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Well well, no rotor blade jet or prop in sight, scenery is the 'thing' in this review. This airfield has a rich history, especially around the Second World War, many squadrons were housed at this UK based station. The famous 617 Dambuster squadron under Squadron Leader Guy Gibson was based here, in fact if you look outside Hangar 2 you will see the well attended site of his famous Black Labrador's grave. But for those who marvel at the best (without doubt) formation display team in the World, The Red Arrows will appreciate the Squadron is based at RAF Scampton.
What is included in the package? Well the scenery, and that is about it, but that is exactly what I was expecting. However, it seems the scenery is photorealistic, with all the buildings 'mirroring' the actual units, NOT simply copied and re-positioned.
One thing is for sure, the hangars of which there are FOUR very accurate, being Type C hangars. We are told there is a AI Hawker Hunter runway and street lighting, full perimeter fencing, NOB's and ILS; we will look out for these.
This is a download (14 MB), pay's ya' money, and hew presto, the download is complete. I found the installation pretty well straight forward. You will have to access the Add Scenery File and make some simple adjustments to enable activation. I got the 'successfully installed' message, so I was very eager to join the Red Arrows Squadron, and show them my acrobatic skills, finely tuned on my Cessna 172 and Beech Barron... Well may be not... But still eager to pay a visit.
I started FSX, and in the World Option, selected Airport, and scrolled down the list of airports to RAF Scampton. I selected this and waited while the scenery files were being loaded, a good sign I thought.
I positioned myself on the active, and pressed select, and there I was what, no buildings? All right there was some very nice runway detail, and a few 'gates' but no real structures on show. So back to reading the instructions, you know the one's I did not even look at... Oops, cardinal sin, always read the instructions, despite how simple you think the program is.
So, what was I doing wrong? Not a great deal it seems, but the settings have to cranked up, way up to get the full effect. OK this was done, and I have to say, if you are running a machine with a medium performance, I think you may you may well suffer in frame rate refresh.
More about that later. Adjustment made, back to the sim. No doubt about it, the scenery is there and when you take time to have a look around, take a car, or the JetRanger to hover around you will note the detail on offer. The developers have added some incredible detail. One of the hangars is open, and I hovered in--I know, not recommended! But, when I scanned around it could have been real. Very nice indeed.
The control tower is really great, not only does it have the detail but pass in the helo, and you can wave at the controllers overlooking the hallowed turf. Nice touch.
Taxiing around you will note the emergency vehicles parked on show, and let me tell you, they look well, purposeful. Just in case you may need a little 'damping-down' after a hard landing... Let's hope not!
Take the trouble to take a real good tour of the airfield, because it is an active RAF base, there are some very odd buildings scattered around the entire site. Nearer the main complex, you will notice some lovely detail of the office and hangar facilities, as well a very good 'splattering' of more domestic representations. In fact if you take a tour to the far side of the airfield, you will see an AI Hawker Hunter sitting outside a hangar.
As to the taxiways, and runways they are offered in good detail, and seem accurate, from some drawings I have of the base.
OK, all my observations are in the daylight conditions, so what about dusk, dawn and night? Well, you get some very good runway and approach lighting, but that is it, no taxiway, building or flood lighting, bit of a shame.
Oh yes, with my settings 'cranked-up' I was expecting some serious aircraft and vehicle movements. I did not see them, and more importantly see any BAe Hawks in Red, i.e., The Red Arrows, so, back to 'them pesky' instructions! OK, it they do offer some clear instructions of how to download some free AI Red Arrows, that will position them on the apron, but I have to admit, I chickened out; looks far too complicated, and frankly risky, for my computer skills.
I think this program offers a great RAF base to fly in and out of. The detail is actually very good, OK, not perfect in my opinion, and if you are running a slow to medium machine as mentioned, you may just see a some drop in frame rate, i.e., performance. But before I get too 'picky' we have to keep one eye on the price, it really is very reasonable. You could say if any money is paid for a product, it should be as good as possible, and you would have a point. But, as mentioned this will provide a good facsimile of the RAF base, just don't expect perfection.
I must say though, night lighting, or the lack of it on the taxiways and extensive lighting on the base (flightside) was a real shame--I really did expect that. I would greatly appreciate a fix, in time, that would add the lighting. Oh yes, and some decent AI aircraft around the airfield. With my settings, the airfield looked deserted, I have visited RAF Scampton, and it is 'buzzing'. I noticed in some of the screen shots there are lush trees, etc., but not in mine, not one tree, and as I mentioned I have my settings Very High. This could be me, actually I have not tried every setting to maximum, but if I did that, the screen would refresh every 4 minutes! Worth a try though.
I was a tad annoyed that the AI Red Arrows were not simply included in the program to start with. For some, adding a possibly complex process to see the Red Arrows is a daunting one, and let's be honest in the product shots, prior to purchase show the Red Arrows on the tarmac; this is wrong and misleading.
There are some awesome commercially available airport software add-ons available, in fact I own some, and these become the bench-mark in terms of perceived quality, OK, these were more expensive, but do you know, would I prefer to pay a bit more to get a premium product? Yes, yes and yes I would.
Anyway, why not get a short term commission, and fly in the RAF from RAF Scampton, for the price, it is truly worth considering.
System Used:
AMD Phenom 9950 Quad Core
2.60 GHz
2GB Ram
Windows VISTA Premium
Microsoft Flight Simulator FSX
G-Force 9500GT
Onwards and Upwards.
Nigel C. Martin
n.c.martin@btinternet.com
Learn More Here
FSX Version
FS2004 Version
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