2019 Solo generic panel project

[Serge Luke]

I've put together a simple video demonstrating how the Solo Panel integrates with the X-Plane 11.30 in a simple standard pattern flight at Portland-Hillsboro, OR (KHIO) airport in Just Flight's Piper PA28R Arrow III. Most importantly, the video features Jacques' PA28 panel!

[JackZ]

Congratulations for your setup!
I noticed that the Attitude Indicator seems not to be working on your video, maybe this instrument need special Datarefs pertaining to the add-on?

As per your flying skills, I understand that you are beginning to use the plane, so I will not elaborate further on these. Room for improvement...
For example, the starting sequence steps (the ARROW III is an injection engine, the startup sequence is different from a carburated one) and the and engine run-up tests are incorrect, as they should also include the prop feather test among other things.
When testing the Magnetos, the common practice is to come back to R+L(BOTH) between each Mag test, (ie from R+L to L, then to R+L again, then L, then R+L ) in order to let the engine RPM go back to normal (since the -125/175 RPM drop is what we are checking during this test), and moreover to make sure that you go back to the R+L position when finished.

And remember to be gentle with your engine, any power increase should be smooth and relatively slow, especially after a cold start, to let the engine cylinder and oil temp reach their nominal temperature before take off, if you don't want to end with cracked cylinders. I know it's only a sim, but if you want to do serious simming, this is a good habit to handle the plane as IRL.

Anyways I advise you to refer to the Check-lists to do these properly. Feel free to ask any questions.

Keep us updated!

Jacques

[SimPassion]

This Sample Attitude Instrument should work as intended : still a WIP on my own

Gilles

[Serge Luke]

That is right. I have used Piper Seneca Attitude indicator, that didn't work. C172 Attitude indicator works and it supports transparent background so that's the one to go with. Thank you for the tips!

I have notices a huge improvement in my FS skills since I built the panel. Having instruments where they are supposed to be, below the windshield, rather than on the screen somewhere on the side makes all the difference. Landings are much softer than they used to be, because I can observe VSI in most critical moments. I'm glad the actual flight cockpits are built with this in mind!

[Ivantheterrible]

Does the fps drop alot with the second screen?

[Sling]

It won't drop at all if you are using a second machine to drive the instrument display. If running on the same machine as the sim then it will depend on the spec of your machine, the sim settings and the actual AM instruments used. There is no definitive answer as there are lots of dependencies. All that said as a guide when I run on the same machine I don't really notice any difference with instruments running or not. Other's experiences may vary.

Tony

[Serge Luke]

Same experience here. I have not experienced any drop in FPS when I use second screen for anything except the X-Plane.

When I was recording (and I'm no expert in desktop recording) video, I used Air Manager on primary PC to capture the panel for the video. At the same time, I've ran Air Player of the second computer for the touch-screen instrument display. I find using second machine for the instrument panel works better because it avoids dealing with cursor/active screen issues you have when both panel and the simulator running of the same PC but on different monitors. All effort to setup second computer with touch-screen display is worth it.