Forward View Question

[simondix]

Forward View.

I don't know if this is the right section. I have just installed a panel on an aircraft. When opening the forward view is looking at the ground. How do I raise the line of sight permanently so I have a level view?

[Garry Russell]

Hi Simon

I think.......it's a view line in the panel cfg.

The view line on the main cfg is for VC.

Sorry I can't check atm but have a look at the panel cfg and play arond with that.......after making a copy

Garry

[petermcleland]

Simon,

Open the Panel.cfg file and find this clause:-

VIEW_FORWARD_DIR=10.000, 0.000, 0.000

It is that first number that you must change (whatever yours is, try reducing it by 1). After a change then you must reload the aircraft by changing to another and then back again to the one in question...The change caused by the addition will now be apparent. Now assess what further correction is required and repeat the process. Eventually you will be correcting by 0.5 or even smaller additions/subtractions, but you will eventually get it looking how you want. Now go and fly a circuit and landing in it and you may want to make a further change after that :flying:

[simondix]

Thanks forthe replies. I will do it now.

[simondix]

Works fine, thank you both for your help. What happened was I got a panel for the Argonaut from DC3 Airways. I added internal views but the result was the forward view facing down. Altered the number from 11 to 4 and that did the trick.

[Garry Russell]

Great

Thanks for letting us know

Garry

[johnhinson]

Sorry to sound contrary, but I don't think what has been said is the proper or full answer.

The aircraft.cfg file carries an entry like this:
[Views]
eyepoint = -16.385, -1.435, 3.012

Those figures apply from the declared centre-point of the aircraft, if I remember rightly they are, in order, distance forward (negative - positive will be to the rear), distance left of centre (negative again, positive will position right) and distance above.

Provided these are worked out correctly (and they often are not) this will set the position of the pilots eyes and can thus be used to improve the position of the horzion by making the pilot taller. For instance, he could be made a foot taller by changing the last entry to 4.012 feet. It does affect a normal panel view as well as the virtual cesspit.

Those figures in the panel.cfg set an angle to the pilot's view - looking upwards or downwards just as you do with Shift-Enter (if I remember rightly) and thus does not give a proper forward view to the pilot. The figure referred to should be set at 0 unless there is a good reason not to. The only good reason I have come across is where the panel windscreen has a large area of glass requiring the bottom of the outside view to be quite low on the screen, yet the main view is quite high and the horizon is out of sight - think of a Curtiss Commando with all that glass - and the only way here to get the horizon high in the view is to manipulate the view angle. But it isn't natural and can lead to some disorinentating views at certain stages of flight, particularly in descent where the runway will often appear to be extremely high up the windscreen and you feel the nose is far to downward..

I hope I've got the "if I remember rightly" bits correct, its too late at night to crank FS up to check.

Hope this helps,

John

[nigelb]

Your remembered rightly. From the FS9 Aircraft Container SDK:

Parameter Example (from C182 aircraft.cfg)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
eyepoint eyepoint= -3.95, -0.85, 2.1 Units= feet

Description: This value specifies, in feet, the longitudinal, lateral, and vertical position of the pilot’s eyepoint from the aircraft’s datum point.

Nigel²