What do you look for in a good GA airport?

[Guest Safetydance]

>Just about every one-gex,fex,utx,asx-did I forget a few>'xxsss?>>Geofa>My blog:>http://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/I meant frame eating airports. All of those are just replacement texture sets basically. (UTX maybe being the exception.)

[Geofa 108]

Explain? A GA airport (generally not class :( is generally not a frame rate eating airport?!My blog:http://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/

[Guest Safetydance]

I was asking if you had any addon airports along the route.

[Geofa 108]

Along the route I am flying next week-no.Don't really need any-the default is close enough.However, I have purchased for instance the Fly Tampa Hong Kong scenery and also get reasonable rates...also Bill Womacks Plum Island and Dillingham.I never expect to fly these places for real but enjoy also-great scenery and good frame rates. (I have been to Hong Kong and inspected Kai tek personally so may be biased).GeofaMy blog:http://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/

[Guest Safetydance]

>Along the route I am flying next week-no.>Don't really need any-the default is close enough.>>However, I have purchased for instance the Fly Tampa Hong Kong>scenery and also get reasonable rates...also Bill Womacks Plum>Island and Dillingham.>>I never expect to fly these places for real but enjoy>also-great scenery and good frame rates. (I have been to Hong>Kong and inspected Kai tek personally so may be biased).>Geofa>My blog:>http://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/Everyone keeps mentioning the performance with Bill Womack's Plum Island. But in the screenshots I've only seen like 4-5 custom buildings. So I have to ask is it any wonder that there isn't a performance hit? I'm not trying to discount his work but I'm just wondering.

[CanadaOne 36]

A good payware GA airport should have excellent grass and runway textures first off. Realistic building placement and static aircraft and cars (moving or not) follow.Also, it's nice to see detail come into view as you are close to landing. Something... distracting, real life looking, that you want to look at but can't because you have to land, not crash.The FS9 Portland FZ02 scenery remains the best I've ever seen. I can't imagine how times times I took off, circled, and landed. Over and over. Look to that scenery to see how airport scenery should be done.

[Guest ArtieLange]

>A good payware GA airport should have excellent grass and>runway textures first off. Realistic building placement and>static aircraft and cars (moving or not) follow.>>Also, it's nice to see detail come into view as you are close>to landing. Something... distracting, real life looking, that>you want to look at but can't because you have to land, not>crash.>>The FS9 Portland FZ02 scenery remains the best I've ever seen.>I can't imagine how times times I took off, circled, and>landed. Over and over. Look to that scenery to see how airport>scenery should be done.I agree and I know it did include some GA airports, but I would not classify F202 as a GA airport scenery.

[michal 44]

>I agree and I know it did include some GA airports, but I>would not classify F202 as a GA airport scenery.Yeah, hard to consider Portland a GA airport. And of course it is a masterpiece. But I would hate to wait for another airport like this for 2 years... I still think a very good rendition of an airport could be done using material available on the internet, I just don't see a developer traveling to the site and taking pictures unless he's got a friend who lives nearby. Michael J.http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/9320/apollo17vf7.jpg

[N562Z 4]

Well, I used to not think so, even in FSX, and especially with the FTX / Orbyx software and products. Still, I tried to fly Milton Schupe's Freeware Howard 500 from Redmund north of Brisbane, and it was pretty jerky. I haven't pinned it down just yet, but I never had that experience with Orbyx Blue around Adelaide. I live near Martin State, Geof, so I'll try the Baron around there. The overwater ILS to RWY 33 at KMTN is really a fun one too. I'm jealous that you will be able to do it for real!!!Regards,http://www.my-buddy-icon.com/Icons/objects/red_3d_plane.gifAlex ChristoffN562ZBaltimore, MD

[Geofa 108]

Cool-Baltimore is one of my favorite cities. I'll try to get some shots going in for some compares. Also going to Dover to see the museum, Cape May, NJ and then back to Baltimore for some of the best crab cakes that exist! :-beerchugGeofaMy blog:http://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/

[jdhaenens 0]

It really depends on who you're making the airports for. For a person who's not familiar with the airport and most who only occasionally frequent the airport, a half dozen of the most recognizable buildings, filled in with generics would be more than adequate.For a more discerning clientelle, do as much as you can without getting bored or frustrated and canning the project.I rarely go beyond the flightlines with anything custom unless it's a wow factor or such an integral part of the local landscape that it really needs to be there.Even though it looks really good, I don't generally go in for custom tarmac and runway textures. They are an FS8 carryover and I believe it would be another of those things that one would have to redo when FSvNext comes out. I do believe in using photoreal ground textures when available, but unless the resolution is better than 1m/pixel, to me, it just looks more jagged and washed out the closer you get.I like to have one or two "Wow's" in each scenery whether it's a hanger that is fully functional or something else of comparable detail.Just my two cents.Jim DhaenensKNTUKNIPKNPAKPWACGAS(Floyd Bennett)...and othersFOR FSX

[N562Z 4]

Geof-Cape May! Nice! Make sure to stop by and visit the Wildwood Aviation Museum there at the field after you land. Great little collection of military aircraft. And make sure to watch the historical video in the movie room.Cheers,http://www.my-buddy-icon.com/Icons/objects/red_3d_plane.gifAlex ChristoffN562ZBaltimore, MD

[Geofa 108]

Thanks for the advice. After I found the museum at Cape May I decided to skip Dover (need 72 hour notice, forms filled out, and then no transportation to get to the museum on the other side of the field). It is amazing how few airports in Delaware are suited for a Baron-I think there are 11 total airports and only 4 work for me-going for a stop in Georgetown instead of Dover.GeofaMy blog:http://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/

[rhodges 6]

Many great suggestions have already been mentioned. I would add one item that would only be an issue if one is familiar with the real world airport. No biggie, but would be nice to have.Accurate parking relative to direction. What I mean is that aircraft parking be at least in the right direction relative to the real world airport. My home airport is KLWB. Parking here for both the MSFS textures and all custom freeware that I have seen so far have all AI aircraft parked 90 degrees from reality (Facing the fence, terminal, or buildings in a pushback position). In reality, all parking is parallel with the fence in rows where no pushback is necessary. Airlines have come in parked at an angle in front of the terminal for a few mins. (Dash 8, D1900's, Bombardier CRJ's), but they also do not need a pushback in order to resume a taxi for departure.Not being a developer, I have no idea how big an issue this is, nor how much work might be required to make the proper modifications.Happy flying:RTH

[Guest JimC1702]

RTH,That's an easy fix. I'll try to do it tonight and email you the file. I looked at Google Maps and there were only a couple of planes parked there. Do they generally all face the same direction?JimDell XPS 420 Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 3.0 ghz3 gb dual channel 800 mhz DDR2 RAM512 mb nvidia 8800GT500 gb SATA drive 7200 rpmSoundblaster X-Fi Xtreme Music22" Acer widescreen LCDWindows Vista Home Premium