Introduction
In what some people considered a surprise move by
FlyTampa, they recently made Vienna the subject of their latest airport scenery. It was surprising in so much as some people saw this airport as almost not being big enough, famous enough or even American enough! Many people were hoping for JFK or perhaps Kai Tak and some just could not work out the decision to model Vienna. As far as I can gather, Vienna was chosen due to its spectacular European location as well as it being a major hub in that area of the world.
Vienna (VIE, LOWW) airport is 11 miles Southeast of the City and is
Austria’s busiest airport. It is sometimes known as Schwechat after the local
town and is the hub of Austrian Airlines and budget airline Niki. LOWW was built
in 1938 originally as a military airport and taken over by the Brits in 1945.
Until 1972 the airport only had one runway which was previously extended to 3000
metres.
There’s a lot of information
on the Official Website
Installation
As usual with FlyTampa airports, installation is very easy. Vienna is
available as a download only and it is a simple case of entering your name
and serial number which is provided in the e-mail FlyTampa send you. There
are no static aircraft to install but you can choose whether you want to
use the refinery and/or its smoke effects. The static aircraft will
shortly be made available for the mostly online pilots who requested it.
The developers have also recently released various fixes and a patch.
These solve the texture flickering problems I was experiencing, ILS
problems as well as enabling the refinery smoke to work when Austria Pro
is utilised. There is also a new AFCAD available on the forums
incorporating the crossing runways which I believe is incorporated into
the latest update
There are also some files to delete if you Install Austria Pro. This is
done automatically if you install Vienna afterwards and choose the option
during installation.
On the whole, very easy and the guys behind the scenes must be commended
for how quickly they have solved the issues some users were experiencing.
Keep your eyes out here for the static aircraft: Fly Tampa downloads
First Impressions
On first loading this airport my first thoughts were that it was quite small. However, after a short time exploring I realised that in this case size definitely isn’t everything. This scenery is incredibly detailed (I believe there are three times the amount of textures as used in Dubai) and full of life.
The main terminal buildings are a very interesting shape and look incredibly realistic (Incidentally, both terminals are housed in one building and are within walking distance of each other). There are plenty of moving vehicles to add to the realism and the whole effect is fantastic.
Delve deeper and you will find lots of interesting things such as the aircraft statues on top of some of the buildings.
Overall Impressions
Quite
simply, this scenery is excellent. The crossing runways make for varied
take-offs and approaches and due to its location is very picturesque and often
a challenge. The detail level is absolutely fantastic and the whole package in
my opinion manages to surpass all their previous offerings.
As people who have read my Frankfurt review or own that scenery will know, I
was blown away by Aerosoft’s work. Well, obviously FlyTampa don’t like being
outdone and have released a scenery that easily competes with it.
As usual, a third party add-on such as Walk and Follow makes exploring this
airport a joy and its $21.50 (approx £12.35) asking price is an absolute
steal.
Performance
All this eye candy and all these details count for nothing if
they cause a slide show and it is my pleasure to confirm that Vienna is as
frame rate friendly as their other offerings. Due to its relatively small
size, the increase in detail over FlyTampa’s previous airport sceneries
does not mean an inversely proportional reduction in frame rates.
To give an idea, running the following programs and add-ons with the described settings, I get about 10-12 fps in both 2d cockpit view and spot view.
View my machine specification and addons
As usual, running the above programs and add-ons with the described
settings, I get about 15-20 fps in both 2d cockpit view and spot view.
Conclusion
If it hadn’t been for Mega Airport Frankfurt, this would probably be
the best airport scenery out there. As it stands though, it’s probably
only its size and the fact that the standards have been raised so high
that stops it from gaining this accolade. However, I cannot recommend it
enough. If you are fond of flying in and around the snow and mountains
then do not hesitate to purchase this fantastic airport scenery.
Congratulations on another superb add-on FlyTampa and if you’re listening
guys, I’d be more than happy for you to do Manchester too!
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