FSX NAS Sigonella

Sicily, Italy, 1st edition. NAS Sigonella is one of the US Navy's prime bases overseas. Located on the east side of Sicily, it shares space with Italian armed forces. The stations first started in the area called Villaggio NATO (NAS I), as some maps show it. At first, the runway area was not a part of the initial facilities. Now days, the US Navy commands three areas which also include a housing area. Other branches of our services are tenants at the facilities. The base also provides strategic launching capabilities to NATO and US Allies.

SIG, as many locals call it, has many facilities that make life comfortable for singles and families. The internet is full of information about the facilities.

The original Sigonella Mil location in Flight Simulator X had the two runways, some taxiways and pads and some unrecognizable buildings. The whole runway base (NAS 2) was located off by 550 feet too south. The original runways were not parallel. The default scenery does not include the Marinai housing area north of the base nor the Villaggio NATO (NAS I) area. To begin the scenery reconstruction, by using overlayed Google map captures, the runways and remaining base was moved 550 ft north and headings were checked. All taxiways and streets were transferred from the overlays. Using coordinates the Marinai housing area was mapped out with assistance from Google or MSN maps. Likewise, NAS I was also created. Available photography and maps aided in constructing the buildings and payments. Google Sketchup was used to create buildings and towers, and converted to .mdl files to insert into the airport scenery files. Airport Design Editor was used for the creation of the scenery files.

In real life, SIG does not have ILS services, but I took license in creating a eastern approach to the base on frequency 108.55, 81 ft runway elevation. If you are for realism, fly your planes in visually. When seeking this base in FSX, look in Italy (Any) and browse down the list to Sigonella Mil.

It is my attempt to release updated versions that include content and fixes. I am also welcoming any tips and comments from the public at large. This may even be content ideas and photos of the base. Many of the buildings were not as detailed as possible because the photo samples were limited. I welcome input and photos from anyone who has been to the base.

Most of the models were created using Google Sketchup. As many know, the Sketchup tool does not know specific features of Flight Simulator, including day/night textures, light enhancements, and animation. Models created in Sketchup need to be exported to .dae files and then converted to FSX .mdl files.

Installation:

• First, After expanding the zip file, copy the NASSigonella folder to the Microsoft Flight Simulator program folder.
• The folder should be containing the scenery folder which contains the four .BGL files.
• Launch FSX and add the scenery via the World menu, Scenery Library. Add the scenery by pointing to the NASSigonella folder.

By Sam Sanders.