FlightSim.Com Reviews: Eastern Wisconsin Scenery

Eastern Wisconsin Scenery

By Dan Vanevenhoven (25 June 1999)

Intro:

Eastern Wisconsin Scenery by Steve Gonwa was previously called WashCo_v1. This scenery now covers over a 200 square miles area. The scenery extends from the north edge of Milwaukee to the Fox Valley region and west from Lake Michigan to Waupaca. There are 15 airports, over 90 cities and villages, 50 lakes, marshes, most major highways as well as many county and town roads that are situated near the airports.

Airports covered are:

Berlin Field (45C)
Brennand (79C)
Dodge County (UNU)
Fond du Lac County (FLD)
Grob Airport (50C)
Hahn Sky Ranch (W108)
Hartford Muni (HXF)
Manitowoc County (MTW)
New Holstein Muni (8D1)
Omro - Skydive Adventures (64WI)
Oshkosh - Wittman Regional (OSH)
Outagamie County (ATW)
Sheboygan County Memorial (SBM)
Waupaca Muni (PCZ)
West Bend Muni (ETB)

Installation:

This is one of the more easy sceneries to install. From Windows Explorer, locate the SCENERY folder under Flight Simulator. Create a new folder within the SCENERY folder and name it "EastWI". Copy all of the bgl files to the EastWI Scenery folder. Copy all of the det, api and pat files to the EastWI Texture folder. Copy the blacktop and all four pklot r8 files to the EastWI Texture folder. There is a option also to replace the default farm land scenery which is explained in the document file. Then activate the scenery and go flying in eastern Wisconsin.

Oshkosh(OSH):
This is by far the most detailed area in this scenery. Almost every building at Wittmann field and Pioneer airport (on Wittman field gounds behind the EAA Museum) is covered (the only big building that I noticed missing here was the church at Pioneer airport). Even most of the trees at the museum are in their right place. Rafael Sanchez' EAA Museum macro file is used in this scenery. The attention to detail on the museum is nothing short of incredible. To view Oshkosh to its fullest you must use "very dense" scenery setting. I get the feeling that Steve was at last years "EAA AirVenture" because even the temporary buildings at AirVenture have shown up. These buildings move from year to year so if you go to AirVenture this year and say there is no building there you will know why. You can also see the well known "old red barn" as well as all the newer exhibit buildings in the main exhibit area and the large control tower (for a regional airport) as well as the passenger terminal building at the north end of Wittman field.

Outigamie County (ATW):
Outigamie County Airport, about 20 miles north of Oshkosh, is also very detailed. Some of the attention to details I noticed here are the water tower with a beacon light on it and the buildings near the airport also show up as well as their off center driveway scheme to the terminal area. The terminal building also is very well done and has a very full parking lot, which is normal as this is the headquarters of Air Wisconsin (United Express); Gulfstream aviation has facilities here as well.

Fond Du Lac (FLD):
Fond Du Lac Airport, about 20 miles to the south of Oshkosh, has a lot of detail also. This airport is almost on top of Hwy 41 and it gives you that look very well here. You even see the out buildings off rwy 9/27 and even the restriction fence has been put in, along with the hangars that are along rwy 18/36.

West Bend Municipal (ETB):
West Bend Municipal is Steve's main airport. This is where everything started from. It looks like this airport has been visited many times by Steve. For one of the smaller airports this one you can tell has had the most amount of time spent on it. This airport has changed a lot since its original release as WashCo_v1. The buildings are a lot more true to color and positioning has greatly improved over the older versions. There is privacy fence and small trees abound and all the near by road have been put in here as well.

Dodge County (UNU), Hartford Muni (HXF), Manitowoc County (MTW),
Sheboygan County Memorial (SBM) and Waupaca Municipal (PCZ):
These airports are some of the more common destinations for general aviation aircraft in eastern Wisconsin and are all very well done, from the taxiways to the airport beacons that rotate and make the airport come alive. There has been a lot of time spent on getting these airports exact as possible. There are a few very minor errors I noticed but overall you can tell Steve worked very hard and put in long hours here. Keep in mind you can't land your 747 at these airports but you can have a lot of fun with the general aviation aircraft here.

Berlin Field (45C), Neenah-Brennand (79C), New Holstein Muni (8D1), Omro - Skydive Adventures (64WI)
Let's not forget some of the smaller airports in this area. Steve has even put in Omro (64WI) which you will be hard pressed to find on many nav maps. The small airports are what I like to fly in real life. They have their own character and can be a challenge in to fly into. If you have ever read a facility directory you will know what I mean; examples like ((8D1) avoid overflying house 1350' from rwy 4) or ((79C) avoid trees 200' from rwy) not to mention the times I have heard "be advised deer have been crossing runways". It's airports like this where most general aviation aircraft can be found and are truly fun to fly into. Not many sceneries look at the smaller airports to do design work but Steve has done a great job even putting in the power poles *smile*

Summary:

There are a few more airports on this scenery I didn't mention but those you can discover on your own. You get the real feel of some of the regional airports and some of the smaller less known airports in eastern Wisconsin. Wisconsin has a very deep aviation history and you can sure tell it when you fly over this area, there are a lot of airports in a very small area. Steve did a good job of setting levels on this scenery overall so that you can set it for your processor as to get the best frame rates possible. This scenery is nothing short of excellent. In Steve's doc file he gives credit to John Voznak, designer of Western Wisconsin Scenery (a excellent scenery in its own right), for help on this scenery. The two sceneries are very compatible. He also thanks Rafael Sanchez for use of his EAA Museum. While there are a few errors they are very minor in the scenery. It is very obvious to me that Steve has visited if not all, then most of the airports here. There is detail here you just can't get from a few aerial photos and sources like airnav.com. I live in this area and in looking at this scenery I did look at these airports very closely, even taking a little trip around myself to see how close they really where, and was pleasantly surprised at what I found. The only thing missing is static aircraft for more realism. I think Steve has taken this scenery right to the edge of FS and like all things in FS there are alot of limitations. I look forward to seeing what might come out on any possible next version of this scenery. On a scale of 1 to 10 I give it a 9+. Hats off to Steve for a job well done.

Review By Dan Vanevenhoven
dvaneven@rocketmail.com

Download Eastern Wisconsin scenery

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