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Scenery Review : EDDH Hamburg Airport by JustSim


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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?  Well lets find out.

 

First Impressions

I am not new to EDDH Hamburg as I have reviewed it before on another review publication and that version was an early X-Plane10 version from Aerosoft many moons ago in Nov 2012. So I am familiar with EDDH's layout and visual appeal.

 

To get there I flew from EGCC (Manchester) to Hamburg, just a quick flight over the North Sea.

 

The equipment is JARDesign's A320neo and this review is set in X-Plane11(b11).

 

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The Northern-Western approach to EDDH is via RIBSO waypoint (Runway ILS15 - RIBS4A) . The layout of EDDH is like an X but with the cross at a lower point and two runways going long out of the cross point with RWY15 to the slight northwest. This makes RWY15 an interesting approach but visually RWYs 05/23 are better if you want to see terminals and airport infrastructure and to use RWY05 if you want to approach the airport over Hamburg itself. Both RWY15 and RWY05 are also the best for arrival if you also want a small taxi to the Terminal area as both RWY05 and RWY15 will require a long taxi to each departure point or if using RWY23 or RWY33 for arrival, and certainly for 15/33 as it is very long taxi at 3666m (12, 028ft).

 

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RWY15/33 juts well out into the local area into more the countryside feel than an urban feel, although it is still surrounded by the local environs.

 

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This also makes it quite hard on the RWY15 approach to see the runway until it gets more defined, and so you have to rely more on your instruments more than a visual approach initially.

 

One big feature of JustSim's sceneries is the fact that they are very conscious of not only the actual airport scenery, but the environs around it. They more than most scenery developers have pioneered the use of autogen to create the area around the airport and with X-Plane11 now being able to use regional assets and in this case German housing the areas around the airport you now have a very well constructed urban environment at no cost to your framerate...  take note other scenery developers, it works and on the approach you have a really great Germanic feel and a great urban look on approach. If this is the future for all X-Plane regions then it is going to be brilliant.

 

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Of course the false add on scenery autogen will mesh in perfectly with the default autogen, giving you the perfect transition between the two areas although I do have my object slider a notch down here for framerate efficiency.

 

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Over the RWY15's threshold and you feel you are landing in a field more than an international airport is so long and so outwardly is the runway from the terminal area. 

 

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It is a very long runway...  and with a building in the EDHH Cargo terminal in your line of sight at the other end, so you don't want to over run the runway.

 

JustSim do great grass effects and they are very effective here even if the grass covers up the runway direction signs, but it very good.

 

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The bonus of getting your arrival runway of choice in RWY15 and RWY05 is as noted it puts you right on the terminal area and so a quick turn off almost puts you directly on the ramp. Runway and taxiway linage is excellent, but can be very confusing with the amount of information on the entrance to the ramp in either B west/east or in my case I north/south...

 

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The huge terminal complex stretches away to the north from you, it is impressive and to the east is the cargo area.

 

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The ramp is filled with really great airport equipment, highly detailed and all very authentic, like these luggage trolleys and tugs, they make for a great entrance.

 

You get a very authentic gate direction guidance system display, but it only shows the aircraft type and not the actual guides, so your first guess is that this is a static airbridge gate. It also means you have to guess were you actually park up correctly as well, but shut down the engines and the perfectly replicated gate does actually swing into action, the airbridges look perfect, beautifully done.

 

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On the ramp it is great view, very real in presence.

 

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So the arrival at JustSim's EDDH was very impressive.

 

One thing to note. There are several options in filling out the ramps and stands with static aircraft. This JustSim scenery does have the X-Plane default routes done and that allows you to use the default static aircraft like I have done here, but you do get the wrong regional (i.e. a lot of N American) aircraft as part of the deal (currently). There is a set World traffic ground routes for EDDH but they are set for the Aerosoft version.

 

Airport Overview.

 

Hamburg Airport

(Flughafen Hamburg)

IATA: HAM - ICAO: EDDH

 

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05/23 3,250m (10,663ft) Asphalt

15/33 3,666m (12,028ft) Asphalt

Elevation AMSL 53 ft / 16 m

 

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As the main above image shows is that EDDH is beautifully intergrated into the X-Plane background, the realism is well done here. The focus is on the lower X cross area with the main terminal and cargo facilities to the east and the huge Lufthansa Technik AG headquarters and maintenance base to the southeast and both areas are joined together with the huge cargo facility at the start of RWY33.

 

Main Terminal and Cargo

 

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Out of the main Terminal (upper) the A/B (27-40) gates have been stretched further southeast but there is only one autogate here, where as the real extension has autogates on all gates?, but it does give you some good stand positions. Set out behind he extension is still the cargo facility but it is now used from the side ramp or Apron South 1with several large maintenance hangars in F, G and H.

 

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The main terminal section has three sections (roofs) but it is only two terminals in 1 and 2 that merge into one large facility called the “Terminal Plaza” with gates C4 - C16, and D1-5 to the north and the noted extension A/B (27-40) gates going southeast.

 

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The main Terminal(s) are really highly impressive, simply outstanding detail, but more so with the new X-Plane11 feature of reflective glass that is very realistic and as we will see more of in the night lighting portion of the review. Roadways are a little blurry but there is a lot of 3d objects in creating a great fill and you don't really notice it that much in context. Note the excellent circular lift towers

 

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Airside and the (animated) autogates are perfect, with a lot of ramp fill of equipment, and building (terminal) detailing is simply first rate with high quality textures and modeling. There is also a lot of animated vehicle traffic wandering around the airport which gives it all a buzzy work day look.

 

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Landside is well done but the ground textures are a little blurry. Radar works (animated) as do all of the radar installations.

 

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North and there are two massive carpark structures and central landside there is an excellent Raddisson Blu Hotel (below).

 

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If you look closely there is a great mix of the original airport brick buildings that have have been overbuilt by the newer terminal areas. I really also like the good advertising on the wall of the P2 parking building for Aeroflot.

 

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Far north is the airport's own maintenance area but look beyond the airport boundary at the excellent default autogen. Situated adjacent to the rear of the north pier is the “Terminal Tango” which is an events space and convention centre.

 

The airport is named after Helmut Schmidt who was Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) from 1974 to 1982.

 

Overall the Terminal area is mightily impressive in detail.

 

Cargo and Maintenance Hangars

There is the cargo ramp called the “Luftfrachtzentrum”, that the layout is for the more medium and regional sized freighters than the bigger B777 or B747 size monsters, but if you wanted to you could still park one here.

 

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Modeling of the cargo area is very good and get the in joke of the "Meyer Fuel Service" truck.

 

The big "Hamburg Cargo Center" joins the two areas at the start of RWY33.

 

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Lufthansa Technik AG headquarters

The western section of EDDH is the Lufthansa Technik AG headquarters Base which is part of the Lufthansa Group. The 

 

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This is a huge facility that covers aircraft servicing, engine overhauls, aircraft fitouts and the Cabin Innovation Center, and the base can cover all types of aircraft from A320's up to the large B747's and A380's. But to note in that not to get it confused with Airbus's fitout facility at Finkenwerder Airport to the south.

 

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The main servicing hangars and engine test facility are excellent as is the complex external rigging that holds up the open internal space roofs, as the smaller detailing is also very good with circular stairs and huge air-con units.

 

The famous Café Himmelsschreiber which is part Air Hamburg is also situated in this northern section of the Technik base and so is the main apron control tower that overlooks runway 05/23.

 

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Detailing around the Café Himmelsschreiber is quite bare which is a missed opportunity as there is a seating garden there right on the ramp and the ramp tower is quite average and comes with only basic textures, the lower admin building however is well done.

 

There are two huge aprons fronting the Lufthansa Technik base with one for remote parking (below left) including Air Hamburg or for the Lufthansa Technik base parking.

 

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The secondary remote apron is for General Aviation and Private Jet parking (above right) and is ideal for light parking and commuter traffic.

 

Control Tower

Because of the layout of the runways, specifically the long 15/33, there is a secondary control tower on the western side of the field.

 

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But the wasted X-Plane feature "tower view" is somewhere in the middle of the GA - Private Jet apron...  so an "epic fail". As noted all radars do rotate and are clearly visible on landing.

 

Fire Station and Museum

To the North-West is the art deco styled Fire Station and the museum with the original Boeing 707-430 with the registration D-ABOD which was operated by Deutsche Lufthansa which is sited outside.

 

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You will get a great view of these buildings on taxiway D with either a RWY15 departure or RWY33 arrival.

In the early years it was not aircraft that filled the skies above Fuhlsbüttel (hamburg Airport) but airships. The "Hamburg Airship Hangar Company" (HLG) in association with Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin was created here in 1911 and then some time was spent looking for a suitable site for an airfield, and finally 44.8 hectares of land to the west of Lake Alster and north of the Borstel racecourse were chosen as a suitable site.

The airship company however soon had company in the arrival of AEG (Allgemeine Electricitäts-Gesellschaft) which set up a new firm called DLR (Deutsche Luft-Reederei, literally the "German Air Transport Company") and started scheduled flights on the 5th February 1919. KLM also was soon traversing through the airport as well on the route from Amsterdam to Copenhagen and in time the regular service fixed wing operations overtook the original airship operations.

Hamburg's Fuhlsbüttel Airport also had a major part in the famous “Berlin Airlift” that started operations on 25th June 1948. And in the early1950’s the airport which was then now known as “Hamburg Airport” was then reverted back from the British into the hands of the German authorities.

 

Nightlighting

After the excellent day detailing and scenery work by JustSim, the night lighting is a bit of a disappointment?

 

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The lighting is mediocre at best with only a few spots lighting the gates, and with Hamburg's interesting lighting systems a real wasted opportunity.

 

Equipment ramp zones have no downlighting at all, which is a totally missed chance to do some clever lighting, drop down lighting is limited.

 

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Terminal window texures are average and soft and nowhere as good as the Aerosoft versions and just a bland blue...

 

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Again it is a totally wasted opportunity as if you look at the new X-Plane11 glass reflection feature on the side of T2, as you see the reflections are excellent in the reflection of the surrounding airport lighting. It could have been so much better...

 

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Other buildings at least do have some good window lighting textures as also does the Raddisson Blu hotel, but overall it is mostly mediocre.

 

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Runway lighting is thankfully quite good with RAIL on some, but the taxiways are plain with only blue oversized taxiway edge lights and no centerline green guidance lighting. So you aircraft will need good lighting to navigate around the scenery after dark.

 

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Services

Hamburg today is the gateway to Northern Germany with 60 airlines that service through Hamburg (Fuhlsbüttel) and fly out to 115 destinations worldwide. The airport is the hub for airlines Air Berlin, Condor, Lufthansa and TUIfly. Airlines Aer Lingus, Air France, airBaltic, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, Corendon and Air Hamburg.

 

Busiest Domestic Routes

1. Munich - 1,347,070

2. Frankfurt - 733,060

3. Stuttgart - 702,884

4. Düsseldorf - 452,750

5. Nuremberg - 221,544

 

Busiest European Routes

1. London, United Kingdom - 706,844

2. Palma de Mallorca, Spain - 694,302

3. Zürich, Switzerland - 528,726

4. Vienna, Austria - 479,062

5. Paris, France - 354,010

 

Busiest International Routes

1. Antalya, Turkey - 475,806

2. Dubai, UAE - 129,624

3. Hurghada, Egypt - 96,150

4. Izmir, Turkey - 65,530

5. Newark, USA - 44,840

 

Summary

Overall this is stunning scenery, beautifully detailed and with some really great ramp equipment and detail. Those airbridges are excellent as is all the animated vehicle traffic and the great surrounding Germanic autogen and so using the JustSim Hamburg is certainly a great departure or arrival scenery...  but.

 

It is shame the lighting is so mediocre, and such is the wasted in the opportunity here to do something really great with illumination, so any flying at Hamburg after the sun goes down is a bit of a timewaster. ditto the poor "tower view" which is becoming a common occurrence lately.

 

But what we are coming back to here is the value, if this scenery which is certainly worth in the upper twenties in the set dollar values was then just that, then the lighting would make you think twice about purchasing? But Hamburg Airport by JustSim is only priced at US$19.80 and at that price it is simply a total bargain, so you can easily look past the minor faults as the scenery is excellent at the really good things that make up totally realistic scenery.

 

So overall it is a must buy, and the hope that soon JustSim do a quick revisit and update the lighting to the standard EDDH Hamburg deserves.

 

______________________________________________________________________

 

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The EDDH Hamburg Airport by JustSim is NOW available! from the X-Plane.Org Store here :


EDDH - Hamburg International Airport

 

Price is US$19.80

 

Features
  • Custom taxiways and airport lights
  • Shading and occlusion (texture baking) effects on terminal and other airport buildings
  • High resolution photo scenery near airport and city
  • High resolution ground textures / Custom runway textures
  • High resolution building textures
  • Runway reflection effect
  • Volumetric ground effect textures
  • Compatible with X-Plane 11 features
 
Ready for Advanced Traffic
  • World Traffic compatible
  • X-Life traffic compatible
  • Animated gates (AutoGate plugin by Marginal)
  • Animated custom ground vehicles (X-Plane 11 only)

 

Requirements

X-Plane 11+ or X-Plane 10.50+ 
Windows, Mac, Linux 
2GbVRAM Video Card. 3Gb+ VRAM Recommended

 

This review was run in X-Plane11 (and a beta at that!). So the X-Plane11 features are not available in the X-Plane10 version of this scenery.

 

Requirements:

X-Plane 10 fully updated (any edition) or X-Plane 11+

Mac, Windows or Linux
2Gb+ VRAM Video Card
1GB HD for Installation

______________________________________________________________________

 

Installation

The download package is 422.10mb

 

The scenery is installed after unzipping in to your X-Plane "custom scenery" folder (EDDH_JustSim_1.0) at 698.50mb

 

Documents:

There is an installation document but no manual or charts. A good set of EDDH charts are available here: EDDH pdf

 

______________________________________________________________________

 

Stephen Dutton

27th February 2017

Copyright©X-Plane Reviews: X-PlaneReviews 2017

 

Review System Specifications:

Computer System: Windows  - Intel Core i7 6700K CPU 4.00GHz / 64bit - 16 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - GeForce GTX 980/SSE2 - Samsung Evo 512gb SSD 

Software:  - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11beta11 / Checked install in X-Plane10.51

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

Plugins: : JARDesign Ground Handling Deluxe US$14.95 : Environment Engine by xEnviro US$69.90

Scenery or Aircraft

- Airbus A320neo by JARDesign (X-Plane.OrgStore) - US$59.95

 

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