Reviews (by Yannick)

I think we can all agree that Paris - Le Bourget is one of the most renowned airfields in the entire world, not least because of its famous airshow. Having been to the show myself, I was really pleased to see that Simcreations took it upon themselves to provide us simmers with a rendition of this iconic airfield. Generally speaking, I must say that flying into the airfield feels nice enough. I mean, the ground textures are okay, most, if not all, of the iconic buildings, have been replicated to some extent, and even the Ariane rockets sit where they should. Also, the scenery benefits from a current and up-to-date airport layout and, judging by screenshots, seems to be the developer's most comprehensive project yet. However, this is where the pleasantries end. Some of the taxiway textures just seem to use plain default textures. Also, most of the buildings do not benefit from high-resolution textures. The use of default elements, including that of default tank cars and other vehicles placed throughout the scenery, makes the scenery come across as a bit dull overall. I must say that given the exciting nature of this airfield, I expected the developer to have put a bit more effort into providing us with a faithful recreation of the airport. This is especially so considering the associated price tag. Overall, if you desire flying in and out of the most frequented business jet airfield in Europe, I would say go for it and give it a try. This is especially so, given that this is the most accurate and detailed, albeit only, recreation of the field that is currently available. However, if you buy it with the expectations of it being up to par with some of Paris's other airports, then you're bound to be disappointed.

Although default airfields do already look great within the new sim, this amplifies and improves the default C16 Frasca Field greatly. This add-on provides each VFR simmer with a new field to call home. The overall quality of this add-on is nothing short of breathtaking with textures being extremely crisp taking advantage of the latest PBR texturing techniques being offered by the new sim. Also, populating the field with static aircraft's such as Cessna 172's greatly amplifies the level of immersion that one can expect to find. Finally, it is the size of the airfield combined with its proximity to the city of Champaign all contribute to the character of this product and make this product a must buy addition for every serious VFR simmer. I will certainly make sure to visit this field and city more often on my future adventures across the U.S.

Having bought this scenery via the X-Plane.org store rather than via Simmarket, I was already quite familiar with the developer in light of their previous developments of Cincinnati and Toronto City airports, and thus already had some ideas on what to expect with this scenery. First of all, kudos to the developers in keeping frame rates stable and well within enjoyable margins, especially considering the region of the world that this airport is located in (KLAX; KBUR; KONT and KSNA all being located close by). Really excellent job. With performance out of the way, the quality of the underlying airport is nothing short of spectacular. The resolution of textures is very crisp and very well executed. Combining a very lively feeling obtained through both the numerous vehicles running about the airport doing whatever they have to do as well as numerous specific 3D buildings, with the addition of 3D grass, animated wind socks and nice night lighting, provides one with a very high level of immersion. Add to this the numerous specific 3D buildings having been added to the vicinity of the airport which make for very scenic approaches (I can firmly recommend doing any of the RNAV arrivals into RWY30), and you cannot go wrong with this package, especially so if you are looking for a less hectic alternative to LAX. For all those wanting to revisit the bygone times when McDonnell Douglas was still producing their puppies, this definitely is the scenery for them. Kudos to the developers and keep up the great work.

As my first purchase from this previously unknown developer, I have to say that it exceeded my initial expectations. Not only does it provide an accurate and modern representation of the airport, but it also comes with features such as dynamic lighting and 3D volumetric grass. It is furthermore also very fluid and its performance is really good. Some shortcomings that I would desire the developer to address in the future include the addition of moving vehicles (not a lot, maybe just one or two), to create a more lively airport environment, as well as the provision of SODE jetways which would greatly complement the scenery. Otherwise it proves to be a nice addition to anyone's collection who wishes to discover more exotic and less known places on our planet. It certainly receives the thumbs up from me!