Introduction

Known as the gateway to Japan, TokyoNarita International Airport is one of the largest airports in Japanand is situated approximately 65 km, or 40 miles from downtown Tokyo.First opened in 1978, it is the largest airport in Japan forinternational flights and cargo, with 44.3 million passengers and 2million tons of cargo passing through the airport in 2019. In terms ofaircraft movements, it was second only to Tokyo Haneda and ranks asthe tenth busiest freight hub in the world. Narita serves as a hub forAll Nippon Airways, Nippon Cargo Airlines, Japan Airlines, andlow-cost carriers Peach and Jetstar Japan.

Installation

The installation process for Tokyo Narita is quite simple. Thedownload file is 2.5 GB and includes just one EXE file that you run. Itautomatically detects and installs the scenery into your communityfolder. I would like to see an option to remove the static aircraft,because while they are of very high quality, not everyone would likethem in the scenery, myself included.

Note: some of the screen shots were taken after the World Update3. With the new update the taxiway lighting for the airport wasdestroyed and made it almost impossible to get a good screen shot ofthe airport from high up. I've taken as much care as possible to avoidincluding them in screen shots, but they are in some. If they don'tlook like they should be there, they aren't, and before the update thetaxiway lighting was perfect. It should be fixed in an update. Now, onwith the review!

First Impressions

My first impressions of Drzewiecki Design's rendition of Naritawere very positive. It looked very natural and of high quality, withthe terminal modeling being some of the best I have seen. Lookingbeyond what one would see when only at the gate, I explored theterminals, the interiors of which are modeled and look stunning,really adding to the immersion of the airport.

The custom ortho tiles of the airport are also well done and blendwith the surrounding scenery flawlessly. The mesh is one of thehighlights, with all the roads that weave under the runways andtaxiways given a very lifelike appearance.

Looking Around

Starting off at the entrance of the airport I am met with the signwelcoming me to Narita airport, which seems to have a tree growingbeside it covering up part of the sign. Just needs a little trim fromthe airport ground keepers and it will be in perfect shape. I enterTerminal 1, which Peach Airlines uses for domestic flights out ofNarita. The check-in counter and the parts of the terminal are visiblewhen seen from the apron are modeled and look very good, howeverwalking around inside of them is a bit of a stretch, and you will findyourself unable to find a way out without going through a window orwall. I found Terminals 2 and 3 to be the same, with Delta check-insigns and no others. I found this slightly surprising as Delta hasmostly pulled out of Tokyo Narita, a base it acquired with thetakeover of Northwest Airlines, who held it since the late forties aspart of the Fifth-Freedom Flights. Moving out to the ramp, the qualityof Drzewiecki Designs holds up in the absolutely stunning externalbuilding models. These are a work of art, and Drzewiecki certainlyimpressed me with them. The gates are custom models as well, fullyanimated, and look very good!

Moving out to the stands, there are vehicles and airport objectsscattered around the light poles. Moving to the taxiways and the roadsrouted underneath them, they are all done beautifully, with greatterrain mesh that gives it a very realistic look. One thing that Ifound interesting, and had forgotten about, was a small article abouta man named Takao Shito who still lives and farms on Tokyo Naritaairport. The runway in fact, was planned to go through his property,but through widespread protests, the runway length was shortened andit left runway 34R/16L at just 8,202 feet (2500m) instead of thelength of its sister runway 34L/16R which is 13,123 feet (4000m). Ifound his property to be in good condition in Drzewiecki's airport,and you can see a faint outline of the original starting point of therunway which is now aircraft parking.

Textures

The textures are for the most part very well done, and a lot ofwork was put into making them as realistic as possible. Each texturereflects light in its own way and adds a ton of variety and realism tothe airport. However, not everything was perfect with the textures asI did encounter some issues. The textures I am referring to are whatsome would call a high-resolution ground polygon. While it iscertainly an enhancement over the default textures, it has some majorfaults that could certainly be fixed I believe. The runways, taxiways,and aprons have a very fake feeling to them. The resolution is quitelow to the point where you don't see that much of a difference betweenthe default texture and the new version when viewed from the aircraftcockpit. I thought it might be a limitation of the Microsoft SDK, buthaving seen other airports with a very high resolution ground map, forexample FlyTampa, I would venture to say it isn't.

The ortho also seems to have some remnants of taxiways from thepast, which is a slight letdown, but not a massive issue. Is this adeal breaker? Not at all, but it could use some improvement. Going inhand with the ground textures, there are the markings. The runway andtaxiway markings are much too clean compared to any video I have foundon YouTube with good footage of taxiing at Haneda. They seemed likethe default MSFS 2020 ground textures and no weathering of the markingsis anywhere to be found throughout the airport, save a couple of tiremarks. This is especially notable on the green swaths of paint on thesides of taxiways Charlie and Juliet between Terminal 1 and themaintenance hangars. This could certainly use some improvement, and ifdone, would bring this airport to another level. These are really theonly complaints I have for the entire airport! Everything else issuperb, but the lack of general wear and tear on the runways andtaxiways could certainly use a rework in my opinion, but Idigress. Now on to the rest!

Lighting

The night lighting is certainly one of the strong points of MSFS 2020,and Drzewiecki Design did a great job showcasing this in TokyoNarita. It is frankly the best implementation I've seen to date. Theterminal has some amazing 3D lighting which casts down onto the apronand is the best looking light I've seen in a scenery. The signagelighting has that standard glow that is replicated perfectly, and I amstunned by how good this airport looks after sunset. Flying intoNarita is a treat at all times but certainly after dark!

Static Aircraft

For those that like static aircraft to enhance their airportexperience, you will not be let down by the variety seen at TokyoNarita. These are some of the best I've seen and almost all haveaccurate liveries, although I did see a United A350 in there. Forthose of us that prefer our airports without static aircraft, I havebeen unable to find a way to disable them, so maybe that could be anopportunity for Drzewiecki to add an option in a future update.

Conclusions

This is one of the best airports for MSFS 2020 and a perfect additionfor World Update 1, with Peach Airlines flying A320's to severaldestinations in Japan from Tokyo Narita. It is relatively easy on FPS,and I averaged 35-40 FPS which is very good on 'High End' settings at1080p on a modest PC. Drzewiecki Designs sets a high standard on eachof their products, and while it has some faults, mainly in theresolution of the ground poly and lack of weathering on the groundtextures, that can certainly be changed and improved with updates! Ata price of US $24.00, it is an average cost for a large airport, andcertainly is well worth the money. The detail of this airport andsurroundings impressed me from the first time I loaded it into thesim. If you have not looked at this airport yet, I highly encourageyou to do so. I am happy to have this airport in my collection andlook forward to visiting it in many future flights.

PC Specs:

• B450 Gaming Pro Carbon
• Ryzen5 3600 @ 4.2 GHz
• RTX2070 super
• 16 GB DDR4 Ram @ 3200 MHz
• 256 GB SSD (for MSFS 2020 alone)
• 1TB HDD (for add-ons)

Joshua Moore

Purchase Drzewiecki Design - RJAA Tokyo Narita for MSFS 2020