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Introduction
Scotflight has been a leading supplier of high quality
add-on scenery for Scotland since 2003. Having previously
produced their excellent Scotland scenery enhancement to run
in conjunction with other photographic scenery packages,
Scotflight have now released Scotflight for Orbx Europe
Scotland for users of Orbx FTX: EU Scotland. It
substantially enhances 13 of the 53 airfields in FTX: EU
Scotland and also adds a further five airfields which were
previously not represented in FSX.
Availability and
Installation
Scotflight for Orbx Europe Scotland is available from
Scotflight as a 'download only' product for £19.99. The file
size is 94MB and is considered reasonable for a product of
this type. Scotflight for Orbx Europe Scotland Version 1.0
has been released as a free download to existing owners of
the Scotflight for FSX Photo product (the full version of
Scotflight for FSX). At present, if you own Scotflight for
FSX Photo, you simply purchase Scotflight for Orbx, inform
the administrators of your purchase and the refund will be
processed to your account - a little fiddly, but it works.
My refund appeared in my PayPal account on the same day of
purchase.
As with all Scotflight products, there is an easy to use
installer which auto detects the correct install location of
FSX. It allows the user to specify the install folder during
installation and automatically configures the scenery
library. All changes made by the installer are fully
documented and there is an uninstaller should you wish to
uninstall the product.
It is recommended you install the patch, EU SCO.001 for FTX:
EU Scotland. The patch is available here:
http://myftx.com/orbxfreeware/OrbxFTXEUSCOPatch001.zip
Documentation
Scotflight for Orbx is a fairly straightforward software add-on which needs very little in the way of documentation. Consequently, you get a three page succinct account of what you need to do to install and, if needed (which I doubt), how to uninstall it. Everything else is pretty much self explanatory.
Enhanced Airfields
Scotflight for Orbx Europe Scotland enhances 13 of the 53 in FTX: EU Scotland. In addition, it adds a further five airfields which were previously not represented in FSX.
The following is a list of the enhanced airfields in Scotflight for Orbx Europe Scotland, with the additional airfields indicated in bold text:
● EGEC - Campbeltown (Machrihanish);
● EGEO - Oban (North Connel);
● EGPA - Kirkwall;
● EGPB - Sumburgh (with Sumburgh Lighthouse);
● EGPE - Inverness (extra detailed, also nearby Fort George and Chanonry Lighthouse);
● EGPG - Cumbernauld;
● EGPI - Islay;
● EGPJ - Fife;
● EGPL - Benbecula;
● EGPO - Stornoway;
● EGPT - Perth;
● UK10 - Plockton;
● XABO - Aboyne (Deeside Flying Club);
● X6EF - East Fortune (Museum of Flight);
● X6KB - Knockbain Farm, Dingwall;
● X6KT - Kirknewton;
● X6MI - Midlem Farm, Selkirk, Borders; and
● X6ST - Strathaven (Scottish Microlite).
Level of Detail
Considering the amount of detail provided in the airfield enhancements with Scotflight for Orbx Europe Scotland, this review would quickly become a photo album rather than a review. Suffice to say, with Scotflight for Orbx, the featured airfields have been given a superb makeover. Showing below, are some comparative screenshots of Inverness (EGPE).
 Inverness FTX Scotland |
 Inverness Scotflight for Orbx |
 Inverness FTX Scotland |
 Inverness Scotflight for Orbx |
I will, however, show you one of the five additional airfields, East Fortune (X6EF), Scotflight have included in this version of the product.
East Fortune (X6EF). X6EF is located in East Fortune, East Lothian, Scotland. It was established in 1915 as a fighter and airship airfield to protect Britain from attack by German Zeppelin airships during World War I. In 1919, the British airship, R34, made the first east-west crossing of the Atlantic, flying from East Fortune to Mineola, New York. With the onset of World War II, the airfield was initially used as a training airfield and eventually becoming an operational base for de Havilland DH.98 'Mosquito' equipped RAF units. For a short period in 1961, X6EF operated as Edinburgh's airport while facilities at Turnhouse were being reconstructed.
National Museum of Flight. In 1975, the National Museum of Flight was opened at X6EF and has since become a popular tourist attraction. It is home to a BAC 'Concorde' (G-BOAA) from the decommissioned British Airways fleet, and this forms the centrepiece of a major exhibition about the 'Concorde' programme. I had the pleasure of visiting the National Museum of Flight in 2011, so it holds some great memories for me. Not knowing much about the museum prior to the visit, it was a wonderful surprise to see the 'Concorde' on display in a huge hangar. Being a large museum spread over the whole of the original airfield, it is easy to spend an entire day there, and I can thoroughly recommend a visit.
Scotflight have captured the airfield in excellent, high quality detail. All the airfield objects are placed accurately. Not knowing whether the 'Concorde' is permanently housed inside the hangar or outside, it is accepted there could be some artistic licence used by Scotflight in the representation of this.
 East Fortune - Concorde |
 East Fortune - Hangars & Out Buildings |
 East Fortune - Airfield & Tower |
 East Fortune - Farm Buildings |
 East-Fortune - Visitor Carpark, Cafe & Museum Entrance |
Compatibility
Scotflight for Orbx Europe Scotland is fully compatible with Microsoft FSX and Lockheed Martin Prepar3D and is specifically designed for use with Orbx’s FTX: EU Scotland only. It is not compatible with any other Scotflight product and not compatible with other 3rd party scenery. As previously mentioned, it is recommended you install the FTX: EU Scotland patch, EU SCO.001. The patch is available here:
http://myftx.com/orbxfreeware/OrbxFTXEUSCOPatch001.zip
Performance
I have been using FTX: EU Scotland since it's release and I was amazed at how quickly Scotflight released Scotflight for Orbx Europe Scotland Version 1.0. As FTX: EU Scotland already places dozens of custom objects within the Scotland region, it was always going to be interesting to see just how much Scotflight could enhance the visual enjoyment further.
However, there was no need to worry. As with previous Scotflight scenery add-ons for FSX, I was not disappointed with what Scotflight had achieved. Nor did I have any concerns with a drop in frame rates. I appreciate not everybody has a high specification computer, but I can quite honestly say Scotflight for Orbx Europe Scotland should run quite satisfactorily on any modest setup. Basing my judgement on what I experienced, I was achieving consistent frame rates ranging from mid 20fps up to high 30fps. This is quite sufficient for a smooth flight without any stuttering graphics.
Conclusion
As previously mentioned, Scotflight for Orbx Europe Scotland is as good as other products in the Scotflight range. I contacted Iain Gallagher at Scotflight to find out if they had any plans to enhance all the airports / airfields within the FTX: EU Scotland region. He indicated Scotflight have released the product as Version 1 and it is priced accordingly. As for any future 3D modelling for Scotland, Scotflight are leaving that firmly in Orbx's court.
As a free download for existing Scotflight for FSX Photo users and at £19.99 if you are purchasing the product alone, I feel it is fairly priced considering the amount of detail Scotflight have put in to the enhanced airfields.
From my point of view, and if Scotland is a major focus of your flight simulator flying, the purchase of Scotflight for Orbx Europe Scotland is a 'no brainer'. The enhanced airfields and additional airfields are well worth the investment.
Links
Web Site. For news and further information, visit the web site.
http://www.scotflightscenery.com
Forum. You are encouraged to visit the Scotflight forum, browse through the threads and posts, and take part in discussions.
http://www.scotflightscenery.com/forum
Support. If you have any support issues contact support@scotflightscenery.com
Review Computer Specifications
The specifications of the computer on which the review was conducted are as follows:
● Asus P8Z77-V Motherboard;
● Intel i7 'Sandy Bridge', 3.4GHz;
● NVidia GTX570SC, 1280MB, graphics;
● 16GB Corsair 'Vengeance', DDR3, 1600MHz;
● Matrox TripleHead2Go, 3 x 23" Acer LCD Monitors;
● 500GB WD 'Velociraptor' (OS);
● 128GB Corsair 'Force 3' SSD (FSX); and
● Windows 7, (64bit).
| Verdict: |
 |
|
| • Level of Detail: | 9.0/10 | |
| • Performance: | 10/10 | |
| • Scenery Coverage: | 8.5/10 | |
| • Quality of Buildings: | 9.5/10 | |
| • Documentation: | 5.0/10 | |
| • Value for money: | 10/10 |
| Mutley’s Hangar score of 8.7/10, with a "Highly Recommended" and a Mutley's Hangar Silver Award. |