Introduction

Hello everyone! In this review I shallbe looking at Aerosoft's/ Sim-Wings Hamburg. I have had my eyes onthis product for a while now, and I am very excited to try itout. Hamburg is the 5th largest airport in Germany, serving over 17million passengers in 2019. It's known for its iconic terminal design,which has even been replicated by modellers at the cities 'MiniaturWunderland'. So, with that said, let's see what this scenery lookslike in P3D V5.3.

Installation And Configurator

The installation procedure was a quick and simple process. As pernormal with Aerosoft products, a simple installer is run, and then theproduct activated via an internet connection.

After the installation process is complete, the configurator willthen open. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at the number ofcustomisable options available for this product. I particularly likedthe option to control the intensity of the runway lights. Overall,it's the small touches like these that I really appreciate, as ittruly makes the product feel like your own.

If you find yourself at a loose end with the installation process,help is on hand with the included manual. This contains instructionsto install/uninstall the scenery, as well as recommended settings.

Main Terminal

Hamburg as I have already mentioned, has a very distinctiveterminal design, but did you know that the building is actually twoterminals instead of one?

The terminal in this add-on has been fabulously crafted bySim-Wings, and really is a work of art. It features PBR andhigh-quality textures throughout the entire building and it looksfantastic. What makes the airport stand-out even further is the use oftransparent glass; I haven't seen any other airport scenery use thismuch of it before. The result of this, is that the amount of detailpresent, is simply astonishing, and adds another level of life andrealism to the airport.

Apron Areas

Moving on to the apron areas, and it was nice to see that these toowere very well modelled. They include plenty of ground clutter, plusaccurately placed stand markings. The developers even got the dockingsystem spot on as well. However, I felt slightly disappointed in that'SODE' had not been used for the Jetbridges, instead it was thedefault 'CTRL - J' ones. However, there is a silver lining though, asit is possible to download a SODE file, available at:http://www.sim-wings.de/SUPPORT_SODE.htm

General Aviation Area And Hangars

Heading over to the western side of the airport, and you will finda huge general aviation ramp, just like the real airport.

All the stands were present, just like its commercial counterpart,and they were well modelled with accurate stand markings. Texturingtoo was good, with the whole area looking highly authentic. Unlike thecommercial stands, there was hardly any ground clutter, which again,is just like the real airport, so well done to the developers forspotting this!

Another key part of this area was what looks to be a terminalbuilding located next to runway 15/33. At first glance, I thought thiswas a separate commercial terminal building, however after scouringthe internet, I am still none the wiser to its use. If someone couldpossibly enlighten me, I would appreciate it.

Runways

Hamburg features a cross-runway layout to take into account thevarying wind patterns seen within the area. Each runway was accuratelymodelled in regards to length, and featured the correct texturing.

The texture work done here by the developers, must really becongratulated on, as Hamburg uses different materials when it comes toits runways. It would have been easy to just use a carpet approach anduse a single texture, but they decided to take the harder route.

Even the smallest details are present, such as the build-up ofrubber marks from aircraft tires, to the slight fading of paintworkfor the various markings. The result is a highly authentic experiencewhen navigating around the taxiways and runways of the airport.

Hangars

I always knew that Lufthansa Technik had a base at Hamburg, howeverafter using this product, I was blown away by how large theiroperations were.

Along the entire southern edge of the airport, there are vastnumbers of hangars, with most being operated by Lufthansa'sTechnik. The sheer number of these hangars and their enormous sizemade me feel quite small, and just as in real life, the airportskyline is dominated by these buildings. Yet again some greatmodelling work has been carried out, with good use of PBR textures and3D effects, in particular on the supportive column structures.

Unfortunately, this was one part of the scenery which I felt couldhave done with a bit more life. Despite the inclusion of a 747-8 inwhat appears to be a run-up bay, there was just a sense ofemptiness. Perhaps the developers could look at adding a few openhangars to help with this, or maybe even some static aircraft?

Night Lighting

I was very impressed with the night lighting, especially as one ofthe options featured, allowed you to control the intensity of therunway lights. Across the entire airport, night lighting was used togreat effect, even in the remote areas of the airport.

Performance

Since moving over to P3D V5.3, I have witnessed an enjoyableperformance boost on my system, so I was interested to see how Hamburgwould perform. I needn't have worried, as even with my limited 6GBGPU, I had no issues whatsoever. Everything ran extremely smoothly,with usage hovering around 4 to 4.4 GB of VRAM.

Conclusion

In summing up, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed my time atHamburg, it was fantastic. The attention to detail was spot on, withgreat detailing on show throughout the airport. Not only this, but Ifound the performance of the scenery to be excellent, especially whenyou factor in the amount of detail on offer. If I had to have a topten of products, then this add-on would be included.

If you enjoy flying around Germany in P3D, then Sim-Wings Hamburgis a must have!

Alex Dickinson

Purchase Aerosoft - Sim-wings pro Hamburg for P3D v4/v5

See other Sim-wings scenery for Prepar3D