Adding autopilot to Propliners?

[pbspike]

How would you add an autopilot to an aircraft that currently does not have one?

Example: Adding say DCC's P-38 auto to the stock DC-3.


I'm brand new to this so, any help is very much appreciated.

[Moparmike]

In FS2002/2004, in addition to adding the autopilot gauge to the panel you also need to edit the aircraft.cfg to enable the added avionics.

As an example, here's the [autopilot] section from DCC's P38L aircraft.cfg...

[autopilot]
autopilot_available=1
flight_director_available=0
default_vertical_speed=1600.000000
autothrottle_available=0
pitch_takeoff_ga=8.000000
use_no_default_bank=1
use_no_default_pitch=1
default_pitch_mode=0
default_bank_mode=0
max_pitch=13.000000
max_pitch_acceleration=1.000000
max_pitch_velocity_lo_alt=2.000000
max_pitch_velocity_hi_alt=1.500000
max_pitch_velocity_lo_alt_breakpoint=20000.000000
max_pitch_velocity_hi_alt_breakpoint=35000.000000
max_bank=30.000000
max_bank_acceleration=3.500000
max_bank_velocity=3.200000
max_throttle_rate=0.150000
nav_proportional_control=9.000000
nav_integrator_control=0.250000
nav_derivative_control=0.000000
nav_integrator_boundary=2.500000
nav_derivative_boundary=0.000000
gs_proportional_control=9.520000
gs_integrator_control=0.260000
gs_derivative_control=0.000000
gs_integrator_boundary=0.700000
gs_derivative_boundary=0.000000
yaw_damper_gain=0.000000


The default DC3 already has an autopilot section in its aircraft.cfg. You will have to remove the default Sperry AP from the panel if you switch to a modern AP though as the Sperry (true to its real-world counterpart) is limited in its AP functions to just heading and pitch settings.

[pbspike]

OK got ya, but....

Like I said. I'm brand new to this. (I have trouble getting repaints to work sometimes) How do you add the pop-up panel to the aircraft?

If there is a tutorial out there somewhere please direct me to it. If not help is appreciated.

[Moparmike]

To add the pop-up sub-panel to the panel...You copy-n-paste the relevant section of the donor panel.cfg into your panel.cfg.

Open the donor panel.cfg with Notepad and look for the section [windowXX] that has the autopilot pop-up. Copy this section and paste it into your panel.cfg and make sure the [windowXX] title is contiguous with the other sections of the panel. The first will be [window00], the next [window01], next will be [window02], etc...
You may also need to copy a bitmap from the donor panel folder to your panel folder...depends upon if the sub-panel you're copying uses one or not. It'll be listed in the first few lines of the [windowXX] section that you're copying.

I'm not sure if anyone out there has a tutorial on adding stuff to the panel.cfg. A good source of info for the panel.cfg is available in the Panels/Gauges SDK from Microsoft. It describes most of the panel.cfg pieces pretty well.

It's all just text file editing with Notepad, and isn't all that hard once you become familiar with the panel.cfg format. Make sure you keep a backup copy of the original panel.cfg before you start making changes so you have something to fall back on in case things go awry.


WYSIWYG panel editors...
A lot of people use FSPanelStudio, which is a payware WYSIWYG panel editor. Some people are still using CfgEdit, which is the old freeware version of the same program. You have to fool CfgEdit to recognize FS2002/2004, and you'll have to use FS2000 or CFS2 mode in CfgEdit to edit panels.

If you come across any hurdles, post em up here and someone will stop by with help/advice. Good Luck and have fun!

[pbspike]

Hey, thanks a lot Moparmike. I'll give it a go sometime this week.

[pbspike]

Yep, I was able to get it working. Thank you again.