Mallacoota is a small coastal town at the far eastern end of Victoria, close to the border with New South Wales. It’s a pretty little spot, with a pretty little airport, and I’m a bit surprised that it’s been overlooked by the community thus far. Well, no longer…
Here’s what you get:
- Runway and apron placement and slopes as close to real life as I can ascertain. (MSFS default has an incorrect displaced threshold that’s been gone for many years).
- Fully functional AI taxi network (but I won’t be held liable for the MSFS AI antics!)
- Perimeter fence (so we can all sleep better at night)
- Corrected vegetation and water masks in the vicinity
- Accurately placed runway and taxiway lights and close to real life apron lighting
- Removed street lights (there are none in real life around the airfield… nights are DARK in far eastern Victoria)
- RNAV 18 and RNAV 36 approaches (omitted in default MSFS)
- The default aerial imagery is a bit funky. The actual Bing source imagery isn’t actually bad, so this is possibly a blending error due to the high contrast between the asphalt runway and the surrounding bright sand. At the cost of 20 Megabytes, I have repurposed the source Bing imagery. (I try to keep downloads as small as possible, unfortunately this can’t be helped.)
- Mallacoota was an important navigational waypoint for flights between Sydney and Tasmania in the pre-GPS days. It had both VOR and NDB beacons. These have been decommissioned some time ago, but some of the hardware is still in place.
Bonus 1. A bit of optional local AI traffic. If you set your AI Traffic setting to 1% or above, there should be a dozen GA movements each day.
Bonus 2. WU7 added quite a few lovely POI landmarks to Australia, including the lighthouse on nearby Gabo Island. It’s just a shame that they didn’t also fix the little airstrip that’s right next to the lighthouse. The default YGBO Gabo Island is an ugly flat-topped strip that distracts from the lighthouse scenery. The real-world strip has a very noticeable hump, which I have re-created in my version of this airstrip.
Installation
The download contains 4 separate folders. Copy them to your Community folder as desired:
sltcreations-airport-ymco-mallacoota YMCO Mallacoota airport
sltcreations-airport-ygbo-gabo-island YGBO Gabo Island airstrip
sltcreations-traffic-MCO Mallacoota GA AI Traffic
sltcreations-AU-Flags Library of Australian Flags*
* Created using the Windy Things library with thanks to trfsto. I have included this library with other sceneries. Please ensure that you have only one copy in your Community folder.
Known issues
- I’ve programmed the AI (Artificial Idiots) to the best of my ability, but that doesn’t stop MSFS from displaying some truly bizarre behaviour, like taking off downwind, or 172s hitting mountains and then “taxiing” all the way to their destination. Or taking off and heading true north or south into the blue yonder, never to head for their actual destination. And, of course, the mandatory push-backs for heavies, like 172s!
- The runway “light rows” I have used, even though supposedly omnidirectional, extinguish for a short period and reappear as you get closer. This appears to be a general feature of some MSFS runway lighting.
- There’s no “fuel” parking spot. MSFS force-adds bowsers to these, and their location can’t be controlled. But the refuelling area is in an obvious place. You’ll just have to open the Fuel UI manually.
2 months ago
CaptainMoonlight
Loving YMCO and Gabo Island, especially with the custom buildings!
11 months ago
ahunterg95
I just finished reading Ben Buckley's biography. If you haven't read it - it should be made into a movie. The life story of the colourful AG pilot, pioneer of dropping retardant on bushfires, unofficial high country medivac hero and all round colourful East Gippsland identity. Ben set out from Mallacoota and successfully crossed the Tasman to the South Island of NZ in an ultralight
1 years ago
flyboysing
The flickering you see on the mesh objects I have not come across in the hours of testing and using the objects. The mesh has a medium amount of reflection taken from the aluminum texture it was based on and will catch a reflection from the sun when it is at the right angle. This may be what you are observing.
ColinJ
-MSFS 2020 object library with 200+ models ranging from towers hangars to cones
1 years ago
colinj
Hi Gunther
Good job. I have added a comment to your private message board (I think it worked) because I can add photos there. It is about an extra object that you could have used from the 'msfs 2020 object library with 200+ models.
cheers
Colinj
1 years ago
Thanks Colin, and thank you for making your object library available to 3D numpties like me!
1 years ago
gunther
colinj
Fly out from Mallacoota around Gabo and back over town then along coast to Lakes Entrance. Mallacoota and Gabo - great customs - well done.
2 years ago
flyboysing
Thanks so much. I spent my holidays as a kid at Mallacoota and my dad was in the RAAF and stationed on Gabo Island for a short time WWII. One night he and a mate were left to "guard" the radar installation there and they mistook a fishing boat for the enemy and wondered if the two of them could fend them off with their 303's. This will be a special place to fly around
2 years ago
great story , thank you for sharing some history....cheers
2 years ago
rasa
flyboysing
6 stars!!!
2 years ago
sarahymac