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Mega Airport London Heathrow ProPublisher: Sim WingsReview Author: MrYorkiesWorldSuggested Price: $33.95/images/fsc/wbicons/store-buy-now-button.pngIntroduction /images/reviews/megaheat/t/simwings-mega-heathrow-01.jpgHeathrow has always been a 'massive'sort of airport for the flight sim community; by that I mean it'susually been (in most cases), a massive resource hog, and a massivelycomplex scenery to render. The main attraction to it being thatHeathrow (EGLL) is one of the busiest airports in the United Kingdom,with thousands of different flights arriving and departing out of itdaily; both in real life and simulated - especially when you're onVATSIM for example. This particular version of the scenery has been available sinceNovember 2018, and many simulation enthusiasts have called it a "musthave" product! So with that said, I'm extremely happy to be able to review thisscenery courtesy of my friends at FlightSim.Com. Coverage Area /images/reviews/megaheat/t/simwings-mega-heathrow-02.jpgSim Wings (Aerosoft) Mega Airport London Heathrow Professional,features approximately 42 square kilometres of scenery outside of theairport itself, so there's quite a bit to see. It features fullydetailed buildings and scenery so as to make the terminal and airportgrounds look as accurate as possible. On top of this, it also featuresall major taxiways and runways in full detail. Obviously you can change the settings in your simulator to hide orshow certain amounts of detail for this scenery, and it also has itsown configurator tool as well. This means that everyone's experiencewith this scenery will be different, but nonetheless I was extremelyimpressed by the sheer level of detail, even with some of my in-simsliders lowered a little bit to help with performance. Graphics And Performance /images/reviews/megaheat/t/simwings-mega-heathrow-03.jpgOne major concern with any scenery as complex as this isperformance. There have been many horror stories where people simplycan't get this scenery to perform well on their system, with somepeople even claiming to have single figure FPS, with an inability toreach even 10 or 20 FPS in the simulator. I myself have been quite lucky in terms of performance. I use asystem with an i9 9900k CPU overclocked to 5 GHz, and an Nvidia GTX1080 TI which seems to handle things quite well. During testing Iachieved a solid 30 - 40 FPS using the virtual cockpit, and a stable60 FPS when viewing the aircraft from the outside, but even this wasonly achieved after a little bit of tinkering with the settings. Maybethis could be improved a little, I'm not sure, but overall I didn'treally have to change much to get it working the way I liked. Once you get things running properly and you configure things suchas your Orbx settings, the in-sim sliders and the included config toolfor the scenery itself, you can actually get a pretty smooth level ofperformance out of this scenery, even with heavy aircraft such as thePMDG 747 for example. In terms of graphics, I was extremely impressed to see thehigh-resolution ground textures which span the full area of theairport and its surrounding areas (to some extent). I was alsoimpressed to see the terminal buildings, airport signage and otherimmersive aspects of the scenery, and all are very well modelled andtextured, making you feel like you're actually there. The scenery itself features "Fully customized high-resolutionaerial ground textures (about 30 cm/pix) with custom detail texturesfor taxiways, etc." and "actual taxiway layout with new rapid runwayexits and taxiway links" according to Aerosoft. I like the attentionto detail included with this product - I've seen other versions ofHeathrow which still leave a lot of the main details out, so it's niceto see Aerosoft have given it their all on this one. One small issue I did have with this scenery was the textures atnight. I noticed that they seemed quite grainy or pixelated at nighttime, however I then contacted Aerosoft and found that this issue wasbeing caused by TomatoShade, and the preset that I was using at thetime. If you are using third party shader programs, I would highlyrecommend testing them with this scenery, and if the grainy groundtextures are being caused, then you might need to disableTomatoShade. I found that REX Environment Force worked perfectly forme without issue, but your own setup might be slightly different. As I said, Aerosoft was extremely helpful with this and got back tome within a few hours and the problem was sorted, so I can definitelyrecommend them for their helpful customer support. FeaturesAs ever, Aerosoft don't disappoint, and their list of featureswhich are included with the P3D V4 version of this scenery is prettyextensive: Code (BGLs) recompiled and optimized using new material options with P3D V4 SDKAll objects optimized for new shadowing techniquesDynamic lighting (can be disabled partially)Ground layout including detailed aerial imagery created according to P3D V4 SDKNew optimized 3D runway lights (will be switched on and off depending on daytime and weather conditions)AFCAD approaches changed to Airac 1708Adjusted AFCAD parking positionsNew detailed and animated jetway models (CTRL-J)Partially higher resolution texturesPartial closedown of Terminal 1 (currently under construction)Extended configurations menuSystem RequirementsThe scenery has some basic requirements that you can expect from aproduct such as this. The actual list of requirements are as follows: Lockheed Martin - Prepar3D V4Microsoft Windows 7 / 8 / 10 (64 bit)Processor: Quad Core CPU at 3.5 GHzMemory: 16 GB DDR4 RAM (2666 MHz)Graphics card: 8 GB VRAM with DirectX 11Free disk space: at least 2.2 GBIncluded SoftwareSo as mentioned before, this particular scenery comes with its ownconfigurator tool which is pictured below. It essentially allows youto change things such as dynamic lighting effects, traffic effects andwhich runways should be in use - I'll let you be the judge of thishandy little tool: /images/reviews/megaheat/t/simwings-mega-heathrow-04.jpgFinal VerdictAs an individual who has always wanted to fly in and out of thislocation in the past, but didn't due to both hardware limitations anda lack of decent scenery of the area, it gives me great pleasure toaward Aerosoft's rendition of Heathrow a solid 9 out of 10. I wouldonly really knock off a point (being very critical as always) forneeding to turn down the settings quite a bit and do a little bit offiddling around in the simulator to get things runningsmoothly. However, this is just me being very critical, andpersonally, I don't think it's that unreasonable (especially with thedetail on offer), to adjust your settings accordingly. So in effect,it's not necessarily a real criticism, more of...the price you payfor the level of detail on offer. Heathrow comes highly recommended! /images/reviews/megaheat/london-heathrow.jpgMrYorkiesWorld Purchase Sim Wings - Mega Airport London Heathrow Professional
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/images/notams/notams18/bale0521/bale0521.jpg Ready for a holiday break in the sun? Mallorca, Menorca and Ibizarank among the most popular destinations - for tourists and pilotsalike. "Balearic Islands professional" includes the entire archipelagoin one compilation for your holiday experience and is now availablefor Prepar3D V4! All three islands appear in great detail thanks to the currentaerial imagery with a resolution of 0.5m/pixel, up to 0.25m/pixel onsome airport areas. The airport facilities are up to date as well, anddue to the custom autogen, the airports fit nicely into theircorresponding islands. Included are the islands of Ibiza (with Formentera) and Menorcawith their international airports (LEIB or LEMH, respectively) as wellas Mallorca with Palma Airport (LEPA) and Son Bonet (LESB). They comewith highly detailed AFCAD files for AI aircraft and realisticapproach procedures for your own approach. The highly detailed jetwaysare fully animated and can be docked to the aircraft usingCTRL-J. SODE jetways are also available as an option. /images/notams/notams18/bale0521/mallorca.jpgFeaturesUp to date aerial images of the whole archipelago with 0.5m/pixelUp to date airport facilities (car parks, etc.)Ground shadows with pre-rendered lights (raytracing lights)Up to date Taxiway lines for PP, taxiways, etc. incl. new markingsCustom taxiway, RWY, and 3D apron lightingLots of static and animated vehicles, e.g. buses, carts, etc.Grass between taxiwaysAutogenComplex AFCAD /images/notams/notams18/bale0521/menorca.jpgNew In The P3D V4 VersionAll code (BGLs) compiled with P3D V4 SDK, using new material options and being performance optimised to the new engineAll objects optimised for new shadow technologyGround layout following P3DV4 SDKHigh-resolution satellite images (ca. 0.5 m/px) covering the whole islandAppropriate autogen and city objectsPhoto realistic coverage of the islands can optionally be turned offNew highly detailed elevation models for the islands with a resolution of 5 mNumerous static vehicles like buses, baggage carts, etc.Animated jetways (STRG-J), SODE jetways as an option*New, optimised 3D runway lighting with activation/deactivation based on time of day and weather conditionsApron lamps with new effects and dynamic lightChanged AFCAD approaches to AirDac 1804Dynamic vehicles on airport feeder and apron (AESLite)Scenery registration following P3D V4 add-on.xml procedureConfiguration tool to control some optionsEach of the three islands are available separately, or they are available all together in a bundle. Purchase Sim Wings - Balearic Islands Professional Bundle Purchase Sim Wings - Balearic Islands Professional Mallorca Purchase Sim Wings - Balearic Islands Professional Menorca Purchase Sim Wings - Balearic Islands Professional Ibiza /images/notams/notams18/bale0521/ibiza.jpg
