******************************************************************
* FS98 Constellation Panel (or similar aircraft).
*
* Adapted from Tom Gibson's 9/98 Version 6 panel by:
* François Ouellette,
* * Oct. 1999
*
* For 800x600 resolution or better, and a good graphics accelerator card.
*
* This panel was set-up and tested on a 1024x768 screen with a 17in
* monitor which allows a crisper view of the small gauges.
*
* Note: This panel works fine on FS98, an upgrade is needed for FS2000
* in order to reunite the top and bottom panels in one.
*
******************************************************************
PLEASE READ THIS FIRST:
======================
"Imitation is the ultimate form of flattery"
-- Oscar Wilde
Learn from the masters!
IMPORTANT: Some gauges in this panel were used
originally in the DC-6 IFR panel by Tom Gibson, which is available
at Tom's Classic Airliner Page, http://members.aol.com/TGFltsim
CREDITS:
-Tom Gibson, the host of the Classic Airliner WEB pages, for his
invaluable work and knowledge on the Connie and other classics.
-Juan Pablo and Pablo Benlliure for the original panel BMP
-The Propliner gauges and radios with mechanical-style number readouts,
by Ernie Kennedy
-Radar gauge by Guntram Strasser/Omega Solutions, repainted by
Tom Gibson
-No Smoking/Seat Belt switches by Christian Koegler
http://www.fortunecity.com/underworld/pandemonium/535
-Idea by Peter Cokley
-Some ideas and layout setup taken from Louis J. Betti's fine panel, also
available from Tom Gibson's Classic Airliner WEB site:
http://members.aol.com/TGFltsim/
-HF ADF gauge by Chuck Dome
-Benjamin Chen for the Gauge Browser (available at www.SurClaro)
-Chuck Dome for his Gauge Mod 98 program and other wonderful stuff
such as his HF ADF (visit his pages:)
http://home.att.net/~chdome/
-All the others whose names do not always appear but were involved
one way or another in the development of this panel
-My AMD K6-2 450 processor that spits frames without complaining...
-Microsoft (and BAO) for the FS98 software without which we wouldn't be
doing this...
Also:
> Get the Connie Sounds package, by Hans-Peter Christeler. It's great.
> - Once you hear it you may never want to fly a jet anymore...
> It can be downloaded from: http://members.aol.com/TGFltsim/sound.htm.
> You will need to change the plane's sound.cfg file - edit it with the
> Notepad; instructions are in the FS98 TWA L-749 sound.cfg file, or on
> the Classic Airliner Sounds page,
> http://members.aol.com/TGFltsim/sound.htm.
> Other fine sound packages are also availanle on the WEB.
***********************************************************************
Many classic airliners can be downloaded free from
Tom Gibson's Classic Airliner WEB site at -
http://members.aol.com/TGFltsim/
**************************************************************************
INTRODUCTION
This is not a 'historical' Connie panel, it is a personal adaptation
inspired by those created by Tom Gibson and others, with cosmetic and
layout changes.
I like to make FUN-ctional panels, which are fun to use and fully
functional, while retaining the spirit of the aircraft for which they
were originally used.
This panel retains many of the Connie's panel characteristics, such as a
limited number of engine gauges as explained below (from Tom Gibson's
immense knowledge in this matter). Nevertheless it might look like it's
been upgraded in order to equip it with up-to-date devices as the years
went by.
The most visible change from Tom's fine panel is the color which imitates
a textured grey-beige finish. Tom says that many Connie panels were painted
'military' green although they were intended for civilian aircrafts. I
nevertheless prefer the grey. I also added various details such as warning
plates and notices as we might find on a real dashboard. Notice the little
logos too (no copyright infrigements intended, just paying a tribute to
Lockheed for their great contribution to aviation history).
Also many switches, controls and gauges have been upgraded or relocated.
Some new ones have been added too. All the lights switches and other toggles
are now located on the windshield's upper edge. Other bits have been added
like warning lights for: stall/overspeed, "fuel low" condition, parking brake...
The central elongated-oval-shaped console has been enlarged in order to fit
the communications equipment; we have all the nav, comm and other devices in
the same place. The autopilot can also be brought there from a subpanel
(see below).
THE SUBPANELS
Use the Instruments View menu or the 'Shift #' keys (more convenient) to
bring up or remove subpanels. They can all be moved with the mouse.
There are 9 subpanels, the first 2 being visible as the main dashboard
and the windshield frame, with instruments and switches (Shift 1 and
Shift 2)
Shift 3 will give you the Minicontrols.
*Now an important detail* (quoted from Tom Gibson):
"Since there was a separate flight engineer's panel on a Connie (as
opposed to the DC series, where the flight engineer used the main
panel), there were only instruments for 2 of the engines on the main
panel."
Therefore only gauges for engines 2-3 show up on the main panel. Subpanels
are provided for engines 1 and 4 by pressing Shift 4 and Shift 5.
They will fit neatly besides the gauges for engines 2-3 giving you a
set of MAP/FF, RPM and OIL Pressure gauges for all 4 engines.
I also included a separate subpanel for EGT/CHT that can be
displayed with Shift 6.
The numbers on the MAP/FF gauges may be a bit small to read. The Pressure
scale on the left hand side of each one is 0, 10, 20, 40, 60, 80 (barometric
pressure in inches).
The Autopilot is in a subpanel which will sit on the top of the
central communications console. Use Shift-7.
You can use the 'Window Positions' in the Flight Preferences menu to
save the windows positions settings.
If you need a reminder on the L749 facts and data, use Shift 8.
For those long overnight fligths there is even a catering subpanel
which will bring you a cup of hot, creamy cappucino café to enjoy!
Call the steward(ess) by pressing Shift 9.
HOW TO USE THE GAUGES
=====================
(explanations by Tom Gibson)
AUTOPILOT:
Ernie Kennedy's Autopilot Gauge works the same as the
Cessna Bendix-King autopilot, except that whether you use Cntrl-X or
the ALT switch, it will always set the current altitude as the
autopilot altitude. There is also a knob, which works just
like the orange Heading Bug Selector on the Directional Gyro; it sets
your heading while on HDG hold. You might notice that it is occasionally
100 ft off; this is a nice quirk and you'll need to compensate for it.
The letters are a bit small; the order of the switches (left to right) is
OFF, HDG, ALT, NAV, APR, and B/C.
PLEASE NOTE: you change the ALT and V/S readouts on this gauge by
clicking the small knobs below the readouts. This is also true for the
radios. Watch the knobs go around!
Think of the AP as a "virtual pilot" that steers the plane,
while you take the role of copilot or FE to set the prop controls,
mixtures, etc.
COWL FLAPS (explanation by Tom Gibson)
This gauge simulates the control for the nacelle cowl flaps,
which are used to cool the engines when needed. The fly749.txt file
has details on how this lever is used. When you want to open the cowl
flaps half way to trail position, you either click near the bottom of
the lever's travel, or drag the lever down halfway. To open the cowl
flaps fully, drag the lever all the way down. The / key will also
open/close the cowl flaps fully.
To simulate the extra drag of the cowl flaps, each plane's Spoiler Drag
needs to be set. Use ADE98 (available at www.SurClaro/ade/):
load the desired plane's AIR file, go to the Airframe tab, and click
the Spoiler Fitted box. Then change the Spoiler Drag to 0.01 to 0.03,
depending on how much effect you want. I use 0.01. Save the AIR file.
HF AUTOMATIC DIRECTION FINDER (explanation by Tom Gibson):
This gauge by Chuck Dome simulates the radio navigation aid used by the propliners in
areas without VOR's or NDB's. It is located on the bottom left of the dash.
High frequency radio (HF) was used because it had a very long range - but
was very sensitive to atmospheric conditions. Chuck's gauge is actually a
modification of his simple GPS gauge, made to look like an ADF gauge.
Use the supplied HFADF.EXE program (before starting FS98) to enter the
latitude and longitude of any HF stations needed for the flight. Exit
the program and start FS98. Now click on the little number on the knob of
the HF ADF gauge to change the station. Chuck's gauge has infinite range
(HF radio did have transatlantic range in good weather conditions); keep
in mind that aircraft normally used more than one HF station on their flight,
to be able to triangulate their position.
Peter Cokley and Tom Gibson have been working on locations of HF stations,
but this information is hard to find. For example, we know that there were HF
stations somewhere on the east coast of North America and at Foynes, near
the Shannon Estuary in Ireland for the Pan Am clippers. We also assume
that there was another station somewhere in the middle of the route (i.e.
Iceland or Greenland?) to allow triangulation across the Atlantic. Peter
has found that there were Adcock Direction Finding [D/F] radio stations (a
predecessor of HF D/F) at San Diego, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Canton Island,
Noumea, Auckland (New Zealand) Brisbane and Sydney (Australia), and on
Lord Howe Island between the two countries (on the Pan American Clipper
route between the US and New Zealand/Australia); these were probably later
converted to HF stations. Pan American almost certainly also had HF
stations on their other Pacific route to the Phillipines, probably at San
Francisco, Guam, Wake Island, and Manila. The first tests of HF radio
appear to be the tests across the Atlantic by the Imperial Airways flying
boat "Cambria", in 1937, and I assume that HF was brought into general use
during WWII.
Any other material that is available about the history and usage of HF D/F
for aircraft navigation would be welcome by both Tom (Gibson and Cokley)
through:
http://members.aol.com/TGFltsim/ or Peter through petan@ion.com.au
In addition to installing this panel, you can download
the propliner adventure from Classic Airliner page:
http://members.aol.com/TGFltsim/
I can also recommend the excellent Connie Sounds package, by Hans-Peter Christeler.
It can be downloaded from: http://members.aol.com/TGFltsim/sound.htm.
You will need to replace or change the plane's sound.cfg file - edit it in
Notepad or Wordpad; instructions are in the FS98 TWA L-749 sound.cfg file, or on
the Classic Airliner Sounds page,
http://members.aol.com/TGFltsim/sound.htm.
After hearing these sounds, you may never want to fly a jet anymore...
========================
HOW TO INSTALL THE FILES
========================
INTRODUCTION
This compressed archive consists of several files and other archives:
- files to go in the aircraft\panel directory
- gauges in gauges folder to go in the FS 'gauges' directory
- wave files in sound folder to go in the FS 'sound' directory
- information files to keep in your aircraft's directory
- the HF ADF program and explanation file
- a few sample views (small and large) of the panel
- Tom Gibson's flight instructions in Fly749_fo.txt, adapted to this panel
In the following list 'yourplane' is the name of your aircraft's
folder within the Flight Simulator's 'aircraft' folder,
for example L749_TWA; 'FS98' is the Flight Simulator's path
containing this folder and all the others.
A typical FS98 directory path on Win98 English version is:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator
A complete reference to your planes' stuff would be:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator\aircraft\yourplane
which in turns contains files and folders 'panel', 'sound', 'texture', etc
If you went this far in the reading you probably know your way around
Windows and the FS so I'll keep the details to the minimum.
Some people prefer to extract the files in a temporary folder, then move them
to destination. Remember to BACKUP any file you may consider important
before installing new ones.
Contents of archive (some in their own folder):
Files Type Destination:
*.bmp Panel Images FS98\aircraft\yourplane\panel folder
panel.cfg Panel configuration FS98\aircraft\yourplane\panel folder
conpnfo1.txt This file FS98\aircraft
Fly749_fo.txt Text file FS98\aircraft
IMPORTANT!
A detailed step-by-step method to fly
the Connie with this panel,
edited from Tom Gibson's version.
After installing the panel you can use it with other existing planes by
putting a reference to this one, in their panel.cfg files, which in this
case contains only the following:
[fltsim]
alias=yourplane\panel
INSTALLATION
THIS PANEL IS FOR FS98 ONLY! IT WILL NOT WORK IN FS5, OR FS95 (or FS2000)
If you read these lines you probably have opened the archive already!
Make sure you did it with a program that preserves long file names, preferably
WinZip or Norton Navigator. Only the latest version of PKUNZIP will work!!
Or else file names greater than 8 charecters get truncated and changed. Get
it at places like www.shareware.com.
Make sure to check the "Use Stored Folders" or "Use Folder Names" option if you
want to carry the folder names during the extract process and put the files
in their correct locations.
Later versions of WinZIP allow to sort the files by name/folder/date by clicking
on the title on top of each column of information.
Gauges and sound files retain their original names therefore if you already have
installed other panels, chances are you have some or all of these already. When
extracting files, unless you check the 'overwrite existing files' option you
will get messages asking you if you want to keep/replace the file being copied,
with the date of creation of each one. Identical dates mean that the file is the
same (or very likely!) else the gauge has been changed even though it has the
same name.
1. Extract the files in the 'panel' folder into your aircraft's folder.
Note that the extract process will put the files in subfolder
'panel' automatically only if you checked the 'Use Folder names' option.
Your existing panel.cfg file will have to be replaced with the one from the
ZIP archive. If you want to preserve it make a copy BEFORE extracting the files
in an existing aircraft environment.
2. Extract the files in the 'sound' folder to the FS98 folder so the files go
to its 'sound' folder.
3. Extract the files in the 'gauges' folder into the FS98 folder so the files
go to its 'gauges' folder.
4. The HFADF program and explanations can be moved to a directory of your
choice if you want to program the gauge's values. You can keep it in your
aircraft's directory.
5. The Fly749_fo.txt file should be consulted and kept in your aircraft's
directory.
6. Then start the Flight Simulator and select the plane, the new panel should
come up. Enjoy!
TROUBLESHOOTING
(once again, listen to the master: Tom Gibson has already prepared this
exhaustive checklist so I reproduced it here with a few additions)
1. THE PLANE THAT YOU HAVE ASSIGNED THIS PANEL DOES NOT SHOW UP IN
THE SELECT PLANE MENU: you have installed this panel or modified
the plane's panel.cfg or sound.cfg file incorrectly! Go through
and double check that you have done each step correctly. This is
almost always the problem. Also see #2.
2. THE PANEL APPEARS BUT THERE ARE ALMOST NO GAUGES: did you unzip the
embedded gauges.zip file and then copy all the *.gau files into your
FS98 GAUGES folder? All of the *.gau files need to be within the
main FS98 GAUGES folder.
The other problem might be that your unzipping program can't
handle long Win95/98 filenames; check your unzipped gauges and
check if they have names like Prop2ERKadf.gau (differences
in uppercase/lowercase is not important). If not and they look like
prop2e~1.gau you need to download a new unzipper. I suggest either WinZip
or the *latest* version of PKUNZIP - it must mention that it will work
with long filenames in the text file. You can get these from
places like www.jumbo.com and www.shareware.com.
3. YOU NOTICE THAT THE RPM OF ENGINE 1 IS LOWER THAN ALL THE REST:
try pressing Shift-4, and then Shift-4 again. If this doesn't work,
go to the World/Time & Season menu, and click on the Set Actual
Time button. Set the time for 2200 (10 pm). Click OK. Now go
there again and set the time back to what you want. Engine 1 RPM
should now be OK. This is an FS98 bug.
4. A SUBPANEL IS APPEARING ON THE SIDE OF THE SCREEN:
the normal position of a subpanel is defined in the panel.cfg file;
you can drag them around if you want to change their positions. See the
section HOW TO USE THE SUBPANELS above to see how you can get this
automatically.
5. A SUBPANEL IS A SMALL SQUARE IN THE UPPER LEFT CORNER (OR IT
IS NOT IN ITS PROPER LOCATION): you have probably used this
panel in a Flight that originally used a different panel. Just
select a plane that uses a different panel (like the Cessna), and
then select your original plane again. If you want to, you can
then move the subpanels to their proper locations and resave the
Flight as described in HOW TO USE THE SUBPANELS above.
6. I CAN'T CHANGE THE NUMBERS ON THE AUTOPILOT OR THE RADIOS: the
numbers on the autopilot and radio gauges are changed by clicking
the mouse on the little knobs below the digits; decrease them by
clicking to the left of the knobs, right of the knobs for increase.
7. I DON'T HEAR A "DING" WHEN I THROW THE SEAT BELT OR NO SMOKINGS
SWITCHES, OR ANY BLOWER NOISE WHEN TURNING THE AIR CONDITIONING ON.
You must move the sign.wav and aircond.wav files into your FS98 'sound'
folder to hear the sounds (not the aircraft's own sound folder).
8. If you have problems that cannot be corrected by the steps above,
feel free to email me. However, I will expect that if you have
one of the problems listed above, that you will tell me that you
tried the fix and it didn't work - otherwise I will just guide you
to this section!! If you don't have any of the problems above,
make sure that you READ EACH STEP in the instructions again and
double check that it was performed correctly. I will expect you in
your email to tell me you have done this, or course...
(Thanks to TomGibson again).
***********************************************************************
NOTE: Many classic airliners can be downloaded free from
Tom Gibson's Classic Airliner WEB site at -
http://members.aol.com/TGFltsim/
**************************************************************************
Now the legal stuff (please read!):
==================================
PARTIAL COPYRIGHT (c) 1999 BY FRANCOIS OUELLETTE.
COPYRIGHT (c) 1998 BY TOM GIBSON, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, FOR THE ORIGINAL
VERSION OF THIS PANEL.
Prop2ERK*.GAU's COPYRIGHT 1998 BY ERNIE KENNEDY, AND SIGNS.GAU COPYRIGHT
1998 BY CHRISTIAN KOEGLER. THESE MAY BE FREELY DISTRIBUTED AS LONG AS
THEY ARE USED IN FREEWARE PANELS. PLEASE GIVE PROPER CREDIT TO THE
AUTHORS.
ORIGINAL CONNIE PANEL BMP'S:
COPYRIGHT 1998 BY JUAN PABLO and PABLO BENLLIURE, MODIFICATIONS
COPYRIGHT 1998 BY TOM GIBSON, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
PORTIONS OF THIS PANEL UTILIZE DEFAULT GAUGES THAT ARE COPYRIGHTED
BY MICROSOFT CORPORATION. THE DEFAULT PORTIONS OF THE REPAINTED
GAUGES ARE COPYRIGHT 1997 BY MICROSOFT CORPORATION, MODIFICATIONS ARE
COPYRIGHT 1998 BY TOM GIBSON, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ENJOY, AND FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME WITH SUGGESTIONS FOR
IMPROVEMENTS. OR CUSTOMIZE TO YOUR LIKING.
THESE FILES ARE THE PROPERTY OF THE AUTHOR, AND CANNOT BE
RE-SOLD OR PACKAGED WITH ANY PRODUCT FOR SALE, WITHOUT THE
EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE AUTHORS. THIS IS FREEWARE!!
THE GAUGES IN THIS ARCHIVE WHICH BEGIN WITH THE WORD "PROPLINER" MAY
NOT BE USED IN OTHER PANELS (WHETHER USED AS IS OR MODIFIED) WITHOUT
CREDIT TO THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR/MODIFIER (Tom Gibson), AND THIS MESSAGE
MUST ACCOMPANY THE GAUGES: "Some gauges in this panel were used
originally in the DC-6 IFR panel by Tom Gibson; this panel is available
at Tom's Classic Airliner Page, http://members.aol.com/TGFltsim/".
SEVERAL OF THE OTHER INCLUDED GAUGES MAY BE AVAILABLE ELSEWHERE ON THE
INTERNET FOR SEPARATE DOWNLOAD, HOWEVER.
YOU MAY UPLOAD THIS INTACT FILE ARCHIVE TO ANY OTHER SERVER THAT HAS
A FREE DISTRIBUTION POLICY. IF THESE FILES ARE UPLOADED TO RESTRICTED
SERVERS (I.E. COMPUSERVE)(NOT THE AUTHOR'S INTENTION),
THEY MAY BE DOWNLOADED AND UPLOADED TO OTHER SERVERS. THIS
NOTICE CONSTITUTES THE AUTHOR'S PERMISSION AND REQUIREMENT TO ALLOW
THIS.
THIS FILE ARCHIVE MAY NOT BE UPLOADED TO SERVERS THAT HAVE A SPECIFIC
CHARGE TO DOWNLOAD THIS ARCHIVE. THIS FILE ARCHIVE MAY BE UPLOADED TO
SERVERS THAT HAVE A CHARGE FOR THEIR GENERAL USE (OR A FEE FOR IMPROVED
ACCESS); HOWEVER, IF THIS TEXT FILE IS OMITTED OR MODIFIED IN ANY WAY
LEGAL ACTION WILL RESULT.
THIS ENTIRE TEXT FILE MUST BE INCLUDED IN ANY DISTRIBUTION. DO NOT
CHANGE THIS FILE ARCHIVE WITHOUT PERMISSION!
THE AUTHORS ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE THAT YOU MIGHT
INCUR AS A RESULT OF USING THESE PRODUCTS. YOU ASSUME THE RISK
OF USE.
