As I sat down to write this review an interesting thought occurred to me. Was there, I wondered, any significance to the fact that George Lucas's much anticipated Star Wars movie sequel and Eric Ernst's also much anticipated 757/767 Version 7.0 panel for FS98 were both being released on the same date - Wednesday, May 19?

The news media have been predicting for weeks that thousands of workers will stay away from work on that day to see the movie. Would thousands of simmers call in sick so they could fly Eric's panel I asked myself? I mean let's face it, companies are already anticipating high absenteeism - soooooo - here's your chance guys!!

But seriously folks, one thing I can tell you after flying an advance copy for the last day or so, is that this is a panel worth considering missing work for!

Some quick background before we get to the panel features - although I suspect that Eric and his design team needs no introduction. In real life Eric is an ATR72 Captain for American Eagle Airlines . He's been a leading FS freeware panel designer since first appearing on the scene with his Saab 340B panel several years ago and has produced a steady stream of super accurate panels including previous versions of the 757/767 that's the subject of this review. In the process he has assembled an "all star" team of other FS gauge and panel programmers and designers whose collaborative effort under his leadership has resulted in this latest version. While Eric has played the lead role he is quick to point out that this is truly a team effort and all members of the team deserve equal credit for the success of this panel.

Figure 1: Ernst Team FS98 757/767 panel. The prominent copyright notices on the EICAS screens when the panel starts up are the result of the recent increase in freeware piracy - a scourge that threatens the future of freeware panels (Atlanta scenery by Airport 2000)

Figure 2: Real 757/767 panel. This is actually a 757 panel but the high degree of commonality between the 757 and 767 layouts allows joint use of the Ernst Team panel (Photo by Brent Hebert from the Avsim library)

Figure 3: The 50 page Systems Manual is the starting point for using this panel. You'll want to be sure and read it over before going flying - or you may find your bird won't fly!

I've flown all of the previous versions of this panel and have watched it evolve over time. What sets the latest version (7.0) apart from the previous ones - and from other FS98 add on panels - is the depth and sophistication of systems simulation incorporated by Eric and his team. Working overheads, EICAS status and warning alerts, GPWS - it's all there in much greater detail than ever before. As a result I'll state right up front here that I think this is the finest freeware add on panel yet released for an FS98 transport category aircraft. In my opinion it equals or surpasses in features and design most (but not all) commercially available add on panels. It's not perfect but it's real real good.

If you've read some of my previous panel reviews you know I've pointed out that almost as much time and effort is spent in managing and monitoring systems when you're flying modern transport category airplanes as is spent in "stick and rudder" flying.

This is important to realize because to get a true feel for how it really is in a jet transport cockpit you need a panel that models the system management and monitoring tasks that airline pilots routinely perform. Fuel, electrical, pneumatic and hydraulic systems are the big players in this game. Freeware panels with those kinds of functionality up til now have been pretty few and far between. Well, no more.

So what are we looking at here? The panel is for the 757/767 series of airliners. Since there's a high degree of commonality between the cockpits in the real airplanes this panel can be accurately used for either model. My test flying was on the 767. The 767's I like to use are those put out by Project Freeware - I find their visual and flight models to be very accurate. The flight model I used for testing this panel, however, was the payware Precision Flight Manuals 767 air file which I teamed up with the Project Freeware visual model. The PF flight models are quite good but for real precision in things like fuel burn and flight planning that just about 100% matches real world numbers you might want to consider the Precision Manuals version. Your choice of course.

Now as many of you know Eric is famous for not being very fond of the "photo real" approach taken by some panel designers. The result is a hand drawn panel with correct window frames and center strut appearance that has a nice, clean appearance and crisp very readable gauges - one of the advantages of the hand drawn approach. The other advantage being that generally speaking hand drawn panels don't make as much of a hit on frame rate as photo reals do. Despite the high level of detail in Eric's panel I found the frame rates on my mid level PII300 test system with modest ATI Rage Pro video card to be very high at 1025x720 resolution in all situations. Installation is a straightforward matter of unzipping the panel download file to your main FS98 directory.

The Systems Manual

The starting point for using this panel is the 50 page Systems Manual that comes with it. You really need to study this book a bit before you try your hand at flying - just the way it is with real pilots getting a rating on a new airplane. Don't expect to be able to locate or understand all of the panel functions without some study . Included in the Manual is a complete "Normal Procedures Checklist" based on information from a number of major airlines but customized to only reflect relevant items for the FS98 panel. You can use the checklist to take you through the normal sequence of aircraft operations pretty much just as it would happen in the real thing. Besides insuring you don't overlook any critical steps this gives you a good feel for the "flow" of actions in the cockpit. In real transport operations there is an orderly and systematic "flow" to the actions performed by the flight crew and in using the overhead, main and center instrument panels. I found the "flow" in this panel using the included procedures and checklist to be virtually identical to real aircraft operation - and after all - isn't that the whole point of simulations?

Figure 4: The Normal Procedures Checklist. Use of the checklist will greatly assist you as well as introduce a high degree of realism in using the panel. Use of checklists is mandatory in real world operations

Figure 5: The Overhead Panel. This has the system controls for electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic and fuel systems. These must be configured correctly to power the flight instrument, start engines, manage fuel and perform other key functions

Figure 6: The ability to make a "cold aircraft" start is a neat feature of this panel. In this shot there is no electrical power on the aircraft. You must correctly configure the electrical system on the overhead panel to power up the flight instruments. This is where the checklist comes in handy

Figure 7: Things work so much better with electrical power! Here we've started the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) off the Overhead panel to power the instruments and displays. External power is also an option

The Panel

OK - enough background and such. Let's get started on the panel itself. For discussion purposes we'll break the panel up into three main sections: the Overhead, the Main Instruments and the Center Instruments. Rather than duplicate Eric's 50 page Manual with a detailed discussion of every knob, switch and dial and how it works what I'm going to do is try and to focus on some highlights and the things which I think make this panel unique. The "big picture" as it were.

The Overhead

Let's start with the Overhead Panel. This is pretty unique just by itself. Eric calls it the "brains" of the panel and this feature is the main thing that sets this panel apart from Eric's previous 757/767 versions as well as other FS98 add on panels. Other freeware panels have featured overhead panels but none so far have incorporated the depth of system simulation that Eric's design team has programmed into this one. Up til now this kind of detail was usually seen on high end (i.e. high cost) simulators like PS1 or Elite's MD80 - so getting it in a freeware panel is a real bargain. Key systems with good functionality built in that are on the Overhead Panel are the Electrical, Fuel Management, Hydraulic and Pneumatic systems. Never mind that there's no underlying simulation model of these systems programmed into FS98 or that in many cases the simulation effect is, as Eric describes it, "faked" when you throw a switch. The bottom line is you get the right indications and things happen or don't happen as a result of how you handle these systems - you can't ignore them! And that's how it should be. That's the way it is in the real airplane. I don't know about you but I see this as "one giant step for simkind."
 

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You access the Overhead panel by either hitting "SHIFT 4" or clicking on the "LT OVRD" button on the visibible portion of the overhead just above the center window strut. The panel then pops up. When it first appears it's in a condensed format on the left center portion of your screen. You'll need to resize it to suit your viewing situation. You do this by clicking on a corner section and stretching it to the size you want. You can also drag the panel to whatever section of the screen you want. Figure 5 above shows the Overhead by itself and Figure 7 shows it positioned on the full screen sized for my 21" monitor (click on all images for a full screen view).

For explanation purposes Eric has designated 3 different sections of the Overhead Panel which he calls Channels A, B. and C corresponding to the left, center and right sides of the Overhead.

The main system on the left or "Channel A" side is the electrical system with sub panels for the battery, Auxiliary Power Unit (APU), the AC distribution buses and the generators. This is a fairly complex set of controls and you must understand it and configure it correctly to avoid problems! Figure 5 above shows the panel before startup of the electrical panel - no instruments!

Principal systems on the center or "Channel B" section of the overhead are the engine start panel and the fuel management panel. Again, the fuel management panel is pretty sophisticated in that it enables a number of combinations and permutations of fuel tank crossfeeding for fuel management. Note: for this part of the panel to be fully functional you must go into the "Aircraft Settings" "Fuel" menu and select "Manual Fuel Control."

The righthand or "Channel C" section of the overhead has the Pneumatic system on it. Although Eric has characterised this section as "completely faked" there are enough pushbuttons that work and flow bars that indicate flow and "Valve" lights that come on and go off to make you think you have a real working pneumatic system. - and - as I said before - isn't that what's it's all about. Pay close attention to the discussion of the Isolation Valves and the Duct Pressure gauge in the Manual section on this part of the overhead because if you don't have them set up correctly you will not be able to start the aircraft engines.

There's other stuff on the overhead panel, like "Seatbelt" sign switches and such, but I've touched on the main systems and the things that make this panel stand out. Before moving on I should note that many of the Warning, Advisory and Status lights that appear on the EICAS are tied to systems on the Overhead.

 

Figure 8: The Main Instrument panel contains all of the primary flight instruments including the two electronic displays - the EADI and EHSI. The airspeed indicator features a number of speed bugs which can be set and the RMI features selectable sources for the two needles including both VORs.

Figure 9: The Electronic Attitude Direction Indicator/Flight Director (EADI) on the main panel. This shot shows the different functions displayed on the face of the EADI with labels. You can see the wealth of data that is incorporated into this instrument (image by Eric Ernst)

Figure 10: The Electronic Horizontal Situation Indicator (EHSI) features multiple nav inputs as well as selectable ARC and ROSE display modes. The ROSE display mode is shown in this screenshot. You can also completely turn off the display and substitute an addon EFIS moving map display such as EFIS98 or NavDash in its place

Figure 11: In this shot we see the Flight Director in action. The aircraft has just taken off from KORD Runway 14L. The dual magenta colored Flight Director pitch and roll bars on the EADI are commanding a climbing right turn to intercept the 334 radial of the Chicago Heights VOR.

The Main Instruments

This part of the panel, which represents the Captain's set of instruments, contains the primary flight instruments. These include the airspeed indicator, barometric altimeter, vertical speed indicator, radar altimeter, a clock, and the two primary electronic displays - the Electronic Attitude Direction Indicator/Flight Director (EADI) and the Electronic Horizontal Situation Indicator (EHSI) - all of which are similar to and familiar from previous versions of this panel - but which include many updates and improvements. The overall view of this section is shown in Figure 8 above.

The airspeed, alitmeter, clock and RMI are familiar instruments to most simmers but these versions have a lot of nice added touches. The airspeed gauge features a number of speed bugs that can be set via mouse click so you can set up your V1, Vr, V2 speeds, the altimeter features both a BARO knob to set the altimeter in both millibars and inches of mercury as well as a Decision Height (DH) set knob which moves the DH bug on the altimeter and also displays the DH in a window on the EHSI just above the radar altitude. When the aircraft reaches the DH on the radar altimeter the Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) will call out "Minimums, Miniumums." The clock is programmed to display GMT, elapsed time and act as a chromonmeter (stopwatch). Finally, the Radio Magnetic Indicator (RMI) is capable of selecting a separate Nav source for each course needle including VOR1, VOR2 and ADF.

The real stars of the main instrument panel are the electronic flight displays - the EADI and EHSI. Again these instruments are similar to the ones featured in prior versions of this panel but have a number of improvements and refinements. The EADI incorporates a full Flight Director (FD) system that functions "100% like the real flight director." This FD version does not require you to switch modes as the previous version did because it is programmed to recognize what mode the autopilot is in and direct the flight according to those inputs. The EHSI can accept multiple Nav source inputs and has selectable ROSE or ARC display modes. You can also turn off the EHSI entirely and substitute a third party FMC/EFIS Moving Map display such as EFIS98 or NavDash in its place. The panel does not include an FMC - "for now" as Eric says which raises the intriguing possibility that we may see this feature in future revisions. Figure 11 above shows the FD in action.

The Center Panel

The final section of the panel is the center instrument section where the major systems are the Autopilot Flight Director System (AFDS), the Engine Indication and Crew Alerting System (EICAS), the Ground Proximity Warning system (GPWS) and the Radio control panel.

Figure 12 below shows the AFDS. This has many functions and submodes including 3 Autothrottle modes, 3 vertical change (altitude change) modes, Altitude hold, 2 separate Heading Hold modes as well as Approach and Autoland Modes. You can see from the figure how complex the functions are. One of my favorite features here is the Bank Limit switch which lets you select a limiting bank angle for turns - no more automatic 25-30 degree rolls with your heading change - keeps the virtual passengers happy and is much more realistic for the type of turns transports typically make.

Figure 12: The Autopilot Flight Director System (AFDS) control panel with functions labelled. Eric rates this in combination with the EADI as "one of the most complex flight guidance tools available." It's a system which took a year of progress and four months of intensive programming effort to bring to it's current form. You can see the many function available. (Eric Ernst image)

The other complex but very realistic gauge in this section of the panel is the EICAS which displays engine data as well as warning and status lights concerning the various aircraft systems.

Figure 12: The rest of the center instrument panel with the EICAS, GPWS and Radio stack shown. There are 2 versions of engine gauges available for the panel - one for GE engines and the other for P&W or Rolls Royce engines. This is the P&W and Rolls version with an EPR gauge. A number of CAS advisory messages are displayed on the top screen

The Crew Alerting system (CAS) messages which are displayed on the gauge come in 3 types - Warnings (displayed in Red), Cautions (displayed in amber on this panel but yellow on the real airplane) and Advisories (displayed in yellow here). On the real 757/767 there are over 100 possible CAS messages. Eric's team has only implemented those relating to systems in FS98. Still and all - I counted 47 possible messages on this panel - plenty to keep you occupied and quite a realistic touch.

The engine gauges are quite special and feature first of all two different versions depending on what model airplane you have. There are gauges for those aircraft with GE engines which use N1 as the primary power measurement and do not have an EPR gauge and a separate set for aircraft with either P&W or Rolls Royce engines which do have a EPR gauge as well as N1. The really special thing about them that is new with this panel are the built in features that include engine spoolup, spoolup sounds, temperature spikes during startup, slower spooldown times, residual EGT after engine shutdown and accurate indications when the engines are shutdown. What this all means is no more "instant on" engines. For the first time in FS98 the engine start and shutdown sequences are realistic with realistic times, gauge values, and appropriate sounds. Simply outstanding! If I had to pick one advance made in this panel that was the best of all I think it just might be this one.

The other major system display is the GPWS warning light annunciator panel. The panel features a complete GPWS system with both aural and visual warnings. The aural warning include "TERRAIN, TERRAIN", "WHOOP WHOOP PULL UP", "TOO LOW FLAPS", "TOO LOW GEAR", "TOO LOW TERRAIN" "DON'T SINK", "SINK RATE", "MINIMUMS, MINIMUMS" and "GLIDESLOPE." The visual warnings include "CONFIG", "PULL UP". "A/P DISC", "OVSP", "SPEED BRAKES", "A/T DISC" and "G/S INHIBIT." In other words a full complement.

Finally, the Landing Gear panel on the far right side of the center panel includes a new "OFF" position in addition to the "UP" and "DOWN" positions. Another totally realistic touch.

Overall Conclusion

Believe it or not in all this rambling I've just barely touched on the highlights of this outstanding panel. There is tremendous depth built in here - enough to keep you learning new things for quite some time. I could not find one thing not to like about this panel. It will enable you to fly as realistically as it is possible to do in FS98 - in other words - it's a "must have."

My recommendation - head on over right now to Eric's Freeware Panels and grab it

Credits

Here's Eric's words on the design team responsible for the panel. All serious simmers owe them a vote of thanks:

Lead Designer: Eric Ernst- I started work on this panel back in late 1997 and have never stopped fooling around with it. Actually version 4.3 was supposed to be the final revision . Thanks to a little design talent and the help of the following design team, version 7.0 of this panel is far more than I ever dreamed possible. I take credit for the panel concept, graphics work and gauge design concepts/bitmaps. But the real talent is listed below in our design team.

The Design Team:

Laurent Crenier- AFDS (Autopilot Flight Director System), EADI and overhead panel programming. Without Laurent's programming skills this panel is nothing! Laurent and I actually started corresponding about autopilot changes almost 1 year ago. And it is his oustanding programming skill that continued to inspire my desire to improve this panel beyond my expectations.

Wade Chafe- Programming many of the main gauges, gauge design, and numerous extras. Out of the blue Wade sent me his first contribution to the panel (the RMI). And has since contributed his programming talent to many of the main instruments, GPWS and numerous other gauges.

Christian Kögler (HGHB)- Gauge programming. Version 6.4 of this panel was a major collaboration between the two of us. Now Chris provides us with the HGHB custom gauges for this panel. Chris has been a friend for over 1 year now and has contributed greatly to furthering new developments in gauge design.

Andreas Jaros- EHSI programming/design. Andi was my original mentor for gauge modification and hex editing. Without Andi's help and guidance my panel designs would have ended with version 1!!

Todd Legon- The entertainment director and only outside beta tester. Todd has been instrumental in watching out for my best interests in the sim world as well. CFD.

The Support Team:

Raymond Ernst- Retired AA 767 Captain (LGA) and inspiration for this panel.

Geir Otto Olsen- Gear indication gauge programming.

Hiroyuki Toyohara- Tape RA and digital trim gauge programming.

Mike Weerasinghe- Toggle panel button programming.

Emmanuel Parot- Outstanding AA 757 aircraft (old livery) and for persistently asking for me to update the flap gauge.

Daniel P. Hall- For taking the time and expense to send some invaluable information on the 767. Many thanks and keep 'em flying!

Sean Tolmasoff - For providing some nice overhead panel scans for the 757/767 and his support on this an other projects.

Chen Juhng Shin (Benjamin Chen)- For gaubzr10...the best gauge browsing utility.

Chuck Dome- For his GAU2BMP and GAUMOD98 utilities...both of which I have used extensively in the past to make better

Standard Disclaimer The review above is a subjective assessment of the work of the authors. There is no connection between the panel author and the reviewer, and we feel this review is unbiased and truly reflects the performance of the panel in the simming environment. This disclaimer is posted here in order provide you with background information on the reviewer and connections that may exist between him/her and the contributing party.