F117AV

[jrhunter]

Downloaded F117. Run on FS2004. Plane comes on runway as usual in Cockpit mode. Shows instruments only with black background. No view of runway or anything but instruments.
Shift + 4 gives normal left view. Shift + 6 gives normal right view. Other Shift + X normal except 8.

Change to Virtual Cockpit gives normal views with no instruments at all.

Anything I can do?

[IronmanMLR]

Oh, oh, I remember that problem. I had it before. It is the name of the .bmp file for the 2d cockpit which is listed incorrectly.

Go to your F-117 panel folder and there you can change the name of the "F-117.bmp" to "F117.bmp" or go into the "panel.cfg" under "Window00" and change "file=F117.bmp" to "file=F-117.bmp". Either way will work, but don't do both or you will be right back were you started.

Unfortunately I cannot help with the gauges in the VC cockpit under the panel.cfg file. You will just have to add them in yourself. I had done it sometime back, but I fdisk my computer without saving it. There may be a panel available with the VC already there here on Flightsim.com, but I don't think so. I downloaded a couple of panels for it and they didn't have the VC either. I'll do a search again as it has been some time since I had the problem and I'll get back to you.

Mike

[IronmanMLR]

Ouch, there appear to be none anymore. I have MKF117Panel.zip installed on mine and it didn't come up when I did a search, but it doesn't address the VC either. I guess I'll have get off my lazy hurten tail bone and fix one for it again. If you want to wait for me to do it I can past it into this forum and you can past it into your panel.cfg file.

Mike

[IronmanMLR]

I haven't had any luck with the VC panel. It won't take the gauges. It has been so long since I did anything with it that I cannot remember if I was successful or what I did to get it to work. I know that I had done several aircraft, that didn't have gauges in the VC, at that time. Hopefully somebody else can help with the VC.

Mike

[jrhunter]

Thanks for all your trouble Mike!
I got the Planes from FlightSim.com
F117AV.zip works fine now in Cockpit Mode per your Tip. No Instruments in VC mode
F117-cr.zip did not work with your Tip. I may have done it wrong. It does however have some Instruments in VC mode. Have no idea why.

Thanks again. JH

[IronmanMLR]

Unfortunately I don't have F117-cr.zip. I went and did one of Tim Piglet's Broncos as they don't have anything on the VC panel either just to see what I was doing wrong, but I was able to put everything on it's VC panel. I'll download F117-cr.zip and take a look at it.

Mike

[IronmanMLR]

Hot dogs and a bottle of pop, I got it. The F117-cr.zip is missing it's panel '.bmp' and it gave me the necesary VC information to add gauges to the VC of the AV and a way to add a 2D cockpit to the CR.

First off let's rename F117-cr's panel folder to something like 'panel.sav'. You may want to make a backup copy of your F117AV's panel.cfg file before doing anything else. After you have done that go back into F117-cr's panel.sav folder then to your 'panel.cfg' file and copy the VC cockpit section of the F117-cr's panel.cfg file and paste it into F117AV's 'panel.cfg' at the end of all the 'window**' sections. Then you can copy the whole F117AV's panel folder over to the F117-cr's folder. You should end up with two panel folders in the CR's folder, one should be named just 'panel' and the other should be name 'panel.sav'. From that point both aircraft will have working 2D cockpits with some VC gauges. The 'panel.sav' is just a backup just in case we mess up, that way we can still go back to the original.

If you want to get gauges to match a little closer try copying the gauge name from after the equal sign to just before the first comma from the 'window00' section and past it over the similar name gauge listed in the 'vcockpit01' section. For instance gauge 'gauge13=f117.adi, 181,352,109,101' in the 'window00' section, you just copy 'f117.adi' into gauge 'gauge07=737-400.adi, 415,850,170' of the 'vcockpit' section and it should come out like 'gauge07=f117.adi, 415,850,170'.

If you download MS's Panel SDK it will explain all about the gauges. If you prefer you can wait till I get mine setup to better match with the 2D cockpit and I'll upload it to you then.

Mike

[jrhunter]

Thanks again, don't know how you do it. Will try doing what you described and let you know how I make out.

Thanks for your trouble.

JRH

[IronmanMLR]

Here is what I came up with for the VC panel. None of the switches will work in the VC so they are basically there for looks. The rest of the gauges work fine as far as giving you readings, although most are difficult to read. I added a hud to both the 2D and VC panels. I am hoping that one of your aircraft comes with it already as it won't appear if it isn't in your gauge folder of FS9. You could copy and paste one from one of your other aircraft. I also added a master warning light as well. I couldn't add all the gauges from the 2D as some went below the texture area of the VC and the throttle wouldn't show at all.

Provided that you already have copied over the the whole VC cockpit section per my previous post and copied the panel folder over, then just cut and paste the following gauges over the gauges listed in the 'VCockpit01' section of your 'panel.cfg' files(not the one in your 'panel.sav' folder) of both aircraft:

gauge00=f117.flaps, 95,973,53,51
gauge01=f117.altimeter, 140,944,80,82
gauge02=f117.airspeed, 168,897,58,57
gauge03=f117.rpm, 213,845,60,59
gauge04=vip.atr.rmi, 223,897,63,61
gauge05=f117.gyro, 223,966,63,61
gauge06=f117.adi, 294,814,124,126
gauge07=ACS.GPS98-KLN90B_CRT, 294,940,124,46
gauge08=737-400!Audio, 294,986,124,33
gauge09=f117.vsi, 345,749,58,56
gauge10=KingAir!Master_Warning, 389,710,32,17
gauge11=F117.Autopilot, 418,744,166,48
gauge12=Beech_Baron!Landing Lights, 448,788,18,29
gauge13=Beech_Baron!Panel Lights, 470,788,18,29
gauge14=Beech_Baron!NAV GPS Switch, 492,788,18,29
gauge15=Beech_Baron!Nav Lights, 514,788,18,29
gauge16=Beech_Baron!Taxi Lights, 536,788,18,29
gauge17=FSNAV.EHSI, 417,825,164
gauge18=RKG_fuelstat!FuelStatusSq_98_wide, 425,989,149,41
gauge19=F16!HUD Dark, 466,630,81,75
gauge20=pbrake.ca, 585,744,16,16
gauge21=f117.clock, 600,749,58,91
gauge22=X15_OMI, 658,779,11,30
gauge23=gl-TA747.radio, 597,819,104,106
gauge24=Mooney_Bravo!Speed Brake, 595,709,32,17
gauge25=f117.radioalt, 593,964,60,60
gauge26=f117.slip, 655,925,50
gauge27=f117.stbyatt, 660,979,50,50
gauge28=f117.g-meter, 709,822,55,55
gauge29=VIP.GlEx.Autobrake.FULL, 704,875,71,41
gauge30=lear_45.eicas.1, 708,925,74,120
gauge31=F117.fuel, 781,872,60,60

Copy and paste the following gauges at the end of the list of gauges in the 'Window00' section:
gauge50=F16!HUD Normal, 330,140,92,80
gauge51=KingAir!Master_Warning, 273,244,23,9

Copy and past the following gauge over 'gauge33' in the 'Window00' section:
gauge33=Mooney_Bravo!Speed Brake, 458,244,25,9

Hope it makes flying more enjoyable.

Mike

[jrhunter]

I'ts a completely different Plane now. Sure appreciate all your help.

(If you download MS's Panel SDK it will explain all about the gauges.)
Where do I find this? Does it have an address?

Thanks again Mike.

JRH

[IronmanMLR]

This is the link for the Panels SDK:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/a/2/6/a263954a-3649-4654-ab1b-0ee4e30d7261/panels_sdk_setup.exe

This is a link to help with the 'aircraft.cfg' file:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/9/f/5/9f57691b-7c5f-4031-aa29-2ab00f676ba6/aircraft_container_setup.exe

I don't know if you are aware of it or not, but there is a program on the first installation disk called GMAX and you can make your own aircraft and this is the GMAX SDK link that will help you create your own:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/d/e/4de1e425-c932-4232-829b-eeb7f2658885/fs2004_sdk_gmax_setup.exe
You'll probably need this one as well:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/1/1/8/1181a250-ac2c-43fa-b35b-bfd7b87934ad/makemdl_sdk_setup.exe

Eventually you may want to add your own aircraft in AI traffic and this is the link for the Traffic SDK:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/f/2/8/f287f6a9-1cb3-4067-a720-0bdaf3543ff6/traffictoolbox_sdk_setup.exe
If you do decide to do your own AI traffic then I recommend Lee Swordy's Traffic Tools and AFCAD 2 available by selecting the 'Main Menu' link on FlightSim.com's home page and then selecting the 'Must have files' link.

There are other links listed at this website for download for FS9:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555857

Happy flying.

Mike

[jrhunter]

Thanks again Mike. It's wonderful of you to take the time to help we who do not have the know how to do these things. It has made a poor plane into a great flyer.

Am a former Private Pilot having fun with what I could only dream about.

Thanks more than you know!!

JRH

[IronmanMLR]

You are welcome. Just so you know, I am an in-betweener, more knowledgeable than most and not as knowledgeable as others. I just started trying to make my first GMAX aircraft. I am following the GMAX SDK for making a P-38 Lightning.

That is on hold for the moment as I am still tinkering with the Nighthawk. I don't know if you noticed, but it tends to wonder when the autopilot is on. My difficulties settings may be higher than yours so it may not be affected the same way. I increased the pitch moment of inertia and it settled it out some. At least now I won't hear the ATC screaming at me about my altitude too high or low. Plus I made some other changes to it as well. I will change the panel a little bit more to my liking. I like to fly long distances and it is conveniet to have switches availble to start and shutdown the engines; to turn the battery and avionics on and off; and maybe make the hud more adjustable as well.

Mike