Nestled in the Sierra Nevada foothills of California's storied Gold Country, Columbia Airport (O22) is one of those quietly beloved general aviation destinations that holds a special place in the hearts of West Coast pilots. Situated in Tuolumne County near the historic town of Columbia — a Gold Rush-era settlement that has been preserved as a California State Historic Park — the airport sits at an elevation that makes density altitude a genuine consideration, particularly during warm summer months. Community developer Nandengo12 has released a thorough 🔗 freeware scenery upgrade for Microsoft Flight Simulator that replaces the airport's sparse default representation with something far more faithful to the real-world location.
The add-on is built entirely within Microsoft's official SDK framework, using a combination of custom-modelled objects and library assets to bring O22 to life. The most immediately visible improvements come in the form of entirely new ground infrastructure. The FBO and airport office have been custom-built, accompanied by T-hangars, maintenance facilities, and a fuel station. A particular point of focus has been the Cal Fire Air Attack Base, which receives dedicated structures and ground support equipment that give the firefighting operation a credible presence on the ramp. Airport signage, density altitude meters, fencing, ramp clutter, a weather station, and a camping area have all been added to fill out the grounds, while utility poles and streetlights on the main ramp area provide appropriate night-time atmosphere — though, accurately reflecting real-world conditions, the taxiways themselves have no lighting, since O22 has none in reality.
Runway and taxiway geometry has been rebuilt from scratch to address shortcomings in the default MSFS layout. Sixteen general aviation parking positions have been added alongside a helipad, and the VASI has been repositioned and reconfigured to match real-world glidepath angles and locations. Grass runway markings have been corrected, and ramp lines have been redrawn to align with current satellite imagery.
The add-on requires the developer's California GA library as a dependency, and a small number of objects also call for the free UK2000 Common Library, both of which are available at no cost. Testing has been conducted in both MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024, with no reported issues in either version. Some objects draw on world update library assets, including elements from the KCGX, KFHR, and KSEZ scenery packages. The developer is transparent about areas where custom modelling is approximate rather than exact — the goal is a convincing overall impression of O22 rather than a millimetre-perfect reconstruction.
You can download the Columbia Airport (O22) scenery upgrade 🔗 for free from its page on Flightsim.to. If you find that it enhances your flying in the region, please consider leaving the developer a rating and, if the creator allows, making a small donation to support continued work on California's general aviation airfields.