Aircraft used: default 32N, AT7, PMDG 738
Live weather: on
DETAIL
Despite being one of Ini’s earlier sceneries the detail is what we’ve come to expect from this dev. I’m pretty sure the swaying palm trees that now feature in so many Ini sceneries were first introduced here.
Airside and landside are excellent with lots of high-res texturing and fine detail. Apron textures are also fantastic, and they’ve modelled most of the landside roads in the vicinity of the terminal. The terminal interior is decent; perhaps of its time as it doesn’t hold up too well against what we frequently see in 2023. Even so, it’s still aesthetically rather pleasing, even if it is devoid of passengers.
As you move away from the terminal, landside, the detail becomes less, although it’s still there. A couple of rental car offices are included but the texturing is noticeable lower-res than that found in the more crucial areas. A lovely little inclusion is the famous DC-10 nightclub, which features disco lights at night — but generally there’s little of the airport’s surroundings modelled. Particularly disappointing are the two buildings immediately to the west of the terminal building which, had this scenery been released today, I’m sure Ini would have modelled. As it is they’re simple default affairs and really don’t sit well within that area’s environment. Another disappointment is the completely flat runway — in reality LEIB’s runway has a very noticeable slant at the 06 end and it would have been nice to see it recreated here (as Sim-Wings did in their LIEB).
PERFORMANCE
Pre-SU13 the performance wasn’t stellar, although it did largely co-operate as long as you didn’t use exterior views or the drone too liberally. But a recent (albeit brief) retest, post-SU13, proved much more positive, with it being much more resilient to black screens and CTDs. Given the detail, performance is certainly acceptable; maybe a little above average.
VERDICT
I can’t speak for Sim-Wing’s v2 rendition of LEIB but the level of detail in Ini’s looks better. As mentioned, Sim-Wings’ does now have accurate ground terraforming and static passengers so there’s quite a bit to weigh up when deciding between the two. They both look great and I doubt you’d be dissatisfied with either. Ini’s LEIB performs pretty well, overall. Very little stuttering but I’d say a little care is still required to prevent black screens or a CTD. My only real criticism is the overall lack of detail around the airfield perimeter, since there are a few hotels dotting the coastline around the runway 24 end. Adding them would certainly have improved the immersion for 24 approaches.
IMAGES
The terminal building looks superb, both airside and landside — particularly at dusk/dawn and by night!
Ground clutter is plentiful and custom to LEIB.
The terminal interior was likely very impressive upon release but has been surpassed by many of 2023’s third-party airports.
Landisde looks every bit as good as airside.
Look at the detail in this wall!
Apron, taxiway and runway textures are first-class.
Lovely to see the famous DC-10 nightclub at the 24 end modelled… complete with disco lights at night!
LVFR’s static aircraft pack populates the airport with a decent variety of airliners and corporate jets.
