What a beautiful aircraft !!! I simply love the R4D/DC-3...finally, I can fly an aircraft that's almost as old as me !!!Is it possible to assign key commands to the various switches on the panels? I am really considering mocking up a cockpit, but I need to control the panel with keystrokes, and not mouse clicks.Can this be done, and if not, is there an alternative?Thank you very much..Jim

Hi Jim,Thanks! :-) Depends on the switches you are talking about. Most of them already are controlled by FS key commands. To pick an obvious one, the G key will operate the gear levers, for example. But there are less frequently used key commands hidden in the Options/Controls/Assignments menu, such as Control+Shift+C which will close the cowl flaps by increments. Some available key controls are not assigned by default in FS. One such, useless in the R4D, but very important for our upcoming Avenger, is the Wing Fold and Extend command. We chose to assign the otherwise unused Shift+F key command for that. You can decide which of these many commands you want to use and make your own assignments and changes to suit your preferences.Other than using the key commands allotted by FS, you will have to use the mouse to operate a few controls, like the fuel tank quantity switch on the R4D.It's funny - we get so many requests to make more things mouse controllable in the VC, and here's someone who wants to go back to the keyboard! Different key-strokes for different folks!Bill RambowMAAM-SIM http://www.fssupport.com/maam/hgrsm_blkani.gif

Thank you for the reply, Bill.The only reason I asked about the assigning keystrokes to switch events, is so that I can then use a hardware switch to emulate the keystroke, and thus operate the switch.I just want be able to fly this bird by never touching the keyboard OR the mouse !!Jim

Hi JimTo follow up on Bill's input, you may like to take a look at what Peter Dowson's FSUIPC can do for you:http://secure.simmarket.com/product_info.p...roducts_id=2068Basically, any switch that functions in FS can be mapped if you know what you are about, over and beyond those that appear on the FS assignments list. Common sense, really, as if they can be clicked with a mouse and work, then they must have an "action", and an action needs a switch. Trouble is, identifying what is what. With XML gauge programming, the code is open to see and easy to decipher, but our gauges are the traditional GAU format and so it is harder to break out what is what for your purposes, perhaps, although there are certainly coding programs that would allow you to peek inside.I speak through the top of my hat, by the way, as I am neither gauge programmer nor understander of things complex and mysterious. Our man for that is Fred Banting, who may see this post. But I don't think you'll go far wrong exploring Peter's addon, however, as it is bound to have some functionality that would be useful to you in your planning. Look at his WideFS gizmo too, which allows external programs to interface with FS. In other words, you could set up a REAL fuel gauge switch and so on :)MarkMark "Dark Moment" BeaumontVP Fleet, DC-3 AirwaysTeam Member, MAAM-SIM[a href=http://www.swiremariners.com/cx.html" target="_blank]http://www.paxship.com/avsimlogo.jpg[/a]

Thank you for your input, Mark. Yes, I do understand (sorta!) FSUIPC and do have registered both it and WideFS a long time ago.I will continue to dig and see what I can come up with. If I reach a point that I can't seem to find what I need, I just post again here.Thanks again, Bill and Mark. And I didn't think anyone would even take the time to respond !!Cheers...Jim

Another possibility is to use a program that that translates a mouse movement and button press into a keyboard action. If you search through AVSIM for key2mouse by Luciano Napolitano, you should find it.The only problem that I've found with this is that it only really works for 2D cockpits, if you fly in a VC then it's not very satisfactory.Best of luck,Tim