AS a GA pilot as well as a dedicated flight-simmer I feel that instrument panel views would be greatly enhanced if the engine cowling or nose of the aircraft was included.

If the nose/cowling is visible from inside the real cockpit for a pilot of normal height I would also think it better to include it in 2D panels. However if it is not possible for the normal pilot to see the nose/cowling in the real thing I believe it should also not be included in a 2D panel. You could run into trouble if you happen to be an exceptionally tall pilot and thus have a different view out the window than most pilots do :-)

It is my bielive that this is more an space issu than anything else. Complex panels tend to get pretty crowded and most of the time the biggest problem of panel designer is how much space is to be left for the outside wiev and how much space is to be used by panel. So adding the engine cowling into the wiev is considered (at least by me) vasting precious space for a little effect.

"It is my bielive that this is more an space issu than anything else. Complex panels tend to get pretty crowded and most of the time the biggest problem of panel designer is how much space is to be left for the outside wiev and how much space is to be used by panel. So adding the engine cowling into the wiev is considered (at least by me) vasting precious space for a little effect."There's no space issue to contend with even with the most complex aircraft--neither GMAX or FSDS limit the designer in that way unless you're way up there in poly counts, and usually VC's don't approach the limits as much as the exterior models do.I normally include the cowling if it can be seen by the pilot or copilot, otherwise I leave it out more out of laziness than anything else, as it leaves one less part I have to clone into the interior view and maintain. I know there's some authors who won't even include the wing as they feel it detracts from performance. Since I run MSFS on a little 'ol P3/800 one thing I am certain of is wings and other exterior parts such as cowlings don't detract from performance in a VC--not in any measurable way. -John

Er, John... the OP was commenting on the lack of cowling on most 2d panels... ;)I agree that space on 2d panels is quite limited, and only cowlings on very simple, GA type panels usually have enough room for a "hint" of the cowling.

Oops, My bad...-J