Classic British Flight Sim

speedbird591 wrote:In fact you can see our crew hotel in the distance in the first shot - the two yellow/brown towers near the sea. It's called the Captain Cook after our intrepid explorer who was the first to map the area and named a lot of the inlets. So it's almost British - I think

I got up close and personal with downtown Anchorage this morning to have a closer look at The Hotel Captain Cook. I have to say, I'm astounded at the detail that FTX have gone to with this region. I'm probably the only person here who's actually spent time in Anchorage but they've put all the landmark buildings in and the 'feel' of the place is quite authentic. As for The Captain Cook, we always liked that it flew the Union Jack alongside the Stars and Stripes and bugger me if FTX haven't modelled that as well! That's Elmendorf AFB in the background of the first shot.




On the road between the hotel and the waterfront is a steep drop which is one of the last remaining signs of the huge 9.2 earthquake that hit Anchorage in 1964. You can see it in the second screenshot just past the crossroads as the road on the right goes into the trees. The earthquake triggered a devastating tsunami that did severe damage to coastal Alaska, right down the West coast and across to Hawaii. The wave reached 67 metres high at Valdez where it killed 32 people.



Ian

Is that not Aerosoft Anchorage Ian?...I thought you had chosen to go that way...I have Aerosoft Anchorage but I chose to disable it for the FTX version. I have not yet had a really good look downtown as I have based myself on Lake Hood Strip with my Cub...BTW...I got it up to 14000 feet yesterday and then spun it down. I had a lot of difficulty getting it into a proper spin but then in it went and wow! I enjoyed it down to about 2000 feet and then applied recovery controls...Shock, Horror...It proved difficult to get out of it and I was just writing myself off when it suddenly came out by itself!! I just love this Cub and will try to repeat it for a video

petermcleland wrote:Is that not Aerosoft Anchorage Ian?...I thought you had chosen to go that way...

Change of plan, Peter! I originally decided to keep the full Aerosoft extended photoreal terrain but then decided to give Holger's 'Easy' compatibility a go. By just unchecking the scenery box for Anchorage_Terrain it disables everything Aerosoft outside the airport perimeter and allows FTX scenery right up to the edge where Holger has blended it very nicely. It also gives a good frame rate increase. If you look at the three PANC shots on the previous page of this post you'll see that I have all of Aerosoft's airport including Lake Hood SPB and the strip but it's FTX scenery immediately outside. So downtown is definitely FTX.

I've just flown from PANC to Valdez over the mountains following the terrain on Google Earth on the iPad and the glaciers and inlets are exactly as per the scenery. It's amazing.

Ian

Here's a quick look at Valdez. It's so pretty I had to show it off



Ian

Thanks Ian...I will have to give that a go...So that means all I have to do is re-tick the Anchorage and leave the Anchorage Terrain unticked. What about the position of Anchorage in the Scenery Library? I would guess it has to be above the SAK entries.

That picture of Valdez is fabulous

petermcleland wrote:Thanks Ian...I will have to give that a go...So that means all I have to do is re-tick the Anchorage and leave the Anchorage Terrain unticked. What about the position of Anchorage in the Scenery Library? I would guess it has to be above the SAK entries.

That's correct, Peter. It's very simple. Anchorage-Airport is placed above SAK and ticked, Anchorage-Terrain (the extended photoreal area) is unticked. That will give you the Aerosoft PANC plus their highly populated Lake Hood SPB and strip and everything outside that is FTX. Holger has also done a little file that makes the road traffic stop at the railroad crossing! (EDIT: I've just tried this and it disappears all the traffic within the airport boundary. I think it must be a P3D thing as I've never seen the moving train either - so there's no need for the traffic to stop for it anyway )

It's all here, with screenshots, in a post by Holger in the compatibility section of the Orbx forum. You need to be signed in to view it.

http://www.orbxsystems.com/forum/topic/ ... laska-sak/

Ian

Thanks Ian...I did just give it a try but I prefered the Lake Hood Strip from SAK with its moving people and different parking and I think better static aircraft. I do quite like the SAK Anchorage airport as well but I'm sure it is not as detailed as the Aerosoft one but it is pretty nice and it is really background scenery as I'm using Lake Hood Strip...Can't wait for the lake to melt then I can try the Cub with floats

petermcleland wrote:... I prefered the Lake Hood Strip from SAK with its moving people and different parking and I think better static aircraft ... Can't wait for the lake to melt then I can try the Cub with floats

I agree that the FTX version of the strip is superior to the Aerosoft strip. However, looking at Holger's pictures of the SPB they've left it completely bare Aerosoft's is littered with huts, vehicles and static floatplanes - so perhaps you might want to exercise that option when the ice melts so the Cub has some company when she takes to the water

I'm going to stick with the hybrid solution, I think, as I'm really fond of the big airport and I like to see all the colour on the lake. It's nice to have three choices, even if they're all compromises though!



Ian

You have a good point there Ian...A few years ago I put up this real picture of Lake Hood and it is amazing how many floatplanes litter the SPB:-

Ian , got a bit lost on 't technical details [ I've only fs 9 ] , but the photo's are smashing ..... On a lighter note , a few weeks ago bumped into some young USAF engineers based in Alaska . They say the ABC is still alive and kicking in Anchorage ! .... I'll leave you to explain to all about the Alaskan Bush Company ....!
Might decorate the scenery VERY well , especially draped over sub standard cars .

P.S. have you searched for the ABC in your new scenery ?

ATB dave f .