REVIEW: KRNT For MSFS By Drzewiecki Design

Renton Municipal Airport

Official description and key features:

Renton Municipal Airport (IATA: RNT, ICAO: KRNT, FAA LID: RNT) is a public-use airport located in Renton, a city in King County, Washington, United States. The airport was renamed Clayton Scott Field in 2005. The airport's northern boundary is Lake Washington and the Will Rogers–Wiley Post Memorial Seaplane Base. Renton Airport has a floating dock and a launching ramp for conversion from wheeled landings to water takeoffs and landings. The airport is owned by the City of Renton and is a general aviation airport that serves Renton and other nearby communities. It provides regional aviation services for air charter, air taxi, corporate, business, and recreational flyers.

Renton Airport is adjacent to the Boeing Renton Factory and is the initial point of departure for airplanes produced in that facility. The Boeing Company's Renton, Washington Factory is a facility where the 737 MAX 7, 737 MAX 8, 737 MAX 9, and 737 MAX 10 models are built. The floor space covered is 1.1 million square feet (102,000 square meters).

A high-quality model of KRNT Renton Municipal Airport, featuring extensive details throughout the whole airport area, FPS-friendly design, with epic night textures, dynamic lighting, and supreme PBR materials
High definition mesh including exact runway profile
Fully modelled Boeing Renton Factory with an animated assembly line, where you can see by yourself how 737s are made
Custom-animated people, vehicles, and trains
Sound engineered specifically for this product for ultimate immersion
Fully compatible with Seattle Landmarks MSFS by Drzewiecki Design

Sim Pilot HQ’s Take:

I’m going to come right out of the gate and say it: KRNT is an EXPERIENCE.

Payware airports are normally dumped under the “scenery” term, but KRNT is by far so much more than a simple airport. On the outside you’d be correct in thinking KRNT was a small municipal airport. One runway, a small tower, numerous GA aircraft parked on the premises. But…wait…what is that? A 737? Another one? RyanAir? Southwest? An….unfinished 737? What’s going on here?

Yes, you guessed it. Boeing has a presence here (as mentioned above, this is where they build all of the 737 MAX models), and what Drzewiecki Design has done here to pay homage to Boeing’s presence in and around KRNT is nothing short of jaw-dropping. For starters, you’ll see many new animations with all of these new Boeing workers around. There is some serious work being done here. Actual Boeing aircraft are being built here at KRNT and this scenery pulls no punches in showing you the entire process of putting one together. There are so many animations and easter eggs hiding in this scenery. One of my favorite easter eggs is a parking spot dedicated solely to PMDG’s 737. Nice touch, guys.

Getting back to Boeing, it just can’t be understated how much detail has gone into this scenery. I have literally paused entire flight sessions just so I can bear witness to the incredible amount of work that’s been done to simulate this working factory.

All of this amazing modeling and animation comes at a price though: on my relatively high spec machine I spend an average of two to two and a half minutes longer for KRNT to load into the sim. By comparison I’m usually flying anywhere from 30 seconds to one minute maximum after hitting “Fly”. Just keep that in mind in case you’re loading up a KRNT flight - there’s a lot of stuff to process in this scenery before it can fully load into the sim, so be prepared to wait.

You might know that the Pacific Northwest is known for rain - luckily here in the sim KRNT looks great in the rain. But for your sake and the sake of your passengers I really hope you don’t land here in a serious rainstorm. Better brush up on that instrument training if you’re flying here during inclement weather!

I did find the snow texturing a bit lacking. It seemed sparse and very bland. I suppose that’s something that’s easy to critique from a drone camera but probably doesn’t impact immersion as much when flying in. Night lighting, on the other hand, is simply superb. The right point lighting at the right temperatures around the factory and the airport grounds really bring the scene to life. I also like the lighting on the office building next to the Boeing factory and the Hyatt hotel next door. I noticed there’s no runway lighting. Knowing how much detail has gone into KRNT everywhere else, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was true to life. Leave a comment down below if you’re more familiar with that.

All in all, I love KRNT for its proximity to Seattle and to Mount Rainier and I love it even more for the amazing insight into the Boeing construction activities at the site. If you’re a Boeing fan, you need this scenery in your collection. Just remember to give it time to load in and bring some popcorn along to enjoy the show.