KNGZ NAS Alameda

[tgycgijoes]

Old timers like me, simulloyd and gray eagle, will remember 2016 and all the efforts we put into this NAS, my first and most ever complex scenery. A lot of improvements in computers have been done since then. We have all learned a lot but I think it's still quite an achievement and so do others who have asked me for a link to it because the FREE dropbox links in the old thread are all dead. So, for anyone who has never seen this and is interested, it is native FSX but will maybe work in P3D as well. Maybe I'll upload it and try and see or someone else can and let me know here. This is the final version and I don't intend to do any updates to it having moved on. Without further ado...

https://www.mediafire.com/file/3uk6k...rsion.zip/file

I don't have a powerful computer by any stretch but much better than I had in 2016 when this was developed. I have 1TB HDD and 16GB RAM on an older Dell 990 desktop with an AMD video card that is not the most powerful. Nevertheless, I have this beautiful scenery in my P3D V4.5 with no fluttering at all and 27-30 fps with ORBX Bob walking around.

For those of you like me who now fly in Prepar3D V4.5, here are a few shots of the beautiful NAS Alameda I just uploaded:





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[MrZippy]

Looks great! I was stationed there in '71 until Feb. of '72 with VAQ-132

[gray eagle]

Works great in P3D V5.4


Vultures row on USS NoName Carrier - Yup! I landed on the deck.



Three water towers? Don't remember that many.

[gray eagle]

I remember way back in my long ago when I pulled in there on USS Hancock and USS Bon Home RIchard (Bonnie Dick) and I think USS Ranger (Hi Yo Silver)
They were at pier approx where the carrier in this pic is.

[tgycgijoes]

Works great in P3D V5.4


Vultures row on USS NoName Carrier - Yup! I landed on the deck.



Three water towers? Don't remember that many.

Back in 2016 with the help of all the BRAG information in that 300 some page reports with pictures, I placed all of the houses; townhouses; etc in exactly where they belonged. They are all custom made from photos. I was very proud of them. The three water towers are also from photos in the BRAG report as are even some of the street signs. I went nuts! LOL! But it was a lot of fun. With the exception of KASH I have never done anything this elaborate since. I had the same amount of info for KASH and Falcon409 did all of the autogen and photoreal for it. I didn't know anything about autogen or photoreal when I did this so I hand placed all the trees on base from BRAG lists. They were the real trees in the real places but that is why it was back in the day so framerate intense. Like the Commisary and the NEX gas station that you can refuel your drivable Jeep Wrangler or pickup which I remember the "Chief's were so fond of. Great to hear that it works so well in V5.4 too. It has potential for some new life in the new sims and won't OOM or kill it with low FPS's with Prepar3D.

[gray eagle]

I was surprise that a TV show MythBusters took the airfield it over for their "experiments" - they toe it up!!!!

Back in 2016 with the help of all the BRAG information in that 300 some page reports with pictures, I placed all of the houses; townhouses; etc in exactly where they belonged. They are all custom made from photos. I was very proud of them. The three water towers are also from photos in the BRAG report as are even some of the street signs. I went nuts! LOL! But it was a lot of fun. With the exception of KASH I have never done anything this elaborate since. I had the same amount of info for KASH and Falcon409 did all of the autogen and photoreal for it. I didn't know anything about autogen or photoreal when I did this so I hand placed all the trees on base from BRAG lists. They were the real trees in the real places but that is why it was back in the day so framerate intense. Like the Commisary and the NEX gas station that you can refuel your drivable Jeep Wrangler or pickup which I remember the "Chief's were so fond of. Great to hear that it works so well in V5.4 too. It has potential for some new life in the new sims and won't OOM or kill it with low FPS's with Prepar3D.

[falcon409]

Impressive work there Richard.

[tgycgijoes]

Impressive work there Richard.

I can't believe that this was done back in 2016, 8 years ago. We started in March and ended the final version in September. ALL SUMMER LONG! (Was that a Beach Boys song LOL?) Anyway, I can't take all the credit, Simulloyd helped with a lot and Gray Eagle did the beta testing back in FSX. Back then it was too frame rate intensive for a lot of simmers, we were really disappointed but NOW with the new sims and the new computers, it is finally flyable for me with not that much power, 25-30 fps consistent with sliders all up in P3D V4.5 because of it using all the RAM it needs not 3GB like the ol' FSX did. Thank you for the compliment. I may do a little flying in and out.

[falcon409]

One thing about Military Bases, and I guess this holds true regardless of what Branch you look at, Bases seem to stay with one color scheme, lol

Also, like for the Barracks, you can build just one and then repeat them over and over till you've filled the allotted area where the barracks reside. Same with many other buildings. . .build one and repeat. That's something that helped me when I did Wheelus.

[tgycgijoes]

We not only did that for the barracks, but some of the hangers that were identical except for numbers were done that way also. Same goes for townhouses and single family homes on base. The "O" club was custom as was the Commissary. It was before I knew of the Warehouse in Sketchup and I remember going "brain-dead" creating the railings LOL! I am sure that you are excited too when some old airport you created again gets interest from newbies to our SOH.

[gray eagle]

I was looking for a airport diagram (online) for KNGZ and cannot find one. Perhaps over the years since it closed April '97 that diagram faded away. I suppose you modeled the runway layout from google earth.
I was curious as to where the windsocks were located but nothing out there to verify locations. Their placement(s) are a conundrum.

[MrZippy]

I was looking for a airport diagram (online) for KNGZ and cannot find one. Perhaps over the years since it closed April '97 that diagram faded away. I suppose you modeled the runway layout from google earth.
I was curious as to where the windsocks were located but nothing out there to verify locations. Their placement(s) are a conundrum.

May have found some things and posted them over at the "other" site!

[tgycgijoes]

I was looking for a airport diagram (online) for KNGZ and cannot find one. Perhaps over the years since it closed April '97 that diagram faded away. I suppose you modeled the runway layout from google earth.
I was curious as to where the windsocks were located but nothing out there to verify locations. Their placement(s) are a conundrum.

I have a few ideas to followup on about their location and when I find them I am going to create SODE for them and will post the link in t he Thread to them.
As far as an airport diagram, I had something but I will have to look for it. Somewhere sadly a lot of the stuff I used got lost in a crash of the other laptop even though I had backed up all of it. Go back and look in the early versions I sent you to beta test if you have them somewhere. If you find them I would like you to pack them up and send them all to me to archive. Hope you still have them or someone else does and will see this.

[tgycgijoes]

May have found some things and posted them over at the "other" site!

No, although this works well in P3D V4 and V5, it IS a native FSX and since all packed into one bgl, I am overjoyed because a lot of the buildings in Sketchup and DAE got lost with the crash I mentioned above. I hope that somebody in the ol' gan still has the early downloads which Dropbox deleted all of not being paid for by me unlike Mediafire which is why everything is uploaded and comes from there now. Hi back!

[tgycgijoes]

Works great in P3D V5.4


Vultures row on USS NoName Carrier - Yup! I landed on the deck.



Three water towers? Don't remember that many.

Back in 2016 you made a comment about the three water towers and on page 11 of that thread I posted the area layout from the BRAG report that shows them though they ARE hard to find why I highlighted them in red with arrows. They are (were) really there. I missed the third one the first time I placed the two too.

[tgycgijoes]

I want to thank Woogey and also hamelers for this info. Since more was lost from my original project than I can imagine (never again all is archived) I am downloading again everything that I discovered I lost. In 2016 when the original was happening, hamelers sent me the link to the FLIP and airport charts for KNGZ at MAIW in Woogey's Thread there KNGZ and the Big E. Here is a mediafire link to those charts for all to enjoy.

https://www.mediafire.com/file/l3zeq...harts.zip/file

So glad that he had them because they do not exist online anywhere.

[gray eagle]

Thanks Richard for the charts. I could not find the old version(s) of Alameda so I am happy to get the flip charts and your latest release. I think when these bases close, the FAA must purge the Airport Diagrams.
Looking at what overhead images of the base, there is no close up to reveal windsocks. There are sections of unpaved ground where the two runways intersect and I would imagine those areas
to be prime locations for the socks. Then the lengths of the poles would have to be determined. Perhaps just taking a guess-a-mate.

I want to thank Woogey and also hamelers for this info. Since more was lost from my original project than I can imagine (never again all is archived) I am downloading again everything that I discovered I lost. In 2016 when the original was happening, hamelers sent me the link to the FLIP and airport charts for KNGZ at MAIW in Woogey's Thread there KNGZ and the Big E. Here is a mediafire link to those charts for all to enjoy.

https://www.mediafire.com/file/l3zeq...harts.zip/file

So glad that he had them because they do not exist online anywhere.

[tgycgijoes]

Thanks Richard for the charts. I could not find the old version(s) of Alameda so I am happy to get the flip charts and your latest release. I think when these bases close, the FAA must purge the Airport Diagrams.
Looking at what overhead images of the base, there is no close up to reveal windsocks. There are sections of unpaved ground where the two runways intersect and I would imagine those areas
to be prime locations for the socks. Then the lengths of the poles would have to be determined. Perhaps just taking a guess-a-mate.

I found the MAIW FS9 Alameda. I will have to combine the bgls into one scenery folder and then am going to try and upload it into FSX because ALL of the objects which I imagine include default windsocks are in the object bgl. Then I am going to open up FSX and see if I can locate where THEY said they were located and that is what I am going to create in SODE with my Naval Air Station windsocks already on other scenery and the xml with the SLEWMASTER to exact lat/long coordinates. Before I considerate that the definitive answer, I am going to try and contact folks at the A4 Skyhawk Assn to see if any old timers like us remembered where they were on the airfield. It's worth trying though I couldn't tell you where they were at NAS Norfolk or NAS North Island not paying attention when I flew in and out of them 50 some years ago.

[gray eagle]

Great idea to contact the A-4 Bubbas to see if they can remember that detail, much less if they remember being there

I found the MAIW FS9 Alameda. I will have to combine the bgls into one scenery folder and then am going to try and upload it into FSX because ALL of the objects which I imagine include default windsocks are in the object bgl. Then I am going to open up FSX and see if I can locate where THEY said they were located and that is what I am going to create in SODE with my Naval Air Station windsocks already on other scenery and the xml with the SLEWMASTER to exact lat/long coordinates. Before I considerate that the definitive answer, I am going to try and contact folks at the A4 Skyhawk Assn to see if any old timers like us remembered where they were on the airfield. It's worth trying though I couldn't tell you where they were at NAS Norfolk or NAS North Island not paying attention when I flew in and out of them 50 some years ago.

[tgycgijoes]

I searched the internet and came up with two KNGZ (called NGZ by them) sceneries both FS9 one from the DBW team at AVSIM and the other from MAIW. Neither of them was usable in FSX much less I am sure (I didn't waste my time) in any version of P3D. Besides that, the reason I wanted to look at them was to see where they placed the windsocks in case they knew something we don't. NONE anywhere on either scenery. If they are ONLY FS9 objects and unusable in FSX like the trees in green rectangles in the DBW version, they were not visible anywhere topdown or otherwise. So...I am going to PM Preston "Woogey" Martin to see if he placed them in his ORBX KNGZ and what his logic was or his references. More here on windsocks later. Now it's time for Domino's cheese and mushroom and other variations my family enjoys at dinner. Wiedersehn, arrive derci and au reviour.

[tgycgijoes]

I tried to open up the object.bgls in MDCx to see if like I have with others, like KPLN to be able to convert them into native FSX bgl's but they just don't open with any objects. If it worked I might see where those elusive windsocks are. Saturday when the NAS Alameda museum is open I am going to try and contact them to see if they have anything in their archives that show where the windsocks were and how many there were on the airfield. In the meantime if I am in the mood, I am going to fly my TS2F and get some flight time in today later. I created it back when I created KNGZ for the field. Maybe even multiple textures for an AI squadron of them for fun. If I do I'll post them for anyone interested. That's all for Alameda for today unless someone's looking for me here. I check throughout the day.

[gray eagle]

That would be a nice touch if you can verify/add the windsocks. Unfortunately, there are no good pictures of KNGZ that would help verify placements of those windsocks. I wish you well in your contact with the museum
people.

I tried to open up the object.bgls in MDCx to see if like I have with others, like KPLN to be able to convert them into native FSX bgl's but they just don't open with any objects. If it worked I might see where those elusive windsocks are. Saturday when the NAS Alameda museum is open I am going to try and contact them to see if they have anything in their archives that show where the windsocks were and how many there were on the airfield. In the meantime if I am in the mood, I am going to fly my TS2F and get some flight time in today later. I created it back when I created KNGZ for the field. Maybe even multiple textures for an AI squadron of them for fun. If I do I'll post them for anyone interested. That's all for Alameda for today unless someone's looking for me here. I check throughout the day.

[tgycgijoes]

That would be a nice touch if you can verify/add the windsocks. Unfortunately, there are no good pictures of KNGZ that would help verify placements of those windsocks. I wish you well in your contact with the museum people.

One of the curators just emailed me back and said that he is going to see if he can help. this afternoon I started researching and doing repaints for the Grumman TS-2A's stationed at Alameda in VT-28. I am going to do ten so that I can program them as ai flying patterns to and from NOLF's in the area. I was able to match 3 of them serials and Modex but although the other 7 are actual serial numbers of assigned aircraft incidentally all converted to Fire Tankers. There are no photos of the other 7 except lined up as you can see in this photo. I was able 30 years ago to go to the "Stoof Boneyard" at KFAT Fresno when I was visiting my sister and her family. I saw them as we flew in and got permission from the Forest Service because I was building a gas powered radio controlled S2F from the drawings I got from Grumman. It was really cool. They let my Dad and I in to the fenced yard and gave us two hours to crawl all over them and I took three 36 exposure rolls of 35mm film with my Nikon for reference. My model won awards before it crashed one weekend from interference from off site. I went to building rc boats after that. They may go squirrely with some interference but they don't crash. You don't have that problem with the new RC gear.

[falcon409]

I tried to open up the object.bgls in MDCx to see if like I have with others, like KPLN to be able to convert them into native FSX bgl's but they just don't open with any objects. . . . . . .

I opened the obj bgl from the MAIW download for Alameda. I used the bgltoxml program and it does list all the objects but they use the GUID numbers rather than actual names. I looked at the readme and it references 27 different object libraries used in that scenery, lol. I guess eventually you could find the library that has the windsock in it and check the GUID number to trace it to the Long/Lat indicated in the obj bgl. . . .Phew!

[gray eagle]

I was stationed in Corpus in 75-78 time frame and VT-28 was home based there back then. News to me that they were at Alameda.

One of the curators just emailed me back and said that he is going to see if he can help. this afternoon I started researching and doing repaints for the Grumman TS-2A's stationed at Alameda in VT-28. I am going to do ten so that I can program them as ai flying patterns to and from NOLF's in the area. I was able to match 3 of them serials and Modex but although the other 7 are actual serial numbers of assigned aircraft incidentally all converted to Fire Tankers. There are no photos of the other 7 except lined up as you can see in this photo. I was able 30 years ago to go to the "Stoof Boneyard" at KFAT Fresno when I was visiting my sister and her family. I saw them as we flew in and got permission from the Forest Service because I was building a gas powered radio controlled S2F from the drawings I got from Grumman. It was really cool. They let my Dad and I in to the fenced yard and gave us two hours to crawl all over them and I took three 36 exposure rolls of 35mm film with my Nikon for reference. My model won awards before it crashed one weekend from interference from off site. I went to building rc boats after that. They may go squirrely with some interference but they don't crash. You don't have that problem with the new RC gear.