addman Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 So I'm gonna get FTX England later this month and I have been scouting airfields for the region. I just want a nice GA airfield, not regional or bigger. Which are REALLY worth getting? I know it's a matter of taste but any advice would be appreciated! Cheers/Andreas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norfolk mike Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 I have most of them, and my own personal favourite is probably my first purchase, which was Old Warden. The reasons I like it are as follows, and entirely personal! It is an aviation museum, and I love 'retro' aircraft. It is a very short hop from the excellent freeware Duxford by the ACG, and that is ALSO an aviation museum. Old Warden is pretty easy on frames and has some nice touches such as the static WW1 aircraft outside the hangars. As most of my add-on aircraft are from A2A, Old Warden is well suited, given that it hosts Flying Days with the likes of Duxford's resident P:51 and Spitfire, as well as being entirely appropriate for the Cessna, Cherokee, Piper Cub, Alabeo Waco and Tomahawk. Compton Abbas sits pretty, atop the rolling hills of Dorset and again is a good performer. Goodwood appeals for its retro associations, and I can roll and loop the A2A P:51 over it at 30fps all day. Elstree is a little heavier being close to London, but has a 'busy' yet compact feel to it, which might appeal? Christ, its really hard to say! . The trouble is, when you've got one, you'll want others to fly to. Shoreham is nicely placed by the coast, and has a nice circuit training feel to it, if you like shooting patterns in the A2A Cherokee? I don't think you'd be disappointed with any of them really. I find Damyn's Hall a little heavier on FPS, but like Elstree, its positioned so close to the City of London its going to impact to some degree. You are now more confused than you was before you read this, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Lovell Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 I would say for the hard runways, you got a good choice of Fairoaks, Elstree and Southampton... Stapleford has a part hard runway and quite unique.. a very charming airfield steeped with lots of history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olli4740 Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Elstree for its textures (judging from a distance here ...) and Southampton for the overall immersion. EGHI consumes some fps and VAS, but those figures are manageable (autogen, AI traffic, LOD radius etc.). Just my 2 cents, of course ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norfolk mike Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Southampton is great, but I'm wondering if it might not be a little too much airfield for Addman's needs? I do like Elstree though, even if it means cutting down on a few options to get it 'flying'. If I remember right, the GA statics option at Elstree is pretty much 'all or nothing' which is a shame, because there are rather a lot of statics. Having said that, I've opted to keep those anyway, but I think I deselected a few other things in order to maintain my obsessive 30FPS yardstick . I was forgetting Stapleford. Ah yeah, that's a lovely, quintessentially English field Addman. That short concrete strip can be a fun challenge in an A2A Warbird, but will give you the option of hard or grass in anything GA. Fairoaks is about the only UK field I haven't got yet. I might grab it whilst the sale is still on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Lincoln Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Mmmm, I have not completed Eng airports yet but will soon, I would like to point out that at the prices they are currently,you can't go wrong.Like anything Orbx does,it is to the highest achievable standard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt Pugwash Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Goodwood & Shoreham, when I need a "quick fix" 15 minute return flight with awesome UK scenery, these are the winners Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olli4740 Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 The bottom line of this topic will be: Get them all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Lovell Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Fairoaks is about the only UK field I haven't got yet. I might grab it whilst the sale is still on. I would say go for it! That one took me 2 whole days to photograph and has the most variety of buildings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
addman Posted June 20, 2014 Author Share Posted June 20, 2014 Thank you guys for the suggestions, you've covered basically all the FTX England airfields lol! I should be more specific maybe, I really like Walter Suttons farm, 77s Creswell and Fall City. I find those airports -for GA flying- to be my favourites. I think the somewhat vague criteria I'm looking for are cosy, personality and rustic atmosphere. More concrete criteria are location, framerate, sharp textures etc. I'm sure most if not all Orbx airfields fills those requirements for me. Still, I have come across a few personal "duds". For example Goheen and Orcas, they are very popular and technically awesome but I just didn't "feel" them. I know Orcas is very popular so I never mentioned I didn't quite enjoy it so much lol! I would like to ask also, I have FTX Global and Vector plus 76m worldwide fsgenesis mesh, is FTX England "worth" it if I have those components already? Thanks again you guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Lovell Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 I would like to ask also, I have FTX Global and Vector plus 76m worldwide fsgenesis mesh, is FTX England "worth" it if I have those components already? Thanks again you guys! Definitely England is worth it. A 'full fat' region will always be superior over Global. It combines all the elements of correct land class, points of interest, bridges, mesh and textures... and will fit perfectly with the UK airfields. And with the 33% sale, would be a no brainer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olli4740 Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 I own Fall City and Southampton definitely is a different kind of animal - so take all my posts with a huge grain of salt! (Better take two grains ...) What FTX ENG adds to FTX-G/Vector/Mesh is custom ground textures (as opposed to/enhancing FTX-G's generic textures) photoscenery elements ("patches" of PS) points of interests London cityscape moderately upgraded airports (not like the payware addon airports, more like the freeware Global addon airport packages) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Abdey Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 From what you say above I think Damyns Hall would be a great one http://www.fullterrain.com/product_egml.html ... it has bags of rural charm with tons of thick vegetation and wonderful detail similar to Suttons . It is also close to London or heading the other way the Thames Estuary, so you can chose between going into an urban landscape or stick with a more serene flight. Compton Abbas is another field with tons or rural charm, in a great setting, amid the rolling Dorset landscape and the coastline not far away. And 'Full fat' England is a must! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Terry Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Get Goodwood Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Low Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 I would recommend EGKA Shoreham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norfolk mike Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Mark is right about the "rural charm" of Compton Abbas, and I'm sure it will tick most of your boxes. The surrounding landscape adds a lot to this small grass strip, so you have added value there. Yeah, I know, pretty picture, but where is the airfield? Its right in front of you, on that hill! Just make sure you dial in heaps of English Haze, otherwise the airfields will be totally unrecognisable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Lovell Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Compton is very pretty. And with its elevation and surrounding hills makes it a challenge too! A very tough one as all airfields are nice and represent each area very well. Some have more extended photo real than others would make them better value. Shoreham and Southampton are probably the two that have the most extended beyond the airport fence in terms of photo real and autogen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taph Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Compton Abbas for the rolling Wiltshire hills Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
addman Posted June 20, 2014 Author Share Posted June 20, 2014 Thanks to you guys I have narrowed it down to Shoreham, Goodwood and Compton Abbas. =) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger hopkins Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 It has to be Shoreham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ripcord Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 OK Addman, we expect to see you back here with some screenshots in a couple days!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sightseer Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 for what its worth - my favorites are Stapleford and Compton Abbas. I cant believe how much I like Compton Abbas. It seems Im not alone. Its quite small really but its just great fun to fly into and out of and taxi around the grass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell Linn Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 for what its worth - my favorites are Stapleford and Compton Abbas. I cant believe how much I like Compton Abbas. It seems Im not alone. Its quite small really but its just great fun to fly into and out of and taxi around the grass. There are some really lovely people at Compton Abbas, also! - Russ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger hopkins Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 Orbx EU Compton Abbas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
addman Posted June 22, 2014 Author Share Posted June 22, 2014 for what its worth - my favorites are Stapleford and Compton Abbas. I cant believe how much I like Compton Abbas. It seems Im not alone. Its quite small really but its just great fun to fly into and out of and taxi around the grass. Yes, I've already decided to get Compton Abbas. Think I'll add in Chichester/Goodwood so I'll have some in-between flying to do. Update!: Ok, so I did a complete 180 and just bought FTX England and Stapleford + Old Warden to go with it. Rolling hills and hedgerows, here I come! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt Pugwash Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Yes, I've already decided to get Compton Abbas. Think I'll add in Chichester/Goodwood so I'll have some in-between flying to do. Update!: Ok, so I did a complete 180 and just bought FTX England and Stapleford + Old Warden to go with it. Rolling hills and hedgerows, here I come! Good decision, look forwards to seeing some screen shots... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norfolk mike Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 A man of impulse. I like it! Old Warden still ranks as my favourite FTX 'small field'. We actually took a trip there last year, because I wanted to see it for real and we was at an event not far away. It was the weirdest feeling walking around an airfield that we've never before visited, yet knew quite intimately. It made me appreciate how well the FTX team capture the essence of these airfields. If you download the freeware ACG Duxford, and remove the (I think its 6) photo-real airfield background BGLs, it'll fit into FTX England quite nicely. Its then only a short hop from Old Warden to Duxford on a 90 degree heading, and together with Stapleford will give you a nice navigational triangle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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