"Freezing" the default DC3 directional gyro

[adr179 0]

Hello again. What I'm trying to do this time is to stop, freeze motion or cage the default FS9 xml gauge gyro_compass.xml found in the default Douglas_DC3.cab.The fact is that Microsoft programmers only made provision for the artificial horizon to be cageable thru a key event ATTITUDE_CAGE_BUTTON, but no such thing for the directional gyro, DG or gyro compass as called by them.What I would like to do is to stop, "cage" the gauuge with a mouseclickevent in absence of a key event definition, so some sort of workaround is needed. The gauge as it is will only chease operation if the engines are stopped, regardless of electrical power, so it obviously won't "listen" toTOGGLE_ELECTRIC_VACUUM_PUMP and I certainly don't want to use TOGGLE_VACUUM_FAILURE to cage the directional gyro.Any suggestions?

[Guest _FSAviator_]

<< What I'm trying to do is ...cage the default FS9 xml gauge gyro_compass.xml found in the default Douglas_DC3.cab>>No problem, but I am not clear why you believe the real standby gyro compass can be caged in all such vintage and/or classic era airliner panels. I detect no obvious design error in the Microsoft code for that standby gauge given that we do not know its real life identity or capability. The relevant systems simulation design error perpetrated by Microsoft is in two parts and elsewhere (see below).The Artificial Horizon gyro caging knob you refer to requires xml code that positions the bitmaps in their caged locations which are different to their failed and power off locations. A standby gyro compass of that date has no such requirement and so graphically speaking caged = failed = off.<a) Toggle a global FS9 heading indicator failure via a hotspot or,:( add an ON/OFF module to the code of that specific standby gaugeThe first cages all standby gyro compasses in the aircraft, at all crew stations, whilst the second cages just one chosen standby system for fast re-erection. However I don't really see the point unless the ability to cage, versus topple, standby gyroscopes independently from primary gyroscopes is to be part of the solution to the real Microsoft design error which is as follows.As in real life neither caging nor failure of the standby gyro compass that Microsoft also define as the 'heading indicator', will cage or fail the primary Sperry Blind Flying Unit (SBFU) gyroscope, probably because it has no (two position) cage in real life. Unfortunately the SBFU gyro compass never topples and cannot be failed because Microsoft easily confused themselves by defining the same device via two different variable names and failed to define the primary gyro compass in the SBFU as a 'heading indicator'. Thus a 'heading indicator' failure invoked by any means within FS9 has no impact on the primary 'heading indicator' of any default or third party aircraft fitted with the default SBFU. If third party gauges are then slaved to the primary system they do not fail either.This specific 'bug' aside the generic design error in FS9 is that by default there is no penalty for allowing any gyroscope to topple and consequently no reason to cage them. Nothing prevents third party gauge designers setting a toppled flag and subsequently penalising the pilot error. Do you intend to flag 'toppling' and impose an appropriate time lag penalty for recovery?Does anyone here know if this has already been achieved within FS9 freeware gauges whose code can be downloaded for study?

[adr179 0]

As far as of my best knowledge nobody so far (would be more than happy to be informed of the opposite) reproduced this caging or fast errect functionfor the directional gyro. AH is a completely separate story and is out of discussion in this topic as far as I'm concerned. The point is, that I was lucky enoug to ocuppy the right-hand seat of aDC3 on a couple of flights allmost thirty years ago, but I do clearly rememberthat in the particular aircraft BOTH AH and DG had caging mechanisms, since exactly the DG went beserk on one of the flights and was fast errected. I do realise that with such a massive production number and time lifespan as the DC-3 had, there definitely were also numerous variants of instrumentation and panel layouts.Anyway, sometimes we need to oversleep and than the idea how to solve a certain problem comes in a fraction of a second and I got one. At the moment I'm not sure if it'll work, but I'll give it a try.