F-18 Hornet: 2 questions

[Mac6737]

I've not paid much attention to the F-18 in FSX, but tried it out again recently and even read the materials in the Learning Center. I have 2 questions:

1. There are 3 large black spaces on the VC panel (including that in the Tutorial Mission), so there are missing gauges. Has this always been true? I don't find any gauges in the airplane folder, or in the FSX/Gauges folder. Surely there are gauges somewhere. If so, how do you get them? (Perhaps related is the fact that I see no way to set the parameters of the autopilot; just the on/off switch.)

2. I recently had a total PC crash, followed by a new PC and hard drive, conversion to Windows 10 and reinstall of FSX, SP1 and Acceleration (don't ask!). Both before and after this rebirth, the F-18 has displayed an odd feature: At exactly 60-second intervals, a female voice says "Chin-gotchula." I've listened dozens of times, and that's the best transliteration I can do. Who the heck is this lady? Where is she transmitting from? And, of course, what does "chin-gotchula mean"? Finally, can I get rid of her?

Thanks all in advance,

Mac6737

PS -- I'll be away for a few weeks starting Thursday, so please be patient if I do not gratefully acknowledge any replies.

[mrzippy]

I don't have the FA-18. Can you post a screenshot of your panel? Sp1 is not needed when installing Acceleration.....hope that didn't muck up your situation. Could the "chin-gotchula" be coming from another addon?? ATC female voice saying China gotcha?

Does your panel look like this without the main info screens not lit up? I don't have the FA-18 .cab file so it won't work for me.



Mine does have a female voice....sounds Hawaiian...says something like "comonawannalaya"?? Must be a city on the main island?

[PhantomTweak]

FIRST, those "black squares" are called the MFD's, or Multi-Function Displays. Is your electrical system on? The Battery and generator switches over on the right side panel, near the front, right under the warning lights panel. With the APU and/or engines running, of course. Also, are the displays themselves on? There is a knob that says OFF-BRT on the outside, upper right corner, I believe. Might be one of the bottom corners. I never touch the Acceleration Hornet, so I'm not certain about it's precise layout. Make sure that knob isn't pointed to the OFF position.
It sounds like your default flight starts out in a "cold-n-dark" configuration. If so, try going back to the original default flight the sim came with. The trike over Friday Harbour. You can do this very simply in the FSX.CFG file, or just find that flight in the Saved Flights, and check the little box at the bottom that says Make Default.
Second, the female voice you hear is called Bitchin' Betty. It gives verbal warnings of important failures. Like "Fire, Left" for fire in the left engine, and so on. Also used for CFIT warnings. Like "Pull UP, PULL UP" if you're heading for the dirt too fast. It's an integral part of the instrumentation systems. It's unintelligable at the moment possibly because the plane's power is off, or you didn't install Acceleration correctly.
Third, all the gauges are either in the plane's Panel folder, or in various folders in the sim's Gauges folder. The most important one is F-18.DLL. THAT should be in the sim's gauges folder. If not, you didn't completely, or properly, install Acceleration. It comes with the F-18 included, along with all it's gauges and so on. It must also have HORNET_FCS.DLL, also either in the plane's Panel folder, or in the Sim's Gauges folder. You can see where any single gauge is located by simply looking at the plane's Panel.CFG file inside the plane's Panel folder. If you don't have one of those two .DLL files, or both, you need to un-install and then re-install Acceleration.

Finally, ignore the F-18 that comes with Acceleration. It's junk, now. The team that created it has made a HUGE improvements in the Hornet. A totally new and much better version is out now. It's freeware.
It's called the FS Dream Team FSX Blue Angels F/A-18C v18.4 . They are a demo team that puts on aerial demos and air shows, much like the real Angels. They also improve the plane. The FSX BA's plane bears little resemblance to the Acceleration Hornet, other than it's outside shape.
You can down load it Right HERE. Look down through that page to find the correct version for your sim. FSX and/or P3D below V4, and P3D V4 and above. It comes with an auto-installer. Make sure you allow it to install the .NET Framework file correctly, and if it asks to over-write any files answer YES.
If you haven't already done so, you will also need to properly install the 3 Simconnect files included with FSX into their proper Windows folders, and the latest FSUIPC.DLL file in the sim's Modules folder. If that folder doesn't exist, and it may well not after a fresh install, create it, and then install the FSUIPC.DLL file into it.

Does this help at all?
Pat☺

[llivaudais]

I almost never leave anything alone so I can't guarantee that my FA-18 is totally default - with both a panel folder and a panel.1 folder, I'm pretty sure it's not original default...

Nevertheless, you will need to have a FA-18.DLL in your gauge folder or the aircraft panel folder. Since other military jets also use these MFD's, it should be in the guage folder so all can access it. I tried to see if I could kill my 3 panels with an avionics master and a battery master switch but neither had any effect. What I did notice is that all three have a functional off/brightness rotary knob so I could turn each off individually. The knob is in the upper center of the top panels and in the lower right corner of the low center panel (behind the stick). If you have the dll, you might try those off/brightness knobs. Since my F-18 loads and initializes with these MFD's turned on, I'd be surprised if that's the problem. Strangely enough, I had an F-22 that stayed off for months until I one time tried that battery or avionics power thing and they've been on ever since. Go figure...

Loyd

[BobSeaman]

Both before and after this rebirth, the F-18 has displayed an odd feature: At exactly 60-second intervals, a female voice says "Chin-gotchula." I've listened dozens of times, and that's the best transliteration I can do. Who the heck is this lady? Where is she transmitting from? And, of course, what does "chin-gotchula mean"? Finally, can I get rid of her?

Thanks all in advance,

Mac6737

PS -- I'll be away for a few weeks starting Thursday, so please be patient if I do not gratefully acknowledge any replies.

That would be Betty. She likes to play Bingo and she doesn't like how you fly her plane.
You might think you're in control, but Betty will always be there to tell you that you're wrong.
You're too fast, you're too slow, you're too close to the ground, you might be too close to the ground next week.
It never ends.
And, she's always there. With you in the cockpit.
Its like she lives in the plane's electronics, somewhere. Always complaining and griping about something.
She earned a nickname over the years but I can't recall what it is.

[il88pp]

To restore the original default flight:
close fsx,
find fsx.cfg file,
open it,
change
situation=[whatever it says]
to:
situation=
close and save fsx.cfg file,
start fsx.

[mrzippy]

Looking at my FA-18 Hornet folder I saw that Betty .wav files hid out in the panel folder(s).

[PhantomTweak]

That would be Betty. She likes to play Bingo and she doesn't like how you fly her plane.
You might think you're in control, but Betty will always be there to tell you that you're wrong.
You're too fast, you're too slow, you're too close to the ground, you might be too close to the ground next week.
It never ends.
And, she's always there. With you in the cockpit.
Its like she lives in the plane's electronics, somewhere. Always complaining and griping about something.
She earned a nickname over the years but I can't recall what it is.

What you're describing sounds a whole lot like my ex wife. The only thing missing is Betty trying to spend all your money as fast as she can...

And yes she DID get a nickname. Several, really. The nicest one I can print here is "Stupid Cow".

I really wish this was all a joke. Sadly, none of it is.

Have fun all!
Pat☺

[Mac6737]

Thanks everybody!

I won't mess with this any more for now, since I am leaving in the morning for a couple weeks.
But here's some further info or questions based on what you folks have said:

-- Not sure why I want to make the Trike my default or what it has to do with my issue. My actual default does not start cold & dark, and neither does the FA-18.

-- MrZippy: Yes, my panels looks sort of like your screenshot, except that in the space for the MFD on the left you can see supporting metal framework (but not in the tutorial's FA-18 panel).

-- I did find F-18.dll in the Gauges folder. But there is no HORNET_FCS.DLL anywhere.

-- Don't think I will uninstall and reinstall Acceleration. I have learned to leave the well enough alone. I have other jets.

-- Anyway, PhantomTweak says there's a better FA-18, and it's freeware. Sounds pretty good to me. However, I can find NO "Modules" folder in FSX. You say create one? OK, but I don't have FSUIPC.DLL. I infer that I can download one. Maybe after I come back.

Out.

[il88pp]

Because the default flight is error free.