map Covara 8.jpgMap Covara 9.jpg

 

It is really weird as nothing to my left was actually here before? it was simply a blank canvas, but now it is a full dynamic vista.

 

Map Covara 10.jpg

 

Far left is the Sassolungo Group that we have already covered, centre is the Puez-Geisler Nature Park, Odle di Eores and far right is Kleiner Peitlerkofel, set deep in the valley between the Sassolungo Group and the Puez-Geisler Nature Park is our destination Covara.

 

The entrance is at La Villa Stern into the Val Badia as part of the Alta Badia region.

 

Map Covara 11.jpgMap Covara 12.jpg

 

The large peak right is the dominating Sassongher (2,665m), and the Piz Boè is direct ahead above the end of the valley...

 

Map Covara 13.jpgMap Covara 14.jpg

 

Map Covara 16.jpgMap Covara 17.jpgMap Covara 15.jpg

 

This south facing range of the Puez-Geisler Nature Park is the Puez Group, with (R-L) Mt. Sassongher, Col Pradat (2038m), Sass da Ciampac (2667m)... Cir Group - Große Cirspitze - Grande Cir (2579m), Piccola Cir (2520 m), Kleine Cirspitze - Cir V (2538m), Sas dal Fuech (2025 m) and the Piz de Do Parëi (1973m).

 

Map Covara 18.jpgMap Covara 19.jpgMap Covara 20.jpgMap Covara 21.jpg

 

In the cradle of Val Badia is Covara and there is an airstrip XLIDO - Val Badia...  it is tricky to find, but look to the west when entering the township...

 

Map Covara 22.jpg

 

Map Covara 23.jpgMap Covara 24.jpgMap Covara 25.jpgMap Covara 26.jpg

 

XLIDO - Val Badia's grass runway 08/26 is only 400m, and totally useless from the western approach and even very tight from the west, so it would need skill to land there... also there is a H Pad HECRV positioned here as well, the H Pad is right next to some nice airport buildings.

 

Map Covara 29.jpgMap Covara 30.jpg

Map Covara 27.jpgMap Covara 28.jpg

 

Directly ahead to the west is part of the famous Gardena Pass 2,136 m (7,008 ft) ASL and the pass connects Covara to Sëlva on the west side, of which we will fly around to later... above you is the towering Mt. Sassongher.

 

Map Covara 31.jpg

 

Covara to Sëlva

Map Western Sëlva.jpg

 

Departing from Covara it is back out through the Val Badia and into the Funes Valley, then north. Our point of interest is now right there to our left of the Kleiner Peitlerkofel or Sas de Pütia...

 

Map Western Sëlva 1.jpgMap Western Sëlva 2.jpgMap Western Sëlva 3.jpgMap Western Sëlva 4.jpg

 

....  I am still bewildered on how much of the lower Fassa Valley has changed here since the I flew around here in the Cortina-Cadore scenery, the Fanes group scenic rim fits in far much better from this angle and the valleys and villages are now also modeled in creating the far better and fuller visual impact.

 

Map Western Sëlva 5.jpgMap Western Sëlva 6.jpg

 

The northern valleys are much deeper, but the ground detailing goes on to the boundary at Casies Valley.

 

You have to climb to see the Kleiner Peitlerkofel up close, as the elevation closes in on both sides of the formations and the valley disappears...

 

Map Western Sëlva 7.jpgMap Western Sëlva 8.jpgMap Western Sëlva 9.jpgMap Western Sëlva 10.jpgMap Western Sëlva 11.jpg

 

...   the Peitlerkofel (Ladin: Sas de Pütia, Italian: Sass de Putia) stands between Val Badia to the east and the Villnöß valley to the west. The massif boasts two distinct summits, the Grosser Peitler (2875m) and the Kleiner Peitler (2813m), which are divided by a deep ridge. This is a very popular mountain to climb, with the normal and easiest route being from the south. On a fine day it is common to have hundreds of people on the mountain at once. Next to the Peitlerkofel is the Odle di Eores group...

 

Map Western Sëlva 12.jpgMap Western Sëlva 13.jpg

 

...  these main peaks of the Odle di Eores are; Monte Tullen (2,654m), Wälscher Ring (2,623m), Sasso della Conca (2,590m) and Mount Confin (Ringspitze) - (2,531m).

 

Rounding the Odle di Eores and one of the main features of the "Western Scenery" comes into view...

 

Map Western Sëlva 14.jpgMap Western Sëlva 15.jpgMap Western Sëlva 16.jpgMap Western Sëlva 17.jpgMap Western Sëlva 18.jpg

 

...  this is the magnificent Puez/Odle Geisler Group which along the western boundary of the natural park that carries the same name. It is however still part of the overall Odle group with; Furchetta (3,025m) the tallest peak, others include; Sass Rigais (3,025m), Sass de Mesdi (2762m), Große Fermeda (2873m) and Kleine Fermeda (2800m) being the most significant formations. The range also backs onto the earlier Puez Group.

 

Map Western Sëlva 19.jpgMap Western Sëlva 20.jpg

 

Follow the valley out and you are back into the Casies Valley and again the boundary of the scenery, so we will do a sort of loop and take the valley back into the scenery via Tschövas and the start of the famous Val Gardena Valley...  from this angle you are now looking southeast with the Rosengarten group or Catinaccio and the Latemar Range in the background, but to the right forward is the Schlern  (Italian: Sciliar)...

 

Map Western Sëlva 21.jpgMap Western Sëlva 23.jpgMap Western Sëlva 22.jpg

 

....   The Schlern dominates the villages of Seis am Schlern and Völs am Schlern, which both have been recreated in the package, and the highest summit of the formation is the Petz at (2,564m).

 

Val Gardena Valley snakes it's way back into the core of the scenery and surprisingly there is a lot of industrial zones along here, with the villages of Tschövas and Pontives (note the H PAD HELAA) and San Pietro...

 

Map Western Sëlva 24.jpgMap Western Sëlva 25.jpgMap Western Sëlva 26.jpgMap Western Sëlva 27.jpg

 

...   next along a few turns if the valley are Passua and the Urtijëim, which is noteable by the distictive Parish Church of Urtijëi, which is made in neoclassical style with baroque elements in the last part of the eighteenth century and the church is represented here.

 

A branch valley to the left at Urtijëim will take you to closer and up to the Geisler Group...

 

Map Western Sëlva 28.jpgMap Western Sëlva 29.jpg

 

... but we take the right valley that will soon brings into view the same Geisler Group but from the eastern perspective of the sharp scaly rim.

 

Map Western Sëlva 30.jpgMap Western Sëlva 31.jpg

 

Hard to the right is again the towering Rosengarten group and a better closer perspective of the highest Kesselkogel peak.

 

Map Western Sëlva 32.jpg

 

Finally around a few bends is the main commune of Sëlva, with the Puez-Odles Natural Park that begins at the edge of town, and the world-famous Sella Ronda ski carousel that passes right through the center of the township, then Sëlva is a main central tourist destination of the Val Gardena area.

 

Map Western Sëlva 33.jpgMap Western Sëlva 34.jpg

 

There is a H Pad HALSG positioned here, but it is extremely difficult to find? I hovered then using the local X-Plane Map took the right valley towards even more and more houses? Then I saw it buried tight by a Football (soccer field) on my left.

 

Map Western Sëlva 35.jpgMap Western Sëlva 36.jpgMap Western Sëlva 37.jpgMap Western Sëlva 38.jpg

 

At Sëlva you are situated in the centre of the "Western" section of this Dolomite scenery, and over the high pass is of course Covara.

 

Map Western Sëlva 39.jpg

 

There is a huge amount of area here you can cover as this fourth part as it comprises of a territory of about 1200 sq km in the western part of the Dolomites, add in the other packages and this certainly the most densely and detailed scenery in territory in X-Plane. Separately then this Western pack certainly adds to the aspect of the Belluno pack on the eastern side, but more so the Cortina-Cadore pack on the north and fills out quite comprehensively the Fanes valley and districts.

 

There are so many villages and communes to to note here, one north is San Vigilio deep in the Fanes. And many others we will see in the H PAD placements.

 

Map Western Sëlva 40.jpgMap Western Sëlva 41.jpg

 

Lighting

Overall lighting is not the main aspect of these sceneries...  there is lighting of course, but it is mainly just housing (window) and the odd street lamps to create an alpine village feel, but in this package there quite a bit of it, so every major valley is lit...  Overall it looks quite authentic at night and works very nicely in recreating the valley effect, odd buildings or the main significant custom scenery objects and the many football (Soccer) fields are also well lit in the scenery.

 

Map Western_Lighting 1.jpgMap Western_Lighting 2.jpgMap Western_Lighting 3.jpgMap Western_Lighting 4.jpg

 

ICAO Noted Airports and H Pads

There are two airports and 14 H pads in the scenery, which is significantly more here than most other provided landing areas in both the Dainese and Bellini sceneries, provided are:

 

  • XLIDO - Airport - 46.5523017 011.8631166 – CORVARA
  • XLILU - AIRPORT – 46.60488660 011.37928386 - LOCHER
  • HECRV – HELIPORT - 46.5521658 011.8650664 – Heliport Corvara
  • HEVF - HELIPAD - 46.6360556 011.7243997 – Val di Funes
  • HELSM - HELIPAD - 46.6812986 011.8917434 –S.Martino Badia
  • HEPS - HELIPAD - 46.5099770 011.7564503 – Passo Sella
  • HPTR - HELIPAD - 46.4952058 012.0461872 - Pietralba
  • HELAA – HELIPAD - 46.5869693 011.6304575 – Aiut Alpin
  • HELPF –HELIPAD - 46.4267100 011.6882711 – Pozza di Fassa
  • HELCNZ – HELIPAD -46.46993479 011.77726362- Canazei VVF
  • HELAS – HELIPAD - 46.5406639 011.6209378 – Alpe di Siusi
  • HELCE – HELIPAD - 46.1722710 011.2242332 – CEMBRA
  • HEVZ – HELIPAD - 46.4081755 011.5854071 – Carezza Val d’Ega
  • HELSG – HELIPAD - 46.5475061 011.7686336 – Selva Gardena
  • HELRN – HELIPAD - 46.5392681 011.4559653 – Renon Arena Center
  • HECL – HELIPAD - 46.2880779 011.4561542 – Cavalese Hospital

 

XLIDO - Airport - COVARA

As noted in the review, the field is tight and to the right on the valley entrance to Covara, but there are a few nice terminal buildings. One grass runway 08/26 400m

 

Map Covara 29.jpgMap Covara 28.jpg

 

XLILU - AIRPORT – LOCHER

Lochher is noted as "a very short runway with a difficult approach for landing", no kidding, it is on a slope and not really a runway? There is a H pad set here, but not noted and the airport is set well far west away from the main scenery... it is well done though. Grass 17/35 no runway length

 

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Map Western_XLILU 1.jpgMap Western_XLILU 2.jpg

 

HECRV - H Heliport Corvara

The H Pad at Covara, easy access and nicely placed by the terminal buildings.

 

Map Covara 26.jpgMap Covara 27.jpg

 

HEVF - H - Val di Funes

Right under the noses of both the Odle di Eores and Geisler Group, a simple H Pad with clean approaches.

 

Map Western_HEVF 1.jpgMap Western_HEVF 2.jpg

 

HELSM - H - S.Martino Badia

Situated behind the hilltop castle that was first documented in 1290 as “turris in Geder” and documents the heart of the judicial Tower in Gader (the actual translation should be “Tower in Quadra”), The H Pad is a nice position to get a spectacular arrival past the now museum of the castle. The castle is well documented here.

 

Map Western_HELSM 1.jpgMap Western_HELSM 2.jpg

 

HEPS - H - Passo Sella

Situated on the eastern side of Sassolungo Group, this is a nice high H Pad to get a close up of the Sasso Dolomites. The H Pad is by the ski-lift

 

Map Western_Sasso 1.jpgMap Western_Sasso 2.jpg

 

HPTR - H - Pietralba

Placed at the site of the famous Pietralba hotel (a hotel has been here since 1630) the H Pad is the furfurest  southwest of any H Pads, the hotel itself is well modeled and very distictive on the mountain position.

 

Map Western_Pietralba 1.jpgMap Western_Pietralba 2.jpg

 

HELAA - H - Aiut Alpin

Noted earlier at Pontives in the Val Gardena Valley. There are a lot of challenges here with lower and roof top H Pads at the Elikos Helicopterservice base.

 

Map Western_Elikos Helicopterservice 1.jpgMap Western_Elikos Helicopterservice 2.jpg

 

HELPF - H – Pozza di Fassa

Deep in the Fassa Valley this H Pad is situated at Pozza di Fassa, between (or below) the Rosengarten and Latemar massifs. The pad is tired worn concrete and is situated on the west side of Pozza di Fassa.

 

Map Western_Pozza 1.jpgMap Western_Pozza 2.jpg

 

HELCNZ - H - Canazei VVF

Canazei is on the bend between the Stella Group and Sassolungo Group in the Fassa Valley. The approach is easy if you get it right.

 

Map Western_Canazei 1.jpgMap Western_Canazei 2.jpg

 

HELAS - H - Alpe di Siusi

At Plan De Gralba, the H Pad it is not far from the Val Gardena Valley and Sëlva, tricky to find, but great views of the Rosengarten Group.

 

Map Western_SIUSI 1.jpgMap Western_SIUSI 2.jpg

 

HELCE - H - CEMBRA

The most southern point of the scenery at Cembra and the lower Val di Fiemme valley, best approach is over the Football (soccer) field as the so called clean approach has powerlines!

 

Map Western_CEMBRA 1.jpgMap Western_CEMBRA 2.jpg

 

HEVZ - H - Carezza Val d’Ega

Set in the valley between the Rosengarten and Latemar massifs is Carezza Karersee, a great flight to a pretty local.

 

Map Western_Carezza 1.jpgMap Western_Carezza 2.jpg

 

HELSG - H - Selva Gardena

Our final landing pad was at Sëlva in the Gardena Valley, and the H Pad is tricky to find, as it is buried in the offshoot valley. Another Tricky approach and use the Football (soccer) field as a focus but watch the fence!

 

Map Western_Sëlva 1.jpgMap Western_Sëlva 2.jpg

 

HELRN - H - Renon Arena Center

Situated outside the Renon Arena in Klobenstein, then this H Pad is towards the start of the Casies Valley and Bolzano, high up on the western side of the valley it can be again tricky to find.

 

Map Western_Renon Arena 1.jpgMap Western_Renon Arena 2.jpg

 

HECL - H - Cavalese Hospital

Cavalese is high on the right in Val di Fiemme valley just before the Lago di Stramentizzo. The H - Pad is situated in front of the Ospedale di Cavalese.

 

Map Western_Ospedale di Cavalese 1.jpgMap Western_Ospedale di Cavalese 2.jpg

 

One final interesting aspect of these packages are the now significant impact on the X-Plane simulator itself. Fly north to south or vise-versa over the Alps and note those significant differences in the alpine landscape below, this image was taken at 30,000ft (FL300) going from Rome to Munich, as these Dolomite packs looked simply sensational from this high perspective.

 

Map Western_FL300.jpg

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Summary

This is the fourth of five sceneries from Frank Dainese and Fabio Bellini that cover the Dolomite Mountain Ranges in the eastern north of Italy. This new area covers the western area in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region, this scenery also adjoins the Belluno- Southern Dolomites and the Cortina - Cadore region packages and the earlier Drei Zinnen National Park is which attached to the Cortina - Cadore pack.

 

Areas recreated in this Western scenery package include: Alto-Adige (Sud-Tirol) region,  the large valleys of Badia, Gardena, Fassa, Funes and there are important stations and famous tourist resorts Ortisei, Canazei, Carezza, Siusi, Castelrotto, Covara and Sëlva.

 

All the numerous mountains and glaciers are all very highly created mesh from DEM data 3D graphics programs, and the Hi-Res textures are all in 4K resolution. The focus mountains are simply excellent in their 3D reproductions and the highlights are Sella Group, Sassolungo, Catinaccio Group, Latemar, Sciliar, Odle with the Sassongher, Schlern, Kleiner Peitlerkofel and Geisler Group as the highlights.

 

These excellent representations of iconic mountain areas of the world are for exploration, sightseeing or just plain exploring...  and you could throw in a bit of geography as well. All are very highly detailed of the areas they represent and the mountain ranges are of course the stars and the focal point.

 

The biggest aspect of this scenery is on how it totally expands out on the earlier Belluno and Cortina-Cadore packages, the Fassa valley aspect is now filled out on both sides and the extention and changes beyound the Fanes group scenic rim, which was earlier the most western aspect is now more central into the full set of Dolomite packages. Breathtaking and immersive in the dolomite areas that now covered are simply immense, with simply also a massive choice of H Pads and routes to choose from....  next and last area to be covered is in my guess will be the east of the the Piave River

 

Hugely popular and yes I love these amazing and hugely detailed and now extensive sceneries that can change your perspective of an iconic area and allow them to come to life in your simulation world...   Highly recommended, so four down and now only one more Dolomite package to go!

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X-Plane Store logo sm.jpg

 

Yes! Western Dolomites 3D - Val Gardena by Frank Dainese and Fabio Bellini is NOW available from the X-Plane.Org Store here :

 

Western Dolomites 3D - Val Gardena

 

Price Is US$24.95

 

Customer who already own Dolomites 3D - Drei Zinnen Park, Cortina, Belluno can get this new scenery for $5 off. Please go to the original invoice for coupon code

 

Features

  • 1200 sq. Km of scenic Mountain Scenery
  • Corvara Airport (XLIDO) and  Locher-Airfield (XLILU)  with14 Heliports in strategic sites. Locher Airfield is a small airport, built on a steep slope, with an underground Hangar. Particular construction difficulty because not represented in the base mesh.
  • Many valleys: Cembra,Fiemme, Fassa, Badia, Gardena, Siusi, Ega, Funes... Over 30,000 buildings positioned, with many buildings rebuilt.
  • 10  3D models and groups: Sella Group, Sassolungo, Catinaccio Group, Latemar, Sciliar, Odle,  ...
  • All the vegetation mapped
  • Inserted hundreds of polygons / textures to reproduce the photo-realistic terrain
  • Reproduced the main lift-plants, in particular the Pordoi Sass..
  • Reproduced all the main refuges in the area: Val Gardena, Roda di Vael, Vajolet,Principe, Alpe di Tires, Bolzano, Capanna Fassa, Boè, Contrin, Antermoia, ...
  • Take off and landing complicated but also possible with Pilatus (see youtube video of Challenging Locher Sarentino Airfield approach)

 

WT3/Traffic Global: Your joking of course! no, you are on your own here

 

Requirements

X-Plane 11 

Windows, Mac or Linux
4GB VRAM Minimum - 8GB+ VRAM Recommended
Download Size: 850 MB - 1.1 GB
Release and Review version 1.0 (15th July 2020)
 
Installation
Download scenery file size is download 722mb and with the full installation installed in your custom scenery folder as there are Seventeen install folders in the order below in the .INI File (included and the listing below also includes the Drei Zinnen/Cortina/Belluno packs). The "Dolomiti2_lib"  library is not required if you already have it installed.
 
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D1A_DOLOMITI_3D_Part1/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D1B_AIRPORT_LIVD/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D1C_CableWay_Dolomitti1/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D1D_PUSTERIA_Comelico/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D1E_MISURINA/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D1F_AURONZO/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D2A_DOLOMITI_3d_Part2/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D2B_AIPORT_LIDI/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D2C_CableWay_Dolomiti2/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D2D_CORTINA/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D2E_CADORE/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D2F_CRODALAGO/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D3A_DOLOMITI_3D_Part3/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D3B_CableWay_Dolomiti3/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D3C_AGORDO_ALLEGHE/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D3D_BELLUNO_Piave/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D3E_VAL_CORDEVOLE/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D3F_VALLE_PRIMIERO/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D3G_Zoldana_Fiorentina/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D4A_DOLOMITI_3D_Part4/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D4B_CableWay_Dolomiti4/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D4C_VAL_BADIA/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D4D_ALPE_SIUSI/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D4E_FASSA/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D4F_GARDENA/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D4G_SMARTINO/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D4H_VAL_CEMBRA/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D4I_VAL_FIEMME/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D4J_VAL_FUNES/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D4K_RENON/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D4L_VAL_DEGA/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D4M_LocherAirfield/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D1G_Exclusions/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D2G_Exclusions/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D3H_Exclusions/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D4N_Exclusions/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/Dolomiti2_lib/
  • SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/MESH_DOLOMITI1/

 

Total scenery installation (Belluno) : 1.39gb

 

Documents

One manual with notes

______________________________________________________________________

  

Scenery Review by Stephen Dutton

18th July 2020

Copyright©2020 : X-Plane Reviews 

 

(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)

 

Review System Specifications:

Computer System: Windows  - Intel Core i7 6700K CPU 4.00GHz / 64bit - 32 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8Gb - Samsung Evo 512gb SSD 

Software:   - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11.41 and tested in v11.50b15 (fine)

Addons: Saitek x52 Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose  Soundlink Mini 

Plugins: None

Scenery or Aircraft

- Bell 412 XP11 by X-Trident (X-Plane.OrgStore) - US$35.95

 

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