Brown Field Muni for MSFS Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 (KSDM)

Peu de vols réels au programme ces temps-ci. Une histoire d'envie, de coût de l'heure de vol et de temps disponible. Alors, un peu comme pour revenir à l'origine de ce blog (c'est amusant d'écrire "blog" en 2022... si désuet), je continue le développement de petites scènes pour Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020. Après Montgomery, Ramona, Gillespie et Oceanside, voici Brown Field à la frontière mexicaine. Le terrain semble être la destination de choix pour les cFI du coin car il est très facile de le confondre avec Tijuana... juste de l'autre côté de la frontière.

Brown Field Municipal (ICAO: KSDM) is located 1.5 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border in the Otay Mesa community of the City of San Diego.Brown Field Municipal is a busy general aviation airport. General aviation encompasses all aviation except air carrier and military, although the military continues to maintain a strong presence (look at FA-18!). The types of general aviation aircraft that operate at Brown Field Municipal include private, corporate, charter, air ambulance, law enforcement, fire rescue, flight training, cargo, skydiving, banner towing, helicopters and... airships.

All types of aircraft are welcome with the 7,972 ft main runway. Even the famous CONCORDE and the huge AN-225 landed there. Fuel (Jet and Avgas), plenty of hangars, maintenance,  ATC in effect, 2 instrument approaches and RAIL, HIRL lightning.

Author's note

As for all of my MSFS mod, this small scenery is made from a pilot-eyes perspective. In real, I'm a Plus One Flyers member and mostly fly from Montgomery Field. I'm real PPL but a rookie amateur scenery developer: this mod is made with 99% of MSFS default objects library and feature massive number of details. The scenery is inspired by high resolution aerial views from Bing and Google maps. It's a mix between the satellite imagery displayed from MSFS and more accurate data found on Internet. 1000+ objects have been added to the default scenery to make in more live and bring a touch of an active area.

Features

• Add +800 objects manually set
• All taxiway markings verified and redesigned if needed
• Add generic buildings to replace autogen MSFS
• Add fences border all around the airport
• Add resurfacing patches on runways
• Add ATIS (132.35), Ground (124.4) and Tower (128.25) frequencies
• Add some banners and signs on public side/business area
• Add Cafe Landing Strip, First Flight School, Altitude Helicopters, EAA Chapter 14 hangars and apron
• Add AVFuel and Philipps66 (First Flight) fuel spots
• Add plenty of static planes at First Flight school apron (as real as pictures and satellite imagery)
• Remove several spikes around the field, cleanup of some monolith trees close by the field
• Remove un-wanted blue light poles
• Fix PAPI position
• Fix pattern circuit's position
• Fix and correct windsocks
• New ground markings on apron (mixed between uptodate and older satellite imagery)
• Improve US Customs and Border Protections Air Unit (north side of the field)
• A lot of Helipad available (training on south east side and USCBP Air Unit at the North)
• F18 at the ramp, as real as it gets (see below)

How to install?

Unzip the file into your Community folder. Keep the folder structure from the zip (\AirportServices \ContentInfo, \MaterialLibs, \scenery, layout.json and manifest.json at the root directory). Once installed go to KSDM as usual, the scenery is overlayed over the existing default one.

Requirements

• Free stocked MSFS installed : Sedona
• World Update II (USA) and X (USA)

Known bugs and limitation

• A huge tree may appear at the (new) ATC tower location
• Altitude Helicopters signs appears only at very close distance then stay visible, the same for two signs at the terminal (airside) called "Transient" and "Jet Center"
• The borders airport fences are not finished on east side.

Remarks

• The 2 jet fighters FA-18 at apron are not an error or a fantasy of the author. Brown Field was born as a army airfied then a Navy station (NAAS back in 50's) and with reduced hours at their air station in Miramar, Brown field allows the Marines to train on the weekends. It also reduces the time and cost of maintenance. Each time an F/A-18 lands at MCAS Miramar, it requires a full inspection, but that's not the case for other fields. Thus, you'll find often F18s at Brown Field!
• The main runway 08L/26R is huge 7'972 ft (2.4 km). It's one of the biggest in SOCAL. An Air France Concorde participated to the International Airshow in 1980 and 1988: https://youtu.be/G16hCcfrNTY?t=351 and https://www.flickr.com/photos/52810288@N05/6519379047
• "Low Poly GolfCart" (https://skfb.ly/6SKsJ) by apolodz is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Oceanside for MSFS Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 (Bob Maxwell Memorial Airfield) (KOKB)

Centrally located in the heart of the beautiful Southern California coastline, Oceanside is considered the gateway city between metropolitan San Diego and Los Angeles. Located on 70-acres in the San Diego County area of California, the Bob Maxwell Memorial Field at Oceanside Municipal Airport (ICAO:KOKB) is a general aviation airport featuring a one runway (2712ft), Transient Parking and fuel services.

Free to download : https://flightsim.to/file/37328/oceanside-box-maxwell-memorial-airfield-kokb

As for all of my MSFS mod, this small scenery is made from a pilot-eyes perspective. In real, I'm a Plus One Flyers member and mostly fly from Montgomery Field. I'm real PPL but a rookie amateur scenery developer: this mod is made with 99% of MSFS default objects library and feature massive number of details. The scenery is inspired by high resolution aerial views from Bing and Google maps. It's a mix between the satellite imagery displayed from MSFS and more accurate data found on Internet. 1000+ objects have been added to the default scenery to make in more live and bring a touch of an active area.

Features

• Add all fences border all around the airport
• Add generic buildings to replace autogen MSFS
• Add specific information signs holding point 25
• Add Mercy Air and Reach helipads
• Add GoJump America parachuting skydiving center and the dropzone north of the runway
• Add Airport bikes (free use, if you know where is the sign really located, please let me know!)
• Add Coastal Aero Scenic biplane
• Add resurfacing patches on runway 07/25
• AddASOS frequency 127.8
• Add CTAF frequency 122.725
• Add some banners and signs on public side/business area
• Add +500 objects
• Remove several spikes around the field
• Remove the Cinema Drive-In
• Remove undesired approach lights
• Remove of all taxiway signs
• Remove un-wanted blue light poles
• Fix circuit’s position runway 25 (right traffic)
• Fix windsocks
• Fix taxiways ground markings
• Limited use of default autogen buildings for business area

Free to download : https://flightsim.to/file/37328/oceanside-box-maxwell-memorial-airfield-kokb

Gillespie Field (KSEE) for MSFS

 

Gillespie Field (ICAO:KSEE) is a county-owned public towered airport, 12 miles northeast downtown San Diego and the beach in California. The airport is mostly used for general aviation, with 3 runways. Gillespie is the home of San Diego Air & Space Museum Annex, the ASTREA (the air support unit of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department) and a dozen of other businesses and flight clubs/schools like my club Plus One Flyers.

Free to download : https://flightsim.to/file/36679/gillespie-field-ksee

As for all of my MSFS mod, this small scenery is made from a pilot-eyes perspective. In real, I'm a Plus One Flyers member and mostly fly from Montgomery Field but Gillespie is one of the fourth base. I'm real PPL but a rookie amateur scenery developer: this mod is made with 99% of MSFS default objects library and feature massive number of details. It is inspired by some of my personal videos and pictures but mostly by high resolution aerial views from Bing and Google maps. It's a mix between the satellite imagery display from MSFS and more accurate data found on Internet. More than 600 objects have been added to the default scenery to make in more live and bring a touch of active area.

Features

- Taxiway lines: complete redesign, position and correct type like "center line enhanced"

• Taxiway signs: complete redesign, correct name according to last charts, add some of the two sided taxiway sign (example at D5)
• Windsocks: correct placement and addition
• Ground markings: big TAXI yellow ground markings to avoid confusion with runways 27R and 27L and handcrafted (amateur) red intersection runway
• Night blue light poles: remove the maximum of undesired extra pole
• Buildings: all airport hangars/FBO's and buildings have been replaced by MSFS objects library.
• Fences: 90% of external fences and gates.
• Others: Reveal of Compass Rose west of the field on D1

Work-In-Progress

• More accurate enhanced taxiway ground marking (background darkest tone)
• Some missing taxiway signs (see "Request / I need you" below")
• Size of taxiway signs (currently "size 3") maybe too big. Your feedback are welcome.
• Some few segments of fences to close the field
• Parking spots should be verified

Requests

I need you : there're several specific signs on taxiways that I found like "ATC NON VISUAL AREA", "Be a Good Neighbor". These make the scenery unique and look for other I was unable to identify. If you have pictures, feel free to share with me! The tower is the autogenerated MSFS one. If you want to build a (light) blender object... you are welcome!

Not included: attention to night environment.

Very local taxiway signs (if you know others at KSEE, let me know!)

The compass rose at D1

Gillespie cafe, not exactly as the real one, but it looks like

Another very local sign

Circle Air and its fuel self serve

View from the tower apron

A lot of taxiway signs corrected and re-place

Apron of ASTREA, the air support unit of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department

SAA Flight Training and Maintenance

Gillespie is not my first amateur scenery. If you love California as I do, enjoy my other freeware scenery for San Diego Montgomery Field (KMYF) and Ramona (KRNM) but also Oceano (L52) up on the Pacific coast. Please also consider my french airports Le Touquet (LFAT), Toussus-Le-Noble (LFPN) and Cosne-sur-Loire (LFGH).

Test de ma nouvelle radio portable en vol : il vaut mieux être haut et proche pour se faire entendre ;)

 

Vous avez une radio portable ? Et vous imaginez l'utiliser en vol en cas de panne de la radio de bord ? Hum. Il vaut mieux être très près de la station de réception pour espérer qu'elle vous entende. Et très haut ;)

Depuis très longtemps, j'ai toujours une radio portable aéro. dans mes affaires de vol. Pour l'instant, depuis une dizaine d'année, je l'ai utilisé pour écouter les fréquences depuis le sol (ATIS, sol, Tour) et parfois en émission pour demander des clairances comme un roulage au pompe avant de mettre en route ou bien dans le contexte particulier des départs VFR à Las Vegas (McCarran/Read).

Mais je me suis toujours dit que cette radio portable pouvait aussi me servir en vol en cas de panne de la radio de bord. Elle est toujours équipée de l'adaptateur pour y brancher mon casque aéro (micro+écoute).

Heureusement, je n'ai jamais été confronté à cette situation.

Dernièrement ma vieille iCom qui m'accompagnait depuis une dizaine d'année à rendu l'âme.  Je l'ai remplacé par une Yaesu FTA-550 et lors d'un vol en région parisienne, je l'ai testé en route entre Etampes et St-Cyr, en transitant avec Chevreuse Info. Le test a été réalisée dans un contexte "région parisienne" : entre 2000 et 1500 pieds, la radio à la main et l'antenne de réception à une petite dizaine de nautiques. Résultat : le contrôleur ne m'entends pas du tout mais j'arrive à l'entendre sans problème. On notera aussi le maniement hésitant. Dans une situation de stress, ce serait une tout autre histoire ;)

Evidement, on sait bien que la radio portable est de faible puissance (5w en crète selon les données constructeur) et ne dispose que d'une petite antenne. Alors que des radios récentes de bord annoncent de 10  à 16 w en émission et profite de l'installation à demeure. Elles ne boxent pas dans la même catégorie.

Conclusion : je suis sûr maintenant (je m'en doutais bien sûr :) ) qu'il ne faut pas escompter  être entendu, à basse altitude, sans être vraiment très proche (verticale?) de la station.

Un pilote averti en vaut... au moins deux ;)