PC review: Final Approach Design Studios Sylhet Osmani VGSY (MSFS)

Test machine specs: MSI X670E, AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D, AMD Radeon RX 7900XTX, 48gb RAM

MSFS add-ons: FSLTL, GSX Pro, REX AccuSeason (which may misrepresent some colours in certain light conditions)

Since this one’s currently available with a good discount at Contrail (35% off), I felt I should review it sooner rather than later.

DETAIL

As with FADS’ Dhaka, the detail is mostly excellent, with particular emphasis on the terminal’s extensive weathering. This is only a small airport, though it does handle international flights operated by Biman’s wide-bodied aircraft (777, 787) — in spite of the fact that it’s not really equipped to properly do so.

The terminal has a partial interior. It’s fairly basic but well done, and there is a bit of high-res eye candy dotted around. This interior looks great from the cockpit of a parked airliner, particularly at night. Unlike Dhaka, however, there are no static passengers, which seems an odd omission when you consider Dhaka is a much larger, more resource-hungry airport.

Airside, the aprons, taxiways and runways are nicely modelled and feature custom ambient edge and centreline lights. There’s the usual assortment of ground clutter, which is also entirely custom (but not animated). The terminal’s outdoor landside is slightly less detailed but still exhibits a few custom assets such as parked cars and signage. The main car-park features default Asobo cars, though, and there should perhaps be more of them as it looks a bit deserted. Pleasingly, the airport roads have been fully modelled and extend some distance from the terminal. As you follow these roads away from the airport, you’ll notice a little extra eye candy, in the form of a decorative mural.

Perhaps this airport’s strongest attribute is its night-lighting, which is absolutely brilliant. As mentioned already, the terminal’s internal lighting at night is great, but it looks even more impressive from the outside. In fact, the entire airfield features some of the best night-lighting I’ve seen in the sim — the apron floodlights comprise both sodium and LED lighting (presumably representative of the real airport), and the difference each has on your aircraft is extremely noticeable. Furthermore, there are hundreds of streetlights surrounding the airfield’s perimeter, again featuring a mix of modern and more dated lamps. The randomness of it all is extremely convincing and it offers quite a treat for the eyes when landing or taking off, especially where ambient light is cast onto the white, custom-modelled perimeter wall. Unfortunately, this perimeter wall doesn’t encompass the entire airport, with a section between the fire station and terminal missing. I highly doubt this is the case at the real-life airport so it’s a strange decision by the dev.

There is another fundamental flaw which should be more of a priority: the jetways won’t connect to any airliner I’ve tried. There is a little movement, but then they stop miles away from the aircraft door before projecting their hoods (see image 14 below). This isn’t really something that can be easily overlooked.

My only other complaint is that the quality of the surrounding satellite imagery is poor (see image 13 below) and perhaps should have been tidied up a bit. But this is more of an Asobo global coverage issue, really.

PERFORMANCE

Being only a small airport with a limited number of daily visitors, it will come as no surprise to learn that performance is excellent.

VERDICT

Sylhet is a good airport — with some truly standout features — but the experience is spoiled slightly by a handful of flaws, two of which (the missing perimeter wall and non-functioning jetways) successfully manage to put a dampener on things. Add the lack of people in and around the terminal, and the poor ground imagery in the airport’s vicinity, and this is a classic case of what could’ve been. Don’t get me wrong, this is still a nice airport — but it could be so much better if FADS chose to address the issues. I can’t imagine they’re unaware of the problems so I can only assume they’re not interested in fixing them?

So, is it worth buying? At the current sale price, definitely. Despite the flaws, I’ve had a blast flying heavies the 115 miles between here and Dhaka. But make no mistake, Dhaka is the jewel in FADS’ crown. By comparison, Sylhet feels slightly inferior and somewhat incomplete.














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