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  1. NEWS! - Scenery Upgraded to X-Plane 12 : PHNL - Honolulu International + Pearl Harbor XP12 FunnerFlight Studios have upgraded their PHNL - Honolulu International scenery to X-Plane 12. This scenery also comes with the Pearl Harbour addon and also upgraded to v3. This is a significant scenery for Hawaii, and the upgraded package includes all three areas including Honolulu International Airport, Hickam AFB and Pearl Harbor. There is also the added bonus of the Hawaiian Islands Airports Traffic Option. Featuring the new Airborne_aircraft_objects Library v1, which contains a few animated General Aviation aircraft that touch-n-go and go around for a more active environment with virtually no loss in FPS. Owners of the previous PHNL version (v2/ XP11) can get this new v3 version for $5. Coupon code can be found in the original PHNL Invoice. PHNL Honolulu International Airport (HNL) is one of the world’s largest, busiest and most beautiful airports. Owned and operated by the State of Hawaii Department of Transportation, it covers 4,520 acres of land, and is larger than the major resort destination of Waikiki, which is located 10 miles to the south east. HNL has four active runways, including the 12,000-foot Reef Runway which was the world’s first major runway built entirely offshore. Landscaped with the beautiful trees and flowers of the Hawaiian Islands, Honolulu International Airport plays host to more than 20 million visitors each year. The airport is served by international and domestic carriers, inter-island airlines, and commuter airlines. At any given daytime or evening hour, an estimated 10,000 people are in the airport complex as passengers, employees or visitors. Approximately 15,000 people work at the airport every day and another 20,000 depend on the airport daily for their livelihood. HNL has a workforce of 550 employees, half of whom are custodians and maintenance personnel. PHNL contains: • PHNL Main Terminals, Departure Level and Overpass system, carparks, street lighting, fuel farm, rental car facilities, etc. • New Hawaiian Airlines Hangars and Federal Prison building • Hickam AFB main Hangars, Aircraft, Major Administration, housing, and Maintenance buildings. • Hickam Freedom Tower and military aircraft • General Aviation, Cargo Facilities, and Fire Stations. • Custom Hawaiian trees, shrubs, flowers and bushes. • X-Plane Ground Service vehicles • High Resolution 6” (15cm) Aerial Photography (provided by, and thanks to, USGS) • No Static Aircraft at Gates with Lite version. • Mamala Bay Golf Course • Ke'ehi Lagoon sealanes • New Southwest Airlines terminal Hickam AFB Pearl Harbour Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, 8 miles west of Honolulu. It has been long visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reciprocity Treaty of 1875. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands are now a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the United States Pacific Fleet. The U.S. government first obtained exclusive use of the inlet and the right to maintain a repair and coaling station for ships here in 1887. Its attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy on December 7, 1941, promptly led the United States to declare war on the Empire of Japan making the attack on Pearl Harbor the immediate cause of the United States' entry into World War II. Pearl Harbor contains: • Ford Island complete • Battleship Missouri Memorial • USS Arizona Memorial • Several ships and submarines • Ford Island bridge • Custom Hawaiian trees, shrubs, flowers and bushes • High Resolution 6” (15cm) Aerial Photography (provided by, and thanks to, USGS) The FunnerFlight v3.0 PHNL is now available from the X-Plane.OrgStore. And remember it is only a US$5 upgrade to V3 for previous Owners. ___________________________ The PHNL - Honolulu International + Pearl Harbor XP12by FunnerFlight is NOW available here at the X-Plane.OrgStore... PHNL - Honolulu International + Pearl Harbor XP12 Price is US$24.95 Sale Price:$20.00 You Save:$4.95(20%) Requirements X-Plane 12 (only) Windows, Mac or Linux 8 GB+ VRAM recommended Download size: 890 MB (PHNL) + 1.3 GB (Pearl harbor) Current version: 3.0 (October 24th 2023) Owners of the previous PHNL version (v2 / xp11) can get this new v3 version for $5. Coupon code can be found in the original PHNL Invoice. ___________________________ News by Stephen Dutton 24th October 2023 Copyright©2023: 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) All Rights Reserved
  2. NEWS! - Scenery Upgrade : KLAX - Los Angeles International v3.0 by FunnerFlight Funner Flight has released the v3.0 upgrade of their KLAX Los Angeles International Airport. Commonly referred to as LAX, this airport is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located 18 miles (30 km) southwest of Downtown Los Angeles. X-PlaneReviews full review of the FunnerFlight KLAX v2.0 is here; KLAX - Los Angeles International v2.0 by FunnerFlight The date of the release v2.0 is noted as 2017, so here is a major update to the scenery and now covers the changes at the airport in the same time period to date including the new West Gate Terminal at the Tom Bradley Int'l. Also the v3.0 LAX scenery is now X-Plane 12 compatible (the X-Plane 11 version is provided as part of of the package) with improved lighting and weather effects. For owners of the previous version of KLAX by Funnerflight (v2), they can upgrade to this new 3.0 XP12 version for only $5. Please find the coupon code in your original invoice at the X-Plane.OrgStore. Details of the version 3.0 contains: Includes both X-Plane 12 and X-Plane 11 versions. Airport Hotels, carparks, street lighting, and area warehouses LAX landscaped entry mound, Departure Level and Overpass system. Custom Southern California trees and bushes, including various kinds of palm trees. More complete perimeter scenery for a fuller look. Over 15,000 objects. New West Gate Terminal at Tom Bradley Int'l New Qantas and Delta maintenance hangars Improved lighting. Laminar Research Animated Ground Service vehicles Auto Jetways at every ramp (shift+g) (XP12 only) Almost 20 sq mi of High-Definition aerial photography: 1 foot (30cm) resolution In 2019, LAX handled 88,068,013 passengers, making it the world's third-busiest and the United States' second-busiest airport. As the largest and busiest international airport on the U.S. West Coast, LAX is a major international gateway to the United States, and also serves a connection point for passengers traveling internationally. The airport holds the record for the world's busiest origin and destination airport. It is also the only airport to rank among the top five U.S. airports for both passenger and cargo traffic. LAX serves as a major hub for more passenger airlines than any other airport in the United States. I would recommend a strong video card with at least 8Gb of VRAM for this scenery, you can run a 4 GB Video Card as a minimum, but there are a lot of objects to absorb (15,000), and some very large graphic textures. The FunnerFlight v3.0 KLAX is now available from the X-Plane.OrgStore. ________________________________ The KLAX-Los Angeles International v3.0 by FunnerFlight is NOW available here at the X-Plane.OrgStore... KLAX - Los Angeles International v3.0 Price is US$19.95 Requirements X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 Windows, Mac or Linux 4 GB Video Card Minimum. 8 GB+ Video Card recommended Download size: 735 MB Current version: 3.0 (April 15th 2023) Owners of the preview version of KLAX by Funnerflight (v2), can get this new 3.0 XP12 version for only $5. Please find the coupon code in your original invoice . Does not apply to KLAX from other designers ___________________________ News by Stephen Dutton 17th April 2023 Copyright©2023: 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) All Rights Reserved
  3. NEWS! - Scenery Release : KSAN International Airport, KNZY Naval Air Station North Island and Naval Base San Diego by FunnerFlight San Diego was always a tricky scenery scenery to do, do one aspect in KSAN "Lindbergh Field", and in the other areas in San Diego downtown and the huge Naval Base here would feel wanting... several developers have had a go at it, but ultimately any San Diego scenery could never live up the ultimate promise. Scenery developer FunnerFlight or Jeff Mueller of LAX and PHNL fame has however is giving the challenge of San Diego a go in recreating the impossible, in all three aspects of KSAN International Airport, KNZY NAS North Island and Naval Base San Diego that make up the full area. And at a sub-US$20 price, you get value as well. Notable is that the download consists of two files, KSAN (263 Mb) and KNZY (626 Mb), and both are loaded into your X-Plane "Custom Scenery Folder". Also notable is that that the scenery can be heavy on your system requirements, both a minimum 8Gb Graphic Card and 16Gb of RAM are both the requirements for this scenery. San Diego International Airport, formerly known as Lindbergh Field, is an international airport three miles (4.8 km) northwest of Downtown San Diego, California, United States. KSAN is the busiest single-runway airport in the world. The airport's landing approach is well known for its close proximity to the skyscrapers of Downtown San Diego, and can sometimes prove difficult to pilots for the relatively short usable landing area, steep descent angle over the crest of Bankers Hill, and shifting wind currents just before landing. San Diego International operates in controlled airspace served by the Southern California TRACON, which is some of the busiest airspace in the world. KSAN has 2 terminals, with a total of 48 gates. Each terminal has 2 concourses. Coast Guard Air Station San Diego is near the southeast corner of the airport. The installation originally supported seaplane operations, with seaplane ramps into San Diego Bay, as well as land-based aircraft and helicopter operations using the airport's runway. Naval Air Station North Island (NASNI) is located at the north end of Coronado Island in San Diego Bay and is the home port of several aircraft carriers of the United States Navy. The installation also hosts nearly all of the Pacific Fleet's helicopter squadrons, several fixed-wing squadrons, multiple Naval Air Reserve activities and is home to both the Fleet Readiness Center Southwest and the headquarters for Commander, Naval Air Forces. It is part of the largest aerospace-industrial complex in the United States Navy, the 57,000-acre (230 km2) Naval Base Coronado. Naval Base San Diego is the second largest surface ship base of the US Navy. It is the principal homeport of the Pacific Fleet, consisting of over 50 ships. This triple scenery package contains: KSAN and KNZY (Naval Air Station North Island) airports Naval Base San Diego Over 12,000 objects 9 Amphibious Assault Ships 4 Cruisers 9 Destroyers 7 Littoral Combat Ships Aircraft = F-18 fighters, MQ-8C Fire Scout, MH-60 Seahawk, and CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters; VTOL aircraft: F-35's, Harriers, and V-22 Osprey... and a few others. Ship building yards and cranes Major Hotels Coronado Bridge 50 sq mi of Ortho photography (Thanks to USGS). Many animations of ships, aircraft, submarines, and other less known things that go bump in the night! Options include Ortho or Laminar runways and animated traffic and shipping. __________________________ Yes! San Diego KSAN & KNZY Naval Station by FunnerFlight is now Available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : KSAN International Airport, KNZY Naval Air Station North Island and Naval Base San Diego Price Is US$19.95 Requirements: X-Plane 12 only Windows, Mac or Linux 4 GB VRAM Minimum. 8 GB+ VRAM recommended Download size: 275 MB (KSAN) + 660 MB (KNZY) Current version: 1.0 (February 11th 2023) ___________________________ News! by Stephen Dutton 13th February 2023 Copyright©2023: 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) All Rights Reserved
  4. Scenery Update : KLAX - Los Angeles International v2.0 by FunnerFlight Six months ago in early December 2016. FunnerFlight (aka Jeff Mueller) did a complete revisualization of his freeware KLAX or Los Angeles International. The new totally upgraded scenery was then released as payware and X-PlaneReviews reviewed the scenery here: Scenery Review : KLAX - Los Angeles International by FunnerFlight . Nobody more than me loves brilliant scenery as for myself as it is what I love about X-plane it is in recreating the real world for use in the simulator. The actual scenery though was a little perplexing as I noted in the review. It was all very good and I don't doubt that, but overall there was a few very important elements missing and as I noted in my summary... "But the missing north World Way flattened hotel buildings are a major element of the airport that shows up how the ortho flatness can be a huge distraction in an otherwise well completed scenery... this area needs to fixed with 3d buildings and quickly as it takes away a lot of good points off a good scenery for creating such a blank empty area of the airport.." The problem is that with great scenery it is not sometimes the direct visual items that are important to get a comparison or a feel of a place, but the indirect areas that if left out of the package can severely damage the whole perspective of the idea as a whole of the scenery. I am very defensive (and have had the arguments to prove it) on what is required and what is not to create the right feel and location of a scenery. This is not a "holier than thou' altitude, but that if you are paying your good savings on for something to add into your X-Plane master world building empire then it should be a worthy addition and it can be used to the full extent of what you require that scenery to deliver to you the user, and in this case the visualization of that particular area and place on the planet. Any scenery not used is really a waste of money, so the use of a scenery in either a networking situation or for a certain purpose of say a reproduction your local airport, Is only then worth in what the scenery returns to you in repeatable use and the satisfaction returned. A good if not great developer will take on board the missing elements of their work and fix it, hopefully quickly. This is then v2.0 of the KLAX scenery and of course the big question is that have those missing elements been addressed? Outwardly the new v2 view is a much more completed and filled in proposition from the long viewpoint. Part of the developers problems is that KLAX is in the middle of a very high autogen generated section of scenery. So if you leave areas flat and empty it shows up like a dark stain on your visual radar. From an arrival perspective like I did in the original release review, the image above says that it is all very realistic, wonderfully so. But the image is a little deceiving in that it is focused on LAX's highlights with the iconic control tower and the even more older iconic "Theme Building" structure to convey a certain LAX feel and look. The reality is that on the other side of those items was a big empty space or our dark scenery stain as noted in the images below. It was not a good look. It felt like a full quarter of LAX was missing, because it was. Objectively the area is not actually part of LAX? It is the services side to the airport in car rental areas, hotels and offices. But here is the major point in viewing sceneries and the more important point of the indirect visual item of being just as important as the main iconic areas that makes up the full visual perspective of the scenery. In this case it was overwhelming. It felt like half of "World Way" (the entrance to LAX) was missing, worse is the fact that if you departed or landed on RWY's 24L or 24R you felt like you were not actually at KLAX at all. Worse was if you parked at the east side of Terminal One you would think that the area had been totally demolished since you were last here. KLAX v2 So what is the difference to v2.0. Well everything concerning this oversight, it looks like six months can do wonders if you are ready to update the area. The same aspect of the above release scenery images are replicated in v2.0 below. Now it is a big "welcome to LAX" with all on the north side of World Way is which dominated by hotels in the Sheraton Gateway, Crown Plaza, Los Angeles Marriott and L.A. Airport Hilton that are all now represented and the LAX skyline is now the one that is fully represented in its realistic context. There is a still a few blank areas to the northeast, but it doesn't affect the actual silhouette of the airports panorama or more importantly the feel of the scenery. However now the "World Way" entrance is totally complete, it is the main entrance into LAX and it is so good you feel like a walk along the road would now be highly rewarded. All the hotels have been correctly recreated, and there is a lot of magnificent detail in here now to enjoy. The northeast section is more filled in closer to the approaches with the correct road structures and the Vicksburg Ave connection and great rental carparking detailing. It is important to note that your "runways to follow terrain contours" selection is off, if not you will get a lot of roadway floaters. "World Way" is great in the daylight, but brilliant at night! The entrance pillars change colours like the real monuments and the street lighting is excellent. I feel the hotel logos need to be a bit brighter, but overall it is excellent. This is all and good. But the important point is the approach from the air. Really any eastern approach to LAX is important with the new additions, but the main one really that counts is RWY 24L. From the air you can see why your computer is working so hard as there is autogen from horizion to horizon. The new addition to LAX even makes its place known from a way out on approach towards RWY 24L. Get in closer and instead of a flat bland approach the area in your windscreen is now filled out with the correct eastern LAX view of its landside infrastructure. There is still a blank space just before the buildings (red square) start... ... but on the photo-textures it is green space with only a few buildings actually in that area, a few more if smaller buildings may just fill this area in or let the autogen fill it in for you, but it is only in reality a green space anyway. But it does highlight the only flat area on the approach. But then LAX really comes to life as you come into finals ! RWY24L's approach is now excellent and note the infrastructure to the left and below you... it is hard to focus on the landing and not spend your valuable time looking out of the windows. This is the great LAX arrival I imagined. The point being is that you can do simply everything in creating the most intricate airport. But if the main visual aspects are not included, then it just doesn't work. Land at Sydney's Kingsford Smith without the Bayside Plaza building over in Brighton Sands or the north side of Heathrow without the Hotels there and you feel you have not arrived. LAX without "World Way" is not the LAX we love. KLAX options There are a load of options with FunnerFlight's LAX. Most changes are done by selecting the "Earth Nav Data" or txt file for the specific items you want to include or not. These choices are stored in the included folder. You will need to first download from Jeff Mueller's X-Plane.Org page which are free two items in "Static' aircraft and "Airport Animations" for this scenery, both folders are dropped into the "Custom Scenery" Folder". They provide both airport vehicle and aircraft animations Top choice is for a brighter greener grass and the newer asphalt taxiway option. I found the textures pretty good in the default version, and so didn't take up the option. Second choice is for "GroundTraffic" There are a LOT of animations in this scenery. From airport service vehicles to vehicle traffic and aircraft animations around KLAX. So you have a lot of choices in what you want to run or what you don't. Basically there are two sets of ground traffic are 350+ (vehicles) known as lite, or the full monty in 700+ vehicles known as Tooo much. 350+ is left and 700+ is right So you can adjust your animations to the scale of your computers power and 350+ comes as the default. Aircraft animations run all over the airport in loops, they do tend to taxi fast and sort of hard turn corners, but they do add in a lot of life to the airport. Third choice is to either have the X-Plane autogen run over the top of the ground textures or leave the photo images clear. This one was a no brainer for me as the non-autogen version just left blank flat images around the KLAX. I like my autogen pushing right up against the custom scenery, but the choice is still yours... Last choice is to either have the texture created taxiways or the orthophoto real versions. I personally stuck to the clearer created default texture version. WorldTraffic There is also another new option not included currently or officially in the LAX scenery from FunnerFlight. This option was implement at my request in a setup with some static aircraft to add in the background flavour, but all the gates are empty for the use of Classic Jet Simulations "World Traffic" plugin. The layout is shown on the left with the running WorldTraffic on the right. I have added the "earth nav data" option below if you want to use LAX in this context. The LAX ground routes can be found here: WT Ground Routes KLAX Los Angeles 1.2 The rest of the scenery is as released, and so there is a lot of LAX now in this comprehensive package. Summary So does this v2.0 update of FunnerFlight's KLAX deliver the complete airport scenery that makes this one of the most iconic airports in the world and is this LAX now a really great addition to your scenery collection? Yes it does deliver and more. This is the LAX that X-Plane deserves and needs. I did feel with the "World Way" entrance that it was a significant part of LAX, and as this update focuses on that aspect and with that area now completed it really does now deliver a complete and comprehensive scenery that you can use for an extensive period of time. Don't get me wrong, this scenery is a heavy processor hitter. There is a huge amount of objects to be grinding through and then add in on top a vast amount of autogen to add into the mix, so you will need power and a lot of it to run this LAX without pulling down a lot of of your graphic settings and 16gb of memory (recommended) is really the lowest you can get away with. The actual airport is surprisingly really very good, but numbers are numbers and there is a immense amount in here to be processed. I got away with around 30 frames in my settings that you see in the images, but there would be no way I could run the X-Plane settings in full and get away with it, but it is usable if you know your computers limitations. There is a huge amount of options now added in with v2.0 as well, but again be smart in what you use, 350+ animated objects are really enough for the most activity. If you have the WorldTraffic plugin then start up and be amazed, it is great to see such full activity at LAX. I do recommend to look through the original release review Scenery Review : KLAX - Los Angeles International by FunnerFlight in association with this update review to get the full scale of this KLAX scenery from FunnerFlight. It is in reality on a massive scale, and you do get an awful lot now for your investment at a great value price Overall this v2.0 version of KLAX is now excellent, with great options and a comprehensive scenery... If you want a great LAX then this is it. ______________________________________________________________________ Yes! the KLAX - Los Angeles International by FunnerFight is Available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : KLAX - Los Angeles International Price is US$24.95 Update to v2 from the original version is free, just go to your X-Plane.OrgStore and check your account for the download. Features New version 2.0 includes 750+ Animations! Airport Hotels, carparks, street lighting, and area warehouses KLAX landscaped entry mound, Departure Level and Overpass system. Custom Southern California trees and bushes, including various kinds of palm trees. GroundTraffic with several options; now includes auto traffic with buses, taxis, several taxiing aircraft, airport terminal buses, trucking at Cargo facilities, street traffic, and a full 747F loading animation with airport pilot shuttle, mobile stairs, cargo loader, cargo cart trains, forklifts, mobile light units, and fueling truck and driver. Custom objects to mimic the real airport Over 13000 objects are included in the scene ATC taxi routes and 4 runways with Wind rules. Animated Airport Over 750 Animations, most using GroundTraffic by Marginal. Dozens of gates with Marginal's Safegate Docking System Photo Scenery Airport Close to 20 sq mi of aerial photography High-Definition resolution: 30 cm (1 foot) X-Plane or ortho-texture terminal taxiway option Installation : Download scenery file size is 869.20mb. Installed file size is 2.46gb "KLAX Los Angeles International" being inserted into your X-Plane "Custom Scenery" Folder. But you do have a selection of options in first a download from Jeff Mueller's X-Plane.Org page to be able to download free two items in "Static' aircraft and "Airport Animations" for this scenery, both folders are dropped into the "Custom Scenery" Folder". Other options include in to having "greener grass" and the newer "asphalt" runway and taxiway looks. Optional WorldTraffic (earth nav data) zip, just replace your main KLAX v2 "Earth Nav Data" file with this one, but save the original as well. Earth nav data_WT.zip Requirements : X-Plane 11 or X-Plane 10 Windows, Mac or Linux 2Gb Video Card Minimum. 4GB+ Video Card recommended - 16Gb RAM (don't even dare to try with a 1GB VRAM Card, we warned you) Please read the manual before you start. Download size: 850+MB Current version: 2.0 (last updated June 23rd 2017) ______________________________________________________________________ Update Review by Stephen Dutton 7th July 2017 Copyright©2017: X-Plane Reviews 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
  5. Scenery Review : KLAX - Los Angeles International by FunnerFight From any point in the Pacific Basin the main gateway into the United States is still LAX or Los Angeles International Airport. Other ports that include San Francisco, Seattle and even Portland are too far north and the current favorite in Dallas-Fort Worth is too far inland. So LAX still rules in SoCal. With 655,564 movements (2015) LAX is the third busiest in the United States and seventh in the world, this airport is a busy place. Everybody is very familiar with LAX, mainly because for the last six decades the L.A. Hollywood dream machine has created a lot of television product and the many movies and documentaries have also been produced there including an endless supply of "Aircraft Investigations" So if you fly the North American continent and do a lot of Pacific routes in X-Plane, then LAX is certainly at the hub of your connections, so a very good KLAX in X-Plane is an important addition. FunnerFlight If you have been in X-Plane for a long period you would know that Jeff Mueller (aka joyfulsongster) has provided an earlier KLAX and in fact it was one of the very first detailed LAX's to come to the simulator. So is this an upgrade of that scenery?... well no, this is not a v2 or anything else but a completely new scenery from the ground up and is in no relation to the original KLAX scenery. This brings us to the biggest question on these types of mega city sceneries... framerate. You will find that the total highend quality images that X-PlaneReviews always try to produce are not going to be shown here, they are still of course excellent, but these mega city sceneries create an unusual compromise that is forced onto even the most highend and the most powerful of computer processing power. Any scenery used in say New York, London, Paris and certainly here in Los Angeles where the urban sprawl is significant does take a huge hit on your processing power for not the actual scenery itself, but for the default autogen that has to be processed around it. You certainly want that look of urban wasteland as you arrive or depart your main continental port, but what you want and what you can have is a very different situation until we get even more power and desktop supercomputing at our disposal. As a side note to this. Laminar Research have put in some major efforts this year to make the autogen as efficient as possible, X-Plane11 has been even more refined into this area, so it will be very interesting to see the effects of those refinements once the new version is more stable and functional, my early tests show that X-Plane11 is actually quite good even in this early form... certainly for Laminar Research they want the autogen to far more effective than it was in X-Plane10. So the settings have to come down slightly to get a workable 30fr, and the autogen in the L.A. basin is slightly restricted, and I will repeat that this setting change is not from the frameweight of the actual LAX scenery, but the surrounding autogen but it is a slight compromise. Scenery Installation I usually note the installation of the scenery at the end of a review, but this scenery is interesting in the way you can tailor it to the way you want it to look. The actual KLAX scenery is a simple install, with just one folder "KLAX Los Angeles International" being inserted into your X-Plane "Custom Scenery" Folder. But you do have a selection of options in first a download from Jeff Mueller's X-Plane.Org page to be able to download free two items in "Static' aircraft and "Airport Animations" for this scenery, both folders are dropped into the "Custom Scenery" Folder". Other options included as part of the package are first the option to have "greener grass" and the newer "asphalt" runway and taxiway look, but both these files do go in to your main X-Plane resources folder and will effect every scenery in X-Plane if you use them. Another option is to have the standard (X-Plane) terminal taxiway and ramp textures or use the photo-ortho versions (far more fuzzy and with less anti-aliasing) but real images of the areas. KLAX - LAX Los Angeles LAX is situated in the United States western state of California, and the airport is sited central Los Angeles on the coast. (Google maps®) KLAX - Los Angeles International (IATA: LAX, ICAO: KLAX) 6L/24R - 8,926 (2,721m) Concrete 6R/24L - 10,285 (3,135m) Concrete 7L/25R - 12,091 (3,685m) Concrete 7R/25L - 11,095 (3,382m) Concrete Elevation AMSL128 ft / 39 m First Impressions Arrival to LAX was from the east and as my landing runway was 07R from the west, I flew to the north of the airport to circuit around to land on 07R. Most earlier LAX's had a tendency to be very obvious from the air and in most cases not fitting in well with the surrounding L.A. urban sprawl. But that is not the case here. The scenery boundaries can be seen and the extended beach front does note the front of the scenery on the seashore line, but otherwise this scenery fits in very well with the surrounding X-Plane default areas. The overview image of the airport's boundaries are only highlighted by the noticeable highways not connecting to the default imagery but otherwise the intergration is not too bad. Approach to 07R from the Pacific west shows the how well the scenery is part of the X-Plane world. Viewpoints of the LAX on approach is excellent with great visual eye appeal, and yes you wish all X-Plane beaches look as good as this one does. I have the "Static' aircraft and "Airport Animations" download installed, and the huge amount of static aircraft fills up the airport to capacity with the airlines western maintenance buildings looking very realistic. Taxiways and signage are excellent and the markings are highly detailed as well. So it is easy (even at night) to navigate around this mega airport with ease (an airport diagram helps though). Great visual aspects give you all the terminals, the distinctive control tower and the flying saucer inspired "Theme Building" are all present and very well replicated. There is with the "traffic" animations installed a huge amount of service and airport vehicles running around the whole of the airport's areas, thay are not restricted to just a few inner terminal areas like a lot of developers do, but have the whole scenery covered in one complete alive system. There is a huge amount of ground infrastructure supplied with the scenery and as I pass through the south-east cargo areas they are visually filled with a lot of support to the aircraft and give you a highly realistic look of your arrival or departure. FunnerFlight have used very highly detailed ortho-photographic images and yes the textures are at a high resolution for quality, but once you are on the ground the burnt in images are very noticeable and I am personally not a very big fan of this approach as preferring to have my ramps clean and not create this odd unrealistic illusion. It is the same with the infields as well as they look quite flat and in other areas around the airport as we shall see, they are a conundrum in the fact they do look good from the air, but horrible on the ground. LAX overview Terminals and Central area The central terminal area of LAX is basically a long U shape with the various terminal arms surrounding the outer U. Center is that unusual control tower, here beautifully reproduced and authentic, the old tower is still there as well to the south and the now the "Clifton A. Moore" administration block. Tower view is exceptional with all four runways clear and no obstacles to spoil any view. Runways 24L and 24R are very close for great landing visuals. Next to the control tower is the "Theme Building" now closed except for the odd weekend thanks to 9/11. All Terminals are domestic except for the main new large terminal which is for International. Central area is mostly consists of five large carparks that are attached to the outer terminals. The Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT) (right image) dominates the top of the U. And was only completed for $1.6 billion in September 2013, it is a huge complex in rivaling Heathrow's T5 building. The distinctive semi-sail roofs and the glass wall windows have been very well replicated here and the buildings look very authentic. Nine gates are configured for the A380 (F) but only one in Gate 156 is really usable here for your A380 (but it is a good one). Almost all the major international airlines use TBIT, including British Airways, Qantas, Air France, Cathay Pacific, El-Al, Emirates, Singapore, Lufthansa and most Chinese Airlines. Domestic and North American terminals are split north and south, with north... Three terminals in left to right for Terminals 1, 2 then 3. Terminal 1 is mostly LCC and Southwest. Terminal 2 is interesting because it is an international terminal for Mexico, Canada, China, Hawaii, Italy and New Zealand. Terminal 3 is Frontier, JetBlue, Spirit and Virgin. South Southside there is not only the main American domestic carrier terminals in 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 (left to right) but there are a few stand areas as well. Terminal 4 is American and American Eagle (Qantas uses the facility as well). Terminal 5 is Delta, with Terminals 6, 7 and 8 for United and United Express with Alaska Air. Further east over the Pacific Coast Hwy are two remote terminals for Delta and American Eagle... North-East of the two southern runways (07L/25R - 07R/25L) is a cargo area, more parcel than heavy freight would be my guess with their distribution warehouses. North of these areas and World Way the entrance of LAX, is... nothing! The area on the north side of World Way is dominated by hotels in the Sheraton Gateway, Crown Plaza, Los Angeles Marriott and L.A. Airport Hilton as noted on the above google 3d image, and all you get with this scenery is a complete flat image of nothingness? poor judgement there in not creating these hotel objects as they are significant to most views of the airport as it looks half complete here, and you certainly feel the blank/flatness when landing on 24L and 24R. Note: This "World Way" area has now been completed in the LAX v2.0 version, so the above notes are now not valid, full details are here: KLAX - Los Angeles v2 West The west sections of LAX are dominated by maintenance buildings for Qantas (yes Qantas do have a huge maintenance facility at L.A.) FedEx, American and United. The airport's main fuel depot is also centered here. There are two areas of remote parking in one centre by the United Base and in the far west with the larger "West Remote Gates" (top). South Cargo The southern boundary of LAX is mostly all Cargo facilities. All the big cargo names are here with Lufthansa Cargo, FedEx, DHL, JAL Cargo, Polar, Korean Air Cargo, Singapore Airlines Cargo and Nippon Air Cargo. Qantas Freight is not the cargo operation but only hold carrying as Qantas doesn't run large international cargo operations, it may yet in the future as Qantas has just reentered the domestic market again after using 3rd party operators for a few decades. There are two private jet areas with Signature and Atlantic Aviation represented. South West are all the catering companies with Gate Gourmet, Flying Food and LSG Sky Chiefs providing the onboard feasts. Lighting Lighting is good, but not overly exciting. Runway and taxiway lighting is fine and good for landing and taking off operations... but the main ramp and area lighting are the all same lights, which are quite dull. Central area with "Theme Building" and Control tower are good but one style of lighting is boring. TBIT is okay, but nothing spectacular, glass has been used more creatively than here. Ramp lighting is a great spead, but it is a bit dull down there... overall the lighting is workable, but nothing special. Services LAX is LAX and one of the most major airports in the United States, but also the world with significant services top all point on the Pacific Rim and South America. Highest passenger numbers are mostly west coast with only New York of the east coast destinations in the top ten, Chicago is the best at 3rd and Atlanta at 7th place. London is still overwhelmingly the most preferred overseas destination from LAX, followed by Tokyo then Seoul. Sydney/Melbourne numbers shows distance is still no barrier for today's traveler, but China and the Gulf states are making inroads. Domestic San Francisco, California - 1,834,000 - American, Delta, Southwest, United, Virgin America New York–JFK, New York - 1,655,000 - American, Delta, JetBlue, United, Virgin America Chicago–O'Hare, Illinois - 1,399,000 - American, Frontier, Spirit, United, Virgin America Las Vegas, Nevada - 1,337,000 - American, Delta, Southwest, Spirit, United, Virgin America Seattle/Tacoma, Washington - 1,234,000 - Alaska, American, Delta, Spirit, United, Virgin America Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas - 1,178,000 - American, Delta, Spirit, United Atlanta, Georgia - 1,070,000 - American, Delta, Frontier, Southwest, Spirit Honolulu, Hawaii - 1,070,000 - Allegiant, American, Delta, Hawaiian, United, Virgin America Denver, Colorado - 1,033,000 - American, Delta, Frontier, Spirit, Southwest, United Phoenix–Sky Harbor, Arizona - 904,000 - American, Delta, Southwest, Spirit, United, US Airways International London (Heathrow), United Kingdom1,493,0104 - Air New Zealand, American, British Airways, Delta, United, Virgin Atlantic Tokyo (Narita), Japan - 1,102,1720 - ANA, American, Delta, Japan Airlines, Singapore Airlines, United Seoul (Incheon), South Korea - 1,083,5223 - Asiana, Korean Air, Thai Airways Taipei (Taoyuan), Taiwan946,4264 - China Airlines, EVA Air Sydney, Australia - 934,2158 - American, Delta, Qantas, United, Virgin Australia Vancouver, Canada - 896,49019 - Air Canada, Alaska, American, Delta, United, WestJet Guadalajara, Mexico - 746,0170 - Aeroméxico, Alaska, American, Delta, Interjet, Volaris Mexico City, Mexico - 725,5755 - Aeroméxico, American, United, Volaris Toronto (Pearson), Canada - 619,2272 - Air Canada, American Paris (Charles de Gaulle), France - 579,3112 - Air France, Air Tahiti Nui Hong Kong, Hong Kong - 553,2148 - Cathay Pacific Shanghai (Pudong), China - 512,4564 - American, China Eastern, Delta, United Dubai (International), United Arab Emirates - 486,97513 - Emirates Beijing (Capital), China - 464,8324 - Air China Melbourne, Australia - 445,5253 - Qantas, United Summary Mega airports are always a compromise in simulation, and so it with this very good LAX from FunnerFlight. You can't replicate everything with so much area to cover and that also is a mirror for your framerate as well. In fact this scenery is very good on framerate, but you do have to compromise on the extended default autogen to use it with a bit of headroom to spare. Otherwise it is very good and highly usable scenery. Negatives. With the use of good ortho-photographic textures they can be a huge advantage and disadvantage at the same time, great from the air in the intergration with the default area around the airport but prone to flatness and burnt in images on the ground as they are again a needed compromise that works more for you here than not. But the missing north World Way flattened hotel buildings are a major element of the airport that shows up how the ortho flatness can be a huge distraction in an otherwise well completed scenery... this area needs to fixed with 3d buildings and quickly as it takes away a lot of good points off a good scenery for creating such a blank empty area of the airport.. Lighting is only good to average at best. The airport's infrastructure in buildings and ramp elements are all very good and detailed as is all the excellent animations (including hangar doors). The visual impact of landing at LAX is very complete and as scenery it works very well as LAX is a main connecting segment of any good X-Plane routing network either domestically in the U.S. or Internationally over the Pacific Rim, Canada or Europe. So yes this is a very good LAX from FunnerFlight and a welcome addition into your X-Plane network ______________________________________________________________________ Yes! the KLAX - Los Angeles International by FunnerFight is Available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : KLAX - Los Angeles International Price is US$24.95 Features Custom objects to mimic the real airport Over 13000 objects are included in the scene ATC taxi routes and 4 runways with Wind rules. Animated Airport Over 100 Animations, most using GroundTraffic by Marginal. Dozens of gates with Marginal's Safegate Docking System Photo Scenery Airport Close to 20 sq mi of aerial photography High-Definition resolution: 30 cm (1 foot) X-Plane or ortho-texture terminal taxiway option ______________________________________________________________________ Installation : Download scenery file size is 629.50mb. Installed file size is 1.80gb "KLAX Los Angeles International" being inserted into your X-Plane "Custom Scenery" Folder. But you do have a selection of options in first a download from Jeff Mueller's X-Plane.Org page to be able to download free two items in "Static' aircraft and "Airport Animations" for this scenery, both folders are dropped into the "Custom Scenery" Folder". Other options include in to having "greener grass" and the newer "asphalt" runway and taxiway looks. Documents : Included is a "Quickstart" install and notes on how to install the extra options. Requirements : X-Plane 10.30+ (Any edition) Windows, Mac or Linux 2Gb Video Card Minimum. 3GB+ Video Card recommended - 16Gb RAM Please read the manual before you start. Download size: 600+MB ______________________________________________________________________ Review by Stephen Dutton 3rd December 2016 Copyright©2015: X-Plane Reviews 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 10 Global ver 10.45 Addons: Saitek x52 Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose Soundlink Mini Scenery or Aircraft - Douglas DC-8 by Wilson's Aircraft (X-Plane.OrgStore) - US$25.00
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