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# RCBfl-10.zip: Flight Level Change gauge for FS2002/4 aircraft #
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# By Rob Barendregt Release 1.0, 14 march 2004 #
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PLEASE, READ THIS MANUAL CAREFULLY BEFORE INSTALLING & USING THIS PACKAGE !!!

TO PRINT:
Open this file in Notepad, and select charactertype: FixedSys, Normal, 9 dots.

This archive contains a gauge that controls the climb/descent rate during an
Autopilot(AP)-controlled flight level change, whilst maintaining a fixed thrust
and airspeed.
It works as an extension to the standard FS AP functions, and can be added to
any FS2002/FS2004 aircraft panel that uses an AP with a Altitude Set/Hold and
V/S Set/Hold function.

Installing this package REQUIRES some basic knowledge of handling files
and folders in Windows, and the ability to edit an existing .cfg file with a
simple text editor like Notepad.

And for safety:
**** !! ALWAYS BACKUP A FILE BEFORE YOU EDIT IT !! ****



1. Functionality
================
When using the default AP's in FS aircraft during flight level changes, you
run the risk that the AP cannot maintain the set airspeed because it tries to
hold the climb/descend rate that you set into the V/S Hold dial/bug.
So the aircraft could eventually Stall (with max. thrust) or go in Overspeed
(with min. thrust) if you don't adjust the V/S rate manually.
Moreover, using an optimal "climb thrust" is more fuel-economical than
maintaining a specified "climb rate".

When active, this gauge controls the climb/descent rate, whilst maintaining a
fixed thrust (= throttle position, as dialed into the gauge) and airspeed (IAS
or MACH, as dialed into the Autopilot).
It uses an adaptive algoritme to find the optimal climb/descend rate, dependant
on the actual difference between the set and measured airspeed.
For climbing, the climb rate will be controlled between 0 and 4000 ft/min.
For descending, the descend rate will be controlled between 0 and -4000 ft/min.

The gauge has three clickable functions:
- An On/Off switch, with status LED; click to toggle.
- A Flightlevel dial; click to increment/decrement the intended Flightlevel.
(A Flightlevel is the Altitude in feet, divided by 100).
- A throttle position dial.
Note: Keep the mousebutton depressed for fast in-/decrement.
The Tooltips for Throttle and Flightlevel dial indicate both the new AND the
current (actual) values.

Gauge Activation requires that:
- The Autopilot is On
- Alt-Hold is On
- The difference between actual lltitude and the gauge intended Flightlevel is
greater than 200 ft.

When the gauge is Activated, it:
- Disables IAS-Hold or MACH-Hold (if available) automatically; the difference
between actual altitude and set gauge Flightlevel determines whether the
gauge goes in climb- or descend mode.
- Copies the Flightlevel you dialed into the gauge, into the AP Alt. Hold.
- Sets/maintains the throttle to the value you dialed into the gauge.
Note: it takes 5 sec. before the set throttle position is fully reached, to
compensate for lag in V/S.
When the AP does not have a IAS/MACH Hold function, the gauge maintains the
actual IAS airspeed at the time the gauge is activated.

When the gauge is active, the LED is steady On; if the climb/descend rate
would become out-of-range, the LED is flashing: the gauge (temporarily)
cannot maintain the set airspeed, and you may have to adjust the AP airspeed
(if available) or gauge throttle setting.
Moreover, you can still change the Flightlevel (the AP Alt. Hold is forced to
the value of the gauge Flightlevel dial) or even change from IAS to MACH
speed Hold.

The gauge automatically de-activates when:
- The Autopilot is set Off
- The AP Alt. Hold is disabled
- The difference between actual altitude and new Flightlevel becomes smaller
than 200 ft.
At de-activation (either automatically or manually), IAS-Hold or MACH-Hold is
set On again (if available, and whichever was last selected) c.q. the throttles
are set back to the position when the gauge was activated.
When deactivated manually, the AP Alt. Hold is set to the actual altitude.

So normal operation would be:
1. You fly a leveled flight on Autopilot.
2. You dial the new FLightlevel into the gauge.
3. You dial the estimated Throttle position into the gauge.
4. Activate the gauge.

***** FAQ *****

Q1: Will this gauge work with ANY Autopilot ???
A1: NO.
First of all, some highend (payware) aircraft allready have a simular
function, so there's no need to use this gauge.
Secondly, some (especially older) panels use an Autopilot gauge that does
not use the standard FS variables for controlling the aircraft. If so, my
gauge might not work.

Q2: Why did you choose "Throttle level" as criterium for "thrust" and not e.g.
N1 / N2 ??
A2: Because I wanted this gauge to be usable for all type of aircraft :-)



2. Installation.
================

1. Make sure you have a folder ...\Flight Simulator 9\Gauges\rcb-gauges\
If not, create the subfolder \rcb-gauges\ in the main \gauges\ folder.

2. Extract all files to folder ...\Flight Simulator 9\Gauges\rcb-gauges\

3. Add the gauge to the panel.cfg of your aircraft.
In the definitions below, replace the strings:
- "**" by the next free number.
- "HOR" by the Horizontal position of a free spot in the panel.
- "VERT" by the Vertical position of a free spot in the panel.

In the main panel window (usually [Window00] ), add:
gauge**=rcb-gauges!FlightLevelChange, HOR,VERT,hor-size,vert-size

Some suitable examples:
- The default FS2004 Boeing 747:
gauge57=rcb-gauges!FlightLevelChange, 325,86,23,40
- The default FS2004 Boeing 737:
gauge41=rcb-gauges!FlightLevelChange, 332,65,23,40
- The default FS2004 Beech King Air 350:
gauge59=rcb-gauges!FlightLevelChange, 8,95,23,40
- Ken Mitchell's FS2004 panel for Mike Stone's Lockheed C130:
gauge77=rcb-gauges!FlightLevelChange, 1020,1111,38,64

4. Optionally, you can add a warning sound when the climb/descend rate would
exceed the limits (i.e. the gauge LED is flashing). For FS2004 ONLY !!!
See the README of included file FLCWarningSound.zip


3. Copyrights and Disclaimer
============================
This package is freeware, and is available for your personal use.

Without our explicite permission, it may NOT be sold, re-distributed and/or
uploaded to another website or bulletin board in ANY shape or form.

If you want to bundle this package with your (freeware) aircraft, you may ONLY
do so AFTER my explicite permission and inclusion of this README file AS-IS.

And obviously, installing & using this package is at your own risk.
However, if you execute the Installation instructions properly, this package
should NOT crash you PC or FS, nor should it have a substantial impact on
performance.


4. A final word ..
==================

I hope you will enjoy using this gauge, as I did creating it.
And I'm always open to questions, or suggestions for improvement (no
guarantee that I will make them though).

But PLEASE PLEASE, before asking me questions or report "bugs", make sure that
the answer can't be found in this README file; I have spent considerable time
in making this README as clear and supportive as I can, just to avoid wasting
both YOUR time and MINE with trivial questions and "issues" :-)

And a thank-you to R.Hilmer, for bringing up the idea of this gauge, and for
testing it.

Rob Barendregt, The Netherlands
Email: rc.barendregt@planet.nl



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