DC-3 IFRPanel for FS98 by James Underwood
Featuring Arne Bartels Sperry 2.0 Autpilot

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NOTE: This is FREEWARE and is not to be sold or distributed for profit in any way.

CONTENTS: This package includes the following:
1) A zipped gauges file containing 44 gauges.
2) A zipped folder called "Panel" which contains 2 .bmp files and a panel.cfg file.
3) A zipped readme text (what you're looking at now)
4) A file_id.diz file you can discard.
5) A jpg picture you can stare at with awe and amazement because of its beauty.
6) An extensive HELP file by the makers of Sperry 2.0 Autopilot

DESCRIPTION: This version of my DC2-3 panel came about as a result of many e-mails from folks wanting VOR1 and a DME added to my DC2jcu panel. I was not going to relent, but after trying Jeff Wheeler's excellent Real Weather program, decided I had to. The reason? Because Microsoft is so stingy about providing ground reports. Unless you're going to a BIG airport, likely as not there is no ATIS and therefore no weather report. Therefore you need a barometric pressure gauge and a windspeed\direction indicator to know what's going on. If you don't have them you can be flying too low or high and landing downwind without knowing it.
I have attempted to make this panel usable with 3D cards. If it isn't, try converting it to "GRAYSCALE" in Paint and it should work fine. If anyone has used any of my panels with a 3D card, please let me know how it worked at: jcumus@bluemarble.net.

INSTALLATION:

1)Unzip the gauges file directly into the FS98 gauges sub directory. You can do this directly from WINZIP by choosing "Select other folder" from the drop-down box, then going through the file structure like this: Program Files/ Microsoft Games/ Flight Simulator/ Gauges. Then just unzip it there. It's OK to overwrite files. I've done it and had no problems. But if you want to be safe, make sure the "overwite files automatically" box is unchecked, then say no when it asks you if you want to overwrite. Do this every time it asks and it will not load the redundant instruments, only the new ones.

2) Unzip the contents of the Panel folder and the other files into a temporary directory. I have one set up called "unzipped" where I unzip everything automatically. Then go there and copy the contents of the panel folder into the panel subfolder of the aircraft of your choice. There are three files in the panel folder, two .bmp files and the panel.cfg file. In this case, make sure the panel folder of the aircraft is empty before you copy the files there, otherwise you might have some peculiar surprises.

3) If you've done all of this correctly, you will also have some further README type files in this directory. The SPERRY help file will be invaluable to you, so keep it safe.

4) Now . . Go fly that bird! (You might have to resize the panel a little. You will certainly have to resize the view window, as your taste dictates. Just grab it with the mouse and drag it until the upper or lower edge is visible, than drag that up or down until you get it how you want it. Your best bet is to have the bottom of the view window just below the panel window frame's lowest edge.)

NOTE: This panel has been tested at 640x480 resolution in 2D mode only. I am assured by other flightsimmers that it works even better at higher resolutions, but since I don't run in them I cannot vouch for it.

QUICKTIPS on SPERRY AUTOPILOT

KNOWN BUG: The Sperry misbehaves when you change views. Essentially the ATTitude is not held correctly. It will settle down when you return to the front view, but you may gain/lose some altitude. The author (Arne Bartels) is aware of this, but at this time no-one seems to know what to do about it.

Although the Sperry comes with a detailed HELP file, here are some quicktips to get you started.
1) It is important to understand that unlike other autopilots in FS98, the Sperry actually FLIES the aircraft. It doesn't just hold altitude and compass heading. As such, you have to tell it what to do.
2) Sperry does not hold ALTitude. Instead it holds ATTitude, a much different thing.
3) Take a look at this thing (there is a good photo in the HELP file). Notice what looks like an old-fashioned radio tuner. In fact, this is a double direction indicator. The LOWER is a gyrocompass; the UPPER is a reading of the course the autopilot is set to. Now, - THIS IS IMPORTANT! - the knob above this and to the right a little is the course selector. You can use it to preset a course and have the plane fly to it by setting it and then turning on the autopilot ("Z" or however you do it normally) and you can use it to change course while enroute. This knob works with the mouse, just like any auto; + means higher compass number; - means lower. In short, this aspect of the Sperry should be familiar.
4) HOWEVER, please note than when the AP is turned on the Sperry automatically flies toward the course set on the UPPER dial. To have it HOLD THE CURRENT COURSE hit CTRL+H IMMEDIATELY.
Also, the Sperry immediately engages ATTITUDE control. This is where it gets tricky.
5) The thing to do before engaging Sperry is to decide if you want to go up or down or hold altitude. Notice the knob - THIS IS IMPORTANT! - in the upper right hand corner of the instrument - way to the top and right. It is mouse controlled with plus and minus increments corresponding to up and down. If you click + the nose goes up; - brings it down. Notice that I said "THE NOSE GOES UP AND DOWN." In other words, this knob changes the flight ATTITUDE of the aircraft, which means you have to work a little to get it to do what you want. In short, you use these up-and-down mouse clicks to either climb or descend; hold altitude, etc., but YOU HAVE TO ADJUST THE POWER ACCORDINGLY. AND THE RPMs TOO. For example, if you want to hold altitude, click plus or minus with the mouse until the aircraft's ATTITUDE is level flight, then adjust the power and rpm's and fuel mixture to KEEP IT THERE. If you have too much power the aircraft will climb; too little and it will descend. Once you get the hang of it, though, you'll be able to hold ALTITUDE with a fair degree of precision. I can set it up; go watch a movie, and it will have gained or lost less than one hundred feet by the time I'm looking at the end titles. Of course, if there is a lot of weather, things get trickier - just as they do in real flying.

NEW INSTRUMENTS

1) Barometric Pressure Gauge. This allows you to reset the altimeter when the pressure changes. When the RED LIGHT goes on hit "B" on your keyboard and the altimeter will re-set to the correct height.
2) VOR1 and DME. The DME is tunable to VOR1 only on the panel, but you can set it to VOR2 by going to AIRCRAFT/SETTINGS/NAVIGATION in the program to set it to VOR2 if you need both. Switch back and forth using the RIGHT switch under the DME. (Make sure the thing is on by using the LEFT switch)
3) Shift+2 to ADF radio tunable to decimals for Euro-flying.

OTHER INSTRUMENTS

1)Shift+2 to simple GPS.Not everyone has aviation charts, and microsoft gives NDB postions by latitude and longitude, so to find them without charts is impossible.
This is a really neat little device, and once again I forgot who designed it, or I'd thank him personally. It works like this: Just click on "set" and punch in coordinates then click OK. You'll get a TRUE compass heading to your destination, a DME readout, and what amounts to an ILS gauge that tells you whether you're on course or off - just center the needle and you're on. The heading given is TRUE, however, so unless the compass variation is zero what you fly will be off by that amount. For example, in the San Francisco Bay Area the variation is 16 degrees east, so if you take off from SFO the heading to LAX will read 138, but to center the needle you'll be flying 122. Obviously this will change from time to time, so check it every 50 miles or so. Also, this GPS gauge calculates seconds in increments of 60, whereas Micrsoft calculates in hundreds. I just take one-third off the Microsoft numbers and it works fine. NOTE: MAKE SURE YOU SET "EAST" or "WEST" LONGITUDE!
5)RPM Gauges: Occasionally one of these will act up and give a wrong reading. A check of manifold pressure, oil, EGT, etc, will show everything to be OK, though. I tried every rpm gauge I could find and they all did this sometimes - usually if I've jumped from one airplane to another or changed something in the panel.cfg file. Restarting the computer will resolve this, but my advice is to ignore it as a silly glitch.
6)PRIMARY FLIGHT INSTRUMENTS: This time I've used the "Classc T" arrangement for these instruments, as that's what they used in 1938.
7) The RED DOT: The dot under the lower aluminum window framing directly over the altimeter a few inches - This is a cheat and marks the runway aiming point. Use it as a bomb site and hit the centerline!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This panel started out being Thomas Ferber's reworking of Don Alexander's DC-3-30 panel, and I want to thank both for their wonderful work. I also owe a debt to the many makers of instruments without whom we just wouldn't be flying. I don't know your names, but I thank you all. I also thank Tom Gibson, because I use some of his instruments, but also for his fantastic "Classic Airliners" site. Thanks, too, to HGHB and C&K instrument makers for their excellent instruments

LEGAL

DC3JCUV2 copyright 1998 by James Underwood. This panel is FREEWARE and may not be sold or distributed for profit. It may, however, be distributed at no cost to anyone, as long as it is not packaged with priced merchandise.

LIABILITY

The author of this package assumes no liability whatsoever for any damage it may cause to user's hardware or software. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. This panel has been tested on an IBM compatible PC with a Pentium 133 processor and Diamond Stealth II Turbo video card, on which it works fine. Other systems may produce different results.

CONTACT

Any comments or suggestion, please leave a message for me at: jcumus@bluemarble.net

Happy flying! James Underwood, Composer, Bloomington, IN