Top 3 P3D Airports - And Why

[SunDevil56 183]

38 minutes ago, Bert Pieke said:

I happen to like FlyTampa

KTPA or St Maarten/St Barths

KTPA is great, I just recently added that one to my collection.

You owe it to yourself to check out FlyTampa OMDB, Dubai International Airport, it's awesome.

For those that didn't know, OMDB has the largest airport terminal in the world, which is also the second largest building in the world by floor space, in a word...It's huge..!!

[Nyxx 6,993]

I think the OP is asking more about what airports we like the best not in the since of what are the “best “ airports.

For me for the location I will go for Geneva, love flying in and out of there and have done so few times in real life.

For a large airport I would pick LEBL, with 4.4 and the huge area in PR around that airport and the airport being so FPS friendly.

Lastly I will pick an island and that goes to what I think is a masterpiece,

FT Corfu.

[bean_sprout 1,201]

Sounds like I need to get some Fly Tampa airports.

Cheers

Edited December 11, 2018 by bean_sprout

[Benjamin J 751]

I'm not entirely sure what is meant by 'best' in this case, so I'll go with 'all around most enjoyable', particularly because the OP mentions KMSO and I didn't think there was even a scenery for that in P3D? Unless I'm mistaken...

Anyway, there's tons of airports I really like to fly in and out of and it's hard to come up with a top 3. In the end, several factors contribute, of which most important are airport location, layout and surrounding scenery. But, in order for me to really fly in and out of a particular scenery time on time again, the colors of the airport are actually really important (typically more important than detail, actually). Some sceneries strike me as under-saturated, whereas others are horrendously over-saturated., That kind of kills things for me. So, here it is for me:

- FlyTampa Vienna. This has always been one of my favorite airports in the sim. The location is great: being in central Europe there's a lot of destinations that are close-by and served by multiple carriers. Another nicety is that this particular scenery probably has seen more updates than any other FT scenery, so it's always up-to-date (I feel like FT has a special liking for this scenery...). Further, the layout is simple, and I like that it's small, so taxiing doesn't take forever (KORD, KJFK...). But, I should also admit my bias: Vienna is also my long-time favorite city in the world, having stayed there for a number of times to do research at the university

- FlightBeam Denver. I gotta say, I don't nearly fly in and out this airport enough. Where it seems FB's KSFO is an all-time favorite for many, for me it's their KDEN, and it's for a number of reasons. The obvious ones are the great texturing and modeling, while still being FPS friendly on my setup stuff that everybody raves about. But, what really does it for me, is the hugeness of the flatland surrounding KDEN: you land in the middle of this nothingness, with the gorgeous Rocky Mountains standing like a big wall off to the west. A lovely experience. The one thing this airport does not have going for it, is that it's in a relatively 'scenery poor' area; there aren't very many interesting sceneries close to it. It's mostly for that reason I don't fly here that often.

- Jetstream Designs Little Rock. Like KDEN, I don't come here nearly enough, and it's mainly due to this airport being served by relatively few airlines from only a handful destinations. I like flying shorter flights, and for KLIT the only close-by airports that service KLIT are KDFW and KDAL. For that reason I hardly fly there. It's a pity, because, as somebody mentioned their Linate LIML scenery, their KLIT is a masterpiece. There is a certain 'fade' to the textures of the aprons, taxiways and terminal, that look very realistic to me - sort of like sun bleaching. Love that.

- FlyTampa Chicago Midway. I know, this is a fourth entry, but I couldn't NOT leave this one out. KMDW is a wonderful little airport. It's location is wonderful, not just because you land in the middle of the suburbs with a great view of downtown Chicago, it's also close to many other airports I have, so there's always a shortish flight to do from KMDW. Further it's chock full of little details, such as moving passengers inside the terminal. Finally, landing here is just fun because of the short runways... For that reason I generally like these type of 'city airports' (which includes KLGA and KDAL too, among others).

I gotta say, there are so many other airports I love to fly to... Hard to choose. I have to admit there's also a fair number of airports I've barely scratched the surface of... I mentioned Jetsream's Linate LIML, for example. I have this scenery but haven't even used it yet besides a quick spin to see if it installed okay.

So many places to fly to, and so little time, is all I can say.

[Benjamin J 751]

13 minutes ago, bean_sprout said:

Sounds like I need to get some Fly Tampa airports.

Cheers

Yes, yes you do. Chicago Midway, Vienna, Amsterdam, Buffalo, Toronto, Kai Tak Boston... I can't think of a single one that I don't like.

[F737MAX 5,598]

1. Hong Kong - VHHH or VHHX

FlyTampa throws in a lot of city scenery detail, add-in a respectable VHHH from Taxi2Gate and SODHK's Dragoneye HK scenery to give ortho plus extra POIs, and you get amazing views of the city on approach to 25L or 25R at Chek Lap Kok or the famous Kai Tak IGS13 checkerboard approach.

2. Paro - VQPR

FSDG gives a recreation of the epic no-sight-of-the-runway-until-the-very-last-minute approaches. Turning this way and that, without being able to see your end point, all the while continuing to descend, is incredible!

3. Rio Santos-Dumont - SBRJ

TropicalSim airport with Paulo Ricardo's Mega Rio city scenery. Approaching from the west or north means you get to overfly the city and the yachts by Botafogo, while aiming at the Sugarloaf Mountain, before circling to land on 02R.

 

For pure eye candy in my personal P3D airport collection: Flightbeam's KSFO, FlyTampa's OMDB, Aerosoft's EDDF. All 3 have high quality textures and extra little details (like puddles, a dust storm, or movement with added vehicle traffic). These 3 feel 'alive' in the sim.

[bean_sprout 1,201]

16 minutes ago, F737NG said:

1. Hong Kong - VHHH or VHHX

FlyTampa throws in a lot of city scenery detail, add-in a respectable VHHH from Taxi2Gate and SODHK's Dragoneye HK scenery to give ortho plus extra POIs, and you get amazing views of the city on approach to 25L or 25R at Chek Lap Kok or the famous Kai Tak IGS13 checkerboard approach.

2. Paro - VQPR

FSDG gives a recreation of the epic no-sight-of-the-runway-until-the-very-last-minute approaches. Turning this way and that, without being able to see your end point, all the while continuing to descend, is incredible!

3. Rio Santos-Dumont - SBRJ

TropicalSim airport with Paulo Ricardo's Mega Rio city scenery. Approaching from the west or north means you get to overfly the city and the yachts by Botafogo, while aiming at the Sugarloaf Mountain, before circling to land on 02R.

 

For pure eye candy in my personal P3D airport collection: Flightbeam's KSFO, FlyTampa's OMDB, Aerosoft's EDDF. All 3 have high quality textures and extra little details (like puddles, a dust storm, or movement with added vehicle traffic). These 3 feel 'alive' in the sim.

#3 sounds tasty.

bs

[pete_auau 1,158]

lowi  airport  by  orbx is  up there  as well

[Oskar Speer 22]

EPKK from Fly Design is worth looking into. I use P3Dv4.4 and I can not find a compatible addon for VHHH. 

Edited December 12, 2018 by Oskar Speer

[qqwertz 781]

Interestingly, no one has brought up Aerosoft's EDDK yet. It has been released relatively recently and makes already use of many P3D-specific techniques (not PBS yet). It is a masterpiece by Jo Erlend that even outshines the great products by Flightbeam and FlyTampa. However, I am sure these guys are already working on including similar features.

Peter

[Michael Moe 495]

1 hour ago, qqwertzde said:

Interestingly, no one has brought up Aerosoft's EDDK yet. It has been released relatively recently and makes already use of many P3D-specific techniques (not PBS yet). It is a masterpiece by Jo Erlend that even outshines the great products by Flightbeam and FlyTampa. However, I am sure these guys are already working on including similar features.

Peter

Sure i am on that list as well

As a europe guy i love EDDK , Aerosoft EDDF and EDDM by Taxi2gate (FT EHAM :-) )

USA has to be Flightbeam KMSP, FSDT KMEM and KSFO by Flightbeam . (FT KBOS)

Mainly using airliners.

When i use GA i offen go to LOWI by ORBX , PAJN or CYSE

Thanks

Michael Moe

Edited December 12, 2018 by Michael Moe

[mtrainer 136]

I love the ability to put Chicago's Meigs Field back into the simulator.  Although now in real-life replaced with weeds and a "walking path", it has a long legacy in Flight Simulator as the default airport (and the most well done in the early days).  Great views of Chicago as you land there and if you're really good, you can grease a 737 in there too - they did it many years back to park one nearby (or I should say hang it from the ceiling) of the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.

This Meigs airport by ORBX has a real charm to it, and the backdrop of Chicago/Navy Pier is amazing.  I can see several of the buildings I've worked in over the years from the airport.

I also think FlyTampa's Midway Airport in Chicago has lots of character and if you're a 737 flyer, that airport is full of them.  It too has a lot of personality.

Mark

 

Edited December 13, 2018 by mtrainer

[autotaf 2]

Most of the time i fly around europe and there are a lot of destinations worth mentioning.

1. LGKR by FlyTampa. 

2. LOWI by ORBX

3. ÉNBR by Aerosoft.

It´s not easy to seperate only three airports. Greek btw has a lot of really nice destinations. Besides Corfu there ist LGSM by 29Palms and LGTS by FSDG also worth mentioning. LGSM (Samos) offers a challenging final (only visual out of a sharp turn), LGTS (Thessaloniki) has a stunnig city scenery. Next to LOWI there also LOWS by DigitalDesign and the recently arrived EDDN by 29Palms (also via Flightbeam). Bergen from Aerosoft (ENBR), surrounded by FTX Norway is also a must-have! Besides Bergen there is also Trondheim (ENVA) within the same league, maybe the scenery of ENVA itself is a bit better than Bergen, but the surrounding islands of Bergen are the cherry on top.

greetings from MUC,

Andi.

[SunDevil56 183]

For fans of UK2000 sceneries I would recommend EGLC London City, a smallish airport to be sure, but they pack plenty of eye candy in to this little gem, and it's a challenging approach and landing to test your piloting skills as well.

UK2000 is also having a Xmas sale right now, with substantial savings over the regular prices, so it's an excellent time to add some UK aiports to your library.

[Benjamin J 751]

6 hours ago, cirrus_aeroplanogenitus said:

Most of the time i fly around europe and there are a lot of destinations worth mentioning.

1. LGKR by FlyTampa. 

2. LOWI by ORBX

3. ÉNBR by Aerosoft.

It´s not easy to seperate only three airports. Greek btw has a lot of really nice destinations. Besides Corfu there ist LGSM by 29Palms and LGTS by FSDG also worth mentioning. LGSM (Samos) offers a challenging final (only visual out of a sharp turn), LGTS (Thessaloniki) has a stunnig city scenery. Next to LOWI there also LOWS by DigitalDesign and the recently arrived EDDN by 29Palms (also via Flightbeam). Bergen from Aerosoft (ENBR), surrounded by FTX Norway is also a must-have! Besides Bergen there is also Trondheim (ENVA) within the same league, maybe the scenery of ENVA itself is a bit better than Bergen, but the surrounding islands of Bergen are the cherry on top.

greetings from MUC,

Andi.

I was considering listing ENBR - I've always loved to fly in and out of this airport due to the magnificent terrain which makes for a very pretty approach. I also love to the layout of the airport and it's size - exactly my kind of place! The reason I did not include it, is because I don't like Aerosoft's rendition that much. I used to have Cloud9's and always liked that one better. The textures on Aerosoft's version seem to have a high contrast, and the textures appear a little too saturated for me. In my eyes, it's a little cartoony and would do well to have a more 'weathered' look. That said, it's still one of my favorite areas to fly in!