Aircraft cowling.

[Guest richpress]

Until being introduced to Fly, I was a ProPilot addict.I often used the view per illustration using the aircraft cowling. It seems that few sims have duplicated this apart from the Citabria.I have often wondered just how difficult it would be to reproduce this view in some of the Fly2 aircraft.

[Roger Mazengarb 0]

G'day Rich ????,Actually it would be quite easy and well within the capabilities of the average simmer so long as you have a graphics program such as Photoshop or Paintshop Pro and Elronds Flygraphics file conversion program ( in the Avsim library - under FLY NOT Fly! II ). Search the pod file of the aircraft you wish to modify for the panel file. It will be an *.pbm file. Extract the file and its *.act from the pod and convert it to a format that your graphic program recognises. Inside the graphics program convert the file from Indexed colour mode to RGB mode.If the instrument panel takes up all the space you MAY (depends on aicraft and existing panel file) need to enlarge the panel file to give space for your cowling.If you do need to change the size of the graphic to fit in the cowling then make a new file (empty) the SAME width as the orginal file but increase the depth with as many pixels as necessary to fit in the cowling. Cut and paste the original file into the lower section of the new file and then do your artistic work in the empty top section.Covert from RGB mode back to indexed colour mode When finished reconvert it back to the pbm format and leave the file in your FlyIIart folder. The *.act file generated in the conversion must also accompany the pbm file. You may have to modify some size parameters in the *.pnl file depending on whether or not you have changed the size of the panel graphic. Make sure that you have SearchPodFilesFirst=0 set in Fly.iniNow every time you select that aircraft your fwd panel view will display the cowling you painted.Give it a go! It's not hard and very rewarding. Any questions post back to this forum.Cheers,Roger @YSSY

[Guest Fly II Pilot]

Rich,Doesn't it already have a cowl view? From the main panel go one up.Regards,Alejandro AmigorenaCheshire, CTFly! II Beta Team MemberAthlon XP 1800ABIT KR7A-RAID768Mb RAMMSI GeForce4 Ti4600 8xAGP 128MBSB Audigy GamerCH Flight Yoke USBCH Pro Pedals USBhttp://www.avsim.com/hangar/fly/dfdg/banneraa.jpg

[Guest richpress]

Many thanks Roger.Your response is exactly what I was looking for in my post "Just a thought". I have downloaded flygraffics and following your guidance are at the stage of viewing the panel file in RBG mode.I have just upgraded my old PSP(V4) to V7 and will study this before proceding further. However I have already broken into new ground and have learnt what the file extensions mean and are understanding things a bit more. ROTW supplied a list of links for tutorials which I am very greatful for.I'll be back as I will probably need you to hold my hand as I progress through to some sort of final result.Richard.

[Guest richpress]

I assume you mean the Citabria. The Staggerwing also has a cowling and a great side frontal view. It is the engine cowling or nose cone that adds to a more realistic panel view. It would be even better if the cowling view would increase or decrease as you raise or lower the seat.ie ENTER/SHIFT ]. I have some tools now to work with and will see what I can produce.Richard.

[Guest Fly II Pilot]

Rich,Guess I didn't read thoroughly and got confused with your comparison with Pro Pilot. I thought you wanted to get the same view as in Pro Pilot.Take care,Alejandro AmigorenaCheshire, CTFly! II Beta Team MemberAthlon XP 1800ABIT KR7A-RAID768Mb RAMMSI GeForce4 Ti4600 8xAGP 128MBSB Audigy GamerCH Flight Yoke USBCH Pro Pedals USBhttp://www.avsim.com/hangar/fly/dfdg/banneraa.jpg