30-10-2015, 06:40 PM
So you Don't like learning FMC/FMS systems?
There was a thread back in April of this year started by JamieH with a question on the autopilot in his PMDG777. Long story short , he had never worked with a FMC
based model using LNAV and VNAV systems. Most of these aircraft don't have GPS set-ups.. Poor Jamie said he got in over his head, and I know that feeling well. It
can be frustrating and it took a lot of time for me to learn how to use these systems. There are many who just want to fly, so the question remains, can you run these
aircraft in the same way you would a default 737-800 in FSX? Well the answer is YES ! I just purchased the Carenado Hawker 850 and this aircraft does not included
a GPS system but is totally dependent on FMC operation. Now I can run with that but lets face facts. In real life there are usually 2 pilots sharing the work load within
the flight deck. I have also invested a lot of money in scenery which is redundant if all my time is spent watching the instruments and gauges ,in other words "GEEKING OUT". I would have to record a flight
and then play it back and play passenger looking out over the wing. There are times I would like to do both in a live flight and split that time or just be a passenger and
run the aircraft from the back of the plane. Yes you can do that once you are off the ground all the way to a final approach before returning to the cockpit.
Step one in default operations of the Hawker 850 is to add what is missing on the aircraft . I also own a Carenado King Air B200 which includes a GP400 GPS System
in a 2D pop up as well as in the VC. Since I do not wish to alter the aircraft and run it as intended when I am in the mood, adding this 2d pop up which includes the
ability to switch NAV/GPS became the best answer.
I simply added this gauge to the Hawker 850's panel folder. The hawkers Panel CFG reads as follows:
[Window Titles]
Window00=PFD PROLINE21
Window01=MFD PROLINE21
Window02=AUTOPILOT/DCP
Window03=DCP
Window04=FMC
Window05=CONTROL WINDOWS
Window06=WINDOWS MANAGER
Window07=ENGINE SETUP/INFO SETUP
Window08=LOADING SCREEN
So I just added a line that reads:
Window09=GP400
Now I pull the following GP400 cfg file from the King Air B200 and copy it/ then paste it into Hawker 850's correct location right under the[ Window08] section in the cfg
as follows:
[Window09]
Background_color=8,8,8
size_mm=524,378
visible=0
ident=10000
window_size= 0.310, 0.370
window_pos= 0.550, 0.160
no_luminous=1
zorder=7
gauge00=GPS530_3D_B200!GPS_530, 0,0,520,378
gauge01=B200KA!ToggleCAR530, 64,0,384,32
Now simply by selecting views / instrument panel/ GP400 there is the GPS panel. So I can now create a flight plan using this gauge or the FMC, the best of
both worlds! Best of all this GPS gauge has the Nav/GPS function so I did not need to add a pop up Nav / GPS switch.
Now we need to add an easy to function autopilot pop up gauge to bypass the VNAV/ LNAV an run it just like a default aircraft. First to find that perfect pop up
autopilot panel that contains:
1) AP switch to turn the autopilot on / off
2) APP switch for the ILS approach activation
3) NAV switch for use in both ILS and heading hold functions
4) The ability to change my heading without going into the cockpit to adjust the heading bug
5) FD switch to turn the flight director on/off
6) Y/D yaw damper switch
7) ALT switch to hold the altitude you have selected .
8) The ability to change both the altitude and vertical speed without have to go into the cockpit.
9) Speed switch and the ability to change the aircraft's speed selection
I found one in a freeware aircraft which has this very 2D pop up panel. It is the Falcon 50 which is a nice freeware model to play with. You can download this aircraft at
Simvation.com civil jets. I would add a link to it but as new aircraft are added , the page where this file is located changes. Right now it is currently located on pg.186
Once you download and add this aircraft package to FSX, Go into the aircraft's folder and copy all the panel folders contents into the FSX main gauges folder. By doing
this all you will need to do is add the CFG for this gauge and not have to copy bit maps and dll's into each plane you want to use this pop-up in . You can put this gauge
into any aircraft you own with ease.
Now back into the Hawkers panel folder I will add the next 2D panel as follows:
Window10=Auto Pop Up
Now pulling that CFG section from the Falcon 50 panel CFG I will scroll down the the proper location and add:
[Window10]
Background_color=0,0,0
size_mm=270,236
window_size_ratio=1.000
position=0
visible=0
ident=MISC_POPUP_1
window_size= 0.120, 0.210
window_pos= 0.450, 0.800
zorder=4
gauge00=Falcon5D!YLF50_AP, 0,0,270,236
When I first tried it out, the speed button would not activate on the 2D pop up panel so I went into the Hawker 850 main CFG folder and made the following change.
[autopilot]
autopilot_available= 1
flight_director_available= 1
direction_indicator= 1
attitude_indicator= 1
default_vertical_speed= 0
autothrottle_available= 0 [b]Simply change 0 to 1
autothrottle_arming_required= 0
autothrottle_max_rpm = 99
autothrottle_takeoff_ga= 0
pitch_takeoff_ga= 0
default_pitch_mode= 0
default_bank_mode= 0[/b]
Now I have a autopilot that works and can override the VNAV and LNAV system. Note: You will have to change the cfg back to autothrottle_available =0 if you want to
run the FMC as needed and then back to 1 if you want to run this aircraft like a standard default FSX aircraft using the GPS / ILS system.
In the long run, It would be great to learn FMC/FMS systems. It is a good thing to know everything you can as you increase your skill in this hobby, however FSX is a
simulation and it was also designed to have fun and just fly. Let us not then put so much "geek" into this hobby that we take the fun away! Please read my Fun with
freeware aircraft threads in this forum and really see what you can do with a 10 year old program.
Post Edited ( 10-30-15 18:52 )
There was a thread back in April of this year started by JamieH with a question on the autopilot in his PMDG777. Long story short , he had never worked with a FMC
based model using LNAV and VNAV systems. Most of these aircraft don't have GPS set-ups.. Poor Jamie said he got in over his head, and I know that feeling well. It
can be frustrating and it took a lot of time for me to learn how to use these systems. There are many who just want to fly, so the question remains, can you run these
aircraft in the same way you would a default 737-800 in FSX? Well the answer is YES ! I just purchased the Carenado Hawker 850 and this aircraft does not included
a GPS system but is totally dependent on FMC operation. Now I can run with that but lets face facts. In real life there are usually 2 pilots sharing the work load within
the flight deck. I have also invested a lot of money in scenery which is redundant if all my time is spent watching the instruments and gauges ,in other words "GEEKING OUT". I would have to record a flight
and then play it back and play passenger looking out over the wing. There are times I would like to do both in a live flight and split that time or just be a passenger and
run the aircraft from the back of the plane. Yes you can do that once you are off the ground all the way to a final approach before returning to the cockpit.
Step one in default operations of the Hawker 850 is to add what is missing on the aircraft . I also own a Carenado King Air B200 which includes a GP400 GPS System
in a 2D pop up as well as in the VC. Since I do not wish to alter the aircraft and run it as intended when I am in the mood, adding this 2d pop up which includes the
ability to switch NAV/GPS became the best answer.
I simply added this gauge to the Hawker 850's panel folder. The hawkers Panel CFG reads as follows:
[Window Titles]
Window00=PFD PROLINE21
Window01=MFD PROLINE21
Window02=AUTOPILOT/DCP
Window03=DCP
Window04=FMC
Window05=CONTROL WINDOWS
Window06=WINDOWS MANAGER
Window07=ENGINE SETUP/INFO SETUP
Window08=LOADING SCREEN
So I just added a line that reads:
Window09=GP400
Now I pull the following GP400 cfg file from the King Air B200 and copy it/ then paste it into Hawker 850's correct location right under the[ Window08] section in the cfg
as follows:
[Window09]
Background_color=8,8,8
size_mm=524,378
visible=0
ident=10000
window_size= 0.310, 0.370
window_pos= 0.550, 0.160
no_luminous=1
zorder=7
gauge00=GPS530_3D_B200!GPS_530, 0,0,520,378
gauge01=B200KA!ToggleCAR530, 64,0,384,32
Now simply by selecting views / instrument panel/ GP400 there is the GPS panel. So I can now create a flight plan using this gauge or the FMC, the best of
both worlds! Best of all this GPS gauge has the Nav/GPS function so I did not need to add a pop up Nav / GPS switch.
Now we need to add an easy to function autopilot pop up gauge to bypass the VNAV/ LNAV an run it just like a default aircraft. First to find that perfect pop up
autopilot panel that contains:
1) AP switch to turn the autopilot on / off
2) APP switch for the ILS approach activation
3) NAV switch for use in both ILS and heading hold functions
4) The ability to change my heading without going into the cockpit to adjust the heading bug
5) FD switch to turn the flight director on/off
6) Y/D yaw damper switch
7) ALT switch to hold the altitude you have selected .
8) The ability to change both the altitude and vertical speed without have to go into the cockpit.
9) Speed switch and the ability to change the aircraft's speed selection
I found one in a freeware aircraft which has this very 2D pop up panel. It is the Falcon 50 which is a nice freeware model to play with. You can download this aircraft at
Simvation.com civil jets. I would add a link to it but as new aircraft are added , the page where this file is located changes. Right now it is currently located on pg.186
Once you download and add this aircraft package to FSX, Go into the aircraft's folder and copy all the panel folders contents into the FSX main gauges folder. By doing
this all you will need to do is add the CFG for this gauge and not have to copy bit maps and dll's into each plane you want to use this pop-up in . You can put this gauge
into any aircraft you own with ease.
Now back into the Hawkers panel folder I will add the next 2D panel as follows:
Window10=Auto Pop Up
Now pulling that CFG section from the Falcon 50 panel CFG I will scroll down the the proper location and add:
[Window10]
Background_color=0,0,0
size_mm=270,236
window_size_ratio=1.000
position=0
visible=0
ident=MISC_POPUP_1
window_size= 0.120, 0.210
window_pos= 0.450, 0.800
zorder=4
gauge00=Falcon5D!YLF50_AP, 0,0,270,236
When I first tried it out, the speed button would not activate on the 2D pop up panel so I went into the Hawker 850 main CFG folder and made the following change.
[autopilot]
autopilot_available= 1
flight_director_available= 1
direction_indicator= 1
attitude_indicator= 1
default_vertical_speed= 0
autothrottle_available= 0 [b]Simply change 0 to 1
autothrottle_arming_required= 0
autothrottle_max_rpm = 99
autothrottle_takeoff_ga= 0
pitch_takeoff_ga= 0
default_pitch_mode= 0
default_bank_mode= 0[/b]
Now I have a autopilot that works and can override the VNAV and LNAV system. Note: You will have to change the cfg back to autothrottle_available =0 if you want to
run the FMC as needed and then back to 1 if you want to run this aircraft like a standard default FSX aircraft using the GPS / ILS system.
In the long run, It would be great to learn FMC/FMS systems. It is a good thing to know everything you can as you increase your skill in this hobby, however FSX is a
simulation and it was also designed to have fun and just fly. Let us not then put so much "geek" into this hobby that we take the fun away! Please read my Fun with
freeware aircraft threads in this forum and really see what you can do with a 10 year old program.
Post Edited ( 10-30-15 18:52 )