Chiang Mai International Airport is under the authority of the Airport Authority of Thailand. It was
somewhat difficlut to find detailed information on this airport, and I had to rely on help from others.
One person who really wanted to see this scenery made a point of getting a copy of the airport
layout from the AIP and sending it to me. Photographs are helpful for making custom buildings,
but layout diagrams are invaluable to accurate placement of buildings and taxiways. Khun Sukit
from Thaiflight.com also provided many useful photographs. If you ever want someone to build an
airport for you, you can encourage them by providing as much resources like these people have. I
get lots of email from people asking for a specific airport, but they are unwilling to help out. I
started designing the airport the same day I received the layout from Tanj.
There are two small airports near Chiang Mai that I have included in with this project. Lamphun
Airport VTCO is about 12 miles south of Chiang Mai, and Lanna Airport VTCM is about 9 miles to
the southwest. I believe that both of these airports are privately owned by the clubs that fly out of
there.
This scenery "almost" works in FS2004, that is, a few modifications will be needed, but for the
most part it works fine. I think that this may be the case with most FS2002 scenery. In many
cases, the airport has mved a little bit from FS2002 to FS2004, which would require small
changes to be made to the scenery. In the near future, I hope to update this scenery specifically
for FS2004.
Chiang Mai City
I have been to Chiang Mai several times, and I really think it is a beautiful city. It is one of the
largest (or the actual largest- depending on where you check) cities in Thailand, and all the
modern conveniences of Bangkok without the inconveniences (traffic, etc.). It has a large ex-pat
community, and there is plenty for tourists to do. Also, because of it's elevation (1000 feet or so),
it is noticable cooler than Bangkok. If you are out early in the morning, it almost feels
uncomfortable, like the 7-11 with it's high-powered air conditioner. If you visit Thailand, you just
spend a few days there. You can fly from Bangkok for around $50 US.
There a few international flights, from China, Laos, and maybe India, but most are domestic flights
from Bangkok. The airport is shared with the military, and there is a small Air Force Base just
North of the terminal area. There is a museum located on the base, and you may freely enter, but
there are plenty of signs reminding you not to take pictures.
Installation
Unzip to any folder you wish. Make sure se folder names is checked off in Winzip so that the
proper directories will be created for you. It should create a directory called hiang Mai 2003 with
subdirectories called cenery and exture If this doesn happen for some reason, then just make a
new directory called hiang Mai 2003 and create sub-directories names cenery and exture and
place all the *.bgl files into the cenery subdirectory and all the *.bmp files into the exture
subdirectory. Go into FS2K2 and add the scenery in the usual manner. If you don know how to
do this, then RTFM or go to www.SurClaro and there are tutorials that tell you how to do this.
Flatten and exclude switches are not required for any of this scenery.
There are three other folders created at this time also: AFCAD, AI aircraft, and Landclass. These
files are not necessary to use the scenery, but they will enhance it in various ways. However,
these files require further installation to be useful. Most people will know what to do with these
files, but for those of you who don't know what these files are for, a brief description follows.
AFCAD
I have included an AFCAD file for use at the airport. AFCAD is a program that modifies the
parking and taxiways at an airport for use by AI aircraft. Using AFCAD is beyond the scope of this
document, but the program comes with an excellent tutorial that even I was able to figure out, and
installing AFCAD files is very easy.
Landclass
I have included a landclass file for Chiang Mai, which you can use if you like. It is not necessary
for the scenery, but it makes it look a little more realistic. Landclass files are extrememly small
scenery files that change the appearance of the ground textures using the regular scenery
textures used by FS2002. The result is that huge areas of the world can be made to look different
using these tiny files. I use them to change the appearance around the airports to make them
look more realistic.
I'm still thinking about alternate ways to distribute landclass files so that you don't have to do two
instalations every time you get new scenery. It's just a small thing, but it can get to be a pain. In
case you're new, here's what the problem is:
When we install scenery, we normally have a "scenery" and a "texture" directory in which all the
files go. All the .bgl files contain the scnery information, and then go into the "scenry folder". The
.bmp files are bitmaps, and they go into the "texture" folder. Landclass files are .bgl files, so they
would go into the "scenery" folder, however, due to the way that these special files work, if there is
a corresponding "texture" folder, then they look there, and only there, for their textures. Other .bgl
files will norally also look in the default texture directory.
Anyway, what happens is that when it doesn't find the textures, things go sort of haywire in
FS2002. As a result, all landclass files must exist in a "scenery" folder without a corresponding
"texture" folder. I've received lots of email about this, so I'll hold your hand this time.
So, in the above example, we see the folder where the Ubon scenery was installed. The scenery
folder is highlighted and we see the various scenery files (*.bgl) in the pane on the right. This is
the wrong place to put landclass files, since there is a corresponding "texture" folder visible
beneath the "scenery" folder. Get it?
Ok, here is a better place to put landclass files. Again, we see the "scenery" folder is highlighted,
and we see various scenery files in the pane on the right. This time, there is no "texture" folder, so
the scenery will display correctly. Notice that there can be other landclass files in this folder and
that is exactly what I do. I don't make a separate folder everytime I install some landclass files. I
just put them all into one big folder, and it all works out fine.
Well, I think I beat this horse to death, but it seemed to be causing a lot of people some problems.
Thai Flight Simulator
http://www.thaiflight.com/
I strongly recommend that you drop by this site if you are interested in Thailand. He has collected
many sceneries for Thailand, most of which have been updated for FS2002. The people there
have been very helpful with all my development.
Future Projects
- updating previous scenery to FS2003/4 if necessary.
- updating the FS2000-era Bangkok
Other crap
This scenery is freeware. You never have to pay to use it. It will always be free from my website
at http://www.martinstrong.com/FS_Project.htm . The textures and objects that I have created are
copyrighted by me. If you want to use them, just email me at martinstrong@martinstrong.com and
I'll be more than happy to let you do this. If you want the original *.api files for any of the objects,
just email me and it'll be "no problem". Just remember to give me credit.
This aircraft is released as Freeware. Copyright (C) Martin Strong. As freeware
you are permitted to distribute this archive subject to the following conditions,
- The archive must be distributed without modification to the contents of the
archive. Redistributing this archive with any files added, removed or modified is
prohibited.
- The inclusion of any individual file from this archive in another archive without
the prior permission of the author is prohibited. This means, for example, that
you may not upload an archive that uses our visual or flight models with your own
aircraft or include it in a package containing a panel or aircraft sounds without
first obtaining the authors' permission.
- No charge may be made for this archive other than that to cover the cost of its
distribution. If a fee is charged it must be made clear to the purchaser that the
archive is freeware and that the fee is to cover the distributor's costs of providing
the archive.
- The authors' rights and wishes concerning this archive must be respected.
