Hello everybody.Here is my attemt of modifying the Bell407.It comeswith a new paint job and electronic HSI and MFD displays and some extra instruments and an ADF radio.And yes,it's for FlyIITake care.Jan

Nice work!Will be in my hangar (and of course in the air) soon.. :-)Take care.Robert:-rotorEDCJ

I LOVE the new paintjob! Great work, Jan. Of course I'll download it even though I haven't flown any Fly!2 helos in a while. But it will make a good alternate chopper for my hangar. Thanks.P.S. I wish there were some way to make the panel a little smaller so you can SEE outside a bit better. But that seems to be a problem with lots of helos. Of course if the panel is TOO small, I can't read it anyway! LOL -Lindy :-wave

Thanks Lindy.I agree that in a helicopter it is important to have a good outside view.In FlyII I adjust the seat hight with a button on myjoystick so that I get a better view for takeoff/hover and landing. Also scrolling the panel so I just see the top of the HSI and upwards.That gives me all the important instruments. :) Here is a few framesfrom my DV camera of a flight in the AS365 Dauphin today.That giveyou an idea of the view from the cockpit.1 is hovering out to runway.2 is nose down to pick up speed on takeoff.3 what pilots with autopilot do when flying :)4 nose up and flaring prior to landing.Jan

Hello Jan!That are great shots! Isn't it a little boring flying with the autopilot :-) If you have more pics please post 'em :-)About adjusting the seat height, do you mean the head pitch? Or is there another feature I'm not aware of?Take care,Robert:-rotorEDCJ

Hello Robert.I guess I meant the head pitch, wich works like adjustingyour seat up or down.About the pictures,they are not of the highest standard because they are just captured frames from my digital videocamera.I filmed the entire test flight today,about 30 min of video.I seldom get to join the test flights,and even more rare to sit in theleft forward seat,so it was fun :) It gives more info for my other projectswhen I have all the readings from the instruments at various stages of the flight.And the autopilot makes life much more easy for the pilot and passengers.This flight was to test the co ordinated turnsystem,that was a little bit out of limit,so the ball went a fraction to the right.The pedals are mostly used in hover,no need in flight :)Jan

Hello Jan!That's sounds all really great! Maybe you've some webspace to post the video movie? :-)Think I asked you some time ago, ( ?) are you workin as a mechanic there? Great chance to join such flights, the systems of the larger helos are very impressive. When I think of all the work required in the 407......or even the older ones without Fadec...... :-)So long,Robert:-rotorEDCJ

Robert.I don't have any web space, so I guess the video stays on myhard drive.And yes,I 'm a mechanic.Worked mainly on the S61 and Bell412,and a year on the Apache in Germany.Now I'm in the rotorhead shopfor the Super Puma.Modern larger helos can be compared to airliners when it comes to electronic equipment and navigational/autopilot systems. :) Two shots of the Dauphin,on flight line and in hover.You can clearly see the angle it's tilting because of the torque effect.This rotates clockvise,so an american helo would normaly tilt to the left because of the rotors turning opposite direction over there :) But not always.The shots are frames from the video.Take care.Jan

I wish there were some way to make the panel a little smaller so you can SEE outside a bit better. But that seems to be a problem with lots of helos. Of course if the panel is TOO small, I can't read it anyway!Lindy,In FS, you can drag the panel out of the way, at least enough to see where you're going. Alternatively, you can convert the panel into a floating window and resize it. Sometimes, running the whole sim in separate windows is useful. For example (not to scale):[table cellpadding=20 cellspacing=1 border=1][tr align=center][td colspan=4]Cockpit View (no panels)[br][br][br][br][br][br][/td][/tr][tr align=center][td]Panel[/td][td]Radios[/td][td]Collective[/td][td]Map[/td][/tr][/table]