FlightSim.Com Reviews: Greece Scenery
REVIEWS

Ted Katranas' Greece Scenery

by Philip Iplixian (30 May 1998)

Introduction


Olympic Airways jets parked at Athens Hellinikon West Terminal.
"Athens approach, Olympic 276 with information Echo, descending through 12000, overhead Korinthos VOR. Please advise." I am passing over the Corinth canal during a standard approach to Athens Hellinikon runway 15L. To my right are the rising mountains of the northern Peloponese and below to the left I am passing the resort city of Loutraki on the mainland. "Olympic 276, please descend to 8000 and enter a right holding over Elefsis VOR. Expect landing in 10 minutes, you are second behind an Air France A321." Gliding my A300-B4 over the Elefsis VOR I turn to hold the race track. "Athens approach, OA 276 holding over Elefsis." Now I can clearly see the metropolis that is Athens stretching from the dark blue Aegean to the north between Parnitha and Pendeli mountain ranges and to the southeast Imitos mountain towering behind Athens Hellinikon airport.

Soon I will be guiding Olympic Airways flight 276 over the apartment buildings lining Poseidonos Avenue, skimming the many nightclubs of the famous Paraliaki. "OA 276, Athens tower, exit holding at 4000 and proceed for visual approach, runway 15L. Cleared to land, winds are from 177 gusting at 19 knots." Extending the flaps I feel the drag and apply some power for final descent.


Approaching the Corinth Canal from the east.
Approaching the runway, I can now make out the West Terminal apron where several Olympic jets are parked. Skimming rooftops, I flare my bird for a smooth touchdown and taxi off the runway toward the Olympic airways terminal where the airstairs and buses are waiting to carry passengers off the jet and into the building. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Athens where the temperature is a cool 27 degrees Celsius and the local time is 19.45. We thank you for flying with us from London today and hope to see you soon."

Greece is a small country located in southeastern Europe and is part of the Balkan peninsula. Famous for its warm, dry summer climate, it is considered one of Europe's vacation hot spots and every year many tourists come to Greece on charter flights from northern European cities to enjoy the beaches, nightlife and history that are present on the mainland and on every one of the approximately 400 inhabited islands that dot the Ionian and Aegean seas. Most tourists stay in Athens long enough to see the archaeological museums, shopping districts, and temples and then depart on ferries for the islands to escape the pollution of the city which is home to almost 5 million people.

Ted Katranas brings Greece to life in his beautiful rendition of this Mediterranean country for Microsoft Flight Simulator 95 or 98.

Features and Accessibility


Flying in the Kyklades island group. Heading south, Naxos is on the left and Paros and Antiparos are in the center and right. Detailed coastlines help to identify the islands.
This is the best freeware scenery of Greece I have seen! The following is a list of interesting features:

The freeware scenery is available on this website. Go to "Scenery Lookup Maps" and click on Europe and then click on the version of Flight Simulator, either FSFW95 or FS98 and click on Greece. Or get it right here; two files must be downloaded for the scenery to work:

Documentation


The tricky approach to Kerkira (Corfu) airport. Check out the island with the church and pine trees to the left.
Since this is freeware scenery, documentation is not too lengthy, yet it is complete. Instructions for installation are included and a list of all VOR, NDB, ATIS, and ILS frequencies in the scenery can be printed out for reference. The installation is straight forward.

Requirements

Scenery

Although it would be a good idea to have a Jeppesen Low Altitude Enroute Chart handy, it is not required. I have found that a tourist map of Greece is ideal if you plan on flying VFR. The designer obviously spent a lot of time to ensure that VFR flight would be feasible. Flying VFR in the Cessna at 3500 feet I was able to recognise every island due to the accurate coastlines which I compared with my map. A map of Greece can be found at most bookstores with a well stocked travel section.

Many islands have airports and these are usually depicted on a map. Even though some airports are dirt or grass strips, they make perfect stepping stones for a VFR "island-hopping" flight. But the mainland offers its fair share of airports as well. Take an excursion to visit famous Mount Olympus, home of the mythological Gods. Or fly over the rugged terrain which helped the Greeks defend themselves agains Mussolini's invasion during World War II. Many day trips can be planned because Greece is a small country and distances are relatively short.


Thessaloniki airport. Notice the radar dome, terminal building and the Lufthansa jet. The mountain behind is textured.
As I mentioned, the mountains are textured quite nicely so they don't just look like pyramids sticking up. Many islands include the desert textures. This is not an oversight of the designer. Many Greek islands are bare either because they are so dry or because of forest fires which are quite common in the summertime. Santorini, Delos, and Mykonos are just a few of these dry islands. If you like thick foliage, visit the islands in the Ionian sea which are larger and are dotted with villages. On the mainland, lakes and rivers are included but Greece's rivers are mostly dry in the summer.

Airports are nicely detailed but they are not too dense so the frame rates are reasonable. All airports are lit and include taxiways which are accurate using Jeppesen airport diagrams. Some grass fields and taxiways are not lit like their real-life counterparts. The main airports have static airliners parked on the ramp belonging to carriers such as Lufthansa, Swissair and Olympic. Don't get too close to these because they only look real from far away! There is a variety of airport buildings including hangars, control towers, terminals and radar structures. The frame rate on slower computers may suffer due to dense scenery at Athens Hellinikon airport. Fuel availability is quite scarce and the pilot is limited to the bigger airports so plan fuel stops! Many of the airports are also air bases. No photographs please! The new Eleftherios Venizelos airport was not forgotten. What you will see are two parallel runways without markings yet, and some cranes looming above the terminal building which is under construction. The airport will be ready for the 'Athens 2004' Olympic Games.

One thing the designer could have added to make the scenery more unique is the white villages and towns that are built amphitheatrically on the sides of hills and mountains in the islands. This is a characteristic feature of the Cyclades islands in the Aegean.

Useful Information


Olympic A300-B4 on approach to Iraklion runway 9 in Crete. Nicely textured terrain.
Greece has a mild climate. If you like to fly realistically, the following are some suggestions. In the summer, it is hot and dry. In Athens, the temperature may reach 40 degrees Celsius. From July to September, a strong gust known as the "Meltemi" blows from the north often at up to 40 kts. In the winter, humidity prevails and winds are usually from the south. Many parts of the country get snow in the cold months of January and February. If you like flying airliners, all major European carriers fly into Athens. Charter airlines such as Monarch, Britannia, Condor, etc., fly to Athens and the cosmopolitan islands. If you plan to make Athens your departure or destination point, make sure that you only use runway 33R/15L for takeoff and landing. Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city also receives scheduled air traffic.

Conclusion

Ted Katranas has done an excellent job! Any VFR pilot will enjoy this scenery a lot. Airline pilots should feel at home too since many of the airports are capable of handling large jets. Don't expect jetways in this scenery. The country's airports all use airstairs and buses. I like the variety of static jets but perhaps the painstaking work and effort of the designer are best displayed by the coastlines and topographical features that make this scenery worth the download.

Philip Iplixian
iplixiap@db.erau.edu



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