AVSIM Commercial Scenery Review Los Angeles Int'l Airport Scenery Package for FS2002

Approaching Terminal-One from World Way North.

When looking at the awesome size of Los Angeles International Airport it is hard to believe that it was once a Mexican Rancho. In 1837 Juan Alvarado, governor of Mexico's province Alta California, granted the land to to Antonio Ygnacio as part of a large Mexican land grant called the Rancho Sausal Redondo. During the time following the acquisition of California by the United States, the Rancho changed hands a numerous times, eventually being acquired by Daniel Freeman, a wealthy Canadian lawyer, in 1873. Freeman used the land to raise sheep and eventually turned to dry farming barley.

The 1920s saw the attraction of pioneer aviators to the Rancho. The aviators used a portion of the property as a makeshift landing strip. The popularity of this landing strip grew as people were coming from all around to see the flying machines. In 1927 Municipal Judge Frank D. Parent; Harry Culver, a real estate promoter; and George Cleaver, an oil developer, campaigned to develop the landing strip into a major airport. With the interest of City of Los Angeles and real estate agent William Mines, their efforts were successful and by 1928 Mines Field was establish where KLAX now stands.

Other important milestones in KLAX's history include:

• June 7, 1930 - Official dedication and opening of Mines Field.
• December 5, 1946 - First commercial airline service begins.
• June, 1961 - Jet Age Satellite terminals open.
• October 1, 1978 - 50-year anniversary.
• November, 1983 - 2-level roadway is completed.
• January, 1984 - Terminal One is completed.
• June, 1984 - Tom Bradley International Terminal is completed.
• June, 1991 - Hangar Number One is refurbished and registered as a National Historic Landmark.
• December, 1992 - Los Angeles City Council designates the Theme Building as a City Cultural and Historical Monument.
• August, 2000 - LAX Lighting Ceremony for pylons, New Gateway to Southern California.
  
  

SimFlyers have added a few more service vehicles and taken advan-tage of FS2002's performance improvements with an animated baggage loader.

Reader Survey This survey is intended for those that have used this product or add-on. If you have used it, please let your fellow simulation enthusiasts know how you rate it by taking this survey. Please, if you have not used this product, do not take this poll (you can view the poll from the "Results" link below). Review Poll Have you used SimFlyers' KLAX Scenery? Excellent Good Average I can live with it Taking it off my system view results

SimFlyers Associated have captured this great airport with its details and rich history with their latest add-on scenery for KLAX, the Los Angeles International Airport for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000 and 2002. As you look around this wonderful scenery you will start to notice all the small details which have become synonymous with the SimFlyers standard for accuracy and excellence. As you look at the images included with this review take the time to look closely. Every time you look, you will notice something new that you did not see the previous time.

Having flown into and out of KLAX over the last several years along with spending many afternoons plane-spotting from all sorts of different locations around the airport, I have become very familiar with it. I pulled out some of my photo's from my KLAX visits and started comparing them to SimFlyers' scenery. I can say without a doubt that they have captured every aspect of KLAX down to the blast-fences and guard shacks.

Installation and documentation

The scenery is available at SimFlyers.net as a free demo download. The demo version will have some features disabled, so you have to purchase a registration key to get the full potential of this scenery. The price at the time this review was published is $17USD. Please note though that SimFlyers has special pricing discounts for buying multiple packages.

Once you download the file and the key (assuming you purchase the registration key), extract the contents of the zip-file to a temporary directory and click on the Setup.exe file. In the beginning of the setup dialog you will be prompted for your "Registration Key" number and then in less than a minute it is done. The rest of the setup is automatic. There are PDF documents that come with the package; one is an Airport Diagram, and History, and the other is instructions for parking your aircraft. It is important that you read and print them before using this scenery. Once completed, start FS2000 or FS2002 and set up a flight at KLAX.

The scenery

Assuming that you are familiar with previous releases from SimFlyers and AVSIM's reviews of these scenery packages I am only going to highlight the more outstanding features and let the images do their job of showing you how outstanding SimFlyers' work is. Flying into this new scenery on runway 07L, the airport came alive with a lot of buildings and aircraft. Though dependent on your scenery density settings, as I approached the threshold the framerates dropped quickly as more objects popped up. Overall, the frame rates were not too bad averaging 8-10FPS with the density set at "Very Dense" while using the PSS A319. However, it was choppy enough to be noticed. Approaching the gates will dazzle your senses as the aircraft and other static details appear. Great care has gone into the creation of the ground textures which include the green painted concrete. The terminals, Theme Building, and Gateway to Southern California pylons light up beautifully at night. Nothing was spared with this scenery as you will find fences, guard shacks, highway signs, maintenance equipment, cargo pallets, and too many more things to list.

Test System Intel Pentium-4 1.8Ghz Windows XP Professional 512Mb RDRam 64MB NVIDIA GeForce3 Hercules Muse XL CH Flight Yoke & Rudder Pedals USB AOC 17" Flat Panel Monitor Flying Time: 4 hours over 1 day Terminal 7 in the foreground with terminals 6 and 5 off to the left Nice view of the Theme Building with the the tower in the background. Note the details with added trees, light poles, etc. View looking east down the hotel-row with the "Gateway to Southern California" pylons in the foreground.

Other Details

SimFlyers have become well known for their functioning docking system and Service Armada. Details on how to operate the docking system are included in the scenery's documentation and is not difficult to operate. One thing that I noticed with the Service Armada in this latest version is that there are some new vehicles added and the rear baggage loader is animated!

Overhead view of the Service Armada at work on an A319

It's the little things that make the difference like this striped windsock and taxiway signs

The LAX VOR station located just off the west end of the field

The night-lighting for the buildings, aprons, and other objects look great! Taxiway signs are very clear and easy to read making navigating around the airport fairly easy with the included airport diagram. Other markings such as painted restriction-lines and hold-lines are also clear and visible. A few other custom details include the LAX VOR station, striped windsocks, 3D approach lighting, Theme Building which changes colors at night, blast fences, surrounding highways, and detailed terminal areas. Together all these details combine for a very complete experience. For those who have never been to KLAX outside of the flight simulator this will be as real as it gets without buying a plane ticket.

One shortcoming of this scenery is that it is not compatible with the FS2002 AI Aircraft. This problem is due to the fact that Microsoft has yet to release a SDK for the AI's relation to scenery. Until this SDK is available or someone cracks the mystery you will have to disable your AI traffic while using this scenery. I must note though that SimFlyers does hint on their web site that there might be a solution on the horizon.

In summary

Without a doubt SimFlyers Los Angeles International Airport scenery for FS2000/2002 has raised the bar on the scenery standard. I can only image how real this scenery will become once the AI problem is solved. For those who love flying the airliners, this airport is for you! The fun doesn't stop while you are at SimFlyers' KLAX because there is always something to look at or interact with. For further information and to purchase this scenery go to the SimFlyers website.