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MSFS Downtown Los Angeles Missing Buildings & Landmarks Scenery

Enhance your Microsoft Flight Simulator experience with the Downtown Los Angeles Missing Buildings & Landmarks Scenery add-on. This freeware mod brings back a multitude of iconic structures and landmarks that are absent in the default simulator, providing a more immersive and accurate depiction o...

4 star rating 3.6/5 (7) 4.9K downloads Flight Simulator 2020 Compatible United States of America
  • File: msfs-dtla-scenery.zip
  • Size:677.95 MB
  • Scan: Clean (11d) Verified clean
  • Access:Freeware
  • Content:Everyone
Description Map 6 comments
Adam McEnroe

Expert Overview

As a long-time flight sim developer and enthusiast, I’ve found the Downtown Los Angeles Missing Buildings & Landmarks Scenery mod to be an essential upgrade for Microsoft Flight Simulator. This specialized add-on meticulously restores key high-rises—like the Wilshire Grand Center—and integrates iconic spots such as the Hollywood Sign with its functional helipad and the Venice Pier, enhancing visual realism and aiding VFR navigation.

Engineered with performance in mind, it delivers authentic night lighting and multiple operational helipads without straining your system. After extensive testing, I can confirm it significantly elevates immersion, transforming Downtown LA into a vibrant cityscape that mirrors real-world features—perfect for helicopter forays or airliner approaches looking for a true urban flying experience.

This mod was installed, tested and reviewed by Adam McEnroe for Fly Away Simulation. Adam is an FS mod expert. Read his bio here.

Enhance your Microsoft Flight Simulator experience with the Downtown Los Angeles Missing Buildings & Landmarks Scenery add-on. This freeware mod brings back a multitude of iconic structures and landmarks that are absent in the default simulator, providing a more immersive and accurate depiction of Los Angeles.

Screenshot showing the buildings in Downtown LA after installing this freeware scenery mod in Microsoft Flight Simulator.Key Features

  • Reintroduced High-Rise Buildings: Adds several prominent skyscrapers missing from the downtown LA skyline, such as the Wilshire Grand Center and Metropolis Towers.
  • Authentic Night Lighting: Buildings like the Wilshire Grand Center feature realistic night illumination, enhancing nocturnal flights over the city.
  • Landmark Enhancements: Incorporates well-known sites like the Hollywood Sign—now with a functional helipad—and the Venice Pier.
  • Operational Helipads: Introduces new helipads at strategic locations, including the Ritz Carlton DTLA and the Westin Bonaventure Hotel.

Detailed Additions

This add-on meticulously restores key buildings to the Los Angeles area, ensuring pilots can navigate using real-world visual references. The high-rise buildings added include:

  • Wilshire Grand Center
  • 801 S Grand
  • 825 S Hill
  • 888 S Hope
  • 1000 Grand
  • Apex the One
  • Atelier
  • Aven Apartments
  • Circa LA
  • Evo South
  • G12
  • Hope and Flower
  • Level Los Angeles
  • Met Lofts
  • Metropolis Towers
  • Various other South Park district buildings

Enhanced Navigation Landmarks

With the inclusion of the Hollywood Sign—complete with a helipad—pilots can enjoy VFR (Visual Flight Rules) navigation with greater confidence. The Venice Pier is also added, serving as a crucial coastal reference point.

New Helipad Locations

The add-on introduces multiple helipads, expanding rotary-wing operations within the simulator:

  • Hollywood Sign Parking Lot
  • Ritz Carlton Downtown LA
  • Westin Bonaventure Hotel
  • Wilshire Grand Center

Technical Details

Designed with performance in mind, this mod seamlessly integrates into the simulator without significant impact on frame rates. The buildings are modeled with optimized textures and levels of detail (LOD) to ensure smooth rendering during flight.

Installation Instructions

  1. Download the add-on package and extract the contents of the archive.
  2. Locate the 'senecadriver-los-angeles' folder within the extracted files.
  3. Copy this folder into your MSFS Community directory.
  4. Launch Microsoft Flight Simulator and enjoy the enhanced Los Angeles scenery.

Conclusion

This add-on is a must-have for pilots seeking a more realistic flying experience over Los Angeles. By reinstating missing buildings and landmarks, it provides accurate visual cues essential for both VFR and IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) navigation. Whether you're flying a commercial airliner into LAX or piloting a helicopter over the city, this mod enriches your virtual skies.

Images & Screenshots

40 total
A dense downtown area features numerous high-rise buildings, a large domed stadium, and a convention center surrounded by a grid of city streets.A dense cluster of tall skyscrapers rises above a sprawling urban grid, with distant hills and a hazy sky in the background.Aerial view shows a dense downtown area with numerous tall skyscrapers featuring rooftop helipads and sprawling city blocks below.A dense cluster of high-rise buildings dominates the downtown area beneath a dramatic sky with thick, low-hanging clouds and distant mountains.A long pier extends from a wide sandy beach into calm blue water, with a sprawling city and distant hills in the background.A cluster of tall downtown skyscrapers stands beside a wide freeway and a large circular convention center under dramatic overcast clouds.Several tall skyscrapers with visible company logos rise above a dense downtown area, with distant mountains under a partly cloudy sky.Tall skyscrapers with rooftop helipads cast long shadows over a densely packed downtown cityscape under a partly cloudy sky.Tall skyscrapers and dense city blocks fill the foreground under a cloudy sky, with a large stadium visible to the right.A dense cluster of modern skyscrapers stands under dramatic, low-hanging clouds with distant mountains visible on the horizon.A dense cluster of modern high-rise buildings stands beneath dramatic, low-hanging clouds over a sprawling downtown urban area.A broken pier extends from a sandy beach into calm blue water, with a cityscape and distant mountains under a partly cloudy sky.Large white Hollywood letters stand on a sunlit hillside with scattered bushes and a tall red-and-white communications tower nearby.A dense urban area is viewed from above at night, with illuminated streets, scattered high-rise buildings, and clusters of city lights.A dense urban area at night features illuminated streets, clusters of tall buildings, and several brightly lit sports fields in the foreground.A city skyline with tall modern buildings rises in the background, while a hospital rooftop helipad is visible in the foreground.A dense downtown cityscape features numerous high-rise buildings, with sunlight casting long shadows across rooftops and streets below.A rooftop helipad with a red marking sits atop a building in front of a dense downtown skyline under partly cloudy skies.A dense urban downtown with tall skyscrapers and brightly illuminated streets is seen from above under a dark, cloudy night sky.A cluster of tall office buildings with glass facades rises above tree-lined streets and a parking lot in an urban downtown area.The Hollywood sign sits on a sunlit hillside with a tall radio tower and distant mountains under a partly cloudy sky.Tall office buildings with visible signage such as One Wilshire and City National Bank stand under a partly cloudy sky at sunset.A dense downtown cityscape is illuminated by streetlights and building lights at night, with one skyscraper displaying purple lighting near its top.A cluster of tall downtown skyscrapers stands beside a wide, mostly empty freeway under a sky with dramatic clouds and sunlight.A tall skyscraper with a purple-lit rooftop stands among other illuminated buildings in a sprawling cityscape at night.A dense downtown cityscape features numerous high-rise buildings, rooftop helipads, and scattered low-rise structures under a partly cloudy sky.A nighttime cityscape features illuminated skyscrapers in the foreground and a grid of glowing streetlights and traffic stretching into the distance.A nighttime cityscape features a tall building with a rooftop helipad in the foreground and a skyscraper illuminated with purple lights.The Hollywood sign stands on a rugged hillside at sunset, with a tall communications tower and scattered shrubs nearby.A cityscape at night features illuminated high-rise buildings and residential towers with two rooftop helipads, under a cloudy sky.Several tall office skyscrapers cast long shadows over a densely packed downtown area under a clear blue sky at sunset.A tall red and white communications tower stands on a hilltop surrounded by trees, overlooking a sprawling city at sunrise.Large white letters spelling "HOLLYWOOD" stand on a hillside with scattered bushes, rocks, and a tall antenna tower in the background.The Hollywood sign sits on a rugged hillside with a tall radio tower nearby under a sky filled with scattered clouds.A nighttime cityscape features numerous high-rise buildings with illuminated windows and a prominent skyscraper lit in purple near the center.Several tall skyscrapers with illuminated windows and a prominent building featuring purple lighting are seen against a cloudy night sky.The Hollywood sign is illuminated at night on a hillside, with a red-lit radio tower and city lights in the background.Large white letters spelling part of "HOLLYWOOD" stand on a hillside at night, with a red-lit radio tower in the background.A tall radio or television tower stands illuminated on a hilltop at night, overlooking a sprawling city filled with streetlights.The Hollywood sign is illuminated at night on a hillside, with a tall red-lit radio tower visible behind it.
All screenshots above have been created by Fly Away Simulation and are exclusive. For more details, see our image copyright information.
GPS Map Icon

Finding the Scenery

MSFS Format:
34.05223500,-118.24368300
You can copy and paste these coordinates into Microsoft Flight Simulator's search bar when starting a flight or the Developer Mode "Teleport" window to navigate directly to the center of this scenery area, airport, or landmark after you have installed this addon.
Decimal Degrees (DD):
Latitude: 34.052235°
Longitude: -118.243683°
Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (DMS):
Latitude: 34° 03' 08.046" N
Longitude: 118° 14' 37.259" W

Map Location


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Installation Instructions

Most of the freeware add-on aircraft and scenery packages in our file library come with easy installation instructions which you can read above in the file description. For further installation help, please see our Flight School for our full range of tutorials or view the README file contained within the download. If in doubt, you may also ask a question or view existing answers in our dedicated Q&A forum.

6 comments

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The content of the comments below are entirely the opinions of the individual posting the comment and do not always reflect the views of Fly Away Simulation. We moderate all comments manually before they are approved.

jasonTue, 15 Oct 2024 12:43:54 GMT

This does work!

  1. Unzip all the files to a folder.
  2. Put that folder under ...Microsoft Flight SimulatorPackagesCommunity.

I called my folder dtla; that worked. It can also be named something else like msfs-dtla-scenery.

It has a few buildings that are photogrammetry-styled and high-def looking, much better than the default MSFS2020 buildings, mainly on the south side of the main downtown area. Also the Hollywood sign and the aerial tower above it. The ground around these objects is redone as well.

jon4tunaThu, 28 Jul 2022 01:16:15 GMT

Exactly what file to add to the community folder is the question. I have tried several variations and nothing works. Living in the LA area, I would love to see this scenery to correct the old default scenery. Any help from others is appreciated.

Sal CrockedrMon, 25 Oct 2021 15:27:11 GMT

Will this work for P3Dv5?

PaulSat, 29 May 2021 20:30:45 GMT

Hello

Thank you for your great Los Angeles Scenery for MSFS…. Recently, MSFS updated to sim update 4….After this update, I had to remove your Scenery due to a CTD….. I tried the LA area without it, no CTD….When I added it back, I had CTD’s…….Any suggestions?

Thank you….Paul

teddyknowsbestSun, 07 Feb 2021 22:21:52 GMT

Love it, but it'd be great if someone put the In-n-Out burger joint on Runaway 24R.

ralphSun, 22 Nov 2020 00:08:44 GMT

Do I have to make a Los Angeles file then put it in the community file because the ZIP file has all of your subfolders by itself without a major file? Because it doesn't look like there were any changes to the city of Los Angeles. No Hollywood sign etc.

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