In the never-sleeping world of flight simulation, the release of new airport scenery is always a moment of excitement for the avid simmer. This was the case with the recent introduction of Hakodate Airport (RJCH) for Microsoft Flight Simulator, developed by AC Scenery. This addition promised an immersive experience for pilots flying to the island of Hokkaido in Japan, featuring custom ground textures, night lighting, and photorealistic details. However, this initial excitement was soon overshadowed by allegations of copyright infringement, casting a dark shadow over the integrity of this release and its developer.

The controversy surfaced when MisterX (also known as ShortFinal Design), a highly esteemed developer in the flight simulation community, raised serious allegations about the newly released scenery. MisterX has been a known name in the X-Plane scenery world for many years and he is known for popular sceneries such as his renditions of San Diego International Airport (KSAN), San Francisco International Airport (KFSO) and City, Los Angeles International Airport (KLAX) and many more.

In a discussion in our Discord, MisterX stated, “That scenery is a blatant rip-off of my X-Plane freeware.” These claims were further supported by comparisons between MisterX's original work and the AC Scenery product, revealing striking similarities in models and textures.

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Because of these allegations, we immediately removed the article promoting the Hakodate Airport scenery from our editorial—pending further investigation.

Sadly, this incident is not an isolated case in our world of flight simulation. Copyright infringement, unfortunately, has been a recurring issue, affecting both developers and the community. In the past, there have been several instances where assets from established developers have been used without consent, leading to legal battles and community uproar. These cases range from minor texture copying to complete model theft, impacting both freeware and commercial products. The implications of such actions are profound, discouraging developers from investing time and effort into creating new content and potentially stifling innovation in the community.

The scenery has since been taken down from Simmarket, where it was available at the time when MisterX contacted Threshold.