FS 2002 Douglas C-54 Val-U-Prop Plane and Panel by James Underwood
From the original work of Tom Gibson and Harry Follas
Some textures by Hans Hermann
Flight Dynamics by Brian Horsey

Val-U-Prop is now an online Virtual Airline, complete with daily flightplans, tips, aircraft by Jan Visser, Tom Gibson and others, and we have more fun than a barrel of monkeys. We are the official sponsor of the BeerLeague Around the World in a DC-3 flight, and have daily updates as well as flightplans for each leg of the trip. We are fully compatible with fs98/fs2000/fs2002 and we have blast! VISIT US!

http://home.bluemarble.net/~jcumus/index.html

NOTE: You will probably have to size the main panel of this package vertically to fit your screen. To do so, simply grab the bottom of the main panel with the mouse. The panel will "pop-up" an inch or so, then drag (contract) it up another inch and hit "alt" twice. You should have some sky showing at the top, so grab the top edge of the panel and drag (expand) it up to the top.
You will also have to size the outside view window, so that it goes all the way to the top of the screen, and the lowest "blackout" portion is dragged (expanded) down to the extreme lower left of the left side window. Once you get this right, save it as a flight and the panel will be correctly sized every time you open it.

NOTE TO WINXP and WIN2000 users: I have included Dave Parson's XP/2000 .mdl fix program, so if you get a ".mdl error" run the .mdl's in the MODEL folder to correct the problem. I'd appreciate it if this works, for someone to send me a notice as such, and the CORRECT XP/2000 mdls. (I can't run this program as I have win98)


KEYBOARD COMMANDS

shift+2 = gps
shift+3 = yoke
shift+4 = default radio stack (You will need this sometimes to set the ADF, which has a four digit setting, rather than the three digit setting we are used to and the radio gauge reflects.)
i=drops bomb and shoots machine guns
i=turns off machine guns
The switch on the lower left of panel marked arm engages sound for bomb drop. (Machine guns have no sound)

PAN

To see wing, side and cabin views, simply use (with numpad off) the shift+numpad9, etc. method. shift+numpad8 resets main cockpit.

jcumus@bluemarble.net


INSTALLATION:
1) Unzip the zip file into a temporary directory.
2) Unzip the gauges directly into the MAIN FS2002 folder. It's OK to overwrite files as anything I've changed I've renamed. When prompted click "yes".
3) In the aircraft directory of FS2002 make a new folder (click "file" then "new" then "folder") and name it Douglas C-54 Val-U-Prop (right mouse click on folder, then hit "rename" when the drop box comes down, then type Douglas C-54 Val-U-Prop).
4) Move or copy aircraft.cfg (aircraft) and .air file (dc4.air) into this folder.
5) Unzip the files marked MODEL, PANEL, SOUND, TEXTURE into a TEMPORARY directory. These should form folders which you can then move or copy into the folder you've made called "Douglas C-54 Val-U-Prop".
Install the .wav file (dfd_wav9.wav) into the MAIN sound file in FS2002 if you want the bomb sound.

I've aliased the Beechcraft sounds to this aircraft, but only as a temporary measure. There are many fine sound files for the DC-3/4/6 at SurClaro and other sites and I suggest you find one you like and install it instead.

That's it!

Thanks: To Tom Gibson and Harry Follas for their excellent work, and to Thomas Klein, Jonathan Derden, Miguel Snoep, and Mike of AirNikon for their great photography. And to Kevin Trinkle and Ernie Kennedy for their gauges.

LEGAL

This package has been tested in FS2002 in Windows 98 2nd Edition. It has caused no problems on my system and should not on yours. However, I accept no liability whatsoever in case you think it has. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!

James Underwood
Bloomington, IN
jcumus@bluemarble.net