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  1. News! - Scenery Upgraded : LXGB - Gibraltar International Airport XP12 by Skyline Simulations Skyline Simulations have upgraded their LXGB Gibraltar scenery to X-Plane 12 (X-Plane 11 is still available). This is an upgrade scenery, but earlier X-Plane 11 Gibraltar purchasers can get this new XP12 version for 25% off. Gibraltar International Airport, previously known as North Front Airport, is the civilian airport that serves the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The runway and aerodrome is owned by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), and operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) as RAF Gibraltar. Civilian operators use the separate civilian-operated terminal. National Air Traffic Services (NATS) hold the contract for provision of air navigation services at the airport. X-PlaneReviews did a full in depth review of the X-Plane 11 release of the LXGB scenery... Scenery Review : LXGB - Gibraltar International Airport by Skyline Simulations Features X-Plane 12 Version UHD Custom Textures using the latest painting techniques Super Detailed 3D modeling Handcrafted solid Rock of Gibraltar with custom night lights and important buildings Animated road traffic crossing the runway for takeoff and landing PBR Materials on buildings XPEco-subsystem XPLCity with Hard surface and lighting system Animated Marshallers Animated Radar Detailed UHD Ground with PBR and decals Ultra High resolution custom orthoimagery for the airport Thousands of 3D custom static objects Accurate Gibraltar area using original imagery and OSM data Amazing and detailed Night Textures Animated cargo boats FPS Friendly Including LXGB Charts Full Ground Traffic To understand Gibraltar is to understand it's extremely important strategic position on the western entrance to the Mediterranean Sea in the pincer shape of the Straits of Gibraltar (also known as the "Pillars of Hercules") that separates the Sea from the Atlantic Ocean, it is also the closest point to the African Continent at 14.3 kilometres (8.9 miles; 7.7 nautical miles) of ocean at the Strait's narrowest point. So Gibraltar is a military base in succession with a supporting commonwealth community. Note the SAM3 Plugin is required for the scenery. ________________ The LXGB - Gibraltar International Airport XP12 by Skyline Simulations is now available from the X-Plane.OrgStore!... Here: LXGB - Gibraltar International Airport XP12 Price is US$20.20 Requirements X-Plane 12 Windows , Mac or Linux 8 GB+ VRAM Recommended Download size: 4.4 GB Current version: XP12 (November 8th 2023) Users of Gibraltar XP11 can get this new XP12 version for 25% off. Coupon code included in the Original Gibraltar XP11 invoice. ________________ News by Stephen Dutton 🎂 9th November 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 Right Reserved.
  2. NEWS! - Airport Upgraded : KSNA - John Wayne International XP12 by Skyline Simulations Orange County Airport was renamed John Wayne Airport on June 20, 1979. Then John Wayne Associates commissioned sculptor Robert Summers to create a bronze statue of "the Duke". The 9-foot (2.7 m) statue, created at Hoka Hey Foundry in Dublin, Texas, was dedicated to the County on November 4, 1982. Today, the bronze statue is in the Thomas F. Riley Terminal on the Arrival Level. Yep! they named an airport after a Cowboy Actor, but this is America after all. They renamed the airport in 1979 in honor of actor John Wayne, who lived in neighboring Newport Beach and he died that year. John Wayne Airport is an international commercial and general aviation airport that serves Orange County, California, and the Greater Los Angeles area. SNA Airport has two runways. The main runway, 2L/20R, at 5,700 feet (1,700 m) in length, is one of the shortest of any major airport in the United States, and passenger jetliners operating from the airport have never been larger than the Boeing 757 (although some larger cargo aircraft fly from SNA, such as the widebody Airbus A300 operated by FedEx). Runway 2R/20L is 2,887 feet (880 m) long and serves general aviation aircraft. No widebody passenger jetliners have ever been operated into SNA in scheduled airline service. This is the upgraded X-Plane 12 release of KSNA - John Wayne International by Skyline Simulations, and it is a paid upgrade, but there is an offer for previous X-Plane 11 purchasers of the scenery as for you can get 33% OFF the upgrade price (US$11.73). Coupon code can be found in the original KSNA Invoice. This is a X-Plane 12 scenery only. Features Include: ➤ UHD custom textures using the latest painting techniques ➤ XPLCity with custom 3D houses ➤ Super-detailed 3D modelling ➤ PBR materials on every building ➤ FSEco-subsystem ➤ Detailed HD ground with PBR and decals ➤ Custom 3D animated vegetation blends with orthophotos ➤ XPEco-subsystem ➤ Ultra-high-resolution custom orthoimagery for the airport ➤ Thousands of 3D custom static objects ➤ Amazing and detailed night textures ➤ Ground traffic Images are courtesy of Skyline Simulations __________________________ Yes! KSNA - John Wayne International XP12 by Skyline Simulations is now Available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : KSNA - John Wayne International XP12 Price Is US$17.50 KSNA - XP11 purchasers can purchase this new X-Plane 12 version for 33% off (US$11.73). Please find the coupon code in the original KSNA XP11 order Requirements: X-Plane 12 (not for XP11) Windows , Mac or Linux 8Gb+ VRAM Recommended Download size: 712 MB Current version: 1.0 (September 20 2023) ___________________________ News by Stephen Dutton 22nd September 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 : Skyline Simulations release CYTZ - Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport XP12 Skyline Simulations have released the foreshore airport of Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport in downtown Toronto, Canada. Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport is a regional airport located on the Toronto Islands in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is often referred to as Toronto Island Airport and was previously known as Port George VI Island Airport and Toronto City Centre Airport. The airport's name honours Billy Bishop, the Canadian World War I flying ace and World War II Air Marshal. It is used by civil aviation, air ambulances, and regional airlines using turboprop planes. In 2022, it was ranked Canada's ninth-busiest airport. This CYTZ scenery is still available for X-Plane 11, but here is the X-Plane 12 refined version, with not only higher UHD Custom Textures, but X-Plane 12 weather and season effects as well, of which are a great benefit if flying in Canada. And the famous CN Tower and city of Toronto is modeled here as well. Notable is that purchasers CYTZ - XP11 can purchase this new X-Plane 12 version for 45% off. Please find the coupon code in the original CYTZ XP11 order, a huge savings! Features: UHD Custom Textures using the latest painting techniques Super Detailed 3D modeling PBR Materials XPEco-subsystem XPLCity with Hard surface and Heli fields Animated CN Tower Colors Animated Hangar Doors Animated Marshallers Animated air-conditioning fans Animated Radar Ground reflections and decals Custom 3D Grass and vegetations blends with orthophotos Ultra High resolution custom orthoimagery for the airport and the city of Toronto more than 7 Km coverage Hundreds of 3D custom static objects Accurate Toronto City area using original Canadian photos and OSM data! Custom Hotels, high rise Buildings the famous CN Tower and the whole city of Toronto Night Textures FPS Friendly Including CYTZ Charts Ground Traffic The airport is located on the Toronto Islands, south-west of Downtown Toronto. The airport has one main east–west runway, a shorter runway 20 degrees off, and a seaplane base, Billy Bishop Toronto City Water Aerodrome. The airport is used for regional airline service and for general aviation, including medical evacuation flights (due to its proximity to downtown hospitals), small charter flights, and private aviation. Under its operating agreement, jet aircraft are banned from the airport, with the exception of MEDEVAC flights. There is one passenger terminal at the airport, built in 2010. Images are courtesy of Skyline Simulations __________________________ Yes! CYTZ - Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport XP12 by Skyline Simulations is now Available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : CYTZ - Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport XP12 Price Is US$25.95 CYTZ - XP11 purchasers can purchase this new X-Plane 12 version for 45% off. Please find the coupon code in the original CYTZ XP11 order Requirements: X-Plane 12 (not for XP11) Windows, Mac or Linux 8 GB+ VRAM Video Card Current version : 1.0 (July 16th 2023 Download size: 1.2Gb ___________________________ News by Stephen Dutton 17th July 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. NEWS! - Scenery Release : KLGB Long Beach Airport XP12 by Skyline Simulations Located near the border between Los Angeles County and Orange County, Long Beach Airport serves the Los Angeles MSA. Due to its close proximity to the busier and larger LAX 20 miles away, LGB airport sees more domestic commercial passenger, cargo, military, and general aviation activity. Long Beach Airport is a public airport three miles northeast of downtown Long Beach, in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is known as Daugherty Field, named after local aviator Earl Daugherty. The airport's placement near many residential areas has led to it having one of the country's strictest ordinances limiting airport noise. The Boeing Company (formerly McDonnell Douglas) maintains maintenance facilities for Boeing and McDonnell Douglas/Douglas aircraft (including the historic DC-9 and DC-10 aircraft) near the Long Beach Airport, and produced the C-17 through 2015. Skyline Simulation are now a long term X-Plane scenery developer, but also known for their introduction of the SAM Plugin, for aircraft interactive gate parking and services. Known for the excellent Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (KCVG), Billy Bishop City Airport CYTZ (Toronto), John Wayne Airport - KSNA and the oddly distant LXGB - Gibraltar, they are a forthright scenery developer for the X-Plane Simulator. Featured in this Long Beach scenery is the Boeing Company with its massive maintenance facilities for Boeing and McDonnell Douglas aircraft, the famous Walter Pyramid and the industrial area during approach with the thousands of hand-placed objects. Full feature set includes; ➤ for X-Plane 12 ➤ UHD custom textures using the latest painting techniques ➤ Designed with the latest airport updates ➤ Super-detailed 3D modelling ➤ PBR materials on every building ➤ FSEco-subsystem ➤ Animated radar ➤ Detailed HD ground with PBR and decals ➤ Custom 3D vegetation blends with orthophotos ➤ HD-resolution orthoimagery for the airport and surroundings ➤ Ultra-high-resolution custom orthoimagery for the airport ➤ Thousands of 3D custom static objects ➤ Accurate island and cities using original OSM data ➤ High resolution buildings, industrial area and buildings of interest such as Walter Pyramid ➤ Amazing and detailed island night textures ➤ Ground traffic For purchasers of KLGB XP11, they can get this new XP12 version for US$11.69. See your X-Plane.OrgStore account for the discount coupon. _________________ Yes! - KLGB Long Beach Airport XP12 by Skyline Simulations is NOW available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : KLGB Long Beach Airport XP12 Price is US$20.30 Requirements X-Plane 12 (not for XP11) Windows , Mac or Linux 4GB VRAM Minimum. 8GB+ VRAM Recommended Download size: 1.8 GB Current version: 1.0 (June 9th 2023) ___________________________ News by Stephen Dutton 10th June 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
  5. NEWS! - Scenery Released : KAST - Astoria Regional Airport, Oregon by Skyline Simulations KAST Astoria Regional Airport for X-Plane is a civil and military airport in Warrenton Astoria (Oregon). The airport is owned by the Port of Astoria and is the home of Coast Guard Air Station Astoria. Astoria Regional airport has no airline flights. Flights to Portland International Airport were most recently provided by SeaPort Airlines from March 2008 until Spring of 2010. Until 1974-75 Astoria also had flights on West Coast Airlines and its successors. Astoria Regional Airport covers 870 acres (352 ha) at an elevation of 15 feet (5 m). It has two asphalt runways: 8/26 is 5,795 by 100 feet (1,766 x 30 m) and 14/32 is 4,996 by 100 feet (1,523 x 30 m). In 2010 the airport had 38,721 aircraft operations, average 106 per day: 60% general aviation, 36% military, and 4% air taxi. 48 aircraft were then based at the airport: 79% single-engine, 6% multi-engine, 4% helicopter, 4% ultralight, and 6% military. The airport houses a United States Coast Guard station with service and controls for three HH-60 helicopters and three motor life boat rescue stations located on the Oregon and Washington coasts. Features: Designed with the latest airport updates UHD Realistic Custom Textures Detailed HD Ground with PBR and decals Landmarks. Bridge, Column, Super Detailed 3D modeling PBR Materials on every building Thousands of 3D custom static objects Amazing and detailed night textures FSEco-subsystem Accurate City using original OSM data Ground Traffic Airport data: Runway Material Asphalt Runway 8/26 Length 5,795 feet Runway 14/32 Length 4,996 feet Service Civil - Military Airport Type Public __________________ Images are courtesy of Skyline Simulations KAST - Astoria Regional Airport, Oregon is now available from the X-Plane.OrgStore, for US$20! _____________________ Yes! KAST - Astoria Regional Airport, Oregon by Skyline Simulations is currently available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : KAST - Astoria Regional Airport, Oregon Price is US$20.00 Requirements X-Plane 11 Windows , Mac or Linux 4 GB VRAM Minimum. 8GB+ VRAM Recommended Download size: 3.3 GB Current version: 1.0 (May 16th 2022) ________________ News by Stephen Dutton 17th May 2022 Copyright©2022: 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 Right Reserved.
  6. Scenery Review : LXGB - Gibraltar International Airport by Skyline Simulations Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory that is located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula. It has an area of 6.7 km2 (2.6 sq mi) and is bordered to the north by Spain. The landscape is dominated by the Rock of Gibraltar at the foot of which is a densely populated town area, which home to over 32,000 people, primarily Gibraltarians. In 1462 Gibraltar was captured by Juan Alonso de Guzmán, 1st Duke of Medina Sidonia, from the Emirate of Granada and then switched back and too until In 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession, that a combined Anglo-Dutch fleet, representing the Grand Alliance, captured the town of Gibraltar on behalf of the Archduke Charles of Austria in his campaign to become King of Spain. As the Alliance's campaign faltered, the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht was negotiated, which ceded control of Gibraltar to the United Kingdom to secure Britain's withdrawal from the war. There was more unsuccessful attempts by Spanish monarchs to regain Gibraltar were made with the siege of 1727, and again with the Great Siege of Gibraltar (1779 to 1783), during the American War of Independence and the territory has been in constant dispute by the Spanish ever since. To understand Gibraltar is to understand it's extremely important strategic position on the western entrance to the Mediterranean Sea in the pincer shape of the Straits of Gibraltar (also known as the "Pillars of Hercules") that separates the Sea from the Atlantic Ocean, it is also the closest point to the African Continent at 14.3 kilometres (8.9 miles; 7.7 nautical miles) of ocean at the Strait's narrowest point. So Gibraltar is a military base in succession with a supporting commonwealth community. Skyline Simulations are more well known as the creators of the SAM (Scenery Animation Manager) Suite of tools with seasons and other clever plugin addons. But they do scenery as well with the excellent Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (KCVG), Billy Bishop City Airport CYTZ (Toronto), KLGB – Long Beach Airport and John Wayne Airport - KSNA... I reviewed their MKJS – Montego Bay Jamaica in co-operation with LatinVFR but I wasn't that impressed. Gibraltar First of all the install is quite complex in that Skyline use the dreaded RAR compression file format, and worse every folder is in a separate RAR folder and all have to be un(RAPT!) or unzipped into working file folders. That said there are three main folders with the main scenery folder (Skyline Simulations LXGB Gibraltar), Ortho4XP (yOrtho4XP_Overlays) and the Main mesh (zSkylineLXGBMesh) and the folders are to be set in this load order and that the mMain mesh is set below all the other LXGB files. There is another Ortho4XP "Patch" folder if you want to use another custom Ortho4XP mesh. The full installation is a very heavy 10.51Gb! First impressions are very good, however I quickly picked up the repetitive pattern in the main east facing wall of the "Rock", it is highly, highly noticeable on the 27 approach... ... close up the formations are not as bad and even look quite good, but you still tend to look for the patterns in the rock and you can easily find them. Sadly I have been looking at the glorious mountain work of Frank Dainese and Fabio Bellini over the last six months with their Dolomite sceneries. To be fair you can't expect that sort of skill here, but it does show up the older style to the more expert work, maybe Skyline should exported this area to Dainese and Bellini to get a more accurate realistic representation of the rock face? The underlying mesh is very Low Resolution and not colour corrected, and that aspect is also noticeable, and you see far too much of the mesh in a poor focus, and the trees are also very cheap and 2d. Too harsh, maybe, because in context the "Rock" is not overall that bad as it should be and from certain aspects it looks very good as in the classic postcard views.... The shape of the "Rock" is also very good, and you get that realism of the area correctly, also really well done is the cable car, and it is fully animated as well. No monkeys though... the Barbary macaque population in Gibraltar is the only wild monkey population on the European continent, and known locally as Barbary apes or rock apes. The most popular troop is that of Queen's Gate at the Ape's Den, where people can get especially close to the monkeys. They will often approach and sometimes climb onto people, as they are used to human interaction. Nevertheless, they are still wild animals and will bite if frightened or annoyed. A popular belief holds that, as long as Gibraltar Barbary macaques exist on Gibraltar, the territory will remain under British rule. In 1942 (during World War II), after the population dwindled to just a handful of individuals (just seven monkeys), British Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered their numbers be replenished immediately from forest fragments in both Morocco and Algeria because of this traditional belief. The peak radar tower is there, but the images show that it sits higher and is more visible than shown here. The 8th century Moorish tower is there (which was the Gibraltar Prison until 2010) and so is the Princess Anne's Battery of four guns overlooking the airport. The Europa Point Lighthouse is visible, but the huge King Fahad Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Mosques with a massive minaret is missing that was set behind, and it is an important VFR reference on transversing the straits LXGB - Gibraltar International Airport You only get one tight runway here at Gibraltar with RWY 08/27 creating the border between Gibraltar and Spain... Gibraltar International Airport North Front Airport IATA: GIB - ICAO: LXGB 09/27 - 1,777m (5,830ft) Asphalt Elevation AMSL 15 ft / 5 m .... which consequently the runway has to be closed every time a plane lands or departs. LXGB is noted as one of the "Most Extreme Airports" and is ranked the airport the fifth most extreme airport in the world, as the approach is heavily exposed to strong cross winds around the rock and from across the Bay of Algeciras combined with a very short runway, and so making landings in winter particularly uncomfortable. The old terminal at the airport was built in 1959 and refurbished in the late 1990s, and for many years it had been too small to cope with the number of passengers when two flights were scheduled to arrive/depart within a short space of time. Permission was announced in 2007 for the construction of a new terminal beginning in 2009 and it was completed in 2011. The new terminal is 35,000 m2 (380,000 sq ft), which is 15,000 m2 (160,000 sq ft) bigger than the old terminal. It has two baggage carousels and three departure gates, none of which are equipped with airbridges and only has five stands. It has a passenger capacity of up to 1.5 million passengers per year. The old terminal building was then demolished in February 2014. Skyline's modeling of the new terminal is excellent, it feels modern and the detailing is very well done. Glass is see-through and could have used a bit more tint as it looks a little too open and that no glass is visible, but otherwise it is a very if perfect rendition of the building. Internal detailing is available as well, and although Lo-Res the internal detail is very good and totally walk-through from landside to airside. Passengers are also thankfully social-distancing and greeting each other elbows out, as per current health regulations... so all is currently correct. Ramps are actually really nice and great to use, you would think space here would be tight but it isn't, note the General Aviation parking area front. As this is a Skyline Simulations scenery, then their SAM (Scenery Animation Manager) is going to be represented. And as there are no airbridges you only get a Marshaller and a Visual Docking Guidance System (VDGS) set behind each stand. Control Tower is sensational... Opened in 1939 it is still a real working military style control tower, and reproduced here in great detail, the facility also has a built in Fire Station. Glass here is perfect (so why not on the terminal?) and the spiral staircase rear is excellent. Even better is the tower view which is set inside the tower correctly... views out at the ramps and approaches are fabulous, even if one of the map's is the wrong way around... One distinctive elements of the Gibraltar airport is the traffic that crosses the runway from Spain into Gibraltar.... 6 minutes are required to close the runway for aircraft activity, and the usual closure time is for 10 minutes and so that makes for a slow journey into or out of Gibraltar. Skyline have created an authentic animation in that move the aircraft onto the runway or fly into the approach and the lights will go red and barriers will come down and the traffic will stop... clever. To note there is no ILS here (another aspect of extreme airport conditions). There is being built a new runway tunnel to reduce these delays and tailbacks caused by aircraft taking off and landing. Construction of the new road was due to begin in January 2008 and be completed by the beginning of 2009, but as of 2016 it still remained incomplete. Although the road across the runway is to remain in place, for exceptional, specific, or emergency use, it will not be available for routine day-to-day use by private vehicular traffic. Pedestrians will not be required to travel via the new road/tunnel, and will continue to cross the runway at the present location. This construction phase is also shown at the threshold of RWY 27 RAF Gibraltar It was originally only an emergency airfield for the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. But Gibraltar's position would make for a presence here. On 25 September 1939, No. 200 (Coastal) Group RAF was formed as a subordinate formation to HQ RAF Mediterranean in control of No. 202 Squadron RAF. The Group's function was the control of Royal Air Force units operating from Gibraltar. In late 1940 the Group was transferred to Coastal Command. Later a joint RN/RAF Area Combined Headquarters was formed which commenced operations in early 1942. The airfield played a major part in Operation Torch, the Anglo-American invasion of French North Africa (French colonial possessions in Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco) in November 1942. On 29 May 1945 the Area Combined Headquarters was shut down and most of the personnel sent home.... The station officially became "RAF Gibraltar" in 1966. The RAF camp, now known as "Devil's Tower Camp", which was increasingly used by the British Army in the 1960s and 1970s, became the home of the Royal Gibraltar Regiment. By the 1980s RAF Gibraltar was increasingly still being used as a Forward Operating Base for middle east operations. The new RAF headquarters in Gibraltar was officially opened in February 2011. The area is split into two zones, the main barracks, administration and the single RAF ramp. The buildings are nicely done, but the area is dominated by the parade ground/football field. The area of interest is the RAF Gibraltar ramp, and it is well done here... if a bit small. The two zones are separated by a huge graveyard called the North Front Cemetery. Which is quite creepily accurate. Gibraltar The town itself is now more high-rise buildings than a colonial outpost it once used to be. Oddly the old town is not Spanish or English in style but Italian by a certain Giovanni Maria Boschetti, who arrived in Gibraltar in 1784 as a 25-year-old from Milan, where he is thought to have been a stonemason or engineer, he built the Victualling Yard (completed in 1812) and many other buildings to create the township, Gibraltar is named after the "Mount of Tariq" (named after the 8th century Moorish military leader Tariq ibn Ziyad). Most of the buildings are really generic and there is no really town centre? Most of the old town is just a Lo-Res flat ortho-texture? and there are also few other blank flat areas within the Gibraltar area. So this scenery is not a real detailed representation of the township. The important "Port of Gibraltar" is very well done with some very nice detailed ships in port, there are a few marinas like the new Mid Harbours Small Boat Marina set out within the main Gibraltar harbour and one large marina the Spanish side. A few of the ships (and boats) are animated, so slowly creep around the Bay of Gibraltar or Bahía de Algeciras. The huge Port Algeciras is also repesented across the Bahía de Algeciras, it is a basic layout of the port, but a required visual filler for approaches to RWY 09 Spain La Línea de la Concepción is the Spanish city set behind north of Gibraltar, and Skyline have used the X-Plane autogen with their own custom buildings to create a very realistic city scenario. As a realistic representation it is extremely good and even to VFR standards with the OpenStreetMap layouts. This custom autogen is combined with the urban industrial default autogen and I am also is running the ShortFinal's Global SFD plugin that changes the default autogen housing into Spanish designs... put the three autogen elements together and you get a very wide scope of autogen set completely around the Bahía de Algeciras with the city of Algeciras also incorporated into this very large represented area. Ground Texures Airport runway, taxiway and ramp textures are excellent. Nice detail and has great grunge, oil and rubber dirt in all areas, I particularly liked the heavier landing rubber marks and there is no grass here as the whole area is covered. Burnt-in ambient occlusion effects are also present. Lighting Overall the lighting is excellent, there are no approach lighting systems to guide you into runway 09/27, but it is well lit. Any arrival at LXGB in the dawn or dusk is always going to be spectacular, it is very, very dynamic in lighting visually. Terminal and ramp lighting is excellent, and I get a sort of mini Hong Kong feel standing here with the lit high-rise buildings in the background... Surrounding Gibraltar is a little hit and miss, it looks really good, but the custom autogen locks out the street lighting so most custom autogen areas are darker, the lighting pops up here and there, but overall all it works. Old town Gibraltar is actually quite good as is the lit High-Rise buildings, but the highlight of the scenery is that extraordinary lighting on the "Rock" face, the rock face lighting towers over and dominates the scenery. Summary Some scenery puts you into two very separate places, and the Skyline Simulations representation of Gibraltar really does that. On the one hand it is extremely well done scenery of this significant British Overseas Territory that is located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula. On the other hand a few areas are wanting... the line here is somewhere in the middle. The scenery has a full reproduction of the famous "Rock" of Gibraltar on the Straits of Gibraltar. But the design of the peninsula and the famous rock face is a bit average with repetitive patterns, certainly at a distance but thankfully okay to fine close up, the situation is not helped by using very low-resolution non-colour graded orthophoto mesh on the terrain and under the scenery, thankfully the peninsula's proportions and shape is excellent. In areas the flatness of the orthophoto comes through and the significant old town of Gibraltar is not represented. To counter this is the excellent reproduction of Gibraltar's only airport in LXGB. The new terminal is really good with great external modeling and a fully represented internal detailing. RAF control tower is also excellent and the famous "Cross runway traffic" is animated and also animated to stop flowing when you use the runway... excellent Spanish autogen that covers the whole Gibraltar bay to the port of Algeciras is also very well represented in the scenery. Lighting is also very, very good as are the very good ground textures. So the scenery comes down to the experience of using LXGB and in that aspect it delivers a big simulation of realism. The airport has one of the most challenging runways in the world, and there is no ILS either to hold your hand, so this is virtually a carrier landing with a big jet, visually it works extremely well as well (as long as you don't look too hard hard at the Rock on the eastern approach), but twilight and dawn arrival and departures are quite simply sensational... so overall the benefits totally out weigh the negatives, this is absolutely a great scenery to add into your collection and routings... _____________________________________ Yes! LXGB - Gibraltar International Airport by Skyline Simulations is now available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : LXGB - Gibraltar International Airport Price is US$23.90 Features: UHD Custom Textures using the latest painting techniques Super Detailed 3D modeling Handcrafted solid Rock of Gibraltar with custom night lights and important buildings Animated road traffic crossing the runway for takeoff and landing PBR Materials on buildings XPEco-subsystem XPLCity with Hard surface and lighting system Animated Marshallers Animated Radar Detailed UHD Ground with PBR and decals Ultra High resolution custom orthoimagery for the airport Thousands of 3D custom static objects Accurate Gibraltar area using original imagery and OSM data Amazing and detailed Night Textures Animated cargo boats FPS Friendly Including LXGB Charts Full Ground Traffic WT3: WorldTraffic GroundRoutes are not provided but Traffic Global operates perfectly with limited traffic. Requirements: X-Plane 11 Windows , Mac or Linux 4GB VRAM Minimum. 8GB+ VRAM Recommended Download size: 7 GB Current and Review version: 1.0 (September 18th 2020) Installation Download scenery files required are in one very large RAR 7z folder download 6.45Gb Three RAR 7z folders then have to be uncompressed into the three folders below and placed in the correct order below in your .INI list Skyline Simulations LXGB Gibraltar (8.20Gb) yOrtho4XP_Overlays (5.56Mb) zSkylineLXGBMesh (1.76Gb) Total scenery install is: 10.51 Gb There is another Ortho4XP "Patch" folder if you want to use another custom Ortho4XP mesh. SAM Plugin - Scenery Animation Manager - Suite 2.0 is required for this scenery ShortFinal Global SFD plugin is highly recommended with this scenery. Documents One extensive manual in English with notes (8 pages) and Charts Gibraltar International Airport Manual.pdf _____________________________________________________________________ Scenery Review by Stephen Dutton 23rd September 2020 Copyright©2020 : X-Plane Reviews (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions) Review System Specifications: Computer System: Windows - Intel Core i7 6700K CPU 4.00GHz / 64bit - 32 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8Gb - Samsung Evo 1Tb SSD Software: - Windows 10 - X-Plane v11.50 Addons: Saitek x52 Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose Soundlink Mini  Plugins: Traffic Global - JustFlight-Traffic (X-Plane.OrgStore) US$52.99 : Global SFD plugin US$30.00 : Scenery Animation Manager - Suite 2.0 - Free Scenery or Aircraft - Default Boeing 737-800 by Laminar Research
  7. Airport Review : MKJS Sangster International Airport (MBJ) - Montego Bay, Jamaica by LatinVFR/Skyline Simulations This Jamaican scenery is a collaboration between LatinVFR who are a Flight Simulator scenery development house and Skyline Simulations for X-Plane11(Ex-Icarius). The original scenery was released by LatinVFR for FSX and FS2004 in 2010 and it includes 200sq Kilometers of photo scenery that includes the entire area of North West Jamaica. There has always been a business in converting Flight Simulator Scenery to X-Plane, but like with Aerosoft the quality can range from the excellent to the dire other extreme. Mostly if the original host scenery is very good or even not that old, the conversion can still be a very good one, but in most cases here it is the X-Plane conversion specialist that can make or break the end result. X-Plane scenery in design is quite different from the style of Flight Simulator, but it is always the 3d modeling quality as if it is as good it can still look the same in both simulator environments and give you a quality scenery. Jamaica is situated almost centrally situated in the Caribbean Sea. The Island spans 10,990 square kilometres (4,240 sq mi) in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the fourth-largest island country in the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about 145 kilometres (90 mi) south of Cuba, and 191 kilometres (119 mi) west of Hispaniola (the island containing the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic). (Google Maps) Kingston is the Southern Island's capital, but in it is on the north coast that has had the Island's biggest impact, think Bob Marley, Ganja (Cannabis) and James Bond. Personally I always liked Jimmy Cliff far more the Bob Marley and you know it wasn't going to end well, and it didn't for Bob. Ganja created a way of life in Jamaica that you could say created a very laidback lifestyle and great music, but it also brought huge crime and poor living conditions as well. Ian Fleming was a very complicated person, but his move to Saint Mary's Parish (Port Maria) and to an old donkey racetrack created a modern icon, as here he created "Goldeneye" and here he would write one James Bond novel a year for the rest of his life that made him and the island famous. He loathed being poor? Felt very put upon in life and died a sad person in 1964, He desperately wanted the rich and the finer things in life and in reality delivered far more though his alter ego James Bond and that included an airport named after him that has been built close by (MKBS). There are many clues around this area of Oracabessa bay that are littered thoughout the novels, Crab Key Beach is one... but in which book and movie? MKJS Sangster International Airport (MBJ) Sangster International Airport (IATA: MBJ, ICAO: MKJS) is an international airport located 3 mi (4.8 km) east of Montego Bay, Jamaica. The airport is capable of handling nine million passengers per year. It serves as the most popular airport for tourists visiting the north coast of Jamaica. The airport is named after former Jamaican Prime Minister Sir Donald Sangster. Originally named the Montego Bay Airport, a decision was made to build the runway in 1940, and the actual construction of the facility was completed on 18 February 1947. At the time of its completion, the town of Montego Bay was more like a playground for the rich and famous, and was considered then, one of the premier vacation spots within the Caribbean, just as it is today. The original terminal was built and opened on 7 July 1959, with a capacity to accommodate 500 passengers per hour, and parking for seven aircraft at a time. The new eastern concourse of the Sangster International Airport (SIA) was officially opened in December 2005. The current airport has a flow of 4,284,558 passengers a year and 41,263 aircraft movements (2017). Sangster International Airport (IATA: MBJ, ICAO: MKJS) 07/25 2,653m (8,704ft) Asphalt Elevation AMSL 4 ft / 1 m MKJS, Montego Bay Airport by LatinVFR/Skyline Simulations In 2018 there has suddenly been a profusion of tropical scenery with lovely coral and sandbank colour. Think FlyCorfu XP from FlyTampa! and TNCM - Sint Maarten by AWD, and it feels that X-Plane is trying very hard to make up time in this scenery area, again it the same here at Montego Bay as these lovely photo scenery mesh textures do as noted cover 200sq Kilometers of a significant part of the island. The coverage is extensive and on arrival it gives you a great feel of the playboy (playperson?) era that Montego Bay is famous for. From the air viewpoint aspect then the area looks excellent. Runway 07/25 taxiway, ramp textures are also excellent, very realistic with 3d grass popping up through the mainly beachy environment. Runway and taxiway signage is basic, but so is the airport's layout... RWY 07's approach has over water approach lighting which is very good, the only note is that in parts of the water you can see boat (white) shadows that should have been removed. The approach to RWY07 is interesting... you are warned of high ground on all charts and approach notes and hence the approach chart above. So flying in blind (the first time) you can still be caught out off guard, as the areas height is actually not that high, high, but it is where it is on the approach that makes it dangerous, the ground is lower at first but then there is a higher range just before you head over Montego Bay, so your aim is to go lower, when really you need to hold your altitude at 4600ft (say 5000ft) until you clear this final range and if you are lower at 3000ft it is a still possible but you will have to try to block out the constant "terrain, terrain" warnings, so a minimum of 4000ft is the goal. Once over the coastal line you have to of course drop quickly to land on the runway, a few goes and it is easy, and a low approach speed helps in giving you more space to lose the altitude. Terminals There are two terminals that are connected with the older longer terminal is noted as domestic (original terminal) and the larger (left) terminal as the International. This scenery is eight years old and that aspect has to be always taken into consideration. The Domestic arm has six airbridges (1...7) and is a low single story building with the airport's control tower mid-way on the building. Overall the detailing is not too bad, I like the original central green roofing and there is a lot of items like air-conditioners also on the roof, windows (although small) are reflective. Tower view is not set? It is set somewhere on the west ramp? There are active gates on all terminals, but they are not that effective to use? You park very close to terminal wall? and to see the guidance marshall I had to stand up in my pilots seat (view higher) to see down him to park? When parked the gate arms actually move inwards to fit to your aircraft door? and many a marshall are buried into the actual terminal building (left)? So the airbridges are not placed correctly. There are no service vehicles or aircraft service equipment on the ramps either, so it quite empty out there... There is animated vehicle traffic that does work around the terminals, but they have a habit of queuing up for long periods of time and they don't run within their lane (left side) either. International Terminal is quite good as well (considering its age) with nice different textures for different building materials. Eleven gates with airbridges covered are (8...19). There is a large parking and cargo ramp to the west, but this is not a very large sort of cargo hub, but ideal for say the B757 size of freighter. Ramp parking is noted as all one's with 1A...1F with 1C and 1D as the cargo stands. And there are a few support vehicles sitting around the cargo area. Landside is quite simply poor to really average... flat blurry textures with a few 3d vehicles on top? no real detailing at all, and even a few trees thrown in here would break up the blandness.... you really wanted far better than this for a payware, even freeware. And this brings us to the overall problem with this scenery. Is this a conversion or just put in the FSX components and see what do we actually have? Obviously the textures are not adjusted colour wise to the X-Plane colouring aspect, as they are too light in contrast, this is also highlighted a lot by the same high contrast trees, and obviously again the trees have come straight from the FSX scenery... There is a tool called.... "Photoshop" and it is very good for doing changes to textures and to at least match up the trees to the X-Plane native colouring trees that here stand out like a game you can count with, in many areas the trees are missing altogether and then they are not edited either as they cover roads and traffic passes through the not only the trees but mid-road power poles as well? There are a few nice FSX style apartment buildings, but again they cover roads and to a point the building on the road here doesn't actually exist? There are a few sailboats (catamarans) as well but most are upended, or half sticking out of the water? The oil terminal is there across Montego Bay, but the port is empty with no ship or wharf. There are also a lot of "Floaters" or buildings and items that float in the scenery... ... or the opposite in buildings being buried in the sand. So maybe the "runways follow terrain contours" has to be off, but nope as then the terminal itself will then float. Lighting The scenery's lighting is not that imaginative either... it is overall quite dark with one dull tone of lighting for the whole scenery... lighting barely covers the ramp working area, but the approach and taxiway lighting is done to the rules. The terminal window night lighting is quite effective, but as expected the landside is very dark. WT3 There are built in ATC routes with this MKJS scenery, and for the native A.I. Aircraft and X-Life it works fine, but the generated WT3 routes don't work, they do on taking off and landing, but the action stays on the runway and there is no aircraft terminal placement either? The ground routes by ysfsim for MKJS do work fine in all areas as they are in this review, but aircraft sit through buildings and taxi on the grass because the ground routes are not aligned for this scenery, but they are better than nothing at all... Summary We accept the fact that the original scenery which is the base of this X-Plane version was created for Flight Simulator and that also it is also eight years old, and that such scenery for X-Plane has always been converted to our simulator and will again be in the future. And so the basis of the scenery is actually quite good, with excellent water textures (and a lot of them) and all of the airport's runway, taxiway and ramp surface textures are very good as well. The terminals are not as detailed like we mostly get today in X-Plane but they are serviceable and in fact they are fine as a basis of the airport. But overall the scenery is average, the really annoying thing is that didn't have to be as the basics are all in there and could have been used here too their full advantage. So the full blame here rests firmly on the scenery converter to X-Plane. The scenery textures don't match up (in the trees and ground textures), Airbridge gates are not placed correctly (neither is the aircraft parking park position in being too close to the terminal), Landside area is well... average to crap, buildings float or are placed were there is none and it looks like the Jamacians are really terrible sailors as they can't keep their boats upright? WT3 also doesn't convert very well and the night lighting is average to poor. The missed trick here is that X-Plane gives you all the tools to cover and fix most of these areas, of course with a bit of needed imagination and skill and that is severely lacking here. And a lot of the great freeware developers are actually on the wrong side of the tracks here as what would of say tdg done with this scenery with his placement skills and yes Photoshop is still a great tool for adjusting things like colour and contrast. As I said the basics for a very good scenery are all still in here and Jamaica is a great destination, but overall this MKJS is an average scenery that deserves better and could have been and should have been far better than what is delivered here. ______________________________________________________________________ The MKJS Sangster International Airport (MBJ) - Montego Bay, Jamaica by LatinVFR/Skyline Simulations scenery is Available now from the X-Plane.Org Store here : MKJS - Montego Bay Jamaica Price Is US$19.95 Noted Features: Animated Airport Animated Jetways Ground Traffic in whole airport for G.Aviation and Commercial services Detailed Airport MKJS (MBJ) airport with all its buildings done with accurate detail PBR Materials Ground reflections Surroundings extremely detailed, resorts and hotels exactly placed and created in the area near the airport More than 200sq Kilometers of photo scenery with thousands of hands placed custom autogen High resolution ground textures for runways, taxiways, apron etc Revised land classes for surrounding photo scenery.? Inclusion of manual in PDF format Inclusion of charts and maps. Vehicle and boats Excellent frame rates Excellent HDR night lighting with custom Billboard light Dozens of custom apron objects (containers, vehicles, etc) Fully AI traffic and ground traffic Much more Requirements X-Plane 11 Windows , Mac or Linux 2Gb VRAM Minimum. 4Gb+ VRAM Recommended Download size: 820Mb Current version: 1.0 (released Dec 22nd 2017) Installation Download scenery file size is 621mb. With the full installation installed package is 1.25gb in your custom scenery folder. Working if not aligned ground routes for MKJS by ysfsim: KJS and MKJP Ground Routes World Traffic 3 Documents LatinVFR_Manual_MKJS.pdf (original FSX Manual) MKJSDIAGRAM (Airport Layout Chart) LatinVFR_Manual_MKJS_XPlane ______________________________________________________________________ Scenery Review by Stephen Dutton 20th April 2018 Copyright©2018 : 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 - ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8Gb - Samsung Evo 512gb SSD Software: - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11.20 Addons: Saitek x56 Rhino Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose Soundlink Mini Plugins: Environment Engine by xEnviro US$69.90 : XPRealistic Pro v1.0.9 effects US$19.95 : WorldTraffic 3.0 Plugin - US$29.95 Scenery or Aircraft - ToLiSS319 (A319) by ToLiSS (X-Plane.OrgStore) - US$69.00
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