FS2004/FSX 1962 London Airport (Heathrow) Scenery Available
Apr 27, 2021 12:18:17 GMT -5
jacklyon likes this
Post by Tom/CalClassic on Apr 27, 2021 12:18:17 GMT -5
Hi all,
As many of you know, Bill Douglas and I have been working on getting Chris Helton's EGLL London Airport into final form, and we have finally finished this process. With the amazing buildings from Chris, as well as the addition and customization of Ken Lawson's 1953 airport buildings and a few originals from myself the airport contains more buildings than any other airport I've worked on. Combine this with Bill's incredibly detailed ADE work and reworked landclass, and we think we have created something special.
You can see pictures of the airport in this thread:
calclassic.proboards.com/thread/10349/new-scenery-coming-soon
You can download the scenery here:
www.calclassic.com/files/London_Airport_1962.zip
Please let us know here in this thread if you see any issues; with an airport this complex there will always be issues that slip through.
To give you an idea of what is included, here is the text file about the airport. The AIRPORT DETAILS section should give you an idea of how much is included here:
************ 1962 London Airport (Heathrow) Scenery (EGLL) **************
by Chris Helton, Ken Lawson, Bill Douglas, and Tom Gibson
Version 1, 4/2021, for FS2004 and FSX.
*******************************************************************************************************
INTRODUCTION
This scenery depicts London Airport as it was in the summer of 1962, after all international traffic had moved from the North Terminal to the Oceanic Terminal (later called Terminal #3). London Airport was not officially renamed Heathrow until 1966, but was called that at least informally throughout its existence. Having started in the 1930's as a small grass airfield near the hamlet of Heathrow and used by Fairey Aviation, it was then officially named The London Airport at the start of passenger operations in 1946.
This scenery is designed using the 1962 Ordnance Maps from this great web site:
maps.nls.uk/os/national-grid/
Used as a background for the ADE file, this allowed an exceptional level of accuracy, often not possible elsewhere.
London Airport was a pioneer in airport infrastructure improvements and by 1962 included runway centerline lights, green taxiway centerline lights, VASIs, and taxiway signs. These signs were unusual, consisting of white diagrams on a black background portraying the taxiway junction layout with a white light controlled from the tower to indicate the route to be followed. Taxiways had no identifying letters or numbers but as FS9 offers only fixed arrows and letters, this scenery uses more conventional taxiway designators and signs but at least in the same white on black. Refer to the installation file if you wish to remove the signs using an alternate FS2004 ADE file.
*Please note* that this scenery removes the London City Airport (EGLC) which opened in 1988. You can restore it if desired by removing the EGLC_ADE9_Remove.bgl file from the scenery subfolder and EGLC_ADE9_Remove_ALT.bgl from FS2004/Scenery/World/scenery or FSX/Scenery/World/scenery.
AIRPORT DETAILS
Note: Set your Scenery Density to Very Dense (or Extremely Dense) to see all these details.
Buildings - refer to the EGLL Airport Diagram 62.jpg in the main folder for locations. Major buildings:
Queens Building: Theatre, restaurants, shops, rooftop garden and aircraft viewing.
Europa Terminal: Domestic and European flights. The west portion added on later was also known as the Britannic Terminal.
Oceanic Terminal: International flights (beyond Europe).
North Terminal: VIP flights, cargo area.
BEA, BOAC, Eagle Hangars: These airlines used the airport as their main maintenance base.
Comet House, Britannia House: BOAC headquarters offices.
Argonaut House area: BOAC and BEA transport headquarters.
Skyway Hotel: Opened in 1960, it is now the Raddisson Blu Edwardian.
Ariel Hotel: A unique round hotel, opened in 1961. It is now a Holiday Inn.
Viking Centre: BEA training centre for the airline. Originally housed the workers that built the airport.
Buses
The iconic red London double deck buses brought passengers to the airport. This scenery features Routemaster buses, first introduced in 1956 and used for decades. It featured an open rear entrance. Based on a Paul Mort original, it has been improved and converted for use in FS.
BEA brought its passengers from the West London Air Terminal in London to the airport with Routemaster buses as well, but these were closed mid entrance designs. We have modified the London bus to properly model this variation. When you checked in at West London, you also checked your baggage. It was then carried to the airport in little trailers that tagged behind the buses. Many of our BEA buses feature these trailers.
BOAC also brought passengers to the airport in buses - we have modeled the single level buses that were used.
And finally London Airport used buses on the airport itself. When your flight was called, you walked down the enclosed walkway ramps to ground level, and usually boarded a London Airports yellow bus to take you to your aircraft. Each walkway included a bus loading area. Both truck hauled and "normal" buses were used, both modeled here.
GCA Trucks
When the weather was bad, by 1962 all 4 ends of both major runways (10R/28L and 10L/28R) were equipped with ILSs, and we have modeled that. But there was also Ground Controlled Approach (GCA) available as well, using radar operators to guide you down. We have modeled the radar trucks as were used at this time. While only two trucks appear to have been used, narrow roads placed next to each runway allowed the trucks to be moved to the active runway(s). In this scenery they are set to be used on runways 10L and 10R. Note that a GCA system is available for FS2004 and can be used here.
www.fs2000.org/2019/11/09/fsx-fs2004-p3d-generic-gca-gauge-v2-1/
Queen's Flight
The VIP terminal on the North ramp (just west of the North Terminal) has a small facility for boarding the Royal family on the Queen's Flight aircraft. In 1962 that was typically a DeHavilland Heron. That loading area was a small semicircle of red gravel, just south of the VIP terminal. We have modeled this, and the AI Traffic files have been updated to add a 1960s era Queen's Flight Heron (File #5) and flights for 1962 (File #9). You can see the Heron parked there at 1023 GMT on Sunday.
Fuel
At this airport two companies competed for fueling aircraft, Esso and a Shell-BP consortium. We have modeled both fuel loading stations on the west edge of the airport, and both company's trucks can be found around the airport. By the way, the dark area west of the fuel loading area is a sewage treatment plant!
Alcock and Brown Statue
This statue can be found just west of the North Terminal. The limestone statue was commissioned by the British Government and designed and sculpted by artist William McMillan. It was unveiled at Heathrow in 1954. The statue features the pilots dressed in aviator clothes, including caps and goggles.
In April 1913 the Daily Mail offered a prize of £10,000 to “the aviator who shall first cross the Atlantic in an aeroplane in flight from any point in the United States of America, Canada or Newfoundland to any point in Great Britain or Ireland in 72 continuous hours.” The competition was suspended with the outbreak of war in 1914 but reopened after Armistice was declared in 1918.
John Alcock and Arthur Brown departed from Newfoundland, Canada on 14th June 1919 in a modified First World War Vickers Vimy and flew across the North Atlantic Ocean in just 15 hours 57 minutes, crash-landing in Derrygimlagh Bog, near the site of the famous Marconi radio station in Connemara.
NAVIGATION
We have included a 1962 Terminal Area Map originally found in an Esso pamphlet of the airport. The file name is EGLL1962 Terminal Area.jpg in the main folder. All required navaids have been included to allow realistic arrivals and departures to/from London Airport in 1962. Stock navaids include a Heathrow VOR and NDB but it is doubtful that these were operative in 1962.
If you would like to fly to/from London Airport using real BOAC and BEA schedules:
British Overseas Airways (BOAC) October 1962 Timetable:
www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/complete/ba62.htm
British European Airways (BEA) July 1962 Timetable:
www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/be62d.htm
We have also included a map of the taxiway system, EGLL Airport Diagram 62.jpg in the main folder. This includes all taxiway designators as well as the location of reserved user parking (occasionally occupied by AI aircraft) and transient parking (GA, private, corporate, etc.). VIP parking was located at the North Terminal.
If you wish to delete the modern taxiway signs and use the map to navigate the taxiways, you may use the alternate FS2004 ADE file available (see the Installation file for details).
FRAME RATES
This is a very complex airport with many buildings and details. Because of this, some users with older computers may have an issue with frame rates. We have adjusted the scenery objects so you can set your Scenery Density in Options/Settings/Display/Scenery to adjust your frame rate. You can set the density to Normal while on approach to maximize your frame rate, and once you have landed change it to Extremely Dense to see all the details while on the ground.
Normal:
On Airport: All terminals and hangars, many medium and small buildings, 1 London bus.
Off Airport: No buildings or details.
Adds 17 fps to the frame rate vs Extremely Dense.
Dense:
On Airport: All terminals and hangars and most buildings. Some buses and fuel trucks.
Off Airport: Major buildings.
Adds 11 fps to the frame rate.
Very Dense:
On Airport: All terminals, hangars, and buildings. All buses, cars, fuel trucks, and ramp equipment.
Off Airport: All buildings and vehicles.
Adds 2 fps to the frame rate.
Extremely Dense:
On Airport: All buildings and vehicles. Adds sign markers alongside each runway.
Off Airport: All buildings and vehicles.
If this is not sufficient, we suggest choosing Options/Settings/Traffic and moving the Air Traffic Density slider to 50%. This should result in about a 12 fps frame rate increase. There will still be plenty of AI traffic - this is a busy airport.
ABOUT THE AIRPORT
The history of classic era London Airport from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heathrow_Airport
"1955: Queen Elizabeth II opened the first permanent passenger terminal, the Europa Building (later known as Terminal 2) as well as the Queens Building. These buildings stood in the central area in the middle of the star pattern of runways and were reached by a twin access tunnel from the Bath Road (A4) passing under Runway 28R/10L .
1 April 1955: A new 38.8 metres (127 ft) control tower designed by Frederick Gibberd opened to replace the original 1940s tower.
Late 1950s: BEA Helicopters ran an experimental helicopter service to Heathrow Central from London's South Bank and other destinations. The roof gardens on top of the Queens Building and Europa Terminal were popular with the public, and above the tunnel there was a ground enclosure from which sight-seeing flights operated.
1955: The first central terminal building was named Building 1 Europa.
1956: The second central terminal building (an extension on Building 1) was named Building 2 Britannic.
1957: The West London Air Terminal, a downtown check-in facility for British European Airways, began operations.
1961: Runway lengths: Runway 10L 9313 ft, 10R had been extended west to 11000 ft, 5L 6255 ft, 5R 7734 ft, 15R 7560 ft, 15L not in use.
13 November 1961: Building 3, the Oceanic building (renamed as Terminal 3 in 1968) opened to handle long-haul flight departures. The roof gardens on the Queens Building and the Europa Terminal remained popular.
Spring 1962: Last scheduled airline flights from London Airport North (Pan Am, TWA and Pakistan International)."
As many of you know, Bill Douglas and I have been working on getting Chris Helton's EGLL London Airport into final form, and we have finally finished this process. With the amazing buildings from Chris, as well as the addition and customization of Ken Lawson's 1953 airport buildings and a few originals from myself the airport contains more buildings than any other airport I've worked on. Combine this with Bill's incredibly detailed ADE work and reworked landclass, and we think we have created something special.
You can see pictures of the airport in this thread:
calclassic.proboards.com/thread/10349/new-scenery-coming-soon
You can download the scenery here:
www.calclassic.com/files/London_Airport_1962.zip
Please let us know here in this thread if you see any issues; with an airport this complex there will always be issues that slip through.
To give you an idea of what is included, here is the text file about the airport. The AIRPORT DETAILS section should give you an idea of how much is included here:
************ 1962 London Airport (Heathrow) Scenery (EGLL) **************
by Chris Helton, Ken Lawson, Bill Douglas, and Tom Gibson
Version 1, 4/2021, for FS2004 and FSX.
*******************************************************************************************************
INTRODUCTION
This scenery depicts London Airport as it was in the summer of 1962, after all international traffic had moved from the North Terminal to the Oceanic Terminal (later called Terminal #3). London Airport was not officially renamed Heathrow until 1966, but was called that at least informally throughout its existence. Having started in the 1930's as a small grass airfield near the hamlet of Heathrow and used by Fairey Aviation, it was then officially named The London Airport at the start of passenger operations in 1946.
This scenery is designed using the 1962 Ordnance Maps from this great web site:
maps.nls.uk/os/national-grid/
Used as a background for the ADE file, this allowed an exceptional level of accuracy, often not possible elsewhere.
London Airport was a pioneer in airport infrastructure improvements and by 1962 included runway centerline lights, green taxiway centerline lights, VASIs, and taxiway signs. These signs were unusual, consisting of white diagrams on a black background portraying the taxiway junction layout with a white light controlled from the tower to indicate the route to be followed. Taxiways had no identifying letters or numbers but as FS9 offers only fixed arrows and letters, this scenery uses more conventional taxiway designators and signs but at least in the same white on black. Refer to the installation file if you wish to remove the signs using an alternate FS2004 ADE file.
*Please note* that this scenery removes the London City Airport (EGLC) which opened in 1988. You can restore it if desired by removing the EGLC_ADE9_Remove.bgl file from the scenery subfolder and EGLC_ADE9_Remove_ALT.bgl from FS2004/Scenery/World/scenery or FSX/Scenery/World/scenery.
AIRPORT DETAILS
Note: Set your Scenery Density to Very Dense (or Extremely Dense) to see all these details.
Buildings - refer to the EGLL Airport Diagram 62.jpg in the main folder for locations. Major buildings:
Queens Building: Theatre, restaurants, shops, rooftop garden and aircraft viewing.
Europa Terminal: Domestic and European flights. The west portion added on later was also known as the Britannic Terminal.
Oceanic Terminal: International flights (beyond Europe).
North Terminal: VIP flights, cargo area.
BEA, BOAC, Eagle Hangars: These airlines used the airport as their main maintenance base.
Comet House, Britannia House: BOAC headquarters offices.
Argonaut House area: BOAC and BEA transport headquarters.
Skyway Hotel: Opened in 1960, it is now the Raddisson Blu Edwardian.
Ariel Hotel: A unique round hotel, opened in 1961. It is now a Holiday Inn.
Viking Centre: BEA training centre for the airline. Originally housed the workers that built the airport.
Buses
The iconic red London double deck buses brought passengers to the airport. This scenery features Routemaster buses, first introduced in 1956 and used for decades. It featured an open rear entrance. Based on a Paul Mort original, it has been improved and converted for use in FS.
BEA brought its passengers from the West London Air Terminal in London to the airport with Routemaster buses as well, but these were closed mid entrance designs. We have modified the London bus to properly model this variation. When you checked in at West London, you also checked your baggage. It was then carried to the airport in little trailers that tagged behind the buses. Many of our BEA buses feature these trailers.
BOAC also brought passengers to the airport in buses - we have modeled the single level buses that were used.
And finally London Airport used buses on the airport itself. When your flight was called, you walked down the enclosed walkway ramps to ground level, and usually boarded a London Airports yellow bus to take you to your aircraft. Each walkway included a bus loading area. Both truck hauled and "normal" buses were used, both modeled here.
GCA Trucks
When the weather was bad, by 1962 all 4 ends of both major runways (10R/28L and 10L/28R) were equipped with ILSs, and we have modeled that. But there was also Ground Controlled Approach (GCA) available as well, using radar operators to guide you down. We have modeled the radar trucks as were used at this time. While only two trucks appear to have been used, narrow roads placed next to each runway allowed the trucks to be moved to the active runway(s). In this scenery they are set to be used on runways 10L and 10R. Note that a GCA system is available for FS2004 and can be used here.
www.fs2000.org/2019/11/09/fsx-fs2004-p3d-generic-gca-gauge-v2-1/
Queen's Flight
The VIP terminal on the North ramp (just west of the North Terminal) has a small facility for boarding the Royal family on the Queen's Flight aircraft. In 1962 that was typically a DeHavilland Heron. That loading area was a small semicircle of red gravel, just south of the VIP terminal. We have modeled this, and the AI Traffic files have been updated to add a 1960s era Queen's Flight Heron (File #5) and flights for 1962 (File #9). You can see the Heron parked there at 1023 GMT on Sunday.
Fuel
At this airport two companies competed for fueling aircraft, Esso and a Shell-BP consortium. We have modeled both fuel loading stations on the west edge of the airport, and both company's trucks can be found around the airport. By the way, the dark area west of the fuel loading area is a sewage treatment plant!
Alcock and Brown Statue
This statue can be found just west of the North Terminal. The limestone statue was commissioned by the British Government and designed and sculpted by artist William McMillan. It was unveiled at Heathrow in 1954. The statue features the pilots dressed in aviator clothes, including caps and goggles.
In April 1913 the Daily Mail offered a prize of £10,000 to “the aviator who shall first cross the Atlantic in an aeroplane in flight from any point in the United States of America, Canada or Newfoundland to any point in Great Britain or Ireland in 72 continuous hours.” The competition was suspended with the outbreak of war in 1914 but reopened after Armistice was declared in 1918.
John Alcock and Arthur Brown departed from Newfoundland, Canada on 14th June 1919 in a modified First World War Vickers Vimy and flew across the North Atlantic Ocean in just 15 hours 57 minutes, crash-landing in Derrygimlagh Bog, near the site of the famous Marconi radio station in Connemara.
NAVIGATION
We have included a 1962 Terminal Area Map originally found in an Esso pamphlet of the airport. The file name is EGLL1962 Terminal Area.jpg in the main folder. All required navaids have been included to allow realistic arrivals and departures to/from London Airport in 1962. Stock navaids include a Heathrow VOR and NDB but it is doubtful that these were operative in 1962.
If you would like to fly to/from London Airport using real BOAC and BEA schedules:
British Overseas Airways (BOAC) October 1962 Timetable:
www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/complete/ba62.htm
British European Airways (BEA) July 1962 Timetable:
www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/be62d.htm
We have also included a map of the taxiway system, EGLL Airport Diagram 62.jpg in the main folder. This includes all taxiway designators as well as the location of reserved user parking (occasionally occupied by AI aircraft) and transient parking (GA, private, corporate, etc.). VIP parking was located at the North Terminal.
If you wish to delete the modern taxiway signs and use the map to navigate the taxiways, you may use the alternate FS2004 ADE file available (see the Installation file for details).
FRAME RATES
This is a very complex airport with many buildings and details. Because of this, some users with older computers may have an issue with frame rates. We have adjusted the scenery objects so you can set your Scenery Density in Options/Settings/Display/Scenery to adjust your frame rate. You can set the density to Normal while on approach to maximize your frame rate, and once you have landed change it to Extremely Dense to see all the details while on the ground.
Normal:
On Airport: All terminals and hangars, many medium and small buildings, 1 London bus.
Off Airport: No buildings or details.
Adds 17 fps to the frame rate vs Extremely Dense.
Dense:
On Airport: All terminals and hangars and most buildings. Some buses and fuel trucks.
Off Airport: Major buildings.
Adds 11 fps to the frame rate.
Very Dense:
On Airport: All terminals, hangars, and buildings. All buses, cars, fuel trucks, and ramp equipment.
Off Airport: All buildings and vehicles.
Adds 2 fps to the frame rate.
Extremely Dense:
On Airport: All buildings and vehicles. Adds sign markers alongside each runway.
Off Airport: All buildings and vehicles.
If this is not sufficient, we suggest choosing Options/Settings/Traffic and moving the Air Traffic Density slider to 50%. This should result in about a 12 fps frame rate increase. There will still be plenty of AI traffic - this is a busy airport.
ABOUT THE AIRPORT
The history of classic era London Airport from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heathrow_Airport
"1955: Queen Elizabeth II opened the first permanent passenger terminal, the Europa Building (later known as Terminal 2) as well as the Queens Building. These buildings stood in the central area in the middle of the star pattern of runways and were reached by a twin access tunnel from the Bath Road (A4) passing under Runway 28R/10L .
1 April 1955: A new 38.8 metres (127 ft) control tower designed by Frederick Gibberd opened to replace the original 1940s tower.
Late 1950s: BEA Helicopters ran an experimental helicopter service to Heathrow Central from London's South Bank and other destinations. The roof gardens on top of the Queens Building and Europa Terminal were popular with the public, and above the tunnel there was a ground enclosure from which sight-seeing flights operated.
1955: The first central terminal building was named Building 1 Europa.
1956: The second central terminal building (an extension on Building 1) was named Building 2 Britannic.
1957: The West London Air Terminal, a downtown check-in facility for British European Airways, began operations.
1961: Runway lengths: Runway 10L 9313 ft, 10R had been extended west to 11000 ft, 5L 6255 ft, 5R 7734 ft, 15R 7560 ft, 15L not in use.
13 November 1961: Building 3, the Oceanic building (renamed as Terminal 3 in 1968) opened to handle long-haul flight departures. The roof gardens on the Queens Building and the Europa Terminal remained popular.
Spring 1962: Last scheduled airline flights from London Airport North (Pan Am, TWA and Pakistan International)."