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Scenery Review : WADD Ngurah Rai International Airport Bali by Aerosoft


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WADD_Bali_Header.jpg

 

Scenery Review : WADD Ngurah Rai International Airport Bali by Aerosoft

 

For most Australians in traveling to Bali in Indonesia it is a rite of passage, a ritual like a Muslim on a pilgrimage to Mecca, a sacrament to the cause of being an Australian. It is not if but when you went to Bali, if you haven't been there then you are not one of our tribe as you haven't been through the ceremony and indoctrination of the Balinese culture while being totally paralytic and legless. It is the same rite of passage that the English make by going to Ibiza or Americans to Mexico.

 

Bali is now a total tourist mecca, long gone now is the earlier sleepy island of lost grassed over monuments, and misty rice fields, the soft green Javanese volcanic hills and burning incense. The only soft green you see now is cultivated 5 star resorts lawns and lots of poor imitation branded goods to be sold at high prices, the selfie snapping hoards now easily outnumber the locals, but it puts food on their table and allows the Balinese to go the Thailand for a break, that is modern day tourism in all its glory.

 

By definition Bali is actually not far from the mainland of Australia, but by a quirk of that most Australians live on the east coast of the continent it does take a 6hr 20m flight or more to get there....  and back.

 

Bali Indonesia.jpgWADD Ngurah Rai International Airport.jpg

 

14.8 million of these selfie hoards passed through the main gates of Bali at Denpasar and Ngurah Rai International Airport last year that is on a small strip of land called Tuban between Kuta and Jimbaran and is situated close to the tourist locations of southern Bali. The airport is named after I Gusti Ngurah Rai, a Balinese hero who died on 20 November 1946 in a puputan (fight to the death) against the Dutch at Marga in Tabanan, where the Dutch defeated his company with air support, killing Ngurah Rai and 95 others during the Indonesian Revolution in 1946.

 

The Pelabuhan Udara Tuban, or Tuban airfield, was established in 1931 at the narrowest point on the southern coast of Bali. The airport was originally built as a simple 700 m long airstrip by the Dutch Colonial administration's Voor Verkeer en Waterstaats public works office. When first established the site only had a few huts and a short grass runway. The current airport has an east–west aligned runway and associated taxiway, with over 1,000 m of that runway's length projecting westward into the sea.

In 1942 the airstrip was in use to stage fighter and bomber operations and received bombing damage from Japanese forces. It was repaired using PSP pierced steel planking.

In 1949 a Terminal building and other aviation facilities were constructed and a simple wooden flight control tower was erected. In 1959 president Sukarno sought to further develop the airstrip. The new facilities were built as part of a $13 million (Rp 35 billion in 1959) renovation project.

To allow jet aircraft such as the Douglas DC8 and the Boeing 707 to operate from Bali, it was necessary to extend the runway westward into the sea as any potential eastern extension of the runway was by now blocked by the expansion of the local fishing village.

The International Airport Tuban was developed with the decision by the Indonesia government to further develop and rebuild the terminal building and extend the existing airport runway westward by 1,200 m to a length of 2,700 m with two 100 m overruns. The project, which lasted from 1963 to 1969 was named Project Tuban Airport and was for preparation of Tuban Airport for international operations. Land reclamation to project the runway and the two overruns by 1,500 m was achieved by taking material from the limestone rocks at Ungasan and sand from the river Antosari–Tabanan. With the completion of the temporary terminal and runway project at the Tuban Airport, the government inaugurated international air service on 10 August 1966.

To meet the ever increasing number of passengers the terminal buildings were extended with construction of an International Terminal building undertaken from 1965 to 1969. This added international facilities to the existing domestic passenger terminal. The new Ngurah Rai International Airport was inaugurated the on 1 August 1968 by the then Indonesian President Suharto as Pelabuhan Udara Internasional Ngurah Rai, or Ngurah Rai International Airport. (edited Wikipedia)

 

Aerosoft

This Bali scenery is a conversion for Aerosoft by Caipirinha Games to X-Plane11 from the Bali X series by A-Flight Scenery, the word to note here is "conversion".

 

First Impressions

As I live in Australia it was always going to be the best way to introduce myself to Ngurah Rai International Airport is by flying from an Australian port. And as YBBN (Brisbane) is my nearest major port and that seems a great place to start. The ZIBO MOD Boeing 737-800 in VA Virgin colours also seemed to be the best equipment for the route as well, but a B738 is a little slower than a A330 which is also popular on this route, but the same as the A320 at 6h 20m flying time.

This is not the first time for me to WADD, as there was a great but old WADD scenery around X-Plane for years and it wasn't bad, but I expect a far only a better experience with an Aerosoft scenery.

 

WADD_Bali_Impression 1.jpgWADD_Bali_Impression 2.jpg

 

Departure was around 13.30 (pm) for the 2512.36nm flying. One thing about flying around Australia is that there is not much out there, and mostly it is really just vast areas of nothingness, then more nothingness as you head out over the Timor Sea.

 

WADD_Bali_Impression 3.jpgWADD_Bali_Impression 4.jpg

 

My arrival via BENOA will mean a landing on RWY27 (3000m), this is the only ILS (110.30) approach to WADD as if you need to use 09 then that is a only a RNAV approach. Aerosoft do provide a great selection of both SID, STAR and RNAV charts and the full airport layout with excellent gate charts with the package (29 charts).

 

If you fly a lot in the far east you will become accustomed to the hot mist in the tropics, and so with such a late of the day arrival the xEnviro created a lovely if perfect soup for our arrival. You may say, "come now Mr Reviewer!, I want to see something I am buying!". But that is not the point of first impressions in the fact that the idea is to give you a representation of what the scenery is like in a mood and feel way as well as the standard detailed overview of the scenery, this viewpoint may not give you absolutely clear images, but it does deliver an authentic feel of arriving in Bali.

 

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Approaching from the east via BENOA you arrive over Nusa Penida then WADD is straight direct west in front of you. From this direction the airport is just beyond a large lagoon with the two enclosing outcrops of Tanjungbenoa and Serangan.

 

WADD_Bali_Impression 7.jpg WADD_Bali_Impression 8.jpg

 

My pass over the outcrops gave me a great feel for the area as both are full of very authentic Balinese habitation, not X-Plane default scenery, but 3d created Balinese scenery...  very impressive.

 

WADD_Bali_Impression 9.jpgWADD_Bali_Impression 10.jpg

 

My eyes then took in the over water Bali Mandara expressway system. At first I thought this was an X-Plane OSM (Open Street Map) mess up?  but no the expressway is real and authentic.

 

But then a sudden feel took to my bones...  "something was not right?" my cross diamonds were correct on the ILS PFD (Primary Flight Display) but my eyes through the gloom told me something else?

 

WADD_Bali_Impression 12.jpgWADD_Bali_Impression 11.jpg

 

RWY27 ILS is not aligned? Two options, abort or go for the runway, I go for the runway as I feel I can adjust it enough over to the centreline...

 

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"That was a bit breezy!" but I managed not to screw up the landing, all those hours practising certainly paid off here.

 

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Once the speed had died down (and my heart rate was lower as well) I could again look out of the window at Ngurah Rai, and I really liked what I saw. It was all very different from the usual US and European style of design and it all had a very far eastern traditional feel, you were certainly somewhere different that was for sure.

 

WADD_Bali_Impression 16.jpg

 

I was very impressed with the ground textures, the runway asphalt was good with concrete outer areas looked very realistic, lineage was excellent as well, but there was none of that famous Aerosoft grass that they do so well, but the actual grass colouring was very good.

 

WADD_Bali_Impression 17.jpgWADD_Bali_Impression 18.jpg

 

You can't allow yourself to get the landing wrong on RWY27, because at the end of it is a hard stone wall...  this seawall (Dam wall) is well done and carries on and around the end of N7 and side P7 taxiways.

 

WADD_Bali_Impression 19.jpgWADD_Bali_Impression 20.jpg

 

Taxiway P7 leads you into the main apron area called " Northern Apron", it is very big, and there is a lot of gates to choose from, so it is best to pick the correct one you require before you arrive from the ground chart, the gates are mixed up as well in the fact "that what is the domestic or international gates", if you know it is not hard, but the layout can be confusing at first if you are not prepared. I really loved the airport's Balinese architecture, but there was some modern elements thrown in there as well.

 

WADD_Bali_Impression 21 LG.jpg

 

It was a really heavy dramatic arrival at WADD, not withstanding the ILS non-alignment, overall though with my first impressions I was seriously impressed.

 

Aerosoft Ngurah Rai International Airport, Bali

 

I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport

IATA: DPS - ICAO: WADD formerly WRRR

 

Charts_Airport_Bali.jpg

 

09/27 9,842ft (3,000m) Asphalt

Elevation AMSL14 ft / 4 m

 

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To understand extent of the full scenery package provided by Aerosoft is to look at the scenery from directly above...

 

WADD_Bali_Overview 9 Area.jpg

 

All around the lagoon in red with the airport to the bottom is the extended area of 3d modeling provided, it is a lot of buildings and and associated infrastructure that surround the airport, this does give you a great visual aspect in every respect to the departure and arrival and while on the ground.

 

WADD_Bali_Overview 8.jpgWADD_Bali_Overview 7.jpg

 

And you have to be seriously impressed by the object count and the 3d feel to it all.

 

WADD_Bali_Overview 10.jpgWADD_Bali_Overview 11.jpg

 

Everything is covered from the basic Balinese abodes to temples, hotel resorts, shopping centres, unit accommodation and warehouses.

 

WADD_Bali_Overview 12.jpgWADD_Bali_Overview 13.jpg

WADD_Bali_Overview 14.jpgWADD_Bali_Overview 15.jpg

 

Not many developers have found the right transition from add-on scenery beaches to the outer X-Plane water, but Aerosoft have done that here...

 

WADD_Bali_Overview 16.jpgWADD_Bali_Overview 17.jpg

 

...      you have to be impressed by it. And this all comes with a 0.40m/pixel aerial imagery underlay, it looks and is all very, very good.

 

WADD Airport

 

There are two aprons in "North" and "South" The north is the main apron as the south is just mostly parking stands, private jet and General Aviation arrivals. The North apron has two terminals in Domestic and the newer larger International Terminal.

 

WADD_Bali_North Apron 1.jpgWADD_Bali_North Apron 2.jpg

 

The Domestic terminal is on the west end is the old original Bali terminal with its famous Balinese greeting gate.

 

WADD_Bali_North Dom Ter.jpgWADD_Bali_North Inter Ter.jpg

 

The new huge International terminal is mid-apron and it is impressive, and it has a long finger apron faced gate concourse with unique Balinese gate houses.

 

WADD_Bali_North Exten Inter Ter.jpgWADD_Bali_North Apron 3.jpg

 

Domestic Terminal

These segments of adjoining L shaped buildings was the original Bali airport international terminal built in 1968. But with the newer and more modern International building being completed then the buildings were reconfigured with a merger of older and newly built areas to be a separated Indonesian domestic terminal which opened on 17 September 2014 with an area of 65,800 square meters, eight departure and seven arrival gates, 1 -16 with five passenger boarding bridges, as well as a number of counters — 62 for check-in, 4 for transit and 19 for ticketing. Note the exposed baggage carousels under the newest part of the Domestic terminal.

 

WADD_Bali_North Dom Ter 3.jpgWADD_Bali_North Dom Ter 4.jpg

WADD_Bali_North Dom Ter 2.jpgWADD_Bali_North Dom Ter 5.jpg

 

Thankfully the famous "Bali Welcome Gate" has not been demolished out of existence with the changes and is still there and visible from the apron.

 

International Terminal and Festival Plaza.

International terminal has a similar but a more modern Balinese architectural theme and has separate departure and arrival halls was opened in Novemer 2013. Its capacity is up to 4,938,840 passengers a year. The departure area has 62 check-in counters. There are ten air-bridge gates 17-27 with one (27) usable for the A380. 

 

WADD_Bali_North Inter Ter 2.jpgWADD_Bali_North Inter Ter 4.jpg

WADD_Bali_North Inter Ter 3.jpgWADD_Bali_North Inter Ter 5.jpg

 

There is a well done strikingly well modeled roof on the International terminal, and it is highly decorated with Balinese style towers, arrival and departure roadways are set, but there is no animated traffic. The rear main carpark feels more Aztec than Balinese but then the cultures may be the same in some areas. Next to the International terminal is another and far larger and more impressive traditional Balinese gate and explore/rest area...

 

WADD_Bali_North Inter Ter 6.jpgWADD_Bali_North Inter Ter 7.jpg

 

...  that is connected with the Festival Plaza complex that separates the two terminals.

 

WADD_Bali_ Festival Plaza 2.jpgWADD_Bali_ Festival Plaza 1.jpg

 

... and you have to be impressed by then how much the Balinese have gone to represent their culture at the airport, visitors note it is a very different arrival here at Ngurah Rai because of this cultural significance.

 

Concourse gate detail is unique to say the least... 

 

WADD_Bali_North Inter Ter 8.jpgWADD_Bali_North Inter Ter 11.jpg

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...   In close up it is extremely well done with a huge amount of Balinese traditional architecture and elements, however there is a little transparency (blue) around the finer details that looks very early FS (Flight Simulator).

 

There is a lot of ground equipment and ground support items, but not overwhelmingly so and the gates are well done but the gates are static and set too high for any boarding door connection.

 

Cargo Area

Far east on the north apron is the cargo area. These buildings were the old domestic terminal and they still look like more warehouse than terminal.

 

WADD_Bali_Cargo 1.jpg  WADD_Bali_Cargo 2.jpg

 

The Fire Station is situated here as well, as is the excellent Aerofood ACS building which was the old domestic terminal reinvented.

 

WADD_Bali_Cargo 3.jpgWADD_Bali_Cargo 4.jpg

 

The cargo ramp space is good but tight for large (B747) sized freighters, there are ten stands 28 - 37 available with two helicopter pads at end of the far east apron.

 

WADD_Bali_Cargo 5 LG.jpg

 

Control Tower

The Control Tower is positioned mid-apron between the Domestic and International Terminals.

 

WADD_Bali_Tower 1.jpgWADD_Bali_Tower 2.jpg

 

The tower is highly decorated and feels small and old as it was part of the 1968 redevelopment. Tower view is excellent with both runway field views clear for any approaches or departures.

 

WADD_Bali_Tower view 1.jpgWADD_Bali_Tower view 2.jpg

 

However turn 180º and you will be fronted by the tower itself as the tower view is set too low?

 

WADD_Bali_Tower 3.jpgWADD_Bali_Tower 4.jpg

 

South Apron

The south apron is just mostly empty parking stands for aircraft storage, private jet and general aviation arrivals and a few buildings to cater for those patrons. Here there is 16 stands 38 -53 and three helicopter pads on the west side.

 

WADD_Bali_South Apron 1.jpgWADD_Bali_South Apron 2.jpg

WADD_Bali_South Apron 3.jpgWADD_Bali_South Apron 4.jpg

 

Like the rest of the modeling the buildings are well done, but there not much else down here. The textures for the concrete stands and areas is very realistic and looks and feels real.

 

Two more areas worth noting is a Fuel Depot behind the Domestic Terminal and the almost same layout replicated on a outcrop of land into the Lagoon as you arrive on RWY27.

 

WADD_Bali_Fuel depot.jpgWADD_Bali_Fuel depot lagoon.jpg

 

Static Aircraft

Aerosoft gives you the option of having local static aircraft showing or not. This is selected via the X-Plane "Graphics" menu for "Draw parked aircraft" tickbox off/on. You have to also download the Aerosoft static aircraft package (319.70mb) from a link that comes with the airport package.

 

WADD_Bali_Static 1.jpgWADD_Bali_Static 2.jpg

 

WADD in X-Plane11

Up to this point in the review you must be thinking "This is absolutely sensational scenery" and to a point it is. But I mentioned at the start of the review that this scenery is a converted scenery from Aerosoft's Bali X. As an X-Plane dynamic scenery it is however quite poor. There is no animated traffic, no animated gates (marginal), poor non-reflective glass or textures and the default ground routes and traffic flows are incomplete?

 

This then leads into the lighting...

 

Lighting

Overall the Aerosoft Bali scenery is very poor on the lighting, basically you only have the X-Plane apron lighting and that is about it? In fact if that apron lighting was not visible then you would be hard pressed to see the airport at all at night?

 

WADD_Bali_Lighting 5.jpgWADD_Bali_Lighting 6.jpg

 

There is a little runway and taxiway edge light lighting and a RAIL on the lead into RWY27, but otherwise not much else. No centreline lighting or taxiway guidance lights, it is pretty dark around WADD at night.

 

WADD_Bali_Lighting 2.jpgWADD_Bali_Lighting 1.jpg

 

Thankfully the ramps are filled out, but there is only a few spot lights otherwise.

 

WADD_Bali_Lighting 3.jpgWADD_Bali_Lighting 4.jpg

 

Terminal building lighting textures are not much better and are a consistent bland old style FS light brown...

 

WADD_Bali_Lighting 7.jpgWADD_Bali_Lighting 8.jpg

 

...    lighting landside is non-existent, the main International Terminal is mostly in darkness as are all areas including the road networks with only the Fuel Depot and surrounding with a few spot lights spoiling the darkness.

 

There is certainly a wasted opportunity or simply just no creativity in what could have been achieved here because the extensive well modeled Balinese buildings do have great lighting textures, but mostly their effects are just lost in the gloom.

 

WADD_Bali_Lighting 9.jpgWADD_Bali_Lighting 10.jpg

 

Services

Most if not all Asian major carriers service Ngurah Rai. Other carriers like Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand and even KLM with their historic Dutch Colonial connections to the area still has services. Qantas is not a major carrier here with only Sydney services and so that leaves much of the selfie hoards to Jetstar, Virgin Australia and Tigerair, but in strange note Tigerair was denied access over an Indonesian diplomatic incident lately and has had to pull out of the route (for now).

 

Domestic is covered by Garuda the Indonesian major carrier, but mostly now Indonesia is now full of cheap Low Cost Carriers (LCC). Lion Air leads the charge, with Sriwijaya Air, Batik Air, NAM Air and Explore and Explore Jet. Indonesia AirAsia has muscled in a lot, but in reality it is Malay airline and not Indonesian. Cargo operators are small with just Cargo Garuda Indonesia doing the honors.

 

Summary

There is not a lot of Asian scenery released in X-Plane, in fact this is the first significant Asian payware scenery I think that has been actually released, and after years in X-Plane and as I live in Australia then that aspect is a travesty? Asia is an exciting destination and there is a lot of this area of the world to explore.

 

Bali is certainly a brilliant area to explore. There is some really great spectacular landscapes around Bali and close by East Java has some of the most exciting volcanic areas in the world, I know that because I fly over it all the time heading between Australia and Singapore.

 

So yes this Bali scenery for X-Plane from Aerosoft is a significant release, and overall it is totally a very good scenery. The aspects of what you get in the not just Ngurah Rai Airport itself, with the extensive Indonesian layout surrounding the central focus aviation interest is spectacular and for that alone the scenery is a very worthy purchase.

 

But from an X-Plane perspective the dynamic aspects are very poor, certainly the conversion was done by a none or not interested party in any aspect of X-Plane's features in fact there is very little of it, in fact I don't even know why it is called Airport Bali XP because there is so little X-Plane in it. The blame here rests on Aerosoft to make sure its branded products live up to its reputation, but it looks like that aspect also took a holiday here. The nightlighting in perspective is mostly X-Plane9, as are non-dynamic animations and not even the ILS is aligned?  Basic stuff...

 

But overall WADD Ngurah Rai International Airport Bali is well worth putting in to your X-Plane scenery collection as it is certainly a worthy destination to fly to and use extensively, just don't rely on that RWY27 ILS in poor or minimum visibility conditions.

 

______________________________________________________________________

 

X-Plane Store logo sm.jpg

 

Yes! the WADD Ngurah Rai International Airport Bali by Aerosoft is Available from the X-Plane.Org Store here :


Airport Bali XP

 

Your Price is US$24.95
 
Features:
  • 0.40m/pixel aerial imagery for the airport and immediate surroundings
  • High detailed custom ground polygons
  • High detailed airport buildings with high resolution textures
  • Custom modeled surrounding area of the airport for a true Bali look and feel

 

 

 

Requirements :

X-Plane 11
Windows, Mac or Linux
2GB VRAM Minimum - 4GB + VRAM Recommended
Download size: 860MB
 
 

Installation :   Download scenery file size is 538mb. "AS_AIRPORT-BALI_XPLANE11" in being inserted into your X-Plane "Custom Scenery" Folder as a single "Aerosoft - WADD Bali" 718.30mb scenery file.

You can also download the Aerosoft static aircraft package (319.70mb) from a link that comes with the airport package. This is selected via the X-Plane "Graphics" menu for "Draw parked aircraft" tickbox off/on

 

Documents

Provided are two documents in:

 

  • Manual_Airport_Bali (English and German)
  • Charts_Airport_Bali  (29 Charts)

 

______________________________________________________________________

 

Review by Stephen Dutton

20th August 2017

Copyright©2017: 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 - 16 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - GeForce GTX 980/SSE2 - Samsung Evo 512gb SSD 

Software:   - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11.02

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

Plugins: Environment Engine by xEnviro US$69.90 : JARDesign Ground Handling Deluxe plugin - US$14.95 : WorldTraffic 2.0 Plugin - US$29.95

Scenery or Aircraft

- Boeing 737-800 X-Plane default aircraft with ZIBO MOD installed

 

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