Development

When did you start developing for flight simulators and what got you interested in it?

If we ignore what posed as a flight simulator on the Spectrum 48K, my first simulator was FS2 when it was owned by SubLogic. This I ran on a Commodore Amiga 500 and later an Amiga 1200. When Commodore folded I then moved to the IBM PC and used FS98 and its later variants.

When I started using FS2004, as impressive as it was, I became bored with the lack of scenery shown for the small UK airfields and wondered if there was a way to fill in these scenery gaps. I came across the Rwy12 program and started adding items for my own interest.

When FSX (Deluxe Edition) became my primary simulator I was pleased to see that it included Microsoft's Design Suite (MSFS SDK). I managed to install and use the Object Placement Tool (the rest of the tools are still a mystery to me!). Then AFX came along, which enabled me to alter the airfield data. Now that I had the tools, I started modifying those small forgotten UK airfields. At about the same time, Gary Summons started producing his excellent airport scenery, and then later some of the smaller airfields. These were incredibly well done, but like most good things, came at a price. Flight simulation can be a fairly expensive hobby at times, and not everybody has the resources to have the newest and best, so the idea of creating free variants (which improved on the generic scenery) was born.

Alf, could you tell us about the nature of your designs and what you do?

My first port of call is Google Earth which I use to correct the runways. You can almost guarantee that something has an error, be it position, length, bearing, etc. I can also use Google Earth to measure the dimensions of the buildings which is extremely useful. Later on in the design process, I use pictures (if suitable ones are found), to calculate the height of buildings. Once I have the layout and positions sorted, I construct the 3D buildings with Instant Object Studio and then paint them with the textures from the pictures that I've found. Where pictures only have partial views of buildings or are distorted, I reconstruct the bits I can see using Paint Shop Pro, Paint and Gimp. Where I have nothing to work with, I use artistic license (I have never claimed my scenery was 100% accurate). Once that stage is completed, I then add the other details such as trees and fences etc.

Is there a particular reason why you specialize in UK airfields?

Yes, I tend to do most of my flying around the UK (GA aircraft) and so wanted to improve the general experience. I originally looked at England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and did do one Scottish scenery, but when I found out that a couple of chaps were already creating small airfields in Scotland and Northern Ireland I decided not to step on their toes. For this reason I concentrate purely on England and Wales. I suppose I should have called them Alf's English (and not UK) airfields!

What do you consider your best or most popular work?

Since I started in 2008, I've had just over 169 thousand hits, which I find quite amazing. Of course, this number is a combined total on three flight simulation freeware sites but I still can't believe it. When I look at some of my earlier designs I actually feel quite embarrassed, yet some of the early ones are still being downloaded. The greatest number of hits has been just over 10,000 on my Volume 7, which consisted of Aberporth, Barra (original version) and Eaglescott. Of more recent output, Popham and Old Warden v2 seem to be the most popular.

What do you find to be the most (challenging) difficult aspect of a project?

Collecting data on the buildings. My first task is to visit the web page of the airfield I am hoping to recreate and then look at their photo gallery (if they have one). More often than not it consists of images of aircraft or the inside of hangars, never images of external views, which I find very frustrating. I have had a few stalwarts who have asked me to recreate an airfield and have gone and taken pictures for me, but that kind of enthusiasm does not happen often. Where it's available, Google Earth's Street View is handy as I can drive 'virtually' around the perimeter of some of the airfields and take pictures; especially useful if the backs of buildings are hidden from view.

Another challenge is altering mesh altitudes. Small changes are OK but as of late, I've been trying to create deep holes in the ground so as to represent quarries. This ends up being a trial and error exercise, which is most time consuming! This is made even more difficult by the different levels of mesh available to simmers.

Alf, what have been your favorite projects to date?

Barra is one, especially version 2. Microsoft bombed over this by making it an inland airfield so I was more than pleased to reproduce the sand runways located in the bay at low tide. For those people who have downloaded it; sorry I couldn't make the tides work!

Old Warden was a memorable project to undertake as I visited the famous Shuttleworth Collection. This is a collection of flying vintage aircraft and is a 'must do' visit if you live in the UK. For this project I took all the photographs myself.

Rochester was a tour de force. A contact of mine managed to get permission from the airport manager so that he could go and photograph the buildings. I was snowed under by the amount of images for this location that he offered.

More recently, Traffic Port Venlo was fun (again a request) as the flying club shares the site with an HGV driving school. In some of my sceneries you will find the signs located at airport entrances, which some may say is overkill, but really this is done for my own amusement.

What software packages and tools do you use to develop?

In the early days I used Rwy12 for adding objects. For airfield layout I began with AFX, this was in February 2008. Then from April 2008 I used the excellent Airport Design Editor (ADE) and finally (as of today) ADEX, from ScruffyDuck.

To place both generic and self-built library objects I use FSX SDK Object Placement Tool and Google Earth. I peruse Pooley's Pilots UK Flight Guide for inspiration. For scratchbuilt objects I initially used Instant Object Maker v1.2 from FlightSimTools (August 2008). From Volume 15, February 2009, I have used this in an attempt to produce photoreal landclass. This I stopped around October 2012 due to flicker problems. Later on (October 2012) I acquired the excellent Instant Object Studio. I use Paint Shop Pro, Paint and Gimp for graphical and distortion problems.

Alf who would you consider to be your mentors or inspiration in the development world?

As mentioned earlier, it would have to be Gary Summons as the work he has produced over the years is simply stunning.

How many people work with you?

I'm basically a loner but several people have contacted me requesting that I design a specific airfield and some of these have helpfully taken photographs for me to work with.

Real Life

Do you have any experience in real aviation?

Only peripheral but I have seen some interesting aircraft in my time.

In 1947 I joined the Meteorological Office and served with them for over 41 years. This involved working on civil and RAF airfields, upper air statistics, cloud physics research, instruments, auxiliary weather station liaison and interaction with public and private customers, an eclectic mix.

My first posting was in late 1947 to London Heathrow (when it was in its infancy). There I saw a Vickers Viking with the piston engines removed and which was being used as a test bed for two Rolls Royce Nene jet engines. This arrived from Paris with some VIP's on board and claimed the very first jet passenger flight. I also saw the very first Boeing Stratocruiser arrive. I saw many of the old passenger aircraft used on regular flights such as the Avro York, Lancastrian and Tudor and also the elegant Lockheed Constellation. An unusual French aircraft I saw was the S.E.161 Languedoc, a 1939 design.

Whilst I was at RAF Tangmere (1949) one memory I clearly recollect is of a Vickers Wellington performing a belly landing on the grass in the center of the airfield; quite some sight. I also remember that we had a flight of Republic P47 Thunderbolts fly in when their home field at Manson was closed in.

Another resident was a Percival Proctor of the Communications Flight. From 1963-1966 I did a stint at RAF Gutersloh which is located in Northern Germany. When I arrived they had the elegant Hawker Hunters, but just before I left these had been replaced by the ugly (in comparison) English Electric Lightnings. However, as ugly as they were, boy could they climb! They were like a rocket...straight up!

My last aviation contact was from 1966-1971 at RAF Shawbury (an ATC Training Unit) with piston engined Percival Provosts, later replaced by the jet engine version and a few DeHavilland Vampires. After that it was all working at Weather Centres with public and media contact until I retired.

What started your interest in aviation?

I think it's fair to say that the 'Biggles' books by W.E. Johns were my first foray into the magical world of aviation. This was when I was around eight years old and for young boys of the time the adventures contained within these books were simply mind-blowing! I was also a keen aeromodeller in my youth, with my largest aircraft (six foot wingspan) being a self designed, free flight model with a 5 cc engine.

Alf, what's been your most memorable real life flight?

My first flight of course. As a schoolboy, just after the end of WW2 in Europe, my father took me to Shoreham airfield where an Auster was performing joyrides for the then princely sum of 10 shillings (50p today). The flight consisted of only one circuit and then down again but I was thrilled, thanks Dad.

Whilst working in research I was once transported from Farnborough to Pershore in an RAF de Havilland Devon; this was as the sole passenger which seemed quite grand. I would have loved to have taken a course when I was younger so as to get my PPL but unfortunately couldn't afford it. If I was to try now I would never remember the communication procedures as I am what they classify...over the hill.

However, for my 70th birthday the family bought me a session with the local flying school at Bristol International Airport. Initially I expected to be taken up and eventually when straight and level, be told I could put my hands on the controls, but how wrong I was!

After being quizzed by the instructor on my knowledge of flying (including my flight simulation interest), he took me out to a Piper Cherokee and did the initial checks. Then he asked me to taxi out to the runway, which I shakily did, past the row of 737's and Airbuses. After engine checks he blithely told me to take-off!

Apart from demonstrating a stall and an emergency turn and holding the yoke whilst I took an aerial picture of my house, I had the rest of the flying to myself (apart from the landing). The instructor declared it was one of the easiest jobs he'd had. Once down he also showed me their club flight simulator, so all in all it was a most memorable flight and day.

What other hobbies or things do you do for enjoyment?

Well, I've been retired for 26 years now, so I've had plenty of time to catch up on my hobbies and holidays. Apart from music (classical, musicals and traditional folk), my other abiding hobby is completely different, and that is Morris Dancing. I have been a Morris Man for 57 years now and only gave up leaping around during my 80th year when my knees started complaining. I now play a melodeon which is a small button accordion (very badly I might add), but I can still go out on a Summer's evening around the country pubs and enjoy the company, dancing, music, singing and of course beer! Needless to say, I have a weather station in my back garden which tells me if the outlook is...bright!

Alf, could you explain a bit about what Morris Dancing is?

Morris Dancing is a form of traditional folk dancing that goes back hundreds of years. It was certainly known in the time of Shakespeare, and Queen Elizabeth the First is said to have been entertained by Morris Dancers. There is a mention of them in a manuscript as far back as c. 1303. Several versions of its origins exist but most of us like to keep it mysterious and unknown as far as the public is concerned.

Traditionally there were male Morris Sides but today there are women's' and even mixed gender Sides. About 2000 male Morris clubs exist today to keep the tradition going. Most (but not all) dances are in sets of six men, or solo or two man jigs. There is lots of leaping and capering, waving of handkerchiefs or banging of sticks.

The most favored instruments these days are the fiddle, concertina, melodeon and accordion. In all the years I have been both Flight Simming and Morris Dancing, I have never met anyone else who does both, but I expect someone out there knows better.

Future

Alf, how do you choose your next new design or project?

I usually browse UK Pilots airfield guides looking for ones which seem interesting. When I do find one, I try and track down pictures on the Internet. Most of the time there is not enough to be found so I start browsing again. Several people have emailed me with requests for airfields and if they can supply me or point me in the direction of suitable pictures, then we have a new project.

I am currently looking at the small airfield of Crosland Moor and would also like to have a go at Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel. Microsoft didn't even get round to putting the grass strip on the island, which in the sim is 40 feet high (400 feet in reality). These two may prove too much for me when it comes to manipulating the mesh altitude. Perhaps I could do with some help here?

Your Thoughts

What can sites like FlightSim.Com do to support you and the hobby better?

Continue to do what you do so well, as without sites such as FlightSim.Com we would all be beavering away in our own little corners, oblivious to the offerings so readily available to the flight simulation enthusiast. Freeware especially is a gift to all flight simmers, so getting it out in the public eye helps everybody.

What tips would you give to anybody thinking of dabbling in scenery?

Get a free copy of the excellent ADEX from ScruffyDuck and have a go. You can't break anything! You might make mistakes with the landclass and exclusion modes at first (why has my new runway still got trees growing on it?), but the very first time you see something real in the landscape that you have made, it's great and your hobby has now extended itself.

How do you feel about the future of flight simulation in general?

The quality continues to slowly get better (both payware and freeware) and teams such as Orbx and A2A Simulations show what can be achieved given the right resources. It may always be a minority hobby but Flight Simulation is here to stay and with the apparent success of the new FSX Steam Edition it may yet just 'take off'!

Alf Denham
Download Alf Denham's Scenery