Tenerife is a popular location formany, especially during the summer. The small Spanish islands in themiddle of the Atlantic offer a quiet and hot spot to enjoy a few daysoff work. The south island is connected to the world throughAeropuerto de Tenerife Sur "Reina Sofia", which opened in 1978 and nowserves over 12 million passengers a year.

While many of us may not be able to travel to Tenerife this year,sim-wings offers us the airport for Microsoft FlightSimulator. sim-wings are a well-respected scenery developer acrossFSX, P3D and MSFS and today we take a close look at their rendition ofthis airport and what it brings to the simulator world.

Where Is It?

Reina Sofia is located in Granadilla de Abona, south of TenerifeIsland. While not sitting directly on the coast, it's a short walkfrom it and sits between the Atlantic Ocean and the peak of Teide andMontana Colorada.

The climate here is very warm throughout the year, lying in thereaches of the Western Sahara, but can sometimes snow on higher groundduring winter. The region is also host to several wind farms thatpower the majority of the island, with one of the largest being foundon the easterly approach of the airport.

Installation

Installation of sim-wings Tenerife Sur is very simple through theFlightSim.Com Store. You receive an installer download and anactivation key for the add-on. Run the installer, point it to thedirection of your simulator 'Community' folder, input your key and therest is automated.

Once the scenery has been downloaded, you are then given a pop-upwhere the add-on offers to install a local copy of NavDataPro withTenerife charts included for free. It's a nice feature that I highlyrecommend installing to give you a little extra technical informationabout the airport and its facilities.

Structures And Facilities

Tenerife-Sur features one main terminal as well as the newextension partially constructed. It also includes a cargo terminal andservice stands to the east, as well as a populated airport car park.

One thing that sim-wings like to incorporate is a fully modelledsection of the terminal interior for you to look at when on theground. In Tenerife-Sur this is the departure gates and this looksfantastic! Each gate features a boarding desk and benches, as well asgate signage through the airport that correspond to their correctlocations. There are also a few models of people which appear to be 3Dscans (presumably the developers themselves) that populate the airportand look very realistic. While 3D scanning may not be the newesttechnology, some phones now incorporate this and I believe this may bethe first time it's been incorporated into a flight simulator scenery.

As we continue east along the terminal, we come across the cargoterminal which has been modelled to a very high degree of detail, withground service vehicles that surround the local parking spaces, all inIberia colors. While these themselves may be static, this doesn'tstop the use of the default ground service vehicles, which arecarefully positioned and don't get in the way. Jet bridges are alsocustom and work with the default simulator ground services, giving youfull functionality when at the airport.

Further along, the airport has a small medical and operationstation complete with a parked helicopter and Civil Guardvehicle. This sits inside a small cutting in a hill with directtaxiway access to the airport. This shows a good level of where theground mesh has been modified to fit the needs of the scenery, and howbuildings interact with the ground it surrounds.

There is a lot to look at in this scenery, certainly enough to keepyou coming back for more!

Ground Layout

This airport features a single runway as well as a long series ofgates and stands for aircraft to park at. The airport layout is simplewith one main taxiway parallel to the runway which leads onto a thirdtaxiway surrounded by gates. To the east of the terminal, you can findthe ground service area with vehicles parked and waiting to be used.

The runway, taxiway and stands all use custom high-resolutiontextures that look fantastic in the simulator world. As you enterRunway 07, the two entry points are separated with thick yellowmarkings to ensure that spacing is kept between both, with the morerecent B0 differentiated with newer, lighter concrete that sitsdirectly next to it. The opposite end Runway 26 B6 and B7 areseparated by a wide, light blue concrete floor. All of this givespilots maximum visibility and clarity of the ground. Navigation of theairport is also easy thanks to the readability and clarity of the taxisigns, allowing you to find your way in and out of the airport,especially useful on online networks.

As you leave the airport through one of the access roads, theground immediately around the airport has also been massively improvedwith bus stops and car parks being modelled and populated. Trees alsocover the airport and surrounding area, hand-placed by the developersto bring the airport to life.

The ground always plays a big part in any scenery add-on, andsim-wings have excelled in this with their recreation of Tenerife-Sur.

Night Effects

Night lighting at the airport looks fantastic. The terminal andpublic side is bright, vibrant and brings the virtual airport tolife. The terminal interior is lit up and gives you a lot to look atwhen parked at a gate. It adds to the sense of life you get atTenerife and plays a big part in maximising the usability of theairport scenery.

Taxiways and the runway are also very well lit and give you lots ofvisibility when flying in and out of Tenerife. Marked taxiway lightsto and from the runway as well as lit signs showing taxiwaydesignations ensure that navigation is easy all around theclock. Stands also feature floodlighting. When parked at a gate, yoursurroundings are lit up, offering maximum visibility. A lot of defaultairports in Microsoft Flight Simulator can appear too dark with littleuse of floodlighting, this certainly makes for a nice change.

Overall this is a great airport to fly into, regardless of the timeof day you fly.

The Surrounding Area

sim-wings have not only focused on the airport itself but have alsoincluded several scenic features all around the region too.

Ground mesh has been updated and different ground levels are muchmore realistic with high-definition moulding of the ground. Theairport sits on a mountain slope and therefore a lot of ground hasbeen displaced to make the airport as flat as possible.

Wind farms to the east of the airport have also been recreated andanimated which is also very good to see. My only gripe with it is thatthe fan blades are all in the same position and spinning in unison,otherwise, it's a very high level of detail that will add to yourflying experience, especially if it's an airport you are familiar withvisually.

Opinion And Closing Remarks

Overall this is a fantastic recreation of Tenerife-Sur. sim-wingshave a fantastic eye for detail, something which I saw when reviewingtheirMunich Airport scenery,and this has continued into Tenerife-Sur.

The high level of detail covers the entirety of the airport fromrunway to gate, inside the terminal and well into the surroundingareas. A lot of care has been taken to add detail to every aspect ofthe airport within the perimeter fence and beyond.

I have been massively impressed with what sim-wings have releasedso far for Microsoft Flight Simulator, and they are a developer that Iwill certainly be following along closely with future add-on releases.

If you are looking for somewhere a little warmer to land in thevirtual MSFS world, then sim-wings Tenerife-Sur is definitelysomewhere for you to consider!

The Technical Bit

Minimum Requirements

• Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020)
• OS: Windows 10 (Nov 2019 Update - 1909)
• CPU: Intel i5-4460 -or- Ryzen 3 1200 or better
• GPU: NVIDIA GTX 770 -or- Radeon RX 570 or better
• DirectX: DirectX 11
• VRAM: 2 GB
• RAM: 8 GB
• HDD: 5 GB
• Bandwidth: 5 Mbps

Review PC Spec

• Microsoft Flight Simulator Premium Deluxe
• Windows 10 Professional
• 6th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 6700K Processor
• 32 GB RAM
• NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1660

Michael Hayward

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