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Introduction

Arizona, the birthplace of Goyaale, “the one who yawns”, and known more commonly as Geronimo. A state of diverse and stunning geography, it is renowned for its desert basin and range, characterised by clusters of vast sandstone buttes, monoliths, high escarpments, mesas, and its lesser known pine covered mountain forests.

Such gorgeous geography provides a magnificent environment to fly in and Orbx's growing range of products in this region are opening up new opportunities to explore this beautiful area. The recent release of Orbx's FTX: USMV Monument Valley scenic scenery showcases this stunning area and now Orbx have released another airport their FTX: Global airport series, FTX: NA KSEZ Sedona Airport, to complement and extend your flying adventures in and around Arizona. Acclaimed Orbx developer, Jarrad Marshall, applies his skills, yet again, to deliver a stunning rendition of one of the most dangerous airports with one of the most challenging approaches in the USA. Ideally situated, it is perfect for trips in the local area, Monument Valley, or further afield.

Location

Located in central Arizona, and nestled in the northern Verde Valley region, Sedona Airport is situated atop a mesa, 500 foot above the city of Sedona. Established in 1955, in its early days of an unpaved runway, it was not uncommon for pilots to not only have to deal with the challenging approach, but also with wild animals, such as coyote. A small paved runway had been added by 1960 and this was extended and improved significantly by 1990. Sedona Airport is only capable of handling jet aircraft of a size less than the Boeing 727. Consequently, it attracts a large number of smaller corporate jets and the usual array of general aviation fixed and rotary wing aircraft. Sedona is a popular tourist destination, especially with those seeking to be close to nature, and also with those interested in the New Age movement.

Availability and Installation

FTX: NA KSEZ Sedona Airport is available from The FlightSim Store as a 'download only' product (a master back-up DVD service is also available for a minor additional cost). It is priced at AU$32.95, or the equivalent on currency cross rates. The download file size is 818.57MB and a key code is issued via email and required during installation.

The installation process is easy and intuitive and the scenery installs seamlessly as part of the Global Region in the FTX Central 2 application. As with any Orbx product, it is highly recommended that after installing the product, you install or reinstall the latest version of the Orbx Scenery Libraries (ORBXLIBS).

Scenery Coverage

FTX: NA KSEZ Sedona Airport encompasses an area of approximately 800 square kilometres and it covers the entire city of Sedona and the surrounding canyon lands, red sandstone buttes and monoliths, mesas, and desert lowlands. This area of coverage provides a fantastic area in which to explore this beautiful landscape, and there is a lot to explore, or provides an excellent departure / destination point for exploring Monument Valley, approximately 150 nautical miles to the north-northeast. Beyond that, and still within a reasonable flying distance for larger general aviation aircraft or corporate jets, there is the FTX: NA Northern California region scenery and the associated FTX airports in that region, and the FTX: NA KPSP Palm Springs International Airport scenery.

Google Earth

FTX: NA KSEZ

Level of Detail

With every Orbx airport scenery release, there is an air of anticipation, and a certain degree of expectation, as to the level of detail in the product. Whilst Orbx have always pushed the boundaries to strive for excellence, they have also looked at different ways in which that level of detail is portrayed. From the outset, this was represented with high quality, bespoke modelling of buildings, particularly within the airport precinct, and to a lesser degree in the surrounding area. However, not every airport scenery release lends itself to such an approach, and some of the more recent releases have shown where the level of detail focus has, and needed to shift because of these regional or location influences. FTX: NA KSEZ Sedona Airport is another such airport scenery from Orbx which reflects this change in focus on the level of detail, in this case, it draws on the beautiful raw power and natural glory of the topography of this region.

Sedona Airport	Now Celebrating 60 Years
Custom Vegetation 1	Custom Vegetation 2
Shrine of the Red Rocks	City Lookout
Limousines & Pink Jeep Tours 4WDs	John Deere ATV

For the developer, Jarrad Marshall, this is his eleventh airport scenery and with FTX: NA KSEZ he again delivers an extremely accurate depiction of Sedona Airport, including a less detailed rendition of Cottonwood Airport (P52), and the surrounding region. Using a combination of 30 centimetre and one metre resolution photo realistic scenery and 10 metre Holgermesh, supplemented with custom landclass, vector data, and custom season files, Jarrad has been able to truly represent this area in all of its natural beauty. Furthermore, in order to provide the best level of realistic depiction of the Sedona region, 21 exclusive custom high definition autogen vegetation types have been created and used in the scenery. As usual, various aspects of scenery complexity levels for FTX: NA KSEZ can be set in the KSEZ Control Panel and this is addressed appropriately in the documentation.

Corporate Jets & Restaurant	Restaurant & Outdoor Area (note the bikini clad woman)
FBO Ramp Area	Hangars & Sheds
Wako YMF-5	Impatient Chauffeur

Airport Precinct. Sedona Airport and the immediate surrounding area covering part of the city of Sedona is covered by 30 centimetre photo realistic scenery. The level of detail around the airport precinct is excellent and the accuracy is exceptional. The main terminal building is magnificently depicted and with a range of 'PeopleFlow' activity to give it a sense of character and life. Fixed based operators, aircraft hangars and sheds, and other general operational areas are also accurately represented. The custom vegetation is richly evident, particularly around the terminal building, and it provides additional character consistent with this desert region. A fantastic range of static aircraft and ground vehicles add further to the depiction of the airport and these include new static aircraft models and ground vehicle models specific to FTX: NA KSEZ. A range of these bespoke static aircraft and vehicles are associated with the fixed based operators at Sedona Airport. Also represented in the airport precinct is City Lookout and the Shrine of the Red Rocks. A comparison of FTX: NA KSEZ with Google Earth imagery confirmed the accuracy in the level of detail within the airport precinct extends to the accurate depiction and placement of signage, ramp markings, and minor object placement of the smallest detail. There were some noted discrepancies and inconsistencies where the accuracy of the detail at the airport and immediate surrounding area was more generic in nature, but this predominantly applied to outlying buildings and signage away from the main operational areas.

Rwy 21	Taxiway Signage & Lighting
Noise Abatement Signage & PAPIs	Airport Precinct Signage
Refuelling Tanker	FBO Ground Vehicle
Cleanest Window on the Airport	Communications Towers
Night Lighting 1	Night Lighting 2

Other Airports and the Surrounding Area. Cottonwood Airport (P52) is located 14 nautical miles southwest of Sedona Airport in the valley of the Verde River. It has a single, 4,249 foot asphalt runway, and runway lighting to support night flying operations. Whilst not modelled to the same level as Sedona Airport, it has had significant additions and improvements and provides a marvellous addition to the FTX: NA KSEZ package. As I eluded to earlier, outside of the airport precinct, the focus on the level of detail is not always about buildings, structures, monuments, etc., it needs to be tailored to the scenery coverage area, and this is very true of FTX: NA KSEZ. Whilst FTX: NA KSEZ still includes some of these points of interest, landmarks, and visual reference points, the main focus on the level of detail in the surrounding area is the topography using the one metre resolution photo realistic scenery and 10 metre Holgermesh. This gives the canyons, sandstone buttes and monoliths, and mesas character and a life of their own. It provides for a magnificent representation of the raw and rugged beauty of this area. Supporting this, the points of interest and landmarks represented in FTX: NA KSEZ include, Chapel of the Holy Cross and Midgley Bridge. Also included is the ubiquitous McDonald’s, but a very special McDonald's as the traditional 'golden arches' are painted teal, the only McDonald's in the world to deviate from the trademark colour. Attempting to fly under the Midgley Bridge provides an extra challenge in this scenery package. Other prominent buildings around the city of Sedona are represented with bespoke shaped models, but using what appeared to be some form of generic building textures. In some instances, this gave the buildings somewhat of a garish look.

Chapel of the Holy Cross 1	Chapel of the Holy Cross 2
Midgley Bridge	The Ubiquitous McDonalds (note the teal coloured arches)
Cathedral Rock - Real World	Cathedral Rock - FTX NA KSEZ

Seasonal Variation. Being in a desert region with a temperate semi-arid climate, Sedona experiences some significant variations in climate throughout the course of the year. Whilst there are minor texture variations associated with the change of the seasons evident in FTX: NA KSEZ, they appear to be more representative of the general weather conditions for the various seasons. These texture variations do not capture the potential extremes of the climatic changes, particularly winter. The end result with FTX: NA KSEZ is a mixture of 30 centimetre and one metre photo realistic scenery coverage, with excellent annotation, which provides a level of high detail whilst maintaining a level of balance which showcases the magnificent topography of this region. This balance achieves an excellent visual representation which provides many visual reference points for VFR navigation purposes.

Quality of Buildings

The use of advanced rendering, ambient occlusion, and unique night lighting has become a hallmark of the Orbx airport series. In FTX: NA KSEZ Sedona Airport, this is again extremely evident and delivers an incredible level of quality in the buildings around the airport and the surrounding area. The modelling and representation of these buildings is incredibly realistic and in some instances goes to signage displayed on the buildings. The airport precinct aside, the Midgley Bridge and Chapel of the Holy Cross also demonstrate the high level of quality mentioned above. As mentioned earlier, the city of Sedona is covered with some prominent buildings represented with bespoke shaped models, but using what appear to be some form of generic building textures. Of the buildings modelled to a high degree of quality, a comparative review of images from FTX: NA KSQL and images researched on the internet clearly demonstrated the incredible level of quality in the building models. Two noted exceptions on building quality were the Masonic Lodge and the Sky Ranch Lodge in the airport precinct. The Masonic Lodge is considered a “missed opportunity”, as it was not only represented with a generic building shape, but the building textures had it looking like a vehicle garage, whilst the Sky Ranch Lodge buildings were depicted with the same generic double storey building model whereas Google Earth imagery revealed a number of these buildings are single storey buildings.

Terminal Building	Mesa Grill Restaurant
Sky Safari Air Tours	General Operations Building
Hangars & Aircraft Sheds 1	Hangars & Aircraft Sheds 2
Masonic 'Garage' - A Missed Opportunity	Somewhat Generic Sky Ranch Lodge Buildings

Documentation

As part of the installation, a 20 page User Guide is provided in Adobe Acrobat format (.pdf) and is accessible from the FTX Central 2 application. Other than providing a detailed overview of FTX: NA KSEZ Sedona Airport, it also provides comprehensive information on the following:
        • Sedona  Airport;
        • manual scenery library configuration;
        • KSEZ Control Panel;
        • scenery coverage;
        • quick reference FSX / P3D settings;
        • recommended FSX / P3D slider scenery settings; and
        • autogen density slider settings.

Performance

With my frame rate locked at 40 frames per second and most of my settings set high to very high, I enabled all features in the KSEZ Control Panel. I then flew a broad range of general aviation aircraft and more complex corporate jets in and out of Sedona Airport. FTX: NA KSEZ Sedona Airport performed excellently within the existing settings I have in FSX and displayed evidence of the design optimisation “...for good performance with complex aircraft types.”. I did not need to make any adjustments to compensate for performance issues and there was no discernible impact on frame rate performance against what I typically get. Of course, this is also system dependent and paying heed to the relevant sections in the User Manual should avoid any disappointment and provide optimum performance for your particular system.

Value for Money

Overall, FTX: NA KSEZ Sedona Airport is considered exceptional value for money. The representation of the airport and the excellent coverage and representation of this magnificent area, along with the 10 metre Holgermesh is a total package.

Technical Requirements

With the exception of requiring FTX: Global BASE installed, there are no other stated, specific system technical requirements, other than a system capable of running FSX / P3D. The FTX: NA KSEZ Sedona Airport User Manual provides some excellent advice on the various scenery slider settings and KSEZ Control Panel settings which will maximise the performance of the software and FSX / P3D for a range of hardware specifications. Note. Whilst FTX: NA KSEZ can be installed without the FTX: Global BASE product, full functionality of the software will not be realised.

Review Computer Specifications

The specifications of the computer on which the review was conducted are as follows:
        • Intel i7 990X Extreme, 3.46GHz;
        • NVidia GTX980 G1 Gaming, 4GB, 1228/1329MHz;
        • 12GB, Kingston DDR3, 2000MHz, XMP T1 CL9 HyperX;
        • Windows 7, (64bit);
        • Microsoft Flight Simulator FSX Acceleration; and
        • additional major add-ons include: Active Sky Next, REX Essential Plus Overdrive; Ultimate Traffic 2; Orbx FTX Global BASE;
          Orbx FTX Global VECTOR; Orbx FTX Global openLC EU; Orbx FTX Trees HD; Orbx FTX region series; and Orbx FTX airport series.

Conclusion

Orbx FTX: NA KSEZ Sedona Airport is an excellent scenery add-on which showcases the accuracy, detail, and quality we regularly associate with Orbx and Jarrad Marshall, in particular. The accuracy and detail of the scenery is such a quality, it provides the ability to fly in this area using VFR navigation techniques.

Overall, FTX: NA KSEZ dovetails nicely into the Orbx product range and provides an excellent base and focal point for flights in this magnificent region. For anyone who wants to explore this region on their flying adventures, and for fans of Orbx products, FTX: NA KSEZ is an addition to your scenery you will want and one which will provide hours of future enjoyment.

Verdict and Rating

Another great airport from Orbx, FTX: NA KSEZ Sedona Airport displays excellent quality and exceptional level of detail to complement the Orbx scenery offerings.

Pros:
Exceptional coverage.
Excellent level of accuracy and attention to detail.
High quality, region specific vegetation.
Excellent static models.
Excellent performance.
Comprehensive documentation.

Cons:
Nothing major noted.

Scores:
● Scenery Coverage:	10/10
● Level of Detail:	9.5/10
● Quality of Buildings:	9.0/10
● Documentation:	10/10
● Performance:	10/10
● Value for Money:	10/10

Orbx FTX: NA KSEZ Sedona Airport is awarded a Mutley’s Hangar score of 9.8/10, with an "Outstanding"  and a Mutley's Hangar Gold Award.