16 Feb 2001
HC-130H panel for FS2000 by David Giles; dpgiles1@cs.com
Image scans; Dave Gillespie.
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PLEASE READ THIS ENTIRE FILE BEFORE INSTALLING OR E-MAILING ME WITH PROBLEMS
DO NOT MAKE ANY MONEY WITH THIS PANEL OR ANY GAUGES!
DO NOT UPLOAD THIS FILE TO ANY SERVER OR SITE THAT
REQUIRES A FEE FOR ACCESS.
DO NOT DISTRIBUTE THIS FILE ON ANY "FOR PROFIT" CD-ROMS (OR OTHER MEDIA).
NOTHING IN THESE FILES WILL HARM YOUR COMPUTER AND I
ACCEPT NO LIABILITY.
IF YOU DON'T LIKE THIS PANEL, DELETE IT, IT'S FREE!
IF YOU WANT TO UPDATE, UPGRADE, MODIFY, ADAPT, OR DO ANYTHING ELSE TO THE BASIC PANEL AND UPLOAD IT, PLEASE FEEL FREE. NO PRIOR PERMISSION IS NECESSARY. WHILE IT WOULD BE NICE IF YOU MENTIONED US, THE ORIGINAL DEVELOPERS, IT'S NOT NECESSARY. OUR ONLY REQUIREMENT IS THAT ALL ORIGINAL PARTS OF THIS PANEL FOREVER REMAIN FREEWARE.
YES, THIS IS AN OPEN INVITATION TO EVERYONE TO CONTINUE DEVELOPMENT ON THIS PANEL. IF YOU CAN CLEAN IT UP OR WANT TO CHANGE SOME GAUGES AROUND, PLEASE DO SO. IF YOU WANT TO ADD TO OR SUBTRACT FROM IT, PLEASE DO SO. SOME MIGHT CRITICIZE ME, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT, I DON'T CARE.
MY INTENT IS TO TRY AND INITIATE A RETURN TO THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF FREEWARE DEVELOPMENT. PLEASE DON'T MIS-UNDERSTAND THIS. I WHOLE-HEARTEDLY RESPECT THE COPYRIGHT DESIRES OF ALL FREEWARE DESIGNERS, HOWEVER, I STRONLY FEEL THAT OPEN FREEWARE DEVELOPMENT HAS BROUGHT MSFS TO THE FOREFRONT OF SUCCESS. MY DESIRE IS TO ENCOURAGE THAT MINDSET FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL.
THE ONLY RESTRICTION IS, ALL NON-DEFAULT MSFS GAUGES (EXCEPT THE ENGINE GAUGES - WHICH I MODIFIED FROM DEFAULT MSFS GAUGES) CANNOT BE USED UNLESS PERMISSION IS GIVEN BY THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR (IF YOU CAN FIND THEM). I DIDN'T MAKE THEM SO I CAN'T GRANT PERMISSION FOR THEIR USE.
Acknowledgements;
Many thanks to Dave Gillespie (USCG) and the beta testers for their help with this panel. Dave Gillespie provided the original images I used to create this panel. His patience with my persistant e-mails is something to be admired!
I've used and modified a few gauges that have been widely avaiable in freeware panels. If I neglected to mention your contribution, I apologize.
This panel is designed for use with H model C-130s. It's been designed from actual panel scans of a USCG HC-130H. I've modified the panel.cfg file to optimize the outside view for use in FS2000. As such, I feel this panel has a better representation of the pilots view-point during flight. I've tried as best I can to line up the forward view window with the main ADI. Part of this was to "skew" the view slightly to the right. This allows you to fly this panel with the main part of your scan on the ADI (just like the real deal). You'll note that when lined up on final, you can align the runway centerline over the main ADI and maintain proper centerline (with practice). I also modified the over-the-nose view to give a better perspective on approach and during taxi (better runway/taxiway visibility). However, as always, with FS panel desing limits, the outside view is a compromise between panel readability and external visibility.
There are many compromises with this panel for usability and functionality. Most of the gauges used in it are from the default Concorde and 737-400. These gauges while representative of the actual C-130H instruments, are not exact. This panel also requires the FS2000 pro version King Air 350's gauge.
I spent considerable time modifying the look of the engine gauges to reflect the actual C-130. For this I apologize and recommend at least a 15" monitor for minimal detail. Also, the gauges don't behave 100% correct, so my apologies to any Flight Engineer who might be offended. Ignore the pop-up windows for the engine instruments as they won't display the actual function of the gauge.
The engine gauges in this panel will work on Jet based flight models. There might be some compatibility issues with turbo-prop based models.
The proper order of engine gauges on an actual C-130 is (top to bottom):
-Torque
-RPM (Propeller)
-TIT (Turbine Inlet Temperature)
-Fuel Flow
-Oil Temperature
-Oil Pressure
-Oil Quantity
-Oil Cooler Flap posistion
Installation;
-Unzip all files into a temp folder.
-Unzip the panel and zip files.
-Place the "xxx.bmp" files and the "panel.cfg" file in the desired
aircraft's panel folder.
-Place the gauges into the FS2000 gauges folder.
I claim no responsibility for incorrect installation or improper system operation following installation of this panel.
Scan around on the main panel and you'll note window display/hide buttons for opening/closing all other windows (besides the main window).
You'll note the throttle quadrant has a FMC style gauge in the upper left corner. This gauge is fully functional, but is also extremely small. For this I apologize. All functions on this gauge can be controlled using the Radio window. If you want, you can re-size the throttle quadrant by simply pulling on it's corner to the desired size.
This panel was tested in 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x1024, and 1280x960 full screen 16 bit mode on a 17" monitor. It is optimized for 16 bit, 1024x768, full screen mode on 17" monitors. I don't recommend running it at less than 800x600 as many gauges become unreadable.
This panel has been tested and, for the most part, works in CFS2. However, some gauge compatability issues remain unresolved. If you have problems with this panel in any other version of FS, please note that it is intended for FS2000 only.
We have been working diligently on interior views (left, right, rear, etc) for this panel. Unfortunately, there are problems with these views causing crashing that as yet are unresolved. As a result, this panel has no interior views available yet. If we can resolve this issue, the interior views will be uploaded as a separate file.
While I read every e-mail sent to me, I might not respond. Please understand that this is only a hobby for me, not my job. If you have positive comments, I'll be happy to recieve them. If you have negative comments or suggestions, you can keep them to yourself, besides, I really don't care. If you want to suggest changes to the panel you can do so, but don't expect that they will be implemented by me. I'm taking a long break after this one.
About me;
I was an active duty USAF Officer for 10 years and a C-130E pilot with 3,500 hrs in the Herk.
I'm currently a First Officer on the Boeing 727 (another classic) flying out of DEN.
You can look for my other files available at SurClaro, SurClaro.com and Keith's Virtual helipad.
