You are more than welcome. It's always enjoyable to drive something in FS that has a little bit of yourself in it.Unfortunately with the AVSIM file library down at the moment, some of the freeware bits and pieces you could add are not kicking about, so be sure to look on other flight sim websites for things of that nature too, there is certainly some avionics stuff which can be had for free. I just happened to mention the payware ones because that's what I use, but it doesn't have to be expensive to play around with things like that if you use freebie bits and pieces, or transplant them from other aircraft you already have.Just make sure you keep a back up copy of the aircraft's panel config file when playing around with stuff and you won't break anything that can't be easily fixed.Al

To many B's and not enough A's.

You are more than welcome. It's always enjoyable to drive something in FS that has a little bit of yourself in it.Unfortunately with the AVSIM file library down at the moment, some of the freeware bits and pieces you could add are not kicking about, so be sure to look on other flight sim websites for things of that nature too, there is certainly some avionics stuff which can be had for free. I just happened to mention the payware ones because that's what I use, but it doesn't have to be expensive to play around with things like that if you use freebie bits and pieces, or transplant them from other aircraft you already have.Just make sure you keep a back up copy of the aircraft's panel config file when playing around with stuff and you won't break anything that can't be easily fixed.Al

I will backup everything for sure.Its just great that all poskys files are available.ThanksRichy

Could you merge this 777 with the Overland model?

Finished my repaint of the Aerosim one. It scrubs up pretty well when you add a bit more realistic dirt to it:Al

Finished my repaint of the Aerosim one. It scrubs up pretty well when you add a bit more realistic dirt to it:Al

Very very nice.Just need to find some decent cabin anouncements and I'm pretty much set to take the T7 for a Ultra long haul flight.ThanksRichy

This question is for Alan Bradbury,How exactly did you add the Smiths FMC to the 3D cockpit? Did instructions to do that come from ISG?Alex

It's pretty simple to do if you just want a 2D pop up, but getting it in the VC is a little more tricky. There are instructions in one of the many PDFs which come with ISG's instruments, or you can in fact download config files from ISG's website for many aircraft, although for the Aerosim Triple Seven, nobody had done one, so I had to do it myself. Nevertheless, you can always download a config file for a similar aircraft and use that as a starting point if you are not at all sure of what to do.Anyway, here's the gist of what you do...The Smiths CDU gauge (FMC if you prefer) in the ISG set of instruments is called isg1!SMITHS_FMS_BR so you have to add that designation to your config file. How you do that is like this:You add a line to the config file to create a new window designation for that instrument, the only thing to watch out for, is numbering the thing properly. Here you can see I have added a few things in the excerpt from the 777's panel config file (it's the last line, the one I have underlined):// Panel Configuration file// BOEING 777-200// Copyright

Alan,UnFrea%#@*& believable!!!! I always wanted to be able to do that stuff. Now I MUST buy both the 777 and the CDU just so I can experiment and learn how exactly to do this!Thank you for taking the time to explain it all. I will keep u posted. Thanks again mate! :( Alex

Alan you are incredible!What a huge asset you are to the Avsim forums. You've helped me (unknowingly) countless times with your detailed and concise postings.How you ever get time to fly is beyond me.I'm going into hospital for 12 bloody weeks tomorrow :( :( , but will occasionally have internet access for my laptop.This forum, and especially folk like yourself will help keep me relatively sane during that time.A HUUUUGE thank you from me to you!

Now I MUST buy both the 777 and the CDU just so I can experiment and learn how exactly to do this!Thank you for taking the time to explain it all. I will keep u posted. Thanks again mate! :( Alex

You don't have to buy all that crap to try it. Try this instead (might want to back the files up first before you do any of this, just make copies and save them on the desktop or something):Open up the default Cessna 172 panel config file in windows notepad and note the name of the altimeter gauge in there (scroll down and you'll see it is called 'Cessna!Altimeter'). Now, open up the default DC-3 panel config file in notepad and note the name of the altimeter in the DC-3 (you'll see it is called 'Douglas_DC3!altimeter'). Highlight the DC-3 altimeter's gauge name and copy that text (control+C). Go back to the Cessna panel config file and hit paste with the Cessna's altimeter gauge name highlighted, so that you have the DC-3 gauge name in that bit instead (Control+V). Save the config file (Control+S), and you'll have the clunky old DC-3 altimeter in the Cessna 172 when you fire it up in FS. You may find you need to copy the gauge into the panel folder of the Cessna for this, shouldn't need to, but FS can be a bit funny about that stuff sometimes (you'll find the actual gauge in the FS gauges folder should it prove necessary).You could also try adding a gauge as a pop up by looking at the name of the windows for pop up stuff at the top of the config file and looking at the related window number and text further down in the file and winging it based on what you see. It's not hard to work out what to do. Just make sure you go up sequentially with the window number when adding more pop up windows and you won't go far wrong.If you find you are comfortable doing that little experiment (and there's no real reason why you shouldn't be, since it is hardly rocket science), you'll then know that you'll be comfortable with sticking those ISG gauges in things, swapping out GPS's, adding FMCs and all that stuff. You don't need the Aerosim 777 either, the POSKY one can have that treatment done to it just as easily, and I'm pretty sure there is a pre-made config file for the POSKY 777 which you can download off the ISG website.Al

Alan,Works just as u said it would. I want to second what Dougal said about u!Some quick questions though,.....1)some of the gauges have 4 numbers associated with them. If the 1st and 2nd relate to position and the 3rd to size, whats the 4th one do? 2)How do you know what 3rd number to use to make the gauges look right in the VC....trial and error? 4)In the case of the ISG Smiths FMC, is it specific to the 777(for things like V1,V2 and VR) or can u use it for calculating V speeds for 767s ,Airbuses or 757 etc?( I assume waypoint info is the same no matter what aircraft u are using it in)5)Do you have to use a space previously occupied by a gauge in the VC or can u put a new gauge anywhere in the VC simply by manipulating the 1st and 2nd numbers relating to position? Thanks again.Alex

In the case of the ISG cauges, the documentation (in a read me file, not the PDF documentation) explains all the config parameters, and you can also find that info in the FS SDK documentation too, as well as on the FS Insider website. To be honest, a lot of the time I tend to just screw around with the values until they work LOL. There are other parameters you can add, such as putting VC at the end of the line so it only draws it in the virtual cockpit or whatever, but as I say, see the documentation you can get hold of for more on that, as it would probably take forever to type it all out here.The Smiths CDU is not specific to the Triple Seven, and it is just one of many gauges you get in the ISG gauge set (and more get added from time to time, so it's pretty much a must have if you like indulging in all this kind of thing). So there are actually a few CDUs in the ISG set - brown and grey variants for example, meaning you can put them in various Boeings - but there are also Airbus ones and various others of the kind you find in business jets like the Learjet and regional airliners such as the J41, as well as other fancy avionics (check out the ISG website to see exactly what you get). Also you will find improved instruments in there too (for both Boeing and Airbus), for example, I used the improved ISG B777 primary flight display in my Aerosim 777, since it is better than the Aerosim one, with sharper text, and it has a more realistic flight director display, but there would have been nothing stopping me putting an Airbus PFD in there if I had wanted to for some weird reason.When it comes to getting things to work in other aircraft, that's where you can mess with the specific ISG config file. That is found in the ISG folder in the main FS folder and works just like any other config file - there is a list of parameters in the ISG documentation which you can add to the ISG config file (again copying and pasting works if you are lazy) and doing that will affect the behaviour of the gauges if you change the values (not as complicated as it sounds by the way). So you can customise things such as how the FMC reads from the FS flight plan, whether it puts the fuel weight in automatically for you, whether it pauses at the top of descent, will it put V speeds in for you, whether it overrides VNAV if you change the flight level on the MCP, how close to the next waypoint on a plan in the FMC does it switch waypoints, when will it initiate a turn etc, etc.Thus, you customise the behaviour of the ISG gauges to match a specific aircraft's avionics behaviour, which is fun if you like tinkering with things and can make them just as realistic as the very best add-ons, although by default, the gauges have 'average settings' which will do what most people want, so you can ignore all that and just go with the default parameters if you like, but if you are after really specific behaviour in LNAV or VNAV or whatever, then it can certainly be done. You can screw around with that sort of thing in the main aircraft config file too of course, especially where the autopilot behaviour is concerned, as you probably know.With regard to adding additional gauges to the VC, yes you can do that, but again it requires some tinkering and is not especially easy, since it also may require other actions. To explain: When I got the ISG CDU to display in the VC of my Aerosim 777, there was a designated 'window' on the VC texture in which the dummy FMC data was displaying on the default V.C, so I had to drop the ISG gauge into a position where it would be in line with that window for it to appear. If it was off target a bit, I'd only see the bits of the ISG gauge which were aligned with that window - that's why you have to screw with the position co-ordinates. You can change that, because the windows where gauges appear are effectively areas of transparency on the VC textures, and as you probably know, you can use an alpha channel on a texture to alter the transparency of it (black is totally transparent, white it usually totally opaque), so with a bit of jiggery-pokery on textures, you can 'open up new windows for gauges' on a texture. This doesn't always work by the way, it depends on the way the thing was modeled, but it is certainly possible on a few FS aircraft.If you want to get into all that kind of thing in the most painless way possible, I'd recommend getting hold of FS Panel Studio (and some decent paint software). FS Panel Studio is a great little program that will assist you in designing gauges and custom cockpit layouts. I think there is a demo of it available, you might want to check out the Flight 1 website for more info on it. You may have noticed on the AVSIM forums that I redid the artwork for the autopilot lights on the Just Flight Beechcraft Duchess fairly recently, and it was FS Panel Studio which made that easy.One word of warning though, all this tinkering can turn into an obsession, so be careful you leave some time for actually flying the things too LOLBy the way Dougal, hope you get well soon (with whatever it is you are in hospital for).Al

Alan,this is a gr8 post and it certainly helped me a lot with my panel configs. I was able to set up the ISG panel in my Wilco T7 and got the displays and keys alright in 2D, save some tinkering to be done. I get to mess with my VC this time having never attempted it b4.One qn...panels/windows 00-08 have a key selection (Shift+1-9) which opens them, how do you get Windows11 and 12 to open? I was able to setup all windows within the 9, but it looks like I might need some windows where I need to put some panels without which the acft's systems don't work properly.Cheers!!Charan