User manual

Aerosoft Iceland X 1.00 Manual
Page 7 of 20
Apart from the fact that the country became world-famous from the ash cloud after the latest
eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in 2010, it attracts tourists from all over the world mostly
because of the unique nature spectacles. (See “places to visit” below)
Due to the rough landscape and the low population density, there are limited means of transporta-
tion in Iceland. To explore the island you have two options: Either you go by car, driving along
Route 1, the famous Ring Road that connects all important towns on the main island (you can fol-
low Route 1 on your tour around the island as well as it is easily spotted from above). The second
option is, obviously, by airplane. Iceland features more than 50 airports, from the international hub
in Keflavik down to literal dirt strips, a surprisingly high number of airfields can be found across the
island. Apart from a few dirt/grass strips this add-on contains all Icelandic airports (except Keflavik
which will be released as a separate add-on due to its size and special importance for international
aviation). You will find a complete airport list with all necessary information in the appendix.
While only Keflavik airport connects Iceland with airports across Europe and America, the airport of
Reykjavik is the main hub for national flights. Air Iceland, better known as “Flugfélag Íslands”, oper-
ates flights from Reykjavik to Akureyri, Egilsstadir, Grimsey (via Akureyri), Isafjordur, the Vestman-
naeyjar islands and across the sea to Greenland and the Faeroer Islands, using Fokker 50 and Dash
8 aircraft. If you use AI traffic addons like MyTraffic2010 or UT2 you will see those aircraft in FSX as
well.
As most airports were not included in FSX default traffic as well as AI traffic addons, we created a
custom General Aviation traffic file that generates realistic VFR traffic on most of the airports in this
addon.
Of course you will not only see air traffic in Iceland but also ship traffic, for example the ferries to
Vestmannaeyjar and Grimsey, cargo ships that connect Iceland with the Faeroer Islands as well as
major European harbors like Rotterdam. You can even find fishing vessels around the island and
the tourist attracting whale watching ships that depart from Husavik in the north.
Iceland seasons
To render Iceland as real as it gets we created not 4 but 12 seasons for Iceland. Each month the
island will look different, with a white covered north and green fields in spring and snow covering
the whole island for a very short period only due to the warm Gulfstream, that gives Reykjavik a
mild, warm climate. The north country with Isafjordur and Akureyri on the other hand features a
strong and wet climate with up to 200 days of rain or snow per year (use online weather to experi-
ence this yourself).
Choose different months in FSX to see how Iceland slowly changes from a snow covered country to
green colors full of contrast in summer, with rather dreary colors and snow covered mountains in
autumn.
To get the full experience you need to run the Texture Tool prior to opening FSX and starting your
flight to make sure the airport textures match the season of the scenery around you. In winter you
will see snow covered roofs on all airport buildings. If you use online weather in spring, autumn or
winter it might happen that it starts snowing even though the scenery does not feature winter tex-