5. Putting It All Together

The next step was assembling all of the pieces into a “flyable” X-Plane airport. I used the X-Plane World Editor to place the 3-D models into the proper location.

Zahn's Airport, as seen through the X-Plane World Editor
Zahns, as seen through the World Editor
Zoomed view of the Main Hangar at Zahn's Airport, as seen through the X-Plane World Editor
Zoomed view of the Main hangar

I used the “stitched-together” georeferenced aerial image as a base layer in World Editor. This allowed to to positon the buildings extremely accurately. (You can see a bit of that referenced image in the lower-left corner of the first image. It shows the Queen of the Rosary Academy in Amityville.)

Zahn's Airport UNICOM frequency
Zahns Unicom – 122.8

All of the Zahns runways and taxiways were also added in this manner.

Next, the CTAF and other frequencies were added to the model.

Additional Scenery

I also added a number of familar landmarks that many Zahns pilots had used.

The Northport Stacks

The Northport Stacks, in the simulation
The Northport Stacks in 2022
These are the “Northport Stacks.” Southbound pilots could follow the line of smokestacks directly to Zahns.
(In the simulation, the steam from the stacks can give you an idea of the wind velocity and direction!)

Albany Avenue Water Tower

Cherokee heading north to Zahns
The water tower in 2022
The Albany Avenue water tower, to the southwest of the field
1970s-era photo of the N-S runway at Zahn's Airport. The water tower is on the horizon.
Vintage photo of the water tower (on the horizon, right of center)

Queen of the Rosary Academy

The Queen of the Rosary tower was a common sight from the downwind leg of the traffic pattern.

Sunrise Drive-In Theatre

Featured in the movie The Lords of Flatbush, the Sunrise Drive-In was closer to JFK than Zahns.
But it was just too iconic to leave out. (See the 3-D Model.)

Next: A Lifetime of Flight Simulation