X-Plane Ireland Complete Photoreal (Ortho) Scenery

Expert Overview

This advanced scenery mod fully covers Ireland with high-resolution orthophoto imagery, bringing a truly lifelike look to every corner of the country. Drawing on real satellite data, it accurately portrays famous spots such as the Cliffs of Moher and Connemara National Park, while still looking crisp even at low altitudes. Everything comes pre-compiled in DDS format, making it simpler to enjoy the detailed terrain, and it integrates smoothly with default or enhanced HD mesh add-ons in both X-Plane 11 and 12.

In my decades working with PC flight simulation, I’ve rarely seen such a complete and realistic scenery set for Ireland. Whether departing from Dublin Airport or exploring smaller airfields like Abbeyfeale, you’ll experience seamless vistas that reflect Ireland’s distinctive topography. The attention to detail and overall polish make this a standout photoreal package that significantly boosts immersion for any virtual pilot.

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

A fully complete orthophoto scenery package (photoreal) covering the entire country of Ireland, Europe.  A first for Ireland in X-Plane and (from what we believe) the only release of an orthophoto scenery covering Ireland itself.  Developed by Verticalsim and released as complete freeware under their VOrthos series, this scenery is free to download and use.

This scenery pack was tested and run in X-Plane 12.  The screenshots below and the video were also shot in the latest X-Plane 12 however this package is fully compatible (and was originally released for X-Plane 11).

All of the files are already in DDS format so there is no need for any conversion and lengthy compiling before taking to the skies.  While the file size is large, the improvements to ground terrain and scenery are worth it.

This pack is also compatible with an HD mesh scenery pack (and we recommend it).  You can grab that here (and it's best to install it before this scenery) - however, this is optional and you can run this Ireland coverage just fine with the default XP12/XP11 mesh that's included out of the box.

All of the imagery used in this add-on is based on real-world satellite data/images and is accurate and true to life.  Ground detailing is exceptional and by using this pack, you can see what Ireland really looks like.  The default X-Plane terrain is based on textures and tiles used worldwide and doesn't always reflect what the actual country looks like.  When using photoreal (or ortho) imagery, you get a true depiction of the country and the terrain below you.

Many ortho scenery packs look great from up high but lack when you fly low and slow.  We tested this pack with low-and-slow and you can see the imagery still looks crisp and accurate from the screenshots below.  It uses a higher-definition image source.

Some famous scenic areas include;

• Cliffs of Moher
• Rock of Cashel
• Mourne Mountains
• Sliabh Liag (Slieve League)
• Adare
• The Wild Atlantic Way
• The Nine Glens of Antrim
• Ireland’s Eye
• Glendalough
• Cobh
• Connemara National Park
• Glen of Aherlow Tipperary
• Kilkee, County Clare

All of the areas listed above are included in this scenery pack in stunning HD detail.

Some great airports/airfields to start from (in the sim) in order to view this stunning scenery are;

Major

These are major (international) airports that are suitable for larger jet aircraft.

• Dublin Airport - Collinstown, Fingal (EIDW)
• Cork Airport - Cork City (EICK)
• Shannon Airport - Shannon, County Clare (EINN)
• Ireland West Airport Knock - Charlestown, County Mayo (EIKN)

General/More Rural

Below are some more general aviation/rural airfields that possibly bring you closer to the famous scenic area listed above.

• Abbeyfeale Aerodrome - Munster, County Limerick (EIRE)
• Athboy Aerodrome - Leinster, County Meath (EIMH)
• Belmullet Aerodrome - Connacht, County Mayo (EIBT)
• Clonbullogue Aerodrome - Leinster, County Offaly (EICL)
• Connemara Airport (Minna Airport) - Connacht, County Galway (EICA)
• Coonagh Aerodrome - Munster, County Limerick (EICN)
• Erinagh Aerodrome - Munster, County Tipperary (EIER)

All of the above airports are available to start from in X-Plane based on their ICAO code or airport name. 

About the Scenery

All of the scenery in this pack has been generated from accurate satellite imagery and has been post-processed to ensure atmospheric effects and distortions have been corrected as much as possible for the most realistic depiction in X-Plane.  The files have already been converted into a format X-Plane accepts and understands.

Both the video above and the screenshots below were captured, shot, and produced in the latest X-Plane 12.  However, this entire scenery pack is compatible with the previous X-Plane 11 version.

The scenery is a very large download and we also recommend a decent mesh add-on to complement the scenery. AlpilotX has released a UHD version that covers the areas required for Utah and you can find that here.

Note

These photorealistic files have already been pre-built (or pre-compiled) into the DDS format ready for X-Plane. While they make the package larger and download times longer, we find users prefer this over having to convert the files themselves manually. The archive has been zipped using higher compression which slightly overcomes the larger uncompressed DDS format.