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Review: Orbx Skagit Regional AirportBy Shawn Weigelt /images/reviews/skagit/t/orbx-skagit-airport-01.jpg /images/reviews/skagit/t/orbx-skagit-airport-02.jpgI'm willing to bet that many of ushave had a lot more time with X-Plane 11 lately than we ever wouldhave anticipated just a couple months ago. "Social distancing" and"self-quarantine" during the COVID-19 pandemic the world is currentlycombating has become a way of life for many of us, and getting alittle more time in front of our favorite flight simulator can be agreat distraction from all the awfulness that is happening. On a personal level, all this extra time spent at home has led meto do a little more "shopping" for X-Plane 11 related products thanI normally would. Typically, I've always been far more interested inairplane add-ons than scenery (this is a flight simulator, after all),but my relatively recent exposure to some really high-end packagesfrom the Orbx development team has drastically changed my attitude inthis regard. So, instead of turning to another airplane, I elected tobrowse the Orbx web site for something new to tickle my fancy. Itdidn't take long before I settled on KBVS Skagit Regional Airport tohelp me pass my self-quarantine time and be the subject of my nextreview. KBVS is by no means a new development from the Orbx team, asit has been available for FSX and P3D users for quite some time.However, everything they do for X-Plane 11 is new, so to speak, so itdefinitely needed to be reviewed. As the proud owner of Orbx'soutstanding 74S Anacortes Airport and 1S2 Darrington MunicipalAirport, Skagit Regional Airport was the logical next acquisition forme as it is a perfect halfway point between the two airports. /images/reviews/skagit/t/orbx-skagit-airport-03.jpg /images/reviews/skagit/t/orbx-skagit-airport-04.jpgWestern Washington's scenic Skagit Valley is renowned for being oneof the top commercial producers of tulips in the world and is a trulybeautiful corner of the state. Skagit Regional Airport is a smallgeneral aviation airport that services the nearby communities ofBurlington and Mount Vernon. According to 2016 data acquired fromairnav.com, KBVS aircraft operations average 169 per day, with 58% ofthat traffic being transient general aviation. It seems like SkagitRegional is a popular destination or temporary stopover for travellingfliers, and I have enjoyed utilizing it as such in my personal X-Planeuse. KBVS has two runways: runway 11/29 and 4/22. 11/29 is fairlylong for a General Aviation airport essentially at sea level, with alength of 5,478 feet and a width of 100 feet. This is plenty longenough for any piston powered aircraft and business jets. Runway 4/22is a lot shorter at 3000 feet and 60 feet wide, which provides lightaircraft with a nice crosswind option. The runways have PAPI lightsat both ends, but only 11/29 has instrument procedures and no ILS ispresent. /images/reviews/skagit/t/orbx-skagit-airport-05.jpg /images/reviews/skagit/t/orbx-skagit-airport-06.jpgBefore testing the Orbx KVBS package, I made sure to conduct aflight out of the airport with X-Plane 11's default version. Ofcourse I kept the gorgeousOrbx TrueEarth US WashingtonHD scenery installed, but even so, the default airport itself looksbland and uninspired. It works, sure, but looks just like any otherairport you'll find around X-Plane 11's default world. Installing any scenery package for X-Plane 11 has been an absolutebreeze on my iMac through the use of the brilliant Orbxdirectinstaller. One simply downloads the product they've purchased, andthe installer plugs it right into X-Plane's scenery folder. Easypeasy. /images/reviews/skagit/t/orbx-skagit-airport-07.jpg /images/reviews/skagit/t/orbx-skagit-airport-08.jpgOnce KBVS was installed, I decided to test the scenery by firstflying from Anacortes Airport. I have to admit that Anacortes is myabsolute favorite Orbx airport thus far, and as far as custom sceneryin Washington State is concerned, it is the benchmark by which allothers should be judged in my humble opinion. Hopping into my currentpreferred piston single, the Just Flight Piper Tomahawk, I pluggedKVBS into the GPS and set off, but not before taking in the juicygoodness that is Orbx Anacortes. I love the charming noise abatementsignage near the runway, authentic looking ground textures, and theintricate attention to detail found in the precise modeling of thebuildings, static aircraft and other surrounding objects. My hope asI lifted off the ground in my spritely little Tomahawk, was thatSkagit Regional would at least come close to my current favoriteoffering from Orbx. As I neared KBVS at about 2,000 feet, the airport started to comeinto view on the horizon. The closer I got, the more I realized howseamlessly Skagit Regional Airport blended in to the surroundingscenery. When I say "seamless" I truly mean it. I have not yetfound any errors in how any of Orbx's independent airport sceneriesblend into TrueEarth US Washington HD whatsoever. This caliber ofhigh fidelity production goes a long way toward lending plausibilityand immersion to the simulation as a whole. While I have yet to tryflying in VR, cruising X-Plane 11's skies with Orbx products installedis the closest I have ever come to believing that the experience wasreal. I understand that this may sound ridiculous to some, but I findthat when I am so engrossed in what I am doing, all outsidedistractions seem to fade away and I am truly immersed in the flight.Simply put, Orbx scenery draws me into the flight simulationexperience better than any other series of products I have everreviewed. /images/reviews/skagit/t/orbx-skagit-airport-09.jpg /images/reviews/skagit/t/orbx-skagit-airport-10.jpgAs I set up for a straight in approach for runway 11, I wasbeginning to realize that KBVS was going to be another great file froma group of true masters at their craft. On short final, 3D grasstextures started to come into view, as did the superb detailing of therunway and taxiway lines. I made a decent landing and immediatelytaxied over to the ramp on the eastern side of the airport to find aplace to shut down. I was amused to note that every parking "T" atKVBS seemed to be marked "RESERVED" which left me wondering where atransient like myself was supposed to park it. Well, I parked in areserved spot anyway and felt almost sheepish for doing so. You couldsay I was more than a little absorbed in what I was doing! /images/reviews/skagit/t/orbx-skagit-airport-11.jpg /images/reviews/skagit/t/orbx-skagit-airport-12.jpgI shut down my trusty Tomahawk, tied her down, and then cheated alittle by pressing the "C" key to begin panning around the airport infull "drone mode" so I could really drink in the details Orbx KVBS hadto offer. I was more than pleased to find that visual fidelity wasnot lacking when compared with any of their other files that I'vetested and reviewed. Buildings and textures have been crafted withflawless attention to detail, and most everything I could see aboutthe airport held up well to scrutiny when compared with real worldimages I was able to find on the web. Building colors match upnicely, and all signage looks legitimately true-to-life. Orbx SkagitRegional Airport has a nice balance of objects in my assessment, anddoes not look too busy. I recently found their KORS Orcas Island fileto have almost too much going on with the objects so that it was a bitof a distraction to me. KVBS, on the other hand, has just the rightamount of 3D people, static airplanes, vehicles, and other littleobjects to keep the file feeling authentic without overdoing it. Inother words, your stopover at Skagit Valley isn't going to feel likelanding at SeaTac, nor should it. KVBS is just right. /images/reviews/skagit/t/orbx-skagit-airport-13.jpg /images/reviews/skagit/t/orbx-skagit-airport-14.jpgIf I was forced to point out something I really didn't like aboutthe airport I would say that the pavement textures looked a littleblurred and not as sharp as what I was seeing on the buildings. Incomparison to the excellent pavement textures of Orbx's KTIW TacomaNarrows package, I would give Skagit Regional's a 5 out of 10. Betterthan default only slightly, but not nearly as good as I would expect. I really like the 3D grasses found here at KVBS, but, as with most3D grass in X-Plane 11, it looked a little "clumpy" at times andappeared to grow onto the edge of the pavement in a few places. Therewere some sharp, abnormal looking edges to it, especially around theends of the runways, which never help with plausibility. Still, I'drather have 3D grass than not, and I have yet to find better than whatcomes from the Orbx developers. /images/reviews/skagit/t/orbx-skagit-airport-15.jpg /images/reviews/skagit/t/orbx-skagit-airport-16.jpgBack in my days of creating freeware WED scenery for X-Plane 9 and10, I always valued the importance of making sure the surroundingarea, not just the immediacy of the airport itself, was as detailed asI could make it. I distinctly remember that when I did a rendition ofKCLS Chehalis-Centralia Airport, I spent just as much time on thenearby buildings, parking lots, static cars, and the golf course as Idid on the airport. The reason for this is simple: When one is flyingVFR, visual landmarks are critically important for the pilot. Thisfact is just as true for pilots flying the pattern of their localairport. "See that barn? I like to start turning for my base legright there." What I'm trying to explain is that the creators of Orbxscenery get it, and they do a much better job fleshing out thesurrounding area of an airport than most other scenery developers thatI'm familiar with. KBVS is another shining example of this Orbxheritage here, as the placement and modeling of several buildings,roads, and objects around the airport matches up with satelliteimagery precisely. As a primarily General Aviation VFR X-Plane flyer,this kind of fidelity is the stuff that I crave and truly appreciate. /images/reviews/skagit/t/orbx-skagit-airport-17.jpg /images/reviews/skagit/t/orbx-skagit-airport-18.jpgAnother thing that I love about Orbx scenery (KVBS included) arethe way they model and texture their trees. To say we've got a lot ofDouglas Fir here in the Pacific Northwest would be a grossunderstatement. The designers of Skagit Regional understand that factand, as a result, most of the trees they've modeled surrounding theairport have the appropriate appearance of firs. They look veryauthentic, especially from a distance, and, most importantly, aresized right. /images/reviews/skagit/t/orbx-skagit-airport-19.jpg /images/reviews/skagit/t/orbx-skagit-airport-20.jpgDespite the minute levels of details found with Orbx's SkagitRegional Airport, I've found that one of the best ways to enjoy theairport is from the air. This may seem ludicrous at first blush, butjust flying the pattern at KVBS is something I could spend all daydoing. The ground textures, though some of them may look blurry fromground level, look absolutely exquisite from 1,000 feet or higher.The colors of the buildings, roads, shades of grass, and trees, trulygive this scenery package a "photo real" appearance. As I'vementioned already, this package blends seamlessly with TrueEarth HD USWashington, and I think it would be a shame to own any of Orbx'sWashington scenery packages without the overarching TrueEarth texturesto go along with it. /images/reviews/skagit/t/orbx-skagit-airport-21.jpg /images/reviews/skagit/t/orbx-skagit-airport-22.jpgAll in all, I was extremely impressed with yet another top-notchproduct from the folks at Orbx. This airport has a lot of greatthings going for it and is a typical example of ultra high fidelitymodeling, texturing, and attention to detail. It also has that Orbxintangible quality that I'm starting to find draws me into thesimulator that few other products have the ability to do. Does KVBSrise to the level of nearby Anacortes Airport in my mind? Close, butnot quite. Still, anyone who enjoys flying around in the EvergreenState will undoubtedly fall in love with Skagit Regional as I have.Attractively priced over at the Orbx web site for $22.25 USD, this isa scenery package that is certainly money well spent! Shawn Weigelt Purchase Orbx - Skagit Regional Airport