noted Orbx EGNT - GA Terminal too small

[Terrylawdinn]

I originally built and operated the GA Terminal at Newcastle Airport and so I was delighted to see it in the EGNT pack.

 

However, although the proportions of the building are correct, overall the presentation is approximately only two thirds of the actual size. To get a better idea look at the service door in the east (apron) side of the hangar which is way too small to be accessible, although in proportion to the real thing. This is not helped with the fixed parked vehicles which appear to be a little over-size if you compare them to, say, an aircraft.

 

Regrettably as I sold the business a long time ago, I no longer have access to the actual dimensions - but the hangar was easily capable of taking two BBMF Spitfires, which your depiction clearly cannot do. Neither do I have any old photographs which demonstrate my point.

 

I'm unsure how you could just increase the overall size of the building by 50% as it would obviously impact on the size of the apron. But you'll probably understand my feelings of a little sadness every time I see it in MSFS, as I still use it as a base for my "flying".

 

Is this perhaps asking a little too much? I've no idea how big a change this would be.

[John Dow]

How well does it sit on the photoreal 'footprint'? That would normally be a guide for the developer. 

[Terrylawdinn]

I've compared the view from Bing Maps with the MSFS depiction and the building appears to occupy the same footprint. I've also had a look at the Google 3D and the difference is almost immediately apparent although the Google offering is a bit (lot?) untidy. The Orbx building is just not tall enough, and closer examination shows the landside end is actually buried below the ground surface by at least 60cm (the doors/windows are buried) - I understand that's probably a MS/Asobo problem. (In reality that caused us a problem for the build too as due to the ILS we were height limited on the peak of the hangar and actually ended up having quite a steep slope for the front car park). Although rough the Google picture is pretty close to the reality and if you compare the two you can see what I mean.

 

Also, just as a matter of detail, the hangar doors are incorrect - there are six which cover the full length. We actually had a King Air, such as the featured OE-ABC, inside for maintenance (although to be fair we couldn't fully close the doors).

 

I think Orbx have done a fantastic job on the rest of the airport, just seems a shame that this one part, although visually well-presented, is somewhat less accurate than the rest. If nothing can be done, fair enough, but if you don't ask????

[Terrylawdinn]

Hmmm, no response from anybody at Orbx. Looks like a lost cause to me, a voice in the wilderness!

 

Even a "sorry we cannot do it" would be preferable to silence.

[Nick Cooper]

Hello,

I have asked internally for a comment for you.

[wolfko]

On 3/31/2021 at 11:11 PM, Terrylawdinn said:

I originally built and operated the GA Terminal at Newcastle Airport and so I was delighted to see it in the EGNT pack.

 

However, although the proportions of the building are correct, overall the presentation is approximately only two thirds of the actual size. To get a better idea look at the service door in the east (apron) side of the hangar which is way too small to be accessible, although in proportion to the real thing. This is not helped with the fixed parked vehicles which appear to be a little over-size if you compare them to, say, an aircraft.

 

Regrettably as I sold the business a long time ago, I no longer have access to the actual dimensions - but the hangar was easily capable of taking two BBMF Spitfires, which your depiction clearly cannot do. Neither do I have any old photographs which demonstrate my point.

 

I'm unsure how you could just increase the overall size of the building by 50% as it would obviously impact on the size of the apron. But you'll probably understand my feelings of a little sadness every time I see it in MSFS, as I still use it as a base for my "flying".

 

Is this perhaps asking a little too much? I've no idea how big a change this would be.

 

I only just now came across this thread. It is great to have one of the developers of the real world EGNT here in the forums. Thanks for commenting.

[Greg Jones]

Hi,

 

Apologies, I was only made aware of this yesterday.

 

Can you indicate which building is the actual GA terminal? I'm assuming you mean this one:


As you might have guessed, such changes aren't high on the list of priorities but I can take a look at the model and see what's involved. Scaling up is fairly straightforward but, as you've suggested, that will likely encroach on the apron and also adjoining models. So making such a seemingly small change can have a domino effect and before you know it you're building an entirely new version of the airport!!

 

Greg

 

[Terrylawdinn]

Hi Greg and thanks for responding.

 

No that's NOT the GA Terminal, that is the old (now defunct) Aeroclub hangar and flightschool. The Aeroclub itself was on the now patch of land just to the right of your pic and, for your interest, was the original 1935 Airport Terminal. Sadly it has now been knocked down. The buildings on that side (east) of the apron all look fine.

 

The General Aviation Terminal, still owned and operated by Samson Aviation (and referred to as such on Google Maps) is the building on it's own on the other side of the south apron - in your pic just behind and below your viewpoint. The one with the oversized fuel trucks and vehicles around it. Your depiction currently shows the name on the hangar too........................

 

As regards adjusting it, as you will see from my second post above, I believe the footprint is probably accurate, it's just the overall height that is wrong, which changes all the aspect ratios for everything else around it. Stretch it 45% taller and it'll be about right.

 

On a slightly different point regarding the EGNT addon, the rather beautiful new control tower is, I feel, also not tall enough - again it should be 50% taller. I can actually see the top of the tower from my house in the village on the NE edge of the airport and it is considerably taller than the trees, whereas in the sim it looks a little "dumpy" - that's English English for short and squat! A shame because it was architecturally well-acclaimed when it was built. Funnily enough, though, it doesn't look too bad if viewed "from the air".

 

Finally while we're at it, how about singling up the dual windsocks on each end of the runway?

 

Don't get me wrong, the addon is a very fine piece of work and everywhere else on the airport seems to be very accurate. Which is why I was somewhat disappointed with the depiction of something that is actually quite personal to me! I understand that sometimes it's a lot more than a bit of tweaking, and there will only be a small minority interested enough, but if you don't ask???

 

Terry

[Greg Jones]

On 4/28/2021 at 9:46 PM, Terrylawdinn said:

Hi Greg and thanks for responding.

 

No that's NOT the GA Terminal, that is the old (now defunct) Aeroclub hangar and flightschool. The Aeroclub itself was on the now patch of land just to the right of your pic and, for your interest, was the original 1935 Airport Terminal. Sadly it has now been knocked down. The buildings on that side (east) of the apron all look fine.

 

The General Aviation Terminal, still owned and operated by Samson Aviation (and referred to as such on Google Maps) is the building on it's own on the other side of the south apron - in your pic just behind and below your viewpoint. The one with the oversized fuel trucks and vehicles around it. Your depiction currently shows the name on the hangar too........................

 

As regards adjusting it, as you will see from my second post above, I believe the footprint is probably accurate, it's just the overall height that is wrong, which changes all the aspect ratios for everything else around it. Stretch it 45% taller and it'll be about right.

 

On a slightly different point regarding the EGNT addon, the rather beautiful new control tower is, I feel, also not tall enough - again it should be 50% taller. I can actually see the top of the tower from my house in the village on the NE edge of the airport and it is considerably taller than the trees, whereas in the sim it looks a little "dumpy" - that's English English for short and squat! A shame because it was architecturally well-acclaimed when it was built. Funnily enough, though, it doesn't look too bad if viewed "from the air".

 

Finally while we're at it, how about singling up the dual windsocks on each end of the runway?

 

Don't get me wrong, the addon is a very fine piece of work and everywhere else on the airport seems to be very accurate. Which is why I was somewhat disappointed with the depiction of something that is actually quite personal to me! I understand that sometimes it's a lot more than a bit of tweaking, and there will only be a small minority interested enough, but if you don't ask???

 

Terry

 

Hi Terry,

 

I've verified the height of the tower model as we've depicted it is 48.8m without any antennae. The height is listed as 49m so I think 20cm off is acceptable. My guess is that surrounding vegetation is height is causing the visual difference you're seeing.

 

You're right about the GA terminal, it is slightly sunken in the ground, most likely due to terraforming issues introduced in the last WU. I've made a note of this for future reference. Unfortunately the correction won't make it into the current round of UK airport updates.

 

Greg

 

 

 

 

[Terrylawdinn]

Hi Greg and thanks for looking into this.

 

I appreciate your efforts and understand it's not going to be a quick fix. That's okay; good as MSFS is I suppose it's inevitable that it can't always be true to life everywhere. But at least your depiction LOOKS like EGNT!

 

Terry