Aerosoft Gibraltar X & Mykonos X

Introduction

Aerosoft is no newcomer to the add-on scenery market and for quite some time Gibraltar X and Mykonos X has been made available to the public. Today we will be getting a closer look at these two sceneries and what better way to do so than to carry out a series of flights using their popular Airbus Extended!

First we will be looking at Gibraltar X. Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula. The Rock of Gibraltar is one of the most significant and only landmark features of this region and it is well known among aviators. The Gibraltar airport is also well known as being one of most dangers airports in the world for a number of factors.

One of the features of this airport is that the runway intersects a major roadway which requires all traffic to stop when aircraft are landing or taking off. Another aspect of this airport that makes it unique and dangerous is the windshear that is experienced on final approach due to the winds and land features of this region.

Aerosoft has apparently realized that this airport would be a good candidate for FSX/FS9 and they modeled this airport to the highest standard. Here is a list of features that Aerosoft has implemented in this scenery.

“The airport and its surroundings are built up to the smallest of detail. This is a total rebuild of the whole island and the airport. All buildings, lighting systems, navigation beacons have been modelled to the smallest of details including all buildings and airport institutions.”

Features:

• Photo realistic high resolution ground textures (15 cm/pixel) for Gibraltar and parts of "LA Linea"
• Dynamic car-traffic across the runway, it stops automatically when you depart or approach at the bounds (manually controllable with NAV frequencies)
• Dynamic traffic on the apron (AESLite)
• All buildings around the airfield and bordering districts of Gibraltar
• New terminal including new apron park positions
• Excellent night lightning
• Border-constructions
• Many animations like ships, cableway etc.
• All important sights (Upper Rock incl. the defensive fortification, "Point of Europe" light house, "Ibrahim al Ibrahim" mosque, "Gibraltar - Cradle of history" monument, etc.)
• Whole scenery-area covered with extensive autogen
• FSX and FS2004 version included

Please note not all mentioned features above are included in the FS2004 version.

The next scenery add-on we will be looking at is the Mykonos X. Mykonos is a Greek Island lying between Tinos, Syros, Paros and Naxos. This region is a major tourist destination due to its beautiful tropical like surroundings.

Aerosoft has managed to recreate this airport and surrounding areas for FSX and FS9 in all its glory. Here is a list of features as described on their website.

“The entire island is covered with high resolution satellite imagery (0.5m/px) and custom autogen.

Regardless of being an airliner, a helicopter or a private pilot, this scenery covers all aspects of flight simulation in a very detailed manner and holds many things to discover.

Board the cockpit of a private jet or a helicopter after landing with an airliner and explore this magnificent scenery which was built to be a complete and high detailed image of the reality.”

Features:

• Highly detailed rendition of Mykonos International Airport (LGMK)
• Complete coverage of over 140km² with high resolution satellite imagery (0.5m/px)
• Realistic shadow rendition on all 3D objects and ground by „texture baking“
• High resolution day and night textures
• Realistic rendition of light sources on all 3D objects and ground by „baked lighting“
• Complex terrain mesh
• Custom autogen and all important landmarks
• Complete coverage of the neighboring islands Delos and Rinia
• Animated car traffic around the airport
• Complete reconstruction of airport’s lighting equipment
• Realistic 3D grass and vegetation
• Complex reconstruction of the town with over 2.000 hand placed objects
• Four highly detailed helipads
• Animated ship traffic around the island including a custom, landable yacht
• Animated windsocks
• Configuration manager for optimal performance
• Highly detailed manual including charts (PDF)
• Compatible with AI traffic Add-Ons
• Compatible with Ground Environment X and Ultimate Terrain X
• Excellent performance with high frame rates
• Includes FSX and Prepar3D version

Gibraltar X

http://www.aerosoft.com/cgi-local/us/iboshop.cgi?showd480!40,6386225120,10194

Mykonos X

http://www.aerosoft.com/cgi-local/us/iboshop.cgi?showd480!0,6386225120,12438

Installation and documentation

The installation of these airports is quite simple. After downloading the files and executing them, the entire installation process is automated with very limited interaction on the part of the user. The only portion of the installation that may require any input is the selection of various options that you may desire such as 3D grass and other effects.

As for documentation, the manuals and charts that come with these sceneries are very useful. Mykonos is the only scenery that comes with charts for both SIDs and STARs. The manuals are helpful in providing added information on how to optimize the usage of your scenery. For example if you wish to disable the sound or traffic features of the Gibraltar scenery you can do this through the scenery configuration options which are discussed in the manuals. You will also find a host of other useful information about these sceneries that should assist you in having the best use and experience that you require.

The Scenery

The first scenery we will be looking at is Gibraltar X. The scenery itself is very well put together. One of the features that stood out apart from the physical scenery was the sound ambiance. While sitting on the ramp or on the runway you are able to hear the sound of cars, horns and birds in among the soothing sound of a light sea breeze.

From a physical point of view, it is quite easy to see that Aerosoft did a great job at implementing as many features as possible to provide a true to life experience. The terminal building which is situated very close to city center has be accurately modeled and it comes to life with the movement of various vehicles on the ramp.

Another feature is the highway that runs directly through the active runway. In the real world, traffic is stopped whenever aircraft are landing or taking off and it was quite a surprise to see that this aspect of Gibraltar airport was also implemented. Whenever you are on final or about to take off the traffic that can be seen going back and forth across the runway stops, you can even see the barricades moving up and down to either stop or allow traffic to move across the runway.

Another feature of this scenery is the detail of the surrounding areas of this airport. The city nearby has been developed to a significant level of detail as is the same with the Rock of Gibraltar itself which comes equipped with a working cable car system and surrounding buildings.  What was even more amazing was the Gibraltar harbor which was also modeled quite well.

At night the terminal and surrounding areas come to life with a mix of 3D and normal lighting. The quality of the textures at night was excellent and it made the scenery so much more realistic. From the city center to the harbor and athletic stadium, everything was well lit. From a performance view point, I did notice a slight hit on my frames but it was nothing worth mentioning as a negative point. Here are a few screenshots that showcases a lot of this scenery.

We will finally have a look at Mykonos. I opted to do a flight from Athens over to Mykonos using the Aerosoft Airbus Extended in the Aegean livery. My first impression on approach to Mykonos was just how beautiful and radically different the terrain and entire island seemed. After comparing what I saw with real world photos I was blown away at how much detail Aerosoft was able to pack into this scenery.

The terminal buildings were all very accurate and the textures made them come to life.  The surrounding areas of the airport consist of 3D grass and vegetation which was a very nice touch. After landing and taxiing to the ramp, you can really feel the sensation of being at the real airport because of the true to life surroundings. As mentioned before, this scenery goes far beyond the airport itself. Moving a bit away from the airport you see an endless amount of objects that have been all hand placed.

At night, the textures were very high quality and it is at this time you really come to appreciate the hard work put into this scenery. While the airport itself has accurate lighting along with added effects, this also extended to the hundreds of houses in the surrounding areas.

One of the hallmarks of Mykonos is the unique architecture of the buildings and a few land marks such as the Mykonos Windmills. Even the beaches and the yachts that are frequent in these areas have been added to give the users a complete summer time Mykonos experience. All of these features were nicely captured as you can see from the screenshots below.

Performance

As far as performance goes, you have the option to customize which features you want to have. I opted to do a full installation which includes Airport Surroundings, 3D Grass, Airport and Town FX. While I do not claim to have the best PC in the world, my AMD FX-8120 with an AMD Radeon HD 6670 1GB saw no noteworthy decrease in performance. All in all, this is a top class scenery package and one that has convinced me to fly more frequently in this part of the world.

Summary / Closing Remarks

In conclusion, these two sceneries are well worth the investment. The download version Gibraltar X comes at a price of $20.27 USD while Mykonos X comes at a slightly higher cost of $21.34 USD. The quality of these sceneries is very high and it not only entails the airports themselves but also the surround areas. In some cases the entire region was completed revamped. One of my favorite features of the Gibraltar scenery was the ambient sounds of birds and sea breeze while on the ramp. Gibraltar X may not offer you the exact weather conditions that pose as a challenge to real world pilots, but it surely adds beauty and realism to this region. Mykonos X features a tropical like atmosphere which is second only to the Caribbean islands. The beauty of this region was perfectly captured and if you are looking for a holiday destination to add to your simulator then this is definitely one you should consider. All in all these two sceneries rate 10/10 in my book.

What I Like About the Scenery

• Very accurate representation of the real airport
• Barely any effect on frame rates
• Easy to install and uninstall
• Very realistic ground textures
• Night time textures are also very realistic
• Fully compatible with products such as AES and GSX

What I Dislike About the Scenery

• Nothing I could think of really