Sardinia Scenery

The beautiful blue passenger terminal tells me I have arrived in Cagliari so I proceed next to another Meridiana jet. A powerline support structure can be seen in the background as well as a black billboard between the taxiway sign and apron light.

Sardinia is one of these jewels. It is located just south of Corsica, separated by the Strait of Bonifacio. After Sicily, it is the second largest island in the Mediterranean and it too belongs to Italy. Sardinia's landscape is dominated by mountains but several lakes dot the island and Cagliari, the largest city, is surrounded by low, rolling hills on the southern tip. Its towns and villages attract many tourists during the summer months and several airlines provide scheduled or charter services to the island's three larger airports.

With a countryside so beautiful, it is worth renting a small airplane to discover the jagged coastline and mountain lakes. A few small airfields serve the local air traffic that often consists of sightseeing flights. Perhaps these are the reasons why scenery designer Pietro Mauri decided to recreate this beautiful island for Flight Simulator.

Part of my tour included a quick stop at the scenic Tortoli-Arbatax airport which is located in the northeast. Take a look at all the detail here! A lighthouse in the background, a brick hangar, a helicopter pad between the static Cessna 172 and the antenna, a static Citation jet, transparent control tower and cypress trees.

Compatibility

• Pentium III-500MHz
• 256MB RAM
• Diamond Viper 550 (16MB, AGP)
• Microsoft Flight Simulator 98

Each airport features a custom passenger terminal. This time it's at Olbia airport. A collision avoidance antenna can be seen on the hill in the background behind the departing Hapag Lloyd A310.

Installation and Documentation

Scenery

This is a photo that I took during a VFR flight on a cloudy afternoon. The scenery was breathtaking and I couldn't resist. In the background you can just make out the Mediterranean sea but the lake with the river flowing to it is quite eye catching.

When you teleport yourself to your departure airport, you will notice that the textures are not simply "default style." Although some generic buildings can be seen at airports, most buildings are custom made. The three larger airports at Cagliari, Alghero and Ostia are very detailed. Lit taxiway signs, billboards and static airliners in the colors of Alitalia and Meridiana can be seen at the passenger terminals. The designer customized each terminal by including the name of the airport. Navigation and communication antennas are present at all the airports and some also feature windsocks. The smaller airfields have static scenery in the form of Cessnas wearing Italian flags.

Probably the nicest touch is the foliage. There is an interesting variety of tall trees and low bushes and shrubs around each airport. All the taxiways are lit at night and have centerlines. The navigation frequencies (VOR/NDB) are real and ATIS is available at Cagliari.

A rusted hangar, powerline support structure and a glideslope antenna complete this scene at Olbia airport. I was taxiing for takeoff in spot view so I could admire the foliage!

City textures are very appealing too. Instead of the generic seed, a very "Mediterranean" look has been achieved by using a terra cotta colored seed to replicate the tiled roofs of the houses. The coastline has been meticulously carved and is mostly jagged. All roads are lit and highways are represented as double roads that often thread their way through winding passes between mountains. The countryside is very green and was designed using a default and a custom texture seed. The mountains are also textured beautifully and mesh quite unnoticed with the ground terrain. The lakes that are included have textured water and are often nestled in between rising peaks. The tallest mountain rises to about 2800 meters. Many of the mountains are marked with flashing antennae for collision avoidance.

A high altitude aerial view of the city of Cagliari including the airport, seaport and the reservoirs. Note the custom countryside and city textures. This is the largest city in Sardinia.

The down side to all this detail is that your frame rate will suffer dearly around the major airports if you are not using a fast enough PC. As I mentioned earlier, Cagliari, Alghero and Olbia can accommodate jet airliners but don't plan on taking off or landing in anything bigger than a fully loaded Airbus A300 or you'll be disappointed with the results. Meridiana uses BAe-146 and Avro RJ's as well as MD-80's. Alitalia uses MD-80's or an occasional Airbus A321. I did not see any dynamic scenery at any of the airports.

Conclusion