I only know of one a/c that was designed to be flown from the VC only -- the Antonov-AN14. This is a great little a/c -- probably the best, the only STOL transport a/c, around .But , anyway, now that we have a pretty good and workable VC in FS2004, I am interested to know if anybody knows of any other a/c that were specifically designed to only fly from the VC -- to be able to do this of course, all aircraft functions have to be actionable from within the VC.Barry

Payware allowed? These come to mind...- Wilco

The upcoming RealAir SPitfire has no 2D panel at all, and according to the advance word the guages in the VC are as smooth as or smoother than most good 2D panel gauges...

I find that by deleting the 2D panel entrys, I end up with not only an "All VC aircraft" but better FPS and gauge refresh rates.You need to be careful though, most add on planes have gauges in the 2D that are not in the VC. In those cases I just delete the duplicate gauges from the 2D panels and keep the parts I still need like the radio stack and switch panels.

I hope this isn't a trend or I'll stop buying. VC, even when run on good computers aren't always my cup of tea. Some things just can't be done real fast in them and I prefer nice clear close up images. With the VCs, you have to zoom and pan like crazy.

ChrisIt really depends on the complexity of the aircraft and what you want to do in the VC. As mentioned above, the RealAirSim Spitfire that will be released shortly is designed to be flown directly from the VC and is easy to do because of the crisp panel and the super smooth gauges in the panel. All the switches are operable in the VC and while it does require some panning, it's not as much as it would be in an airliner. It is a very immersive experience and really does feel like you are in a real aircraft.BTW, if you didn't know, you can speed up the panning by changing the rate setting in the fs9.cfg.CheersTim

3 more designed to be flown from VC with no real 2D panel are, the Bucker Jungmann and Jungmeister and the Pitts S2A from Pureflight-Simulations; http://www.pureflight-simulations.com/

Hi Chris,I understand your concerns, and they were mine too. But let's consider what a 2d panel is: It is simply a "fixed" 3d panel. Or if you like, a 3d panel is a 2d panel with the ability to scan it from left to right, or up or down.The conventional wisdom about panels and flight simulator has been based almost entirely on the weaknesses of 3d panels....up to now. The technology was not there in the past to make a 3d panel of sufficient clarity, focus and functionality to justify removing the 2d panel, which often assured clarity of use.But now that has all changed. With our Spitfire VC/3d panel you can treat it exactly like a 2d panel if you wish, by easily assigning "fixed" or "snap" views in FS2004. But additionally you can pan around if you wish too.The key thing is whether the panel is clear, you can read the gauges and the gauge needles move smoothly enough for you to monitor what is going on.The RealAir Spitfire panel does all of that, in fact it is CLEARER than most 2d panels. Furthermore the gauge update is so smooth it is smoother than most 2d panels. Your computer would have to be on its knees with stress for our gauges to stop being smooth and so far in testing we have never had the slightest glitch in this regard.When you think about it, having a fixed panel where you don't need one completely defeats the whole idea of a simulator. If we designed a pristine full sized 2d panel for the Spitfire, it couldn't be clearer than the 3d panel already is!What we will provide is a small "mini panel" just showing vital gauges, rather like the default aircraft do when you press the "W" key.On the panning you mentioned, I don't quite see the difficulty. You can assign faster or slower panning speeds in FS9.cfg and unless your system is very slow panning is perfectly smooth and easy. After all you wouldn't sit in a real aircraft and refuse to move your head!Many of the points made in various threads about panels are predicated on a feeling of insecurity about "missing" a 2d panel. That is of course an insecurity based on the presumption that all 3d panels are going to be flakey, unclear, and awkward to use.We want to be at the cutting edge of sim aircraft design and do away with the concept of dual panels which were only there because the technology in the past did not allow the quality which we can now achieve. We sincerely hope that the sceptics will move with us and see the enlightenment in getting rid of the reliance on two panels.Kind Regards,Rob Young - RealAir Simulationswww.realairsimulations.com

Well said Mr. Young. :) I think people need to realize that it is almost literally inevitable that 2D panels will eventually go the way of the 2D sprite. Reality happens in 3D and theres just no getting around that fact. I'm not saying it's going to happen tomorrow, or even anytime soon, but gradually over the next couple of years we're going to see more and more 3D only planes as developers get better at designing the VCs. As that happens, most of the folks who have decided that VCs just aren't functional enough will come to realize that in fact they are more functional than 2D panels. THat isn't quite true just yet, but it will be soon - maybe when the Spitfire is released in fact. :)

I'm also all for virtual 3d cockpits, why saddle yourself with a flat un-immersive 2d cockpit if you can get similar clarity with a 3d cockpit? One problem I'm having though is that the "virtual yoke" in the 3d cockpit sometimes blocks the view of one or two of the lower instruments, and this is a MAJOR problem for me, since I'm then forced to switch to 2D view. Anyone know a way to deal with this problem ?(e.g. make the "virtual yoke" transparent or absent or stationary)

I have a setup with Go-flight modules and can use them for most of the switches and such, so I spend 95% of the time flying with the VC and of course active camera. Now I just need a tracker IR and I think I would be set. I don't have the feeling of flight when flying with 2D panels anymore. It just seems so, so.... 2 Dimensional. ;-)

I don't have a problem with VCs in certain "easier to multitask" planes like the smaller GAs. I have your Scout and the VC is remarkable, but I still do use the 2D panel a lot. The Scout however is the only add-on I have with such a clear and user-friendly VC. Some of my add-ons like the PMDG 737 don't run well at all on my 1.8 GHz Pentium. Plus airliners have a lot of panels to use and sometimes speed while configuring and reading gauges is needed. I'm not sure even the latest computer upgrade would do a lot for the PMDG VC. I'd use it more for cruise, I'd still need clear gauges and easy access to the FMC, MCP, and other panels that require some panning. I know the PMDG in VC mode still slows some fast computers when weather, AI traffic, and other add-ons add to the frame rate reduction. Not a problem, just a fact of the technology we have.At any rate, the Scout is one of my favorite planes for its easy of use and nice slow flight.