Post Description

Scenery release date: February 8, 2011

The scenery is offered in two versions sold separately, one for FS2004 and another for FSX.
Each version is sold for US$ 17.50

BluePrint Simulations version of KLAX is by far the most detailed and accurate rendition ever attempted for this important airport. Being our home airport, we spared no effort to achieve the highest level of detail possible. All nine terminals and the west remote gates are depicted exactly as they exist today. A basic rendition of the new TBIT concourse is also included and will be updated as needed until it enters operation in 2012. The air traffic control tower, the iconic LAX theme building and the old tower (now the airport's administration building) are rendered at the highest level of detail possible as well. Ultrahigh resolution textures are used throughout the terminal complex to enhance the sharpness of the details.

The scenery also depicts other structures located within the terminal complex such as numerous parking structures and elevated roads as well as most of the general aviation facilities located within the airfield boundaries. There are three general aviation areas at LAX. West of the terminal complex there are maintenance facilities for American, Continental (United), US Airways, Qantas and FedEx. The fuel storage facility and the brand new fire station are also located in this area. The area just east of the main terminal complex includes Delta and United maintenance facilities as well as numerous airfreight and service buildings. The main airfreight complex, a FedEx package handling facility, two general aviation terminals and many other airfreight and general aviation buildings are located along the southern edge of the airfield. In addition, the scenery includes numerous buildings located outside the airport boundaries (along Century Boulevard) that are essential components of the environment encountered during final approach to LAX from the east.

The runways and taxiways are configured and labeled according to current official airport diagrams incorporating the numerous changes that have taken place over the last few months. New or modified components include the relocated runway 7R/25L; taxiway H added between the two south runways; taxiway R linking the north and south areas of the field; and a long-term parking ramp located along taxiway R. Other recent changes to the taxiway layout include extensive modifications to the taxiways near the departure end of runway 24L, the extension of taxiway D toward the west and, of course, the removal of taxiways S and Q in order to accommodate the new TBIT concourse.
Design Considerations:

    * Our version of the new TBIT concourse is based entirely on artistic renditions of the finished structure published by the project architects. At the current stage of construction, the only useful information obtained from the real life structure is its size in comparison to the exiting terminal and concourses. Construction, however, is proceeding at an accelerated pace. An interim update will be issued as soon as the external portion of the new concourse has taken its final shape.
    * Lack of vital information in the form of close-up pictures has hindered our ability to render the new American Eagle terminal located east of Terminal 8 near the Delta maintenance facilities. The new terminal was added recently as the old one located just west of the TBIT (within the American Airlines maintenance area) had to be removed to accommodate the new concourse and its adjacent taxiways. We chose not to add a less than accurate model or delay the release of the scenery for this reason. The terminal will be added as soon as the necessary information becomes available.
    * A few of the structures located along the south boundary of the field including the old terminal building located just east of the FedEx facility were omitted and there are no plans to add them in the near future.
    * The inability to manipulate the terrain elevation at the required level of detail prevented us from accurately depicting the Sepulveda Blvd underpass.


    * Custom-made, optimized Gmax models of the entire facility including: ten distinct terminals*; the parking structures and elevated access roads located between the terminals; the air traffic control tower and the iconic LAX theme building; numerous buildings and landmarks located along Century and Lincoln Blvd; and a significant fraction of the general aviation, aircraft maintenance and cargo facilities within the field's boundary.
    * Custom-made, high-resolution textures for all Gmax generated models including transparency effects.
    * Custom-made, high-resolution photo real ground textures depicting seasonal changes and carefully blended with the surrounding terrain.
    * Accurate runway and taxiway layout, including detailed markings and signs.
    * Realistic taxiway and ramp markings and ramp illumination effects
    * Two levels of scenery complexity and detail:
          o NORMAL complexity includes terrain texturing, autogen vegetation, airport layout with taxiway signs and basic navigation equipment models (actual localizer and glide slope radio signals are available regardless of the scenery complexity setting), most buildings within the field's boundaries including the terminals, the air traffic control tower and cargo and maintenance facilities.
          o VERY DENSE complexity adds detailed instrument approach lighting system models, animated runway intersection lighting, static ramp vehicles (optional), and numerous landmarks adjacent to the airport.
    * Advanced, custom-made AI mapping file including realistic gate and parking spot layout as well as airline gate assignments**. A basic AI mapping file without gate assignments is also available as an option

* Note: Terminal 6 was under renovation at the time the scenery was released. Terminal 6 as rendered in the release version of the scenery may not be accurate. Updates will be issued as the renovation progresses. The renovation includes a new structure in the main terminal building, the relocation and addition of as well as a ramp suitable for commuter aircraft. Similar design considerations applying to the new TBIT concourse are included in the scenery description section of this document (above).

** Note: Terminal 6 was under renovation at the time the scenery was released and airline gate usage was changing frequently. Changes associated with the United/Continental merger were also ongoing at the time. Terminal gate assignments as configured in the release version of the AFCAD files may not be accurate. The AFCAD files will be updated and made available for download from our web site as needed.
Software Compatibility:

FSX and Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 (All versions)
Hardware Requirements:

BluePrint sceneries are designed to work properly in the average computer at the time of each release. For optimum performance while taking advantage of most scenery features we suggest the following hardware configuration:

    * Intel Core Quad CPU or better (Q9300 @ 4 x 2.50 GHz fully tested)
    * 4 GB RAM (fully tested)
    * nVidia 8000 series video processor with 256-bit memory interface and 512 MB dedicated video memory or better (nVidia GeForce 8800 GT fully tested). nVidia 9000 series video processor and 1 GB dedicated memory may be required for best performance when using the EXTREMELY_DENSE scenery complexity setting (nVidia GeForce 9800 GT fully tested)