To date I have been flying in Europe and have installed UTX-Europe and Horizons Gen-X VFR. As an Aviator Pro student ( Angle of Attack) I am interested in installing OrbX Pacific Northwest scenery because I want to fly the routes that Chris takes us on in his video tutorials. Can anybody advise me if it is necessary to install UTX ( or similar) terrain environment in addition to the Orbx scenery for full immersion or if the Orbx scenery is sufficient as a standalone install?

ORBX is very detailed, I don't fly their PNW product in particular (I fly southern hemisphere), but generally I find you do not want to run other scenery or mesh in ORBX areas. That is except addon airports (usually ORBX too!)

 

UTX would be for other parts of the states that ORBX doesn't cover I think, maybe someone who flys in the USA can answer better.

Orbx overrides any and all scenery add-ons inside its area. This means that UTX, GEX or FSgenesis or FS global have no effect inside the Pacific northwest area, be sure to follow the instructions to install Orbx correctly!

You'll want FTX ahead of UTX in your scenery priority.

Orbx product will have a toggle program to turn it off or revert back to the installation without Orbx activated. I do this all the time using PNW for flying in the NW and then toggle it off so UTX is priority when flying SoCal or NorCal with PilotEdge. I have found that leaving the Orbx activated will have some affect on airports in the NorCal/SoCal areas. Kudos to Orbx for delivering the product with the toggle so you can easily turn it on or off. This is also helpful when adding additional sceneries somewhere else, leave Orbx on when installing into the Orbx areas you have and toggle it off when installing additional areas outside areas ie FlyTampa Kai Tak.

Orbx' US regions are completely self-contained and require nothing else.

 

They also generally work and play well with other sceneries - most issues are well covered in the compatibility section on their forums. I run UTX/GEX for the rest of the US, and all of the ORBX NA regions with essentially zero issues. As I often transition across boundaries, I usually leave the FTX "switch" on. I've not had any issues doing so and the transition to UTX/GEX is actually quite good. You can see it, but it's not disruptive - though transitioning to straight FSX certainly is. When I fly completely outside of Orbx regions I do, however, flip the switch.

 

Scott

Thanks for the tips guys, all very helpful.