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RAF PocklingtonPublisher: Team SDBReview Author: Neil BirchSuggested Price: $10.00/images/fsc/wbicons/pilot-shop-buy.pngIntroductionRAF Pocklington is one of a series of vintage RAF airfields dottedaround the United Kingdom created by SDB Designs. Judging by how manyof these sceneries the developers have created, I'm guessing that theyhave a real love for these old airfields, many of which survive, butare best viewed from the air. /images/reviews/pockling/raf-pocklington10.jpgLike my very ownfarm stripsandWestwood Walks(we actually fly not walk) these RAF airfields are definitely a nichemarket and will most likely appeal to simmers with an interest in theSecond World War. Situated near the east coast, just north of the city of Hull,Pocklington was surrounded by a host of other airfields, and must havebeen a great place for young plane spotters of the time. The airfieldwas built on or near the site of a First World War airfield calledBarmby, which was in truth, not much more than a field. It was usedfrom April 1916 by the fledgling Royal Air Force, known then as theRoyal Flying Corps, or RFC for short. Stationed there were 76Squadron, and they operated BE II and BE 12 biplane fighters onZeppelin patrols over the North Sea (without any success). /images/reviews/pockling/raf-pocklington01.jpg /images/reviews/pockling/raf-pocklington02.jpgRAF Pocklington was on the government's airfield expansion plans asearly as 1933, but work didn't start on the airfield until 1939(rather late in the day when you consider hostilities began as ofSeptember that year). After much work, the airfield finally opened opened in 1941 as abomber station. The first squadron to move in were the Royal CanadianAir Force, with twin engined Wellington bombers. In 1942, the muchlarger, four engined Halifax bombers (portrayed in the scenery)replaced the Wellingtons, and were stationed there until 1944. Thesein turn were replaced with Liberators and Dakotas. The airfieldclosed in 1946, and over time has slowly moved over to industry.However, many of the original buildings survive and as such, it's asort of swords to ploughshares. There are many stories regarding Pocklington and other RAFairfields during the war, as the records kept were very good at thetime. One of the saddest has to be of Halifax II JD165 'S' sugar,when on the night of January 28th, returning from a raid over Berlin,it was hit by flak and struggled to maintain height. By the time theaircraft and crew had reached the coast, their altitude had dropped to2000 feet, and had to to ditch in the sea soon after. A distress signalwas sent, but the freezing conditions at the time meant that the crew,even though they had managed to climb into their dinghy, were unableto use the radio mast and canned rations. To make matters worse, awave flipped the dinghy over, causing the crew, yet again, to fallinto the icy water. Four managed to clamber back into the dinghy, butthe other three crew members (unable to pull themselves in) driftedaway with the sea. The four lone survivors were rescued a day and ahalf later. /images/reviews/pockling/raf-pocklington08.jpg /images/reviews/pockling/raf-pocklington09.jpgFSX Scenery FeaturesSeasonally changing ground texturesOperational night lighting Full compliment of custom built hangars and support buildings Weapons storage area and technical site AI Handley Page Halifax bombers of 102 Squadron Halifax bombers perform touch-and-go landings and the main body of Halifax' depart to bomb Frankfurt at 19:47 ZuluImpressionsOne of the first things I noticed straight away about the scenery,were the numerous Halifax bombers and period ground vehicles situatedaround the airfield. These consisted of jeeps, trucks and tractors,and considering they were static models, they were modelled to a highstandard. /images/reviews/pockling/raf-pocklington06.jpg /images/reviews/pockling/raf-pocklington07.jpgThe airfield itself was laid out reasonably well, with hangars,bunkers and maintenance buildings all being present. However, for asimmer such as myself who uses photographic scenery for the majorityof the time, I did find issue with some of the roads not beingaligned. Quite a few scenery developers give the user a choice ofwhat scenery they are installing into (default, VFR, FTX Global) sothis would be nice to see in future updates. The main control tower is reasonably well presented, but thetextures used are perhaps a bit too clean. It would have been nice tohave seen some weathering effects (rust, dirt, etc.), but unfortunatelythere wasn't any. I also found the lack of people slightly offputting as well. Considering that this was once a busy airfield withbombers, you would expect to see some kind of human life (crew,maintenance staff, etc.), but there was none. There are some otherreally nice details, such as the old English postbox, but these arelet down by what is missing from the scenery. If the developers canmodel aircraft and buildings, then adding some human life shouldn't bea problem. AI AircraftThe scenery also includes AI versions of the Halifax bomber, andthese could be seen taking off and circling the airfield. I reallyliked this extra element, and thought it would be great to follow one.Unfortunately though, the AI aircraft I happened to be following atthe time, crashed into the ground a few miles from the airport. /images/reviews/pockling/raf-pocklington03.jpg /images/reviews/pockling/raf-pocklington05.jpgConclusionIf you are a simmer who enjoys vintage UK sceneries, or has apassing interest in the Second World War, then there is quite a lot tolike about this scenery (especially the static/AI aircraft andvehicles). However, if your simulator is made up of VFR sceneries, oryou are used to the likes of Orbx quality, then I think you will comeaway disappointed. The lack of people, and the clean cut texturesused throughout the scenery, let it down. Performance-wise, the scenery caused me no issues whatsoever. Insaying that, it's not a particularly demanding scenery, so even thosewith low end systems will see good frame rates. One important aspect of the scenery that I haven't mentioned thoughis the price. At the time of writing, Pocklington costs a mere $10 US,considerably less than the vast majority of sceneries. Whenyou factor that in, then the issues mentioned above seem lessrelevant. If you can live with that, then RAF Pocklington from SDBmight be well worth exploring! /images/reviews/pockling/pocklington-box.jpgNeil Birch Purchase Team SDB - RAF Pocklington