Alvaro Leonardi Airport (LIAA) is a small airfield in the center of Italy, some 75Km (46 miles) North of the country’s capital, Rome.
Here are the features as per the official description:
- UHD Custom Textures using the latest painting techniques
- Custom Mesh
- Super Detailed 3D modeling
- PBR Materials
- Ground reflections and decals
- Custom 3D Grass and vegetation blends with orthophotos
- Ultra High resolution custom orthoimagery for the airport and the main cities more than 7 Km2 coverage
- Hundreds of 3D custom static objects
- Accurate Terni City and industrial areas using original Italian buildings photos and OSM data!
- Custom Hotels, Banks, Stores, Buildings and more
- Night Textures
- FPS Friendly
- Includes LIAA Arriving Chart
- Ground Traffic
Installation
Installation is pretty straightforward, and you only need to copy the folders inside the zip into the X-Plane Custom Scenery folder and make sure the order is correct.
There’s also a LUA script you will need to install. I will explain why later on.
The airfield
The airfield is comprised of a single asphalt runway, 870m (1/2 mile) long and a helipad. The runway has 2 areas to turn around at both ends.
This is not an IFR airfield as there’s no ILS nor even runway lights. The helipad, though, is equipped with lights and it’s one of the few helipads in the center of country which can be used for night-time refueling.
Traffic on the region must dial frequency 128.450 to communicate intentions.
The whole airfield is modeled in very nice detail. Despite its side, LIAA has quite a few support buildings. It’s served by a bar, some hangars, companies, flight schools and a tower. Speaking of which…
Tower, but not really
The tower present there doesn’t exactly work as a control tower but more as a place for an operator to provide support (by phone) to any pilots coming into of flying from the airfield as well as provide coordination for the parachute operations in the surrounding air space.
So, you should not expect a full tower service. Remember: this is a small VFR field.
The small details
The field and its surroundings are filled with small details. Farms, tractors, huge hay rolls, small buildings. Everything adds to the immersion and the magic of this small, yet very nice and cozy place.
The hangars
Remember the Lua script I talked about earlier? Well, it serves a very cool purpose.
There’s a set of hangars in the airfield. See them as if they were some garage blocks. You are allowed to use hangars 1 and 3 and, by means of the LUA script, you can open and close their doors.
To do so, after installing the script and entering X-Plane, you can place your mouse cursor on the bottom left corner of the screen and you will be given the according interface to close or open the doors.
The hangars are not very big. They are OK for a Cessna or a Cabri G2/R22/S300 but the AS350, for example, has shown to be a bit too big for it.
There’s a small issue with it, but it has to do with the way X-Plane renders shadows. When your aircraft is inside the hangar, it will still have a shadow and you will see it even with the doors closed. It’s not a big issue, in my opinion, and something that Skyline can control right now. It also adds up a lot to the product, though. I really like it.
Framerate
I noticed no impact whatsoever, which is expected. Although a bit complex for its size, the airfield is not very big and there’s not a lot that could make your system go through a rough time.
Conclusion
Skyline Simulations’ Alvaro Leonardi Airport is a small airfield that’s perfect for helicopter operations. It’s near a few mountains, not too far away from major areas.
I love these small airfields and the detail developers usually add to them. As opposed to the huge international airports, these tend to be very intimist and seem to tell a story or to act as a place to tell someone’s story.
Skyline did a great job with LIAA and the airfield presents some operational challenges – especially if you fly there at night. I wouldn’t recommend doing it on a fixed-wing, as there are no runway lights but us, rotorheads, have exclusive access to the place after the sun goes down. Which is kinda cool!
So, if you like to discover new places, fly in Italy or the South of Europe or are just looking for a place to stop by in the region, remember Skyline’s Alvaro Leonardi Airport.
More screenshots for Skyline Simulations Alvaro Leonardi Airport
