When I started using XPlane12 last Fall one of the first things that impressed me was the quality of default airports. Even little bush fields in out of the way places like Nicaragua has some small fields with nice detail. I thought "great, I won't have to spend $$$$$$ on airports like I did over the years in FSX and P3D." But now that I have a pretty extensive hanger of commercial jets I thought it might be nice to at least have a detailed KCLT and KATL, the two main airports I originate my flights from. Then I notice there is a quite extensive selection of pay ware airports at the .org store and even more at Simmarket. Before I set off on a buying spree I would like to hear the thoughts from the more seasoned sports fans here. Do you fill your sim with a plethora of airports or just stick with the excellent default airports that come with this amazing platform?

I been considering this for some time but was hesitant to post because the last thing I want to do is discourage our talented developers. Judging from the number of offerings there must be a decent market for addon airports in XPlane12.

Your thoughts?

Hi,

I try to keep X-Plane 12 as close to default as I can, I have found with every base platform I've used adding custom scenery introduces flickers/stutters over time.

The airports in 12 look good enough, but I only fly a tube liner.

It's a no from me. I was always satisfied with the looks of XP11/12 default airports. Yes, most of the airports are not super detailed, wrong terminal textures, etc, but they are close enough for me to completely neglect addon airports for that platform. And for me, that is one of the biggest advantages comparing to MSFS, which simply requires addon airports, freeware or payware. It will be another story when MSFS gets scenery gateway, hopefully soon.

I also know couple of friends that simply can't fly in XP12 without having addon airports. Full immersion or nothing. One good friend also is buying a ton of airports for both sims, and I don't even want to know how many $$$ he spent on airports solely.

Edited July 19Jul 19 by Pe11e

Except for a few select commercial airports built by LR, virtually all other airports in XP12 are made and updated by volunteer artists like myself. There are over 38,000 airports in the XP12 database, so it is easy to see why not all are kept up to date with each iteration of XP12 versions. Some of these airports date back to 2018 or earlier and some are even default CIFP runways with simple parallel taxiways unchanged.

Large airports take literally months to update correctly using the newest library assets and a few new artistic conventions for boundaries, etc.

Since I build default airports, I do not purchase any commercial airports. But then I also fly random flights all over the world rather than using a single airport as a base of operations. If you use one airport consistently, it might call for a commercial purchase unless/until LR updates the airport. I would hold these to an absolute minimum.

I am a sim pilot and my joy is in exploring the virtual world from the cockpit, so I don't see one airport more than once or twice in a very long time. In addition, my system is rock-solid and I have no problems with a perfectly smooth, stable system, most likely because I avoid as many add-ons as possible with the exception of aircraft.

Patco Lch - like a lot of folk who moved from P3D etc to XP12 I was impressed by the accuracy and fidelity of default airports. The great strength and charm of XP is the community involvement and the fact that Laminar has allowed all those with the time skills and interest to contribute and build the default ecosystem via the Gateway system - it beats MS hands down every time - community and cooperation like this. Sure not all airports may be perfect replicas but given there are some 30000 airports to do - they come close. I agree it saved me a lot of$$$ by not getting commercial addons. I can say that old habits die hard do when I had a Windows based XP I found myself again getting addon airports that were not really needed. I then moved to Linux and that gave me the luxury of doing a big prune, the outcome has been I have the sum total of 230 addon airports probably only a dozen are payware the rest are all community contributions that go one step better than say the default. That is where I am now with XP - basically all default except a few additions that I saw as enhancing the sim experience visually. There are of course a few standouts who do such amazing work that well like a good aircraft addon I cannot help but buy them even if I never fly there simply because they are almost works of art (Think CDB Scenery as an example).

The only cautionary rule I have is to keep airport addons as being compatible that is for XP12 or nearly. The moving jetway problem for older airports is probably the worst where commercial developers have dropped onto the market and not update their work to keep up with the changes in XP12. You can get caught out

My go to airport for start up etc like a lot of folk is the main airport in my geographical area which there is no commercial addon and the default quite frankly is close enough even for somebody like myself who spent years flying for real into and out of the place cannot really complain. I guess it comes down to how much realism or fidelity you want and whether the addon is worth the time and money to get.

Thank you so much guys for the great insight. Another impressive thing about XPlane is the community.

Unless it some pretty back water airport I wouldnt bother

1 hour ago, mjrhealth said:

Unless it some pretty back water airport I wouldnt bother

My thoughts exactly.!

Zero addon airports in my Xp12 ...

Default are good enough ( for me ) and keep getting updated...

I think it's important to note that "default" airports in XPlane are quite often the work of the talented community designers that contribute to the scenery gateway, and those are in turn added to the default airport sceneries over time. I find that if you're not focused on exact details, the scenery is a plausible representation of the airport environment most of the time, especially if it's been re-worked via the scenery gateway. If it's your home airport and you want photoreal accuracy, then payware it must be.

I have exactly one payware scenery in XP11/12.

Except for a few select commercial airports built by LR, virtually all other airports in XP12 are made and updated by volunteer artists like myself. There are over 38,000 airports in the XP12 database, so it is easy to see why not all are kept up to date with each iteration of XP12 versions. Some of these airports date back to 2018 or earlier and some are even default CIFP runways with simple parallel taxiways unchanged.

Large airports take literally months to update correctly using the newest library assets and a few new artistic conventions for boundaries, etc.

Since I build default airports, I do not purchase any commercial airports. But then I also fly random flights all over the world rather than using a single airport as a base of operations. If you use one airport consistently, it might call for a commercial purchase unless/until LR updates the airport. I would hold these to an absolute minimum.

I am a sim pilot and my joy is in exploring the virtual world from the cockpit, so I don't see one airport more than once or twice in a very long time. In addition, my system is rock-solid and I have no problems with a perfectly smooth, stable system, most likely because I avoid as many add-ons as possible with the exception of aircraft.

I live in Albuquerque and often fly out of there. Several years ago I bought MrX ABQ scenery for XP11, which is great, but it hasn't been upgraded to XP12. If you fly out of a particular airport I would buy just that one. Otherwise stick to the default. They really are very good.

1 hour ago, mldavis2 said:

other airports in XP12 are made and updated by volunteer artists like myself.

Thank you much for your time and efforts.

2 hours ago, Bob Scott said:

If it's your home airport and you want photoreal accuracy, then payware it must be

KGSP is the closest jet port to my home and is the first one I opened on my initial install of XP12. It was here I am so impressed with the accuracy in textures as well as every other aspect. Better than the commercial one I used in P3D for so many years. Thanks, great perspective from all.

23 hours ago, Patco Lch said:

When I started using XPlane12 last Fall one of the first things that impressed me was the quality of default airports. Even little bush fields in out of the way places like Nicaragua has some small fields with nice detail. I thought "great, I won't have to spend $$$$$$ on airports like I did over the years in FSX and P3D." But now that I have a pretty extensive hanger of commercial jets I thought it might be nice to at least have a detailed KCLT and KATL, the two main airports I originate my flights from. Then I notice there is a quite extensive selection of pay ware airports at the .org store and even more at Simmarket. Before I set off on a buying spree I would like to hear the thoughts from the more seasoned sports fans here. Do you fill your sim with a plethora of airports or just stick with the excellent default airports that come with this amazing platform?

I been considering this for some time but was hesitant to post because the last thing I want to do is discourage our talented developers. Judging from the number of offerings there must be a decent market for addon airports in XPlane12.

Your thoughts?

I’ve definitely bought a lot of XP airports over the years.

and I still enjoy them, particularly when paired with good ortho (esp TrueEarth )

But the truth is that iv become a lot more interested in ortho than in airports.

What I’m personally doing is only buying airports that I’ve personally visited and know, Or if there’s a specific (in)famous airport that I plan to fly to. And I don’t mean famous as in ATL or EGLL (yuck to both), I mean famous as in Paro or Aspen 😉