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Andres Valenzuela's Scenery
By Greg Donohue (17 July 2001)
his
is review on a group of sceneries created by Andres Valenzuela.
Most of the scenery is based on Chilean airports, but there are some
Panamanian airports as well. In this review not every single one is
included. There are more sceneries to come from Andres and will be
concluded in another review.Let's take a look at some of the airports.
Tocumen International
First, we start at Panama City's Tocumen International. The first version of this scenery was not exciting at all. It was nothing but gates, a terminal, taxiways, and a parking lot. Now the boring is gone for good. There are now some static aircraft at the airport (sadly they are all Copa), now there is a passenger drop off/pick up area and trees now surround the airport. Previously, the taxiways at night were lit up by horrible moving lights but now they are replaced by nice blue non-moving lights. I saw all the goods, had some fun, and taxied to the gate. On the way I noticed that the taxiways stop once you get in the area of runway 3L/21R. I don't know if this is what it's really like at Tocumen, so I won't put it on the list of bads.
Copa Airlines 737-700 arriving at Tocumen and taxiing to the terminal
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At the gate with some Copa, Copa and more Copa
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Captain Manuel Nino International
Now we head to the northern area of Panama to a small airport in Changuinola called Captain Manuel Nino International airport. I mostly use this scenery for my prop aircraft collection (nothing special, it's just the default Cessnas). Using the Cessna 182S at the airport there was only one tawiway that led to what I believe is a parking area. But I like to use the grass for my parking. One thing that this scenery has that I like is the buildings (I'm still not sure what they are, some kind of tents?) on the grass. But whatever they are they need to have a little more detail. The trees add a nice touch. I think this is a good airport and a must have for all you VFR flyers.
A nice overview of Captain Manuel Nino airport while on approach
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Parking on the grass with one the aircraft in my prop collection
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Macroes A. Gelabert International
Heading back to Panama City, our next airport is the Macroes A. Gelabert International. Andres has made two versions of this scenery. The first version is ordinary, and is nothing but buildings for the standard airport. The second version is the airport in the correct location (replacing the standard FS2000 buildings). Note: after you install this scenery use the flatten cgf located in the Espanol read me.Once you are there you get to see a beautiful airport! There are no aircraft with you, but you get a couple of cars on the road next to the runway. The best part of the scenery is that it just isn't for the airport, it also includes additions to the area around it, such as houses, water tanks, a hill, a bridge and even a McDonalds!
Skimming the houses and trees on approach to Gelabart Int'l, notice the McDonalds!
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On final on a very tropical and stormy evening
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Chacalutta International Airport
Now we go way south down to the northern deserts of Chile, to Chacalutta Airport. After downloading it I saw a very detailed terminal. And of course a group of palm trees. I did a couple of traffic patterns and found out that it has no ILS. I guess I should have checked that before doing 6 mile approach (oops). After three times in a row I went a little to fast and flew off the runway. Finally I got more used to it, and became pretty good at the landing. (Warning: make sure you're at a good speed for the landing and full reverse thrusters when you touch down).After following the taxiways to the very detailed terminal I found that I wasn't alone. You get to become best friends with a Ladeco 737-200. Even though your friend doesn't do much except sit there, you get to show off all the stuff that you can do.
Ladeco 737 parked and ready to depart from Chacalutta
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Lining up on runway 2
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Cerro Morena International Airport
About 200 miles south, we go to our next airport called Cerro Morena International. This is the one of the newest releases from Andres and is one of the most detailed out of them. This airport (again) has no ILS but it does have a much longer runway, so it wasn't as challenging as Chacalutta. I believe this airport is also much busier than Chacalutta, judging by the airport's size.Another similar part between this scenery and Chacalutta is the Ladeco 737-200, but a new Lan Chile 737 comes with it too. Like the other airports it has taxiways, trees and the static aircraft. But the best part of the scenery is the terminal. An incredible looking terminal it is, with large, detailed windows (that change into different shades depending on the time of day), doors, a welcome sign and a tower. The cargo ramp isn't as "detailed" as the terminal though.
Is it just me, or is the Ladeco 737-200 following me?
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My Ladeco 737 shutting down at the detailed Cerro Morena terminal
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Arturo Merino Benetiz International
Now for the last part of this scenery tour. We head to the capital of Chile, Santiago. This is the busiest airport in this review. Yes, there are the 737-200s again but there are some new ones as well, such as the DC-8, DC-10 and a 767. When flying with this scenery there are two problems but can simply be fixed:
- There is a problem with the ground texture, making it completely black. To fix this problem all you have to do is turn off the ground shadows in your FS2000's settings.
- The airport's ILS was not aligned properly with the runway and will confuse you if you are flying IFR. But this problem can be easily fixed, by simply downloading the ILS fix patch.
In this scenery the taxiways are not as "normal" looking as the others and the letters on buildings are a little hard to read. Going over a little more you get to see some gates with a DC-10 and a 767. But, there is a problem with the gates. The taxiways are not lined in the appropriate spot to be accurate with the gates. But if this version is updated I think that the problem can be fixed easily. Even if it isn't, it is still great scenery.
Lan Chile A320 lifting off the runway at Benetiz Int'l
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Taxiing off the runway to the terminal, with all the static aircraft waiting
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The Goods
