Panel Merge Question

[mdexter 0]

Hi All,Ok, if I merge a better 2D panel into a model with VC and have all the appropriate files and guages where they should be and change the 2D window panel.cfg entries, leaving the VC entries as is and all appropriate files and guages etc are where they should be, is it that simple??Or can panel merges even though they seem to work perfectly, could they be changing flight dynamics or anything else without my knowledge, that is everything looks good and everything seems to work but something may have change the dynamics of the aircraft??Many thanks for your thoughts on this one......

[Chock 17,769]

The panel config file is completely separate from the aircraft config file, so no, you can put anything you like in the panel file and it won't affect how the thing actually flies. But...You do sometimes have to change things in the aircraft config file in order to actually have panels work though. An example of that would be adding an autopilot panel to your cockpit, where you would have to ensure that in the aircraft config file it did actually say that an autopilot was available on that aircraft. Another example might be a fuel tank selector panel, where you would have to ensure that there was the requisite number of fuel tanks in the aircraft config file in order for that fuel tank selector switch to do something.Al

[mdexter 0]

The panel config file is completely separate from the aircraft config file, so no, you can put anything you like in the panel file and it won't affect how the thing actually flies. But...You do sometimes have to change things in the aircraft config file in order to actually have panels work though. An example of that would be adding an autopilot panel to your cockpit, where you would have to ensure that in the aircraft config file it did actually say that an autopilot was available on that aircraft. Another example might be a fuel tank selector panel, where you would have to ensure that there was the requisite number of fuel tanks in the aircraft config file in order for that fuel tank selector switch to do something.Al

Ok, many thanks Alan, so as far as things working the aircraft if I am simply taking off should fly as per mornal with a panel merge as all guages etc work, but you are referring to a specific panel or guage that may be in the 2d and not in the VC or visa versa??Anything else to look out for, I just dont want to do a ton of merges and things dont work, all have worked so far but I didnt want all of a sudden all of these changes and the thing wont fly properly :)Cheers again

[Chock 17,769]

Whether in the VC or as a 2D, the gauges receive data from the flight sim itself, so for example, an Airspeed Indicator from a Cessna that you have put in a different aeroplane's panel will work just fine, as that gauge simply gets told by the sim 'this is how fast the plane is going' and then it displays that speed. Generally speaking, that is the kind of thing gauges will all do, so as long as they show up on your panel okay and power up when you turn on the master switches, that's all you need to do.It's only when you start putting gauges in that add something beyond the default capability of the aircraft's config file that you might run into issues, for example, a Spitfire has no autopilot, so if you added an aurtopilot pop up 2D panel from a Cessna to it in the panel config file, it would probably not work, because when you looked at the aircraft's config file, it would most likely say:[autopilot]autopilot_available= 0The '0' means 'no' and tells Flight Simulator that this aeroplane does not have an autopilot, so to have an autopilot gauge work in that aeroplane you would have to change that to a '1' (which means yes, and would therefore tell FS that the aeroplane does have an autopilot) in order to have your autopilot panel actually function. Thus this is an example of a gauge which would not work in the cockpit unless you also changed something in the aircraft's config file.Al

[mdexter 0]

Whether in the VC or as a 2D, the gauges receive data from the flight sim itself, so for example, an Airspeed Indicator from a Cessna that you have put in a different aeroplane's panel will work just fine, as that gauge simply gets told by the sim 'this is how fast the plane is going' and then it displays that speed. Generally speaking, that is the kind of thing gauges will all do, so as long as they show up on your panel okay and power up when you turn on the master switches, that's all you need to do.It's only when you start putting gauges in that add something beyond the default capability of the aircraft's config file that you might run into issues, for example, a Spitfire has no autopilot, so if you added an aurtopilot pop up 2D panel from a Cessna to it in the panel config file, it would probably not work, because when you looked at the aircraft's config file, it would most likely say:[autopilot]autopilot_available= 0The '0' means 'no' and tells Flight Simulator that this aeroplane does not have an autopilot, so to have an autopilot gauge work in that aeroplane you would have to change that to a '1' (which means yes, and would therefore tell FS that the aeroplane does have an autopilot) in order to have your autopilot panel actually function. Thus this is an example of a gauge which would not work in the cockpit unless you also changed something in the aircraft's config file.Al

Alan, many thanks, yes they all seem to work well at this point, my only issue is the engines start then stop, I dont know if this is because I saved an aircraft from the deafult flight or something, if I delete that default flight will FSX rebuild the default flight in the ultralight at Friday harbour, I need to get back to the aircraft starting with engines on because they start with CTRL+E then stop??Any ideas

[Chock 17,769]

Load up a default plane (preferably a C172 or something), start the engines put the mixture on full rich, turn all the avionics on etc, then save that flight as 'engines running' (or some name like that) and tick the box to 'make this the default flight'. All your 'create a new flight' flights will then load with the engines running and the avionics on.The only thing that you sometimes can get going freaky is if you have a default flight with something that doesn't have a mixture control, which can then make some aircraft load with the mixture leaned off and no control in the cockpit to put it to full rich, in which case you'd have to use the keyboard to do that. There can occasionally be a few other freaky ones like that, which is why your default flight should be one of the default FS aircraft with nothing too weird about its systems.Al

[mdexter 0]

Load up a default plane (preferably a C172 or something), start the engines put the mixture on full rich, turn all the avionics on etc, then save that flight as 'engines running' (or some name like that) and tick the box to 'make this the default flight'. All your 'create a new flight' flights will then load with the engines running and the avionics on.The only thing that you sometimes can get going freaky is if you have a default flight with something that doesn't have a mixture control, which can then make some aircraft load with the mixture leaned off and no control in the cockpit to put it to full rich, in which case you'd have to use the keyboard to do that. There can occasionally be a few other freaky ones like that, which is why your default flight should be one of the default FS aircraft with nothing too weird about its systems.Al

Many thanks alan for your help again...cheers mate