Generic ILS Minipanel

Tom Clayton

Tom Clayton

Administrator
Staff member
OK... (Why do I start all my threads like that...?) I like to fly from the Mini Panel - a lot! I especially like flying from there when I'm landing. But that presents a problem during poor visibility. I don't have a VOR or HSI in front of me to monitor my position in the ILS feather. In the past, I've used workarounds like copying the Mini Panels from planes like the default C208 or one of the Boeing Heavies. That's all well and good, but I wasn't really thrilled, especially since the C208's airspeed indicator is rather limited. So it finally dawned on me that what I needed to do was mix stuff up a bit. I took the default generic six-pack and subbed in the C208's Artificial Horizon and HSI, leaving the other four generic gauges in place. The result is a clean Mini Panel that gives me the info I need under less than desirable conditions. You can paste the section into any panel that doesn't already include one, or put it into permanent service by inserting it into the panel.cfg inside the Aircraft\default\panel folder.

Code: 
[Windowxx] (or [MiniPanel00])
position=7
size_mm=600,100
//window_size=0.50,0.11 //reduced for 1440x900
window_size=0.675,0.15 //reduced for 1280x1024
//window_size=0.9,0.20 //original
child_3d=1
background_color=0,0,0
ident=MINIPANEL
gauge00=MiniPanel!Airspeed,              0, 0, 100, 100
gauge01=MiniPanel!Turn Coordinator,    100, 0, 100, 100
gauge02=Cessna208!Attitude,            200, 0, 100, 100
gauge03=Cessna208!Horizontal-Indicator,300, 0, 100, 100
gauge04=MiniPanel!Altimeter,           400, 0, 100, 100
gauge05=MiniPanel!Vertical Speed,      500, 0, 100, 100
 
Soyt'n'ly!!!

Bear in mind that it's a little smaller than default, which is part of the code I posted.
 
Now that's good thinking, and makes you wonder why they have all them other clocks on the dash!
Interesting aspect ratio there too...
 
I experimented with even smaller aspects to get a better view of the outside, but it became hard to read the gauges quickly. I found myself having to take too much time away from lining up with the runway trying to read the gauges. This was the best compromise.
 
Another trick that works with the mini-panel is to move the gauges to the outer corners so to leave the space right in front of you open for more ease in picking up the centerline.

And...if you've got CfgEdit or FSPanelStudio, just copy the info listed in the [minipanelXXX] sub-section that you're editing from the minipanel panel.cfg file and paste it into a regular panel.cfg file under the [window00] heading and save that panel.cfg. You can do your edits and save the panel.cfg, then paste that section back into the minipanel panel.cfg and save.
That way you can see what you're doing WYSIWYG instead of doing it via "tweak-n-try" in Notepad.
 
I did the split trick with the 747 and 777 default panels, and took the one MFD on the Lear and moved it to the lower left corner.
 
here's one for all the 'trappers', from Roland Laborie & co F8 Crusader


//--------------------------------------------------------
[Windowxx]
position=1
window_pos=0.0,0.0
size_mm=1024,768
window_size=1.000,1.000
child_3d=1
background_color=0,0,0
render_3d_window=1
update_rate = 1
ident=MINIPANEL
gauge00=VthMb!Vth, 112, 84
//gauge01=CRUZXML!pilotauto8MINIPANEL, 247, 0, 545, 84
gauge02=FPDA_Boeing_Callout_0001, 0, 0
gauge03=Harrier_GR7!HUD Night, 340,199,344,344
// operations navales
//==========================================================
gauge04=dsd_catapult!catapult, 820, 700, 120, 50, 300165
gauge05=Crusader!AoA_Light, 1, 226, 55, 117
gauge06=dsd_arrester!arrester, 750, 700, 60, 50
gauge07=dsd_xml_sound!dsd_xml_sound, 0, 0, 18, 18
//==========================================================

ttfn

Pete
 
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