FSX/FSX-SE Aircraft and Panel Design Forum - How To

Well, we all know that MS chose not to model a trim function on choppers.So I have thinking of how to add a "faux trim". Essentially, what I am thinking of is adding fuel tanks located at the extremes of fore/aft-port/starboard and pumping fuel to a specific tank to add weight to that area and thus cause the chopper to tilt and stay tilted in that direction.Questions:Is this feasible?If Q1 is yes, how?Steve

A long while back I recall seeing screenshots of a P337 Skymaster in the screenshots forum that never saw the light of day as an MSFS aircraft. I believe it was done in FSDS...I am willing to help complete the project and/or convert it to FSDS 2. I've helped Chuck Dome with one of his projects (his Malibu Mirage), and will soon release an update to Byron Warwick's Jabiru....I don't know whether the author of that great looking P337 lurks here, but if so and you're interested in my help, please send me a private message...Regards,John

Avsim forum rules not withstanding, I reserve the right to publish what follows elsewhere, and by other means, but extend that right to others only in respect of the included _ref file which may be copied and modified at will.The original WEP thread caught my eye, but it quickly drifted off to discuss eye candy, so I decided to start a new one. Having some time on my hands yesterday I decided to attempt an explanation of power limits and the best way of providing end users with the possibility of simulating them realistically. A basic understanding of air file editing, gauge code editing, and output testing during product development is assumed in what follows. However I …

Problem: new plane made in 2004 sinks below ground in 2002 as if it wasn't there, but only on turf/dirt. It does not do so on paved runways. Why?Solution: Insert here.PS: I don't have 2002, but those that do and are testing my plane out in it are reporting the above problem.Thanks.

I found a tutorial, but it is some kind of viewlet that my computer won't open despite having Flash installed. Anyone know where to find an easy tutorial, if this can be easy. I'm trying to put cockpit windows in my Saab 340B. Got tired of everyone bailing on that project so I thought I'd do it myself. I figure another week on the exterior model, then on to the VC and animations. A bit to chew for a beginner.CH

Can someone please tell me of a good repaint program?Dan RelfeC-130 Flight EngineerUSAF

Hi,I would like to do a timer that increase the var after 10 seconds but I cannot get it to work.Any suggestionsBrgdsEugen(A:Auto brake switch cb, enum) 0 == if{ (P:Local Time, seconds) 6 % int 10 == if{ (>K:INCREASE_AUTOBRAKE_CONTROL) } }

my XML is fairly good & i have made a lot of gauges for my Super Hornet panel (www.ai-uk.net/VUSN/NAEC/Manuals/FA-18EF/panel.htm)however i have just come unstuck. i would like to make a gauge thus:when NAV2 IDENT=SAM (VOR identifier with very short range simulating a SAM when you fly close to it) i would like it to switch to case value=1 & switch to a different bitmap (thereby switching on a light in the cockpit).my problem is that i haven't got my head round "strings" & haven't got much to go on...any ideas/solutions please reply or e-mail me at [email protected] in advance

I've got Reality XP jetline4 gauges and I'd like to add them to the FSD Cheyenne. The FSD load manager allow integration of Jetline2, not 4. If i copy the jetline4 gauges and rename them jetline2, can I trick the load manager into installing the JL4s, or am I asking for trouble? Is there a way to manually edit the FSD cheyenne panel? Seems they've played some tricks to rename the cfg to ubx or some such...Thanks for any info!sg

The 2002 ACC SDK is extremely vague on just what the first "generic" value represents in the v and r param lists in sound.cfg.I assume it has to be a reference to TIME since the second value of each couple is for volume, thus defining an amplitude envelope.What then is the timebase (0 to 100% of what?) being referenced so that proper timing and overlaps between each sound file (mainly limited to engine rpm) can be graphed on paper? (I don't intend on spending $30 for a program that I'll probably only use once when my brain and fingers can do it manually with this added bit of info).Hmmm... isn't that what an SDK is suppose to define in the first place?Crud on M$. :-)

G'day allI'm looking for a way to improve my PICFS9 work around. http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho..._id=23201&page=I've had to use undocked windows to get the vector gauges to work in FS9. Does anyone know if there is a freeware gauge available that will close undocked windows when you change view, or whether in fact such a gauge is possible.Best [email protected]

How do you config a plane with engine off at startup?I know, probably asked a dozen times before... no time to look thru the archives.

How compatible are planes that work in FS9(2004) are in 2002?Are there any major weight/balance/flight dynamics issues?If so, what would it take to make the .air file "cross platform"compatible?Just had a guy test my UL out in 2002 and said it burried itselfnose first into the ground when he gave it some gas on the runway.Doesn't do that at all in 2004.

I'm now on to making a simple 2D panel for my new ultralight plane. I've read thru the SDK and don't see much in the way of params to set the size of the both panel and 3D views. Is this all there is todefining such...?[Window00]file=panel_1024color.bmpfile_1024=panel_1024color.bmpwindowsize_ratio=0.262 // 268 divided by 1024position=0 // upper left corner (is this where the // panel background corner starts?size_mm=1024, 268 // size of my background imagevisible=1ident=MAIN_PANELSo, what happens when I select a saved flight, the 3D view is a little less than half the screen while the panel BG is stretched vertically by a larg…

Hi,Does anyone know where to get some help with FS EDit & FS2002Pro please?The help file is not very useful.Thanks.Keith

Here is a screenshot of what I'm workin with.. The top is the .jpg that looks nice, on the bottom you can see the background is the imported jpg in Gmax but its all crappy looking. I cant figure out why it looks like that. Just trying to learn this program and this isnt making designing stuff any easier :)http://home.comcast.net/~svtcobra281/gmax.jpg

Hi Guys,Maybe I'm just not thinking this through properly but I want to have engine fuel and ignition switches work by a keystroke. At present they work via a mouse click. I need to assign a keystroke to then operate the switch via voice activation.I have tried to assign the switch with the FS2K2 Assignments editor but to no avail. Does anyone know how to convert mouse clicks to keystrokes?

Hello guys,I'm having a little problem here: I'm repaint a plane made it in GMax, but when I add some alpha to make the reflections it shows like a transparency.Is a model design problem or ther is a trick for this?The model in question is the FS9 SNJ-5 by Cliff Presley. I already contact the autor, but no answer yet.Glad for eny help!Regards

What are the settings in gmax that can create good specular highlights? I'm at the end of the rope; I've tried setting the specular level to everything in the material editor in gmax but I either get a really bright model, or nothing at all.

Hello,Flaps are not working in FS9. I run the same plane in FS2K2 and the flaps work fine. Anyone know what is different between the two versions that would cause them not to work in FS9?Slats work fine, but flaps ...nothing happens when pressing any key between F4 and F8.Thanks,John

I'm wondering if FS is hardcoded to use certain rpm ranges for the switch points of prop_still, prop_slow, and prop_blurred.I read somewhere here that maybe 350 - 450 rpm was the switch point from slow to blurred.This presents a visual problem then for a 2 stroke engine that idles at 2000. A good switch point from slow to blurred in this case would be 3000 rpm. Actually, the prop is on a gear reduction of 2.58:1 in the configs. If I use a throttle_limit = 0.0 (or something like that) in .cfg, then there is a very, very narrow point that my slow prop does show up, BUT then engine idle is not at 2000 rpm. So I set the throttle limit to like 0.1 or 0.2 and now the engine …

I've been through probably every param in both .cfg and .air files and can NOT for the life of my figure out what's wrong. I've narrowed whatever it is that's wrong to the .cfg but have no idea why the real world data (contact points, cg, ref, etc) make this plane sink thru the ground, get to the model's center/pivot point, then pop back up to static cg location and rapidly repeats the process (like a feedback loop).The plane, once I can get it off the ground, seems to fly just fine, albeit it needs some fine tuning.When I put FS in slew, the plane will slowly rotate in pitch, tail going down, so I assume this is the stability problem that's causing the ground sink, but …

Hi all,I have been working on some prop discs (slow and blurred) with alpha channels for transparancy. It has worked fine on exports that do not include "has reflective textures" in Make MDL.I have been texturing my aircraft and as I export now, I click "has reflective textures" in MakeMdl.Now my props no longer have transparency, but are metalic/reflective.I do not have any texture in the Specular slot for the props.My prop disc textures are 32 bit and are called prop_slow.bmp and prop_blur.bmp.Any ideas how to get transparency back instead of reflections?Thanks in advance. LuhissEdit: I should add I have my material opacity set to 50%

Does anyone know how I can adjust the front wheel on my Dreamfleet Archer, to keep it from burrowing into the ground on braking?See attached picture..The Dreamfleet Cardinal does not exhibit this kind of behavior..I've looked at the aircraft.cfg file and can find no obvious differences, but then again, I'm not really sure what I should be looking for either..

What is the proper way to reference bitmap textures in Gmaxsuch that they are seen by FS when a plane is exported as an MDL?I have a nicely imported, UV mapped OBJ format plane made inLightwave to which the texture maps have been reapplied in Gmaxand show up just fine in the viewports (except for the fact thatI can't get the imported model to stop being faceted), but can'tbe "found" by FS when the .bmps are copied to the aircraft/planename/texture folder. That is, the model is the default white (and faceted).I'm using standard names specified by the makeMDL sdk ("name_t.bmp"for base diffuse color maps converted from tga's with DXTbmp.exe).Please advise.