Aerosoft Skiathos X

Introduction

The Greek islands have proven to be a popular area for developers with the recent release of several beautiful and challenging airports. Skiathos X is the latest product from 29 Palms Scenery Design and it recreates both the Greek island of Skiathos and Skiathos Island National Airport.

Skiathos is in the northwest Aegean Sea. It is relatively small having an area of only 19 sq mi. and a population of approx. 6,000. Its coastline is indented with over 60 beaches which is one reason why it is such a popular tourist destination.

The airport, which is located on the island, is known as Skiathos Island National Airport, ICAO: LGSK, but also goes by the name ‘Alexandros Papadiamantis’ airport. Known as the “Greek St. Maarten” this is one airport that will put your piloting skills to the test.

The airport’s 5,341ft runway, 02/20, can accommodate up to a Boeing 757-200. End to end the runway spans the entire tract of land between two beaches and requires you to fly quite near to the water and also over the heads of those people who thrill at the sights and sounds of low flying aircraft.

An interesting fact about the airport is that it was created by reclaiming land from the sea between Skiathos Island and the smaller island of Lazareta. This effectively joined the two islands into one larger island.

Installation

Installation is textbook Aerosoft; simple and straightforward. After running the executable you must enter your registration information. During the installation you will be informed that the files are personalized for your PC. No other activation is required.

Running the Aerosoft Launcher program is now optional. The Launcher program allows you to access the product’s manual and also to see if there are any updates available for any supported Aerosoft add-ons.

Documentation

A very professional looking 16 page PDF document is provided. Its contents are clearly written, well-illustrated and informative. It gives you all the information you need to fully enjoy this airport and to configure FSX to properly display this lovely piece of scenery.

Also included are a full set of charts for the airport, providing everything you need as a sim pilot.

Configuration

To configure Skiathos X there is a “Skiathos X Manager” through which you have many options made available to enable or disable various scenery components. Using the manager is straightforward and self-explanatory; however all of the options are explained in the product manual.

Scenery

The Airport

I’ll begin with the ground surfaces; for these they use realistic high resolution textures. The quality is such that they show off the rough texture of the asphalt surfaces. In addition to these surface details the colourings of the textures convey wear and tear from aircraft traffic and weathering.

They’ve taken the detailing of the hard surfaces to the next level. You’ll notice on the next screenshot that the surface material around the base of the runway/taxiway lights is in a circular pattern which is different from the remainder of the runway/taxiway surface. This is something I can’t say that I recall seeing in other developer’s sceneries.

To further enhance our experience on the ground they’ve added volumetric vegetation. This does wonders in taking away the flat ground look and to make your time taxiing on the ground seem that much more realistic.

The layout of the structures at this airport is very simple; located midpoint on the north side of the runway is a small cluster of buildings consisting of the terminal/tower/MET buildings and just north of that is the fire station.

When they went about recreating the structures for this airport they didn’t hold back. They employed all of the techniques I believe are important to make buildings look authentic. Accurate placement, high resolution imagery/textures and lots of detailing.

Although they use these techniques in all of the airport structures, the terminal, which also happens to be the largest building, is also the best example of how they are used. From a distance the building looks great but it is up close that you can really appreciate the exceptional work that was put into it.

One of the first things you notice is how the building’s walls and roof top are weathered; most prominently the paint appears chipped and faded. The roof top has also been populated with ducting and HVAC units that show definite signs of dirt and weathering.

I feel that this may be one of the best examples of weathering I have come across up to now in any airport scenery. This is thanks to the high quality imagery and great colouring techniques. 

Also catching my attention were all of the details that they’ve added. Some of the best examples have to do with structural details which aren’t overly obvious, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t impressive.

Some examples are; the roof eave which goes around the entire perimeter of the building has exposed braces that you won’t see unless you place yourself almost directly underneath.

Another interesting structural detail is the support beams under the sheet metal roofs situated over the outside baggage carousels. They probably could have gotten away with not including either one of these because of where they are but the fact that they did shows me their dedication to making this a top notch product. 

There are many other details added to the terminal, items such as the benches along the front of the building, the baggage conveyer belts next to the aprons road, downspouts and PA speakers.

Just to the south of the terminal building is a smaller building that looks much like its larger neighbour however this is where we see the control tower. It too is detailed having roof-mounted antenna and an open ladder and safety cage that extends from the ground up to the top of the tower.

On the opposite side of the terminal is a cluster of several small buildings one of which is the fire station. The fire station like the other buildings has some added little extra details such as wall mounted light fixtures plus several of the vehicle bay doors are open and inside we see two large fire trucks. You’ll notice that they use actual truck objects and not a flat bitmap image to portray them.

No matter how you look at it there was a lot of work that went into all of these buildings and we get to reap the benefits with some amazing visuals.

This airport is small in size but large in content. No matter where you look there is something to catch your eye. It is obvious that when they created this airport they were mindful of its intimate setting and took care to give it the attention it deserved.

The quality of the objects and vehicles is outstanding. Even when viewed from extremely close in, the objects appear to be of the highest quality. However it is not only the quality but the placement and the quantity that counts and they were right on.

Looking around you see all sorts of objects including some that you expect to see at most airports like ground lighting and blast fences. Then there are other objects which help make it seem like a busy place. These are things like; baggage on the conveyers, boxes of freight piled by the baggage wagons, the odd ladder standing as if someone had been painting or carrying out some maintenance. They even include some people in various locations and poses.

The quality of all of these are outstanding, but I came across a few that when I saw them I thought to myself; wow! Just off to the south of the tower is a small enclosure where we see several radio towers. These towers have guy wires and strain insulators which are clearly visible.

The light fixtures for the different types of runway/taxiway lights are another one. You can count the screws in the bases and can clearly make out the details in the curved surfaces of the lenses.  

Vehicles like the many other objects at the airport play a big part in making Skiathos look realistic. They’ve included a nice variety and situated them in places where you’d likely find them on any given day.

Some of the different types that they’ve included are: fuel bowsers, buses, baggage tugs and trailers, cargo trucks, small flatbed trucks and mobile air stairs. Just like every other aspect of this scenery the vehicles were of exceptional quality.

The Island

The entire island is rendered in high quality photo-real textures so we have an accurate base for the placement of the hundreds if not thousands of autogen/objects. The other plus to using these ground textures is that we see many natural and manmade details in the landscapes. This gives us an island that is both realistic and interesting to explore.

The photo textures also mean we have great looking coastlines. For a small island there are a variety of natural features that include; sandy beaches, rock cliffs, farmlands, forests, rolling hills, villages, etc. These definitely warrant a sightseeing flight low and slow around the island.

Man-made structures are done in a Mediterranean style so they appear to be correct for the region. These buildings which for the most part look like houses are only a storey or two high and can be found throughout the entire island.

As good as all of those looked, I was especially impressed with what they did near the airport which is the focal point of the scenery. They added more custom buildings and a multitude of other objects. Found near to the airport are lots of small boats both in the water and on land. Those that are on land appear to be there for repairs or storage as many are on stands.

They also include some people in the scenery. There is a person standing on a rock fence taking pictures. I know this because the flash of his camera goes off every so often. In another part of the scenery a person is sitting on a lounge chair under a patio umbrella reading a newspaper. The scenery has more of these small touches that help bring the area to life.

The placement of vehicles isn’t restricted to the airport. A variety of cars and trucks can be seen parked and travelling around on the nearby roadways.

You can’t fly into Skiathos and not comment about how it feels to make the approaches into this airport. It is very challenging on several levels. The airport does not have full ILS capabilities and the terrain is challenging. There are no obstacles in your path however with the ends of the runway being on the beach and the relative shortness of the runway you must watch your approach for both speed and altitude.

The beaches at the ends of the runway have umbrellas and people that appear to be plane spotting. Not too hard to see why it is referred to as the “Greek St. Maarten”.

Night

Flying throughout the entire Skiathos scenery area at night was great fun.

Something that I quickly noticed was that there were distinct differences when it came to night lighting in the villages. They use a combination of different coloured 3D lights plus building lighting and they also add some variations in light intensity.

These factors went a long way in enhancing the night time visuals by bringing depth to the whole night time flying experience. This is a huge improvement over what I see for night lighting in most other scenery add-ons.

The airport is another fine example of how they add realistic night lighting techniques. Again they vary light intensities so you aren’t overwhelmed by big bright overpowering lights. Also when on the ground they have a wonderful technique for having the ground lit up next to the runway/taxiway lights making it look extremely realistic.

My only concern here was a minor one and that was the terminal’s interior remained dark with no apparent interior lighting.

Performance

Performance was never an issue and my flying experiences remained fluid throughout all flights. I had all scenery options selected and my scenery sliders in FSX fully to the right and never saw any degradation in performance no matter which aircraft I flew.

I do not own Orbx FTX Europe so I cannot comment on how these two products interact. A recent post by the developer indicates that the products are now fully compatible and he provides info on how to go about making it so.

Summary

29 Palms Scenery Design have only produced a few scenery add-ons but the quality of their products puts them in the category of top tier scenery developers for FSX in my opinion.

The product is detailed, interesting and challenging and definitely worth the money. Should you decide to take the plunge and make the purchase you won’t regret it.    

What I like about Skiathos X

• In addition to the airport they have modelled the entire island of Skiathos.
• The level of detail and the overall quality are among the very best you’ll find.
• The easy to use configuration utility and all of the options they provide for customization.
• Fun and challenging airport!

What I don"t like about Skiathos X

• Nothing really.