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SkyDecks Boeing 737-NG Panel
By Ryan Butterworth (22 April 2004)
found that in my 10 or so years of flight simulation, there
are only a few truly high quality panels which accurately portray the
aircraft they are made to represent. I would like to introduce a new
panel designer to the flightsim world. Kevin Sparkuhl is his name
and 737-NG panels are his game. In June of 2003, Kevin's FS2002
Boeing 737-NG panel
(KS737NG.ZIP)
produced over 11,000 downloads in just three months. Kevin has
created a fantastic panel now for FS2004 that will draw flightsim
"newbies" as well as veterans because of its relatively small
learning curve but its unique details. With a newly created website
- SkyDecks Panel Design, found at
http://www.sky-decks.com,
users can get support for Kevin's new panel as well as see what is up
and coming. I'll focus on the learning curve, the aesthetics, and
the performance/systems of this panel for my review.
Lots of payware aircraft come with super detailed panels
which allow for extreme accuracy but intensive manual reading and
steep learning curves. Kevin shows us that hope does still exist for
those of us who don't want to spend an hour just learning how to crank up
the left engine. Sparkuhl's panel is simple; click the switches you
would normally click in say the default 737, except for that this
panel accurately portrays the location of the gauges and switches. I
found it quite easy to maneuver my way around the flight deck,
setting up items before pushing back from my gate at Minneapolis.
Kevin has included a manual, but I like to start things up in a hurry
so the clever panel diagram caught my attention. It shows the
various handy-dandy click spots and the like. The actual look and
feel to this panel is portrayed quite well.
With an accurate panel/gauge/switch layout, a user can fly his/her passengers from point A to point B with easy-to-read instruments and aesthetically pleasing bitmaps. About 90 percent of the gauges and text showed up fine for me. Of course I am running on a 15 inch laptop TFT screen (1024x768), so my gauges are never as crisp as they could be on say a 17 inch CRT monitor. There is a Heads Up Display or HUD for that extra next-generation feeling. The HUD is not as advanced as some previous (JGHGSV2.ZIP) add-ons, but it serves its purpose - assisting the pilot and taking his/her eyes out of the cockpit and into the skies. One final thing regarding readability is the fact that the autopilot selection boxes are quite clear with a large font. One of my biggest pet peeves with panels is when you cannot see the autopilot text, because it is too small for your monitor resolution...Kevin's panel works out just fine. At night the panel looks gorgeous--it's very easy on the eyes along with quality night lighting.
Okay, sure this thing has some nice sparkly gauges, but how well does it handle a full instrument approach? I recently obtained my private pilot license but have stopped short of being an instrument pilot in real life. Some day I will get my instrument rating. However, I still love flying the instruments in flightsim. Lots of my friends use FS to polish up their real-world IFR skills as well. Kevin's panel does a good job of allowing all sorts of users to shoot any type of approach - from NDB, to VOR/DME arc, ILS, whatever your heart desires. For my flight, I shot the full ILS procedure into St. Paul's Downtown Holman Field.
I consider myself a slacker--I thoroughly enjoy the use of the autopilot for full approaches. The autopilot on this panel works quite well. You can fly her right down to minimums and the thing keeps the LOC/GS dead on...I like it a lot! One neat little thing when following the ILS is that the HUD displays whether you are established on the LOC/GS. Now you can focus on the outside rather than your cockpit gauges so you can see that Learjet coming straight for ya! If you don't like the HUD or the overhead panel, just remove it, with a simple click, for a better VFR view.
This panel has a custom throttle quadrant, avionics stack, HUD and 2D cockpit interior views which look very realistic. Another strong point to mention is the well-engineered MFD. The HSI has a GPS500 overlay which allows you to fly using your GPS moving map and simultaneously fly an HSI course. It is a nice addition because you do not have to open a separate window for your GPS (but it is included as an option) - so congrats to Kevin for that accomplishment! There are plenty of gizmos on this panel and it is still easy to master the entire thing in a short sitting.
Overall, this is one of the better panels out in the FS world of add-ons. I flew with Kevin's FS2002 freeware panel version, and it was solid, but had a few bugs, and for FS2004, Kevin fixes those nuts and bolts. I had no problems with installation. Currently, this version is only available for FS2004, but the SkyDecks panels website states that there is a FS2002 version in the making. If you are not satisfied with the product, there is a 30-day money back guarantee. For only $12.95 USD I would definitely recommend this panel, because of its ease of use, and depth of quality. Thanks for reading!
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