Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2010 12:10 pmHi guys,
I'm writing from far-away Switzerland. I'm basically more of a planespotter than a flightsimmer, but I do use FSX from time to time.
Ever since I took a flight on Air Chathams' Convair 580 out to the beautiful Chathams last January, I was captured by the special atmosphere there.
(If you're interested, here's my trip report including some jumpseat shots: http://www.flightforum.ch/forum/showthread.php?t=79247 )
I'm not that much of a flightsim enthusiast anymore, but I wanted to try and make a little Chatham scenery. Well, here it is
Important: I absolutely don't want to compete/battle with Snowman's scenery, and I basically made my version more for myself and for the fun of it. Since my scenery doesn't need any 3rd party objects, this might be an "advantage" of mine. On the other hand, I can't offer the nice Air Chathams logos and the personal touch of his sceneries (even if his first version looks a little too fancy compared to the real buildings there).
I just wanted to drop by and present you the scenery before I upload it to the big networks. Maybe some of you are interested in taking a spin there and let me know about any suggestions/bugs/improvements. However, I'm an absolute newbie at scenery design, so my skills and my possibilities are limited. Anyway. That's what Tuuta Airport looks like...
Content
Chatham Island Inia William Tuuta Memorial Airport (CHT/NZCI)
This is the islands’ main airport and Air Chatham’s base. It features a single runway (05/23) of 1360x45m. The small apron provides space for one large prop/small jet aircraft and two small C172-sized planes. It is framed by a small and basic terminal and two hangars.
Since this was my first attempt at scenery design, I only used generic buildings that are already part of the basic FSX library. However, since the real airport is not too fancy itself, my FSX reproduction still comes surprisingly close. All buildings are positioned according to satellite images, personal experiences and my 700 photos. I added a little more apron clutter than in reality to create a little livelier feeling. Please note that there is indeed a huge colour difference between the airport area and the surroundings – it’s not my fault!
In reality, there is no ATC service at Chatham airport and pilots just call their base for a weather update during descent. However, I added a tower and ground frequency (seems like I need some guidance *lol*). Feel free to ignore them if you prefer more freedom
A little comparison.
And another one of the full thing:
Pitt Island Airstrip (NZPT)
This is a small grass strip located on the Chats’ second biggest island, Pitt, 30NM away from the main airport. Services are operated by a Cessna 206 of Air Chathams.
(however, I landed all kinds of planes there - Learjets, the Convair, and even a 747 )
There is a runway of about 05/23 and roughly 700 meters length and not much else. Oh yes, there is a camping trailer, which was recently demolished by gusty winds.
Since Pitt wasn’t even part of FSX up to now, I gave it the fictional code of NZPT so it can be found by GPS. Starting location “N†will put you on the small apron.
Once again, I added a little more clutter than necessary in order to enhance the experience.
According to photos I found on the web, the runway is quite sloped. Since it is a grass runway anyway, I decided not to add a runway proper, but just mark it on the terrain. Therefore, the runway’s gradient changes with the mesh used. Since Pitt is pretty flat in standard FSX configuration, I recommend downloading the following Pacific Islands mesh by Raimondo Taburet: http://www.flightsim.com/file.php?cm=SEARC...me=srt2isls.zip
If you guys know of any better freeware mesh that covers the Chathams as well, please let me know!
Since the runway markings are a little hard to spot, I invited some die-hard planespotters to set up their tents directly in the runway axis to guide you a little. The colorful Super Cub on the apron will offer some guidance to the airport, too.
Because of the sloped runway, approaches are easier on the upward 23 direction and departures on the downward 05. But it’s a lot of fun the other way round, too!
Here’s a little guide to finding and approaching the airstrip. Good luck!
The Landclass
In FSX, both Chatham and Pitt are covered with dense rainforest. That’s not real at all!
Large parts of Chatham Island are actually covered either by sparsely vegetated bushlands with dark volcanic soil, or some agricultural fields. There is a large sandy beach on the western coast with the main settlement of Waitangi sitting at its southern tip. The south of the island is covered by woods and more fields.
Pitt Island is sparsely populated and features large open fields and some wooden areas.
My little landclass (seen on the right below) is far from being perfect, but at least it’s better than Microsoft’s try. It includes the dark and barren areas in the north and around the airport, sandy Waitangi Beach, the settlement of Waitangi and the wooden south.
Pitt Island looks much more real, too. However, since the islands are so sparsely populated, the autogen adds a lot more buildings than there are in reality. But at least the rainforest’s gone!
Well, that's it
Oh yes, the
Download Link (550KB)
http://planepics.org/temp/ff/dez10/chathams_scenery.zip
A manual (basically a copy of the above text) including installation instructions is enclosed. But installation is straightforward anyway...
I hope it works, looks approximately like on the screens above on your computers, and I hope you like it. It's not as real as it gets, it's not state of the art, but it will do.
As I pointed out above, suggestions are highly welcome and I'll do my best to include your wishes!
Best regards and Merry Christmas one-way around the planet,
Tis
I'm writing from far-away Switzerland. I'm basically more of a planespotter than a flightsimmer, but I do use FSX from time to time.
Ever since I took a flight on Air Chathams' Convair 580 out to the beautiful Chathams last January, I was captured by the special atmosphere there.
(If you're interested, here's my trip report including some jumpseat shots: http://www.flightforum.ch/forum/showthread.php?t=79247 )
I'm not that much of a flightsim enthusiast anymore, but I wanted to try and make a little Chatham scenery. Well, here it is
Important: I absolutely don't want to compete/battle with Snowman's scenery, and I basically made my version more for myself and for the fun of it. Since my scenery doesn't need any 3rd party objects, this might be an "advantage" of mine. On the other hand, I can't offer the nice Air Chathams logos and the personal touch of his sceneries (even if his first version looks a little too fancy compared to the real buildings there).
I just wanted to drop by and present you the scenery before I upload it to the big networks. Maybe some of you are interested in taking a spin there and let me know about any suggestions/bugs/improvements. However, I'm an absolute newbie at scenery design, so my skills and my possibilities are limited. Anyway. That's what Tuuta Airport looks like...
Content
Chatham Island Inia William Tuuta Memorial Airport (CHT/NZCI)
This is the islands’ main airport and Air Chatham’s base. It features a single runway (05/23) of 1360x45m. The small apron provides space for one large prop/small jet aircraft and two small C172-sized planes. It is framed by a small and basic terminal and two hangars.
Since this was my first attempt at scenery design, I only used generic buildings that are already part of the basic FSX library. However, since the real airport is not too fancy itself, my FSX reproduction still comes surprisingly close. All buildings are positioned according to satellite images, personal experiences and my 700 photos. I added a little more apron clutter than in reality to create a little livelier feeling. Please note that there is indeed a huge colour difference between the airport area and the surroundings – it’s not my fault!
In reality, there is no ATC service at Chatham airport and pilots just call their base for a weather update during descent. However, I added a tower and ground frequency (seems like I need some guidance *lol*). Feel free to ignore them if you prefer more freedom
A little comparison.
And another one of the full thing:
Pitt Island Airstrip (NZPT)
This is a small grass strip located on the Chats’ second biggest island, Pitt, 30NM away from the main airport. Services are operated by a Cessna 206 of Air Chathams.
(however, I landed all kinds of planes there - Learjets, the Convair, and even a 747
)There is a runway of about 05/23 and roughly 700 meters length and not much else. Oh yes, there is a camping trailer, which was recently demolished by gusty winds.
Since Pitt wasn’t even part of FSX up to now, I gave it the fictional code of NZPT so it can be found by GPS. Starting location “N†will put you on the small apron.
Once again, I added a little more clutter than necessary in order to enhance the experience.
According to photos I found on the web, the runway is quite sloped. Since it is a grass runway anyway, I decided not to add a runway proper, but just mark it on the terrain. Therefore, the runway’s gradient changes with the mesh used. Since Pitt is pretty flat in standard FSX configuration, I recommend downloading the following Pacific Islands mesh by Raimondo Taburet: http://www.flightsim.com/file.php?cm=SEARC...me=srt2isls.zip
If you guys know of any better freeware mesh that covers the Chathams as well, please let me know!
Since the runway markings are a little hard to spot, I invited some die-hard planespotters to set up their tents directly in the runway axis to guide you a little. The colorful Super Cub on the apron will offer some guidance to the airport, too.
Because of the sloped runway, approaches are easier on the upward 23 direction and departures on the downward 05. But it’s a lot of fun the other way round, too!
Here’s a little guide to finding and approaching the airstrip. Good luck!
The Landclass
In FSX, both Chatham and Pitt are covered with dense rainforest. That’s not real at all!
Large parts of Chatham Island are actually covered either by sparsely vegetated bushlands with dark volcanic soil, or some agricultural fields. There is a large sandy beach on the western coast with the main settlement of Waitangi sitting at its southern tip. The south of the island is covered by woods and more fields.
Pitt Island is sparsely populated and features large open fields and some wooden areas.
My little landclass (seen on the right below) is far from being perfect, but at least it’s better than Microsoft’s try. It includes the dark and barren areas in the north and around the airport, sandy Waitangi Beach, the settlement of Waitangi and the wooden south.
Pitt Island looks much more real, too. However, since the islands are so sparsely populated, the autogen adds a lot more buildings than there are in reality. But at least the rainforest’s gone!
Well, that's it
Oh yes, the
Download Link (550KB)
http://planepics.org/temp/ff/dez10/chathams_scenery.zip
A manual (basically a copy of the above text) including installation instructions is enclosed. But installation is straightforward anyway...
I hope it works, looks approximately like on the screens above on your computers, and I hope you like it. It's not as real as it gets, it's not state of the art, but it will do.
As I pointed out above, suggestions are highly welcome and I'll do my best to include your wishes!
Best regards and Merry Christmas one-way around the planet,
Tis
