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)
DETAIL
Before purchasing El Hierro, I owned only one FSDG product (Kefalonia), which is exceptional. They offer some interesting and unique airports, no doubt, but their work seems to be very hit or miss, and they don’t appear to ever have repeated the quality evident in their Kefalonia.
El Hierro is an interesting airport for me since I love island-hopping in the ATR. The screenshots perhaps didn’t reflect Kefalonia quality but it looked nice, and the price was fairly reasonable, so I made the purchase.
The detail is certainly decent. Runway, taxiway and apron textures are very good, but the ground markings could be a tad sharper. The runway has been extensively terraformed. Ground signage is abundant and lives up to expectations, though I wish FSDG had cleaned up the default satellite imagery to rid it of 2D duplicates. There’s some lovely custom ground clutter, most of it accurately Binter-branded.
The terminal is very well done, in sufficient resolution. Not the very best quality but you have to get really close to notice any flaws. Some of the textures are perhaps a bit sterile-looking but the building seems fairly new so maybe it’s representative of reality. It has an airside interior which, while not being the best I’ve ever seen, serves its purpose (a bit repetitious, maybe). Static passengers are included but they’re not great models. The terminal landside is probably my favourite part of the scenery, being particularly detailed. Everything is custom: the roads, vehicles, shrubbery (accurate for the island), signage, bollards, gates, perimeter fencing (which encompasses the entire airfield), etc. I also like the night-lighting, which is aesthetically very convincing.
There are a couple of key areas, however, in which I think the scenery could be improved: surrounding detail (other than a road tunnel passing under the runway, there is none), and the addition of custom ortho for the airport. What is here is nice but there really needs to be more of it to justify its price tag. €14.99 is not unreasonable for an airport of this size but there are plenty out there for similar money that go beyond this level of detail.
PERFORMANCE
Not surprisingly, performance is stellar. No issues whatsoever, even at the highest detail settings.
VREDICT
FSDG’s GCHI is a good little scenery but it could be better with a few simple additions. That said, what’s here nicely captures the feel of a small, pretty remote island airport, and I imagine Island Creations’ El Hierro scenery would greatly enhance the scenery’s surroundings. I’d say it’s definitely on a par with the Spanish airports offered by Sim-Wings.
The apron features just the right amount of clutter, the ground markings and signage are decent, and the attractive terminal has been faithfully modelled, both airside and landside. The addition of some local shrubbery might be a subtle touch but it helps complete the picture of a volcanic island sitting in the Atlantic.
I will contact the dev to offer my thoughts, because this scenery has a lot of potential. It’s definitely not in the same league as Kefalonia but it could be close if they were to add a few POIs around the airfield, and improve (or at least tidy) the terrain detail.
One final negative point: despite the claim that GSX is fully supported, there are no parking spots for the ATR 72 (the only scheduled visitors here). GSX works but I suspect that’s down to the aircraft rather than the scenery. The passenger bus (which I doubt they’d use here in reality) parks in the grass, and mows down a few apron edge lights as it goes back and forth, so it’s definitely something that needs attention.
El Hierro is compatible with both MSFS and FS2024, however I’ve not yet tested it in 2024. If I find any significant differences, I’ll add a comment.
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