Freeware Scenery Fly-in : EGCC Manchester and EGCB Barton

[Stephen]

 

Freeware Scenery Fly-in : EGCC Manchester and EGCB Barton

EGCC Manchester has always been one of my favorite sceneries. Always up there in my 10 best destinations and it is worth another Fly-In visit.
The area has had a few interesting airports and changes that are worth noting and worth a few moments of attention. With both EGCC - Manchester and EGCB Barton - But first EGCC.

 

 

EGCC - Manchester is surrounded by three other airports EGGP - Liverpool, EGNR - Hawarden and the new scenery EGCB - Barton.

 

EGCC - Manchester v2 by Captain Dij (Dave Morley) : EGCC - Manchester v2

 

05L/23R 3,048m (10,000ft)
Concrete
05R/23L 3,050m (10,007ft)
Concrete/grooved asphalt

 

 

Manchester Airport (which was earlier called Ringway Airport) (IATA: MAN, ICAO: EGCC) started construction on 28 November 1935 and opened partly in June 1937 and completely on 25 June 1938. The name came from Ringway parish north of Wilmslow. Its north border was Yewtree Lane. During World War II it was the base for RAF Ringway and was important in military aircraft production and in training parachutists. After World War II the base then reverted back into a civilian airport, and was gradually expanded to its present size. Historically, Manchester Airport has consistently been the 2nd busiest airport after London Heathrow for a number of decades following World War II. The airport is 7.5 NM (13.9 km; 8.6 mi) south of Manchester city centre. And from 1975 until 1986 it was called "Manchester International Airport". Now it is known just as "Manchester Airport".

 

Dave Morley has created an excellent EGCC with extensive glass and very well modeled buildings. It is a big scenery download at 272.70mb, but it is noted as an X-Plane9 scenery and not an X-Plane10 version.

Terminals
To understand how Manchester (Ringway) has changed there was a 1962 version released (But now not available?).

 

 

There was two piers in a basic U shape with the control tower above the main terminal block. And mostly RAF Hangars sited all around the perimeter. The Piers were split into Terminal One (on the left) and Terminal Three (on the right) and both since this period have had extensive makeovers...

 

 

Terminal One
This extension created in 2009 to create the new Terminal One includes another arm with a rotunded end off the main pier with a new full glass Terminal in the centre. The extensive use of glass in the buildings is given depth by the figures within the structure and looks very realistic. The Terminal could be noted for its mostly European departures and operators.
The terminal has 29 stands, of which 15 have air bridges, and is the largest of the three terminals. Terminal 1’s current capacity is around 11 million passengers a year. compared with an annual capacity of 2.5 million passengers when it first opened 1n 1962. It is a base for EasyJet, Jet2, Small Planet Airlines and Thomas Cook. Some other airlines that fly out of Terminal 1 include Brussels Airlines, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Lufthansa, Swiss and Turkish Airlines.

 

 

Terminal Two
You could note Terminal Two as the international terminal of the airport. Terminal 2 is mostly used by SkyTeam airline members and long-haul and charter airlines. It opened in 1993.

Terminal 2 has 20 gates, of which 14 have airbridges. The design of the terminal makes it capable of extensive expansion and planning permission already exists for an extension for providing additional gates, together with the construction of a satellite pier. Terminal 2’s current capacity is around 8 million passengers a year, this will be extended to ultimately handle 25 million passengers a year.
It is a base for Monarch, Thomson Airways and Virgin Atlantic. Some other airlines that use the terminal include Air Malta, Qatar Airways, Tunisair, United Airlines and US Airways.

 

 

Terminal Three
The changes in the naming of Terminal Three shows the history... “Terminal 1 – British Airways”, “Terminal 1A” and “Terminal 3 – British Airways and Domestic”. The right pier was originally the British Airways terminal until it was merged into the new section in June 1998. It is now the primary terminal for British Airways and their One World partners. It is also a base for the Flybe and Ryanair operations. Some other airlines that fly out of Terminal 3 include Air France, American Airlines, BMI Regional and KLM.

 

 

On the first of October 2010 Emirates Airlines started the only A380 (Daily) service to Dubai. The service has been hugely popular and has since been upgraded to a double daily service.

Landing your A380 at Manchester shows you the size of the aircraft, It feels so big here and to turn and taxi to the only A380 assigned Gate 12, Pier B requires some deft maneuvering work...

 

 

EGCC - Manchester has just opened a New Control Tower 25th June, 2013. At 60m tall it is the second largest in the UK. This is a conversion of Stewart Haworth’s FS model and has been uploaded by RCMarple.

New Control Tower - EGCC Manchester by Stewart Haworth : New Control Tower - EGCC  .And what a brilliant addition it is to this scenery. It is placed over by the cargo/GA/Visitor centre area and is a perfect replica.

 

 

The cargo area is extensive (World Freight Terminal) but in need a few more items to fill in a few blanks between the warehouses and the ramp. But otherwise is very much in the character of the area. Manchester Airport is the home to the engineering bases of Thomas Cook Airlines and Monarch Airlines and newly established Etihad Airways and the major Hangars are represented here. There is the G-BOAC flagship Concorde in the Manchester Runway Visitor Park and a Trident courtesy of Mike Wilson. The building under construction is for the Concorde, but Dave would rather have the aircraft on view, and it does look great from the taxiing point of view.

 

 

All the carparks and Hotels are here as well... Terminals 1 and 2 are linked by the skylink, with travelators to aid passengers with the 10–15-minute walk. Terminal 3 is linked to Terminal 1 and the skylink by a covered walkway. The skylink also connects the terminals to the airport railway station complex (known as “The Station”) and the Radisson BLU Hotel. The skylink construction was started in 1996 and opened 1997. Expansion to the Radisson Hotel was completed in 1998 when the hotel opened. And the Skylink, Railway Station and Radisson Blu are all represented here.

 

 

With this EGCC being an X-Plane9 scenery it comes with a few notables. Dave has put in very wide exclusion zones around the airport and that ruins any X-Plane10 OSM (Open Street Map) Roads and Rail that runs around the scenery. If you are pretty deft with WED then it is certainly worth the effort to trim the exclusions zones right back to the edge of the runways and around the terminals as the OSM is excellent around the scenery. It breaks open the whole network that goes into the terminal areas and the trains will run consistently around the North-East Boundary. Well worth the time to do this and certainly at night as the roads and lighting run all around the airport.

 

 

There is no HDR nightlighting either of which the airport would benefit immensely... And one I never sadly got around to doing.

 

 

 

EGCB City Airport Manchester (Barton Aerodrome) by RCMarple : EGCB City Area Airport Manchester ver1.11

This is another Stewart Haworth conversion by RCMarple but with a lot of extras to fill out the X-Plane environment.

 

09R/27L  625m (2,051ft) Grass
09L/27R 522m (1,713ft) Grass
02/20 533m (1,749ft) Grass
14/32 398m (1,306ft) Grass

 

City Airport (ICAO: EGCB) is a general aviation airport in the Barton-upon-Irwell area of Eccles, in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. Formerly known as both Barton Aerodrome and City Airport Manchester.

It is situated 5 NM (9.3 km; 5.8 mi) west of Manchester and was the United Kingdom’s first purpose-built municipal airport. Featuring four grass runways, it is one of the busiest general aviation airports in the UK. The airfield operates seven days a week, from 9 am until sunset for fixed-wing aircraft. Commercial, private, military, police and air ambulance helicopters can operate during the hours of darkness by arrangement as the airfield can be equipped with portable runway lighting.

The airport is also used as a refueling stop for light aircraft and helicopters. However, it lies on the edge of Chat Moss and the aircraft movements area suffers from occasional periods of waterlogging, restricting fixed wing operations at those times.

In 2011, the airport opened its new ‘City Heliport’ facility, aimed at the commercial helicopter charter market, The heliport features a dedicated jet A1 fuel facility, conference room, small office units and a dedicated passenger lounge.

 

 

If you are familiar with the area you will quickly recognize the dirty worn brickwork and glass and metal sheeted roofs and the half buried WW2 wartime bunkers and hangars... Barton has them all.

The detail also extends to the window frames and doors of an era now passed. The large main hangar is typical of this architectural past and the recently refurbished “The Pemberton Hangar”, which is now a Grade II listed building is another throwback to another time.

 

 

The 1933 control tower and associated wireless station which was the first at a municipal airport outside London, and was able to communicate with aircraft in flight and give pilots bearings from the airfield. The tower is still operational and is believed to be the oldest in Europe and is still in use for its original purpose. (though I doubt that pilot’s today need the navigational guidance).

As a statement of an era still in use today then Barton is a great snapshot. Another item added to this scenery by RC is the Barton Bridge over the Manchester Ship Canal, again created by Mr Haworth as it was a separate item, but the bridge really adds to the whole scene as does the OSM Roads that you will need your “Roads” turned up to at least  “tons” or more on the render panel...  Like RC really recommend the setting as the roads of the M62, A57 and M60 circle the airport.

 

 

The new “City Heliport” is also represented in the South-West, there are however more buildings in the area than these few. But at least the port is represented.

The area is a great area to fly around but you have to consider a few things... If you have the scenery of “EGGP - Liverpool” installed, when combined with “EGCC - Manchester”, one can scenery affect the other like two planets in a opposite orbit and cull a fair bit from your frame-rate. Landing at EGGP can be suddenly become a shudder and ruin a perfect landing, ditto to land at EGCC from the west to east you pass close to EGGP with the same effect, usually I have to pull EGGP out if I am flying into and out of EGCC, a pain I know but the only way to get a clear approach.

A final airport in the area worth considering also by RCMarple is EGNR Hawarden.  Which is the UK Airbus assembly factory for the wings on Airbus Aircraft.

 

 

EGNR is just a collection of big boxes, but modern factories are now all like this. The HDR lighting however is excellent. And the airport is a great visual clue to either EGGP or EGCC.

All the scenery listed here is free from the .Org and a nod to the talents of Dave and RC in creating these great sceneries for our use.  

Stephen Dutton

14th September 2013  

Review System Specifications:
Computer System:     
- 2.66 Ghz Intel Core i5 iMac 27”
- 6 Gb 1067 Mhz DDR3
- ATI Radeon HD 4850 512mb
Software:     
- Mac OS MountainLion 10.8.2
- X-Plane 10 Global ver 10.22 (final)
- ExtremeSceneryMAXX
Addons
- Saitek x52 Pro system Joystick and Throttle