UK2000 Gatwick Pro Review
By Fred ‘mulletman’ Clark


The UK's Second Busiest UK Airport Gets First Class Treatment

 

The first time I flew, I went to Orlando, with Virgin Atlantic, on one of their B747-400’s. I remember the flight well. Strangely though I only have 2 short memories of Orlando International itself. My memories of airports are trained wholly on London Gatwick.

As it was the departure airport for my first ever flight, as well as several other flights I have made, it was obvious that I would spend a lot of time flying into and out of it in FS. However, I found myself choosing Heathrow more and more, as I preferred the scenery that Microsoft had modelled. Only the shape of London Gatwick was represented. So it comes as a relief that some fine scenery had been made for the airport.

 


Airport overview. The blending looks better in the background than near the front. From the air this place looks real

 

The UK2000 sceneries are probably most well known for the work that they have done supplying scenery for England and Wales, at a cost, leaving the owners with some realistic scenery for their local. I must admit that I do not own any other UK2000 sceneries. I was always deterred by certain parts of the sceneries, mostly the taxiways which to me, never appeared to be capable of supporting large aircraft.

Thankfully though, with Gatwick Pro these taxiways look firm and stable. This is not the only improvement that has been made. Owners of Heathrow Pro always found themselves with poor frame rates. With Gatwick, I have found them to be just lower than the default. It would not be too hard however to go into the start menu utility and change the setup to improve frame rates on my system.

Installation was possibly the easiest process I have ever been through. It requires activation in the Setup menu, but this is really simple. After purchase, a code is sent that allows you to ‘unlock’ the scenery.

 

The tower. Not the most beautiful rendition of a tower I have seen, but then Gatwick’s is not a particularly modern design

 

The included manual, available free on the website, informs you that there are a few options that you must set in order to receive the intended effect. These might affect frame rates on slower systems, but if you have a system capable of running FS2004 smoothly, there are no settings there that you won’t already have set at the required level. Furthermore the manual goes on to explain that there are certain things that some users can remove to save disk space/improve performance. On my setup, this included a file that eliminates the Gatwick included in British Airports. Although you have to turn ‘Dynamic Scenery’ off, you do not need to uninstall the original version.

An important note to make is about VFR terrain. Gatwick is perfectly aligned to the Get Mapping ground images. This will clearly be evident to ground Environment, FS Scene, and default texture users, as the ground that Gatwick sits on is photo real. Never the less, it does not have an obvious transition between the photo and the default, although some edges are more apparent than others. It would be nice to see an option of switching between the 2, with Non VFR users having a smoother blend between the two.

Spring and summer textures are included, but unfortunately no snow textures. There are of course night textures, as you would expect, and these leave the airport looking as real at night as it does in the day. Some parts have more detailed lighting than others, but when on approach, the areas that are illuminated are the exact right ones for that special feel.

 

Approaching 8R at night. The landing lights are left on all the time, but you can turn them off by tuning a specific frequency

A comparison of the airport by night and by day

 

Gatwick Pro has most of the airport clutter that appears around the edge of the airport. This includes trees, the Fire training aircraft, fences, huts and hangars, and a couple of roads that go past the airport. It adds a surprisingly realistic feel to the airport as you taxi out to runway 8R, which is quite a distance from the terminals. Gatwick actually has 2 runways, although only one is operational at any one time for safety restrictions, and so the AFCAD reflects this.

On the edge of the South terminal, Gary Summons has modelled Gatwick’s Rail link, with trains coming and going every so often. Unfortunately there is no possibility of chasing these for any substantial distance, as the rail line cuts off with the ground textures. I would have preferred this line to be extended into the distance. The track network and station are nothing more than ground textures, with only the trains being basic 3D shapes. Although they have fewer carriages than the real versions, they carry the correct shape.

Another train runs between the 2 terminal buildings, and looks just how I remember it. As usual with add-on sceneries, the high levels of detail cannot just be seen airside, but also around the terminal, although unlike some scenery, Gary Summons has chosen not to model the inside of the terminal buildings in full. A representation of what is inside has been included, in something that is surely a first for FS. Moving people, walking between locations! Although these are nothing more than 3D silhouettes they add an untold amount of realism to the airport.

 

 

There is no part of the airport where they have an effect more than at the air bridge. Gatwick recently added a multi million pound, 22m high Air Bridge to connect the North Terminal with 11 mid field gates. It is accurately modelled in the FS scenery, with aircraft running under it with no problems whatsoever, except the A380.

 

Despite having a superb set of ground textures, courtesy of Get Mapping, there are several areas that have not been created in 3D. A couple of these are understandable, but some, especially on the approach path, would be greatly improved if a few 3D objects were placed there.

 

The infamous air bridge that BAA and Gatwick are very proud of

 

VA’s will be pleased as Gary’s love for these organisations has persuaded him to allow VA’s to request that their logo replace the HSBC signs on gates. Static Aircraft are available from the website as a separate download, for users not using any traffic add-ons. These are not great, but new ones are on the way.

If you have any AI packages installed, you will immediately find that you have to reduce the AI traffic sliders. With only one runway, you will find yourself waiting for hours to get to the hold point. In my setup, aircraft, especially BA and EasyJet seem to park together. There are 2 AFCADS included, that can be changed manually. One apparently sends the AI to airline specific gates, and the other does not. It is extremely hard to get a balance between how busy the airport looks, and how frustrating it gets waiting. I personally don’t think I have got it right.

 

EasyJet gates at the south terminal

Some scenery developers have stopped creating active gates. This includes Mega Airport Frankfurt and Fly Vienna. At Gatwick, active gates are still in operation. However, there are only 5 of them. The way the AFCAD is coded results in your aircraft generally being sent to these stands.

And even when I wasn’t, it did not stop me risking my virtual licence, and going there anyway. Upon entering the gate area a fleet of vehicles appear, drive to your aircraft and line-up. The same happens if you first load your aircraft in those positions. The ground vehicles are set to hang around (with the baggage lorry coming and coming) for around about 10-15 minutes. According to Gary this is neither too long to wait, nor too short to dislike. And I would certainly agree.

 

Upon tuning the ATIS the air bridge will swing towards one of your aircrafts doors. Tuning clearance then moves it back to its original spot. However this often means that I’m moving the air bridge away before I want to. It would be better if tuning the ground frequency removed the air bridge, and clearance/ATIS docked it.

 

As expected this is not 100% accurate, but I have found that it is never far off. Getting into the right position is easy too, as the stop boards will put your aircraft where it is needed provided the 2D or VC is also positioned correctly to where the rest of the aircraft is. Many of the non-active gates have a stop board anyway. If there is no active gate, the air bridge is positioned fairly close to the aircraft, so you can open the doors without having to look at a huge gap.
This shot does not show the full effect of the ground fleet. You have to actually see it to believe it

 

The section of the manual that deals with getting this to work is not very clear, or at least it was not to me. I thought that both the service fleet and the air bridge worked by communication frequencies. It didn’t stop me flying and enjoying, but it could be slightly clearer.

Once the Service Vehicles do depart, it is not a quick process, but looks and feels superb. The actual Armada models are well modelled and textured too, and this adds to the realism. As they depart, they follow the road markings, and join other vehicles whizzing around the airport.

A demo is available from the Gatwick Pro site, and I highly recommend you give it a try because you will see just why I love this destination so much. No matter what continent you love to fly over in FS, you will return to this location over and over again. Be warned, that if you pay with the small cost to get this scenery, you will not be spending much time away from it.

 

Mulletman's UK2000 Gatwick Photo Gallery - Click on thumbnail for full size picture

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Airport overview. The blending looks better in the background than near the front. From the air this place looks real.

Circular south terminal pier. Monorail train can be seen going past in
the background.
Approaching 8R at night. The landing lights are left on all the time, but you can turn them off by tuning a specific frequency. Looking toward the North terminal
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Some cars are modelled in 3D, the packed car parks are flat though. The scenery options utility. The road that passes under the S.Terminal at night. The cars are moving. One of the stopping boards, and the detailed ground ‘clutter’
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This shot does not show the full effect of the ground fleet. You have to actually see it to believe it.

A comparison of the airport by night and by day. The fire station and some of the (empty) outfield gates. Some GA do come and Go around the airport. Although they are rarely seen.
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Go across the runway from the terminal, and you will find what is almost a private airfield, and maintenance hangars.

Notice the moving people inside, and the detailed clutter around the AI BAe146. EasyJet gates at the south terminal. The much improved look of the taxiways, looking back toward the S.Terminal.
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The tower.  Not the most beautiful rendition of a tower I have seen, but then Gatwick’s is not a particularly modern design.

The infamous air bridge that BAA and Gatwick are very proud of. Train station at night. Even the train’s headlights are lit!


Links:

http://www.uk2000scenery.com/main/index.htm
http://www.uk2000scenery.org.uk/main/My_Homepage_Files/page12.html                                    © Fred Clark 2007

  Mutley says.. . . .

Thanks to Fred for another fascinating insight.

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