Not mine. And it is the latest FSX version....unless they have changed it.Here is my Q with the 430, in this case, I didn't need to fill the recessed storage bin.

Your panel is exactly what I am trying to do with my 182. Could you give me a list of the products I need to accomplish this? Also I bought the WX500 from realityXP. Could I drop that in the empty hole at the bottom? I am a newb at this, so please excuse the ignorance.

Your panel is exactly what I am trying to do with my 182. Could you give me a list of the products I need to accomplish this? Also I bought the WX500 from realityXP. Could I drop that in the empty hole at the bottom? I am a newb at this, so please excuse the ignorance.

The gauges and radio sets are:Reality FL T, FL N, GNS 430 WAAS, and Friendly Panel ('gauge package').I believe the WX500 would be too large for that space. You could do it, but it would be out of proportion, or 'squished'.I also have a version of the panel with the Reality GNS530 as well. But, when you use the 530, everything gets dropped down, and that space becomes covered.The Friendly Panel radios sets are really a great bargain, and they have functionality that most do not. Most all my aircraft that are equipped stock with simplified Bendix units get changed-out with the Friendly Panel versions. They even have a set that will work with the default aircraft that utilize 3D knobs. I have found I can use those in some other third party aircraft as well.

The gauges and radio sets are:Reality FL T, FL N, GNS 430 WAAS, and Friendly Panel ('gauge package').I believe the WX500 would be too large for that space. You could do it, but it would be out of proportion, or 'squished'.I also have a version of the panel with the Reality GNS530 as well. But, when you use the 530, everything gets dropped down, and that space becomes covered.The Friendly Panel radios sets are really a great bargain, and they have functionality that most do not. Most all my aircraft that are equipped stock with simplified Bendix units get changed-out with the Friendly Panel versions. They even have a set that will work with the default aircraft that utilize 3D knobs. I have found I can use those in some other third party aircraft as well.

Brian could you possibly share your panel.cfg for the 182Q? That VC looks pretty nice, been a while since I was editing panels so I am a bit rusty.Cheers!Paul.

The gauges and radio sets are:Reality FL T, FL N, GNS 430 WAAS, and Friendly Panel ('gauge package').I believe the WX500 would be too large for that space. You could do it, but it would be out of proportion, or 'squished'.I also have a version of the panel with the Reality GNS530 as well. But, when you use the 530, everything gets dropped down, and that space becomes covered.The Friendly Panel radios sets are really a great bargain, and they have functionality that most do not. Most all my aircraft that are equipped stock with simplified Bendix units get changed-out with the Friendly Panel versions. They even have a set that will work with the default aircraft that utilize 3D knobs. I have found I can use those in some other third party aircraft as well.

Thank you for your help. I purchased all of the add ons last night, and got them working. One more question however. Does the 430 act as your COM1/NAV1 and your Bendix act as COM2/NAV2?

The gauges and radio sets are:Reality FL T, FL N, GNS 430 WAAS, and Friendly Panel ('gauge package').I believe the WX500 would be too large for that space. You could do it, but it would be out of proportion, or 'squished'.I also have a version of the panel with the Reality GNS530 as well. But, when you use the 530, everything gets dropped down, and that space becomes covered.The Friendly Panel radios sets are really a great bargain, and they have functionality that most do not. Most all my aircraft that are equipped stock with simplified Bendix units get changed-out with the Friendly Panel versions. They even have a set that will work with the default aircraft that utilize 3D knobs. I have found I can use those in some other third party aircraft as well.

I came up with one more question for you. When I fly at night, there are some rectangles that appear to be part of the main panel that "shine" through my Friendly Panel and GNS430W. I can see they line up with the original 182 equipment where the frequency numbers are displayed. Were you able to get rid of these rectangles? They make the GPS look discolored at night.

Bert - I've been doing some experimentation with FS Panel Studio and the only issue I've come up against is my lack of a sense of scale when arranging the gauges as I would like - I'm experimenting with the GPS window as I never make use of it. I think it's going to be a matter of backing up my panel file carefully, then messing about with it until I achieve the desired result :).

FS Panel Studio automatically makes incremental backups of the panel.cfg file everytime you make any change and save it...I also cannot emphasize enough the need to read the excellent documentation that is available via the Help toolbar icon... :(

Coming into this with no prior knowledge, some of the documentation seems as clear as mud (and makes little to no mention of virtual cockpits and fsx, how the various panel views relate to the virtual cockpits and various other little snippets it's been a lot of fun to find out by trial and error :). ) ... the comments here, however, have been much easier for a novice like myself to understand.I now successfully have replaced the GPS window with a popup containing an autopilot, a proper decimal adf and a hsi with a heading bug and, aside from a desire to fiddle with scale a little, am absolutely delighted with the result :).I'm going to be taking the same approach to every Carenado aircraft with 3D knobs that interfere with editing the panel!Made 'brave' by this, I now feel clear to tackle putting in the friendly panels radios into the 'higher numbered' Cessnas.

Coming into this with no prior knowledge, some of the documentation seems as clear as mud (and makes little to no mention of virtual cockpits and fsx, how the various panel views relate to the virtual cockpits and various other little snippets it's been a lot of fun to find out by trial and error :). ) ... the comments here, however, have been much easier for a novice like myself to understand.I now successfully have replaced the GPS window with a popup containing an autopilot, a proper decimal adf and a hsi with a heading bug and, aside from a desire to fiddle with scale a little, am absolutely delighted with the result :).

Good to hear it worked out for you!

Bert/Bill: I've been using the easy "fix" to replace the 182Q's AP with the default Bendix/King AP & it works great, but I'm having a "night" issue I've tried to figure out on my own with no luck. I've commented out the overhead cockpit lighting in the aircraft.cfg file which makes night flying a real pleasure, but unfortunately now I can't read the AP's info on the gauge, it is so dim I can't make it out. All other gauges are great and look fine. Is there a way I can fix this; or will I have to turn on the overhead lights again? (Which I do not want to do!)Thanks for any info you can provide on this.

Bert/Bill: I've been using the easy "fix" to replace the 182Q's AP with the default Bendix/King AP & it works great, but I'm having a "night" issue I've tried to figure out on my own with no luck. I've commented out the overhead cockpit lighting in the aircraft.cfg file which makes night flying a real pleasure, but unfortunately now I can't read the AP's info on the gauge, it is so dim I can't make it out. All other gauges are great and look fine. Is there a way I can fix this; or will I have to turn on the overhead lights again? (Which I do not want to do!)Thanks for any info you can provide on this.

The only thing I can think of, is to play around with the colors and intensity in the overhead lighting to make it less intrusive..Maybe Bill has some tricks up his sleeve..

Bert/Bill: I've been using the easy "fix" to replace the 182Q's AP with the default Bendix/King AP & it works great, but I'm having a "night" issue I've tried to figure out on my own with no luck. I've commented out the overhead cockpit lighting in the aircraft.cfg file which makes night flying a real pleasure, but unfortunately now I can't read the AP's info on the gauge, it is so dim I can't make it out. All other gauges are great and look fine. Is there a way I can fix this; or will I have to turn on the overhead lights again? (Which I do not want to do!)Thanks for any info you can provide on this.

Look in the aircraft's ..\texture folder for all xxx_L.bmp (or xxx_L.dds) files. The modeler may have included emissive lightmapping in the model. If so, then you can edit the relevant xxx_L.bmp (or .dds) file in Photoshop, or any other graphics program to adjust the "gauge backlighting."While one may use any name at all for such "lightmaps," typically their names will be the same as the $texturename used in the [VCockpitNN] section. For example://--------------------------------------------------------[Vcockpit01]file=VC_DA42_01.bmp size_mm=1024,1024visible=0pixel_size=1024,1024texture=$vc_DA42_01In the above example, one would look in the ..\texture folder for a file named "vc_DA42_01_L.bmp (or .dds).

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll see what I can come up with, but Bert, I guess you don't have this issue with your replacement A/P because you added the Carenado Mooney A/P. Why the MS default A/P is different I don't quite get but Bill's comments about the VC file bmp is probably the reason. Thanks anyway.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll see what I can come up with, but Bert, I guess you don't have this issue with your replacement A/P because you added the Carenado Mooney A/P. Why the MS default A/P is different I don't quite get but Bill's comments about the VC file bmp is probably the reason. Thanks anyway.

Actually, the Mooney AP is also very faint at night... but here is a possible work around//--------------------------------------------------------[Window02]size_mm=384,96position=5visible=0ident=45gauge00=Bendix_King_Radio!Bendix-King Radio AP, 0,0,384,96This gives you a pop-up AP, using the shift-3 key (replacing the pop-up compass)On my system, this pop-up is better lit than the panel, and may just be sufficient to do what you want..Try it!

Thanks Bert, this works great and does solve my problem satisfactorily. I can definitely live with this arrangement for night flying in the 182Q.Thanks for your suggestions also Bill; I appreciate the help from you both.

Thanks Bert, this works great and does solve my problem satisfactorily. I can definitely live with this arrangement for night flying in the 182Q.Thanks for your suggestions also Bill; I appreciate the help from you both.

Happy it worked! :(