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Grand AmazoniaPublisher: HSimulatorsReview Author: Paul MortSuggested Price: $17.00/images/fsc/wbicons/store-buy-now-button.pngHello fellow flight simulatorenthusiasts and welcome to my latest scenery review. In this articleI will take an in depth look at the new Grand Amazonia - Part Onescenery by HSimulators. Scenery DescriptionBeing a keen VFR pilot, I was extremely pleased to have theopportunity to review this scenery. With this package, you are treatedto the vast region to the extreme north of Brazil (on the border withVenezuela) in which to explore. It was full of isolated indigenousvillages and gold mines and where the only access to them is byaircraft or in some cases, by river (it really is an explorersdream). Rather than just a single airport, HSimulators have supplied noless than ten airports to discover, and these are as follows: Boa Vista International Airport and Air Base (SBBV) Length 2731m - HDG 62 - 08/26 Alt 83m Asphalt Hlaikato-u (SJLE) Length 642 - HDG 80 - 09/27 Alt 301m - Grass Tucuxim - (SDYT) Length 540m - HDG 135 - 14/32 ALT 304m - Grass Palimi-U - (SJMH) Length 680m - HDG 135 - 18/36 ALT 317m - Grass Parafury - (SJMI) Length 710m - HDG 30 - 02/20 ALT 606m - Grass Uraricoera - (SJNC) Length 601m - HDG 200 - 18/36 ALT 277m - Grass Aratha-U - (SJYJ) Length 470m - HDG 91 - 08/26 ALT 474m - Grass Uaicas - (SWAE) Length 800m - HDG 190 - 18/36 ALT 327m - Grass Erico - (SWAQ) Length 700m - HDG 126 - 14/32 ALT 189m - Grass Auaris - (SWBV) Length 1.150m - HDG 111 - 12/30 ALT 757m - Asphalt Boa Vista international Airport /images/reviews/amazonia/t/HSimulators-Grand-Amazonia-image1.jpgA Brief HistoryThe airport was opened on the 19th February 1973, and underwent itsfirst renovation in 1998. The runway, terminal and the apron were thenenlarged. On the 14th September 2009 a second major renovation wascompleted increasing the capacity of the airport to handle 330,000passengers per year. The airport is located 4km (2mi) from downtownBoa Vista. Airport LayoutLooking first at the main airport terminal, I found it to be verygood in terms of detail, relevant objects, vehicles and theirassociated textures. /images/reviews/amazonia/t/HSimulators-Grand-Amazonia-image2.jpg /images/reviews/amazonia/t/HSimulators-Grand-Amazonia-image3.jpg /images/reviews/amazonia/t/HSimulators-Grand-Amazonia-image4.jpgMoving away from the main terminal and it was great to see that thedevelopers had also modelled some of the buildings of the Boa VistaAir Force Base. /images/reviews/amazonia/t/HSimulators-Grand-Amazonia-image5.jpg /images/reviews/amazonia/t/HSimulators-Grand-Amazonia-image6.jpg /images/reviews/amazonia/t/HSimulators-Grand-Amazonia-image7.jpgUnfortunately the quality of some the more remote buildings andobjects were disappointing, as it seemed less care had been given tothem. I'm not sure why the developer chose to use such low qualitytextures here, but it's a real shame they did. Even using the highesttexture settings in X-Plane made no difference. /images/reviews/amazonia/t/HSimulators-Grand-Amazonia-image8.jpgAnother issue I found with this part of the scenery was therepetitive use of some of the buildings. In my opinion, it justdoesn't work here and diminishes the credibility of the scenery. However, I have to give credit where it's due, and I must say thatmany of the other objects found at the airport were done very well.Another feature of the scenery was the roadway system with itsanimated vehicles, and this I thought was of excellent quality! /images/reviews/amazonia/t/HSimulators-Grand-Amazonia-image9.jpg /images/reviews/amazonia/t/HSimulators-Grand-Amazonia-image10.jpgI really did like Boa Vista Airport, it was just a shame that someof the textures on the buildings let it down. Moving OnOur next destination was Hlaikato-u (SJLE). As you may have noticedin the list of airports, I quoted the runway length for eachdestination as this would give an indication to the size and type ofaircraft required. In the case of SJLE, the runway is just 642 metresin length, so a light aircraft or even a helicopter would have to beused. The fact that there were trees at both ends of the single runwaydidn't make things easier. The approach into the remote strip proved a little tricky at first,but after a few practice goes, I managed to nail it (much to thedelight of my passengers). Once down, I took some time in surveyingthe scenery. Apart from the copious amounts of trees, there were onlya few buildings present which I must say left me feeling ratherisolated! /images/reviews/amazonia/t/HSimulators-Grand-Amazonia-image11.jpgAs you can see from the images, the buildings all looked authentic,and modelling and texturing was mostly good. On a few of the buildingsthe textures did start to fall apart as you got closer to them, but onthe whole, they worked well. /images/reviews/amazonia/t/HSimulators-Grand-Amazonia-image12.jpg /images/reviews/amazonia/t/HSimulators-Grand-Amazonia-image13.jpg /images/reviews/amazonia/t/HSimulators-Grand-Amazonia-image14.jpg Ever OnwardOur next location was Palimiu Airport (SJMH) which was situatedalongside the Uraricoera River. This was one of the most scenicairstrips I had seen for a while, and flying over the river justbefore touchdown really was quite something. /images/reviews/amazonia/t/HSimulators-Grand-Amazonia-image15.jpg /images/reviews/amazonia/t/HSimulators-Grand-Amazonia-image16.jpg /images/reviews/amazonia/t/HSimulators-Grand-Amazonia-image17.jpgOnce down, I noticed that the scenery swept round to reveal a smallcommunity with various buildings and boats (the latter lookingespecially impressive). These were all placed relatively well and fromabove looked pretty good. However, on closer inspection I noticed thatquite a few of the buildings were similar to those I had seen before,and that a few either floated slightly off the terrain or had lowresolution textures. /images/reviews/amazonia/t/HSimulators-Grand-Amazonia-image18.jpg /images/reviews/amazonia/t/HSimulators-Grand-Amazonia-image19.jpg /images/reviews/amazonia/t/HSimulators-Grand-Amazonia-image20.jpgFinal DestinationTo look at each and every one of the airports in this package isbeyond the scope of this review, so my final destination is Tucuxim(SDYT). As I looked around Tucuxim, it was plainly obvious that thisairport was built up using the same buildings and objects seenpreviously in the review. Whilst they all seemed to be placedaccordingly, it was a shame to see there were no unique buildingspresent. A bit of variety here would not have gone amiss. /images/reviews/amazonia/t/HSimulators-Grand-Amazonia-image21.jpg /images/reviews/amazonia/t/HSimulators-Grand-Amazonia-image22.jpg /images/reviews/amazonia/t/HSimulators-Grand-Amazonia-image23.jpgPerformanceConsidering that I only have an Intel i5, 16GB of RAM and a 4GB1050Ti graphics card, I was extremely impressed by how the sceneryperformed. /images/reviews/amazonia/t/HSimulators-Grand-Amazonia-image24.jpgEvaluationWell...that concludes my whistle stop tour of Brazil, and so nowit's time to sum it all up! Positives:Large selection of airportsBoa Vista International done really well Low purchase priceExcellent performance (even on lowers spec machines)NegativesLow resolution textures used in quite a few objectsFloating objects at sceneriesRepetitive use of objectsThree of the destinations have no objects whatsoever Putting it all together, and I have to say that on the whole, Ireally did enjoy using the scenery. Flying into some of these remotestrips really was a challenge, and unlike some locations, the Amazonreally does make you feel small. If you're up for flying into and out of challenging locations, thenI would say to give Grand Amazonia by HSimulators a go, especiallywhen you factor in the low purchase price. /images/reviews/amazonia/title3.jpgHope you found this review informative. Paul Mort Purchase HSimulators - Grand Amazonia Scenery for X-Plane 11 See other scenery by HSimulators

/images/notams/notams20/hsim1211/hsim1211.jpgToday we announce the addition of a new X-Plane scenery developer tothe FlightSim.Com Store. HSimulators likes to create scenery for thetruly extreme regions of the world, including the Arctic, Antarctica andthe Amazon. Their scenery packages lets you visit parts of the world thatare otherwise unavailable to X-Plane pilots. Antarctica Mega SceneryThe scenery covers the area of S60 to S90 degrees and W180 to E180degrees. There are 51 research stations of different nationalities,with airstrips and heliport. Of the 51 locations, 35 are 3D sceneryand 16 2D scenery. Mesh terrain of Antarctica’s total area, completelycovered by the ice cap, developed with the generation of DSFbuilder,HSimulators’ mesh terrain management and creation program. /images/notams/notams20/hsim1211/grand-arctic.jpgGrand ArcticIt is well-known that X-Plane’s Global Scenery only covers up tothe North 73rd parallel. This scenery completes the Arctic region withmore than one million square miles, approximately 1800x835 miles ofscenery. In includes all mesh for Canada and Greenland in the regionalong with 23 airports. /images/notams/notams20/hsim1211/russia-xtreme.jpgRussia Xtreme ArcticThis scenery completes the Arctic region north of Russia, from 44 eastto 152 east and 72 north to 82 north. In addition to the Russian Arcticmesh, Nagurskoye airport, located on Alexandra Island, is included. Thisis the closest Russian airport to the North Pole. /images/notams/notams20/hsim1211/grand-amazonia.jpgGrand AmazoniaThe Grand Amazonia Scenery comprises a vast region of the extremenorth of Brazil, on the border with Venezuela, a region of the RioUraricoera basins. The region is full of very isolated indigenousvillages and gold mines, where the only access is by airplane orsometimes by river. A region of great conflict where the Brazilian AirForce is very active, both in patrolling and in assisting thepeople. In this first part you have ten airports and aerodromes. View all HSimulators scenery

/images/notams/notams19/roll1009/roll1009.jpgAt an average discharge of about 209,000 cubic meters per second(7,400,000 cu ft/s; 209,000,000 L/s; 55,000,000 US gal/s) approximately6,591 cubic kilometers per annum (1,581 cu mi/a), greater than the nextseven largest independent rivers combined, the Amazon represents 20% of theglobal riverine discharge to the ocean. The Amazon basin is the largestdrainage basin in the world, with an area of approximately 7,050,000 squarekilometers (2,720,000 sq mi). /images/notams/notams19/roll1009/brazil-3.jpgGreat statistics but the fun part of this raging river is that you as apilot can fly over it from the frontier with Peru and Colombia and acrossall Brazil! That is something only with the Amazon can happen. You prepareyour amphibian and early in the morning you take off from the border cityof Tabatinga and after seven stops flying over the river you cross allBrazil from west to east ending your flight in Macapa by the AtlanticOcean. Pilots start your engines! /images/notams/notams19/roll1009/brazil-1.jpgFeaturesAll airport scenery with new "PhotoLook" and detailed terminal buildings:Tabatinga, Senadora Eunice Micheles, Fonteboa, Tefe, Coari, Manaus, Itacotiara,Santarem, MacapaCustom buildings and surroundingsOptimized for FSX, FSX:SE and P3D v4Use any aircraft in your hangarComplete instructions with seven over the river maps /images/notams/notams19/roll1009/brazil-2.jpgPurchase Rolling Cumulus - Brazil Over Water