Custom airports

[James]

I am looking to create a few of my own airports in some of the particularly runway-void areas of FSX. what's the best *free* program for the job?

[falcon409]

I don't use it, but a lot of folks swear by it and it's freeware. . .ADE (Airport Design Editor).:salute:

[Pepere]

Airport Design Editor FSX Edition.

Not sure where I got it but just Google it you should get the site.

David

[mmann]

Airport Design Editor (ADE) is the best whether your talking payware or freeware. That it is free makes it a no-brainer.

Regards, Mike Mann

[spotlope]

Yep, I'm big fan of ADE, too. Also, Scenery Builder X (SBuilder) for vector design work outside of te airport grounds.

[Dimus]

I am a recent starter in airport design myself and found ADE a very comprehensive, easy to use and powerful program. Read the manual, it explains a lot.

The one thing you can not do with ADE is to add an underlying photoreal image if you wish to do so. SBuilderX can be used for that as well as other things like landclass manipulation and others.

Lots of info and downloads of useful tools can be found at the FSDeveloper forum.

Now you may use the default buildings and objects to start populating your airfields. All the default objects can be found and placed with ADE. However, if you are building a specific existing field and you need to make it look right you may find yourself wanting to create the correct looking objects and buildings.

For simple building and object design and if you do not want to get too involved in learning Gmax or other payware programs I would recommend using the free Google Sketchup and the ModelconverterX freeware tool to convert your models to FSX. There is a tutorial on how to do this here:

http://www.calclassic.com/sketchup_tutorial.htm

If 3d modelling of more complex structures or also aircraft is in your ambitions then skip Sketchup and get into Gmax.

Good luck with your projects. It is a very gratifying experience!