Old 744 Forum

GREAT tutorial Will!

Nice hat use concept, it really works well when combined with the right screen layout order.

If you have some macro capability you can make the Home button do numpad 0 + numpad 2 back to back in case you messed around with another views to reset the views and go to home screen via a single press.

I find all layouts fine except for the first one which is supposed to be designed for hand-flying:



For my taste, the PFD should be under the middle of the visible windshield area, i.e. under the runway. The EICAS section could be smaller, the gear lever may be off-screen; seeing the clock to the left, and having the PFD centered, is much more important, in my opinion.


Cheers,

|-|ardy

Hardy: Okay, but this is far as I'm gonna go! (grin)

Everyone: The reason I posted this version here in a reply to Hardy is to demonstrate how easy it is to configure new layouts in PSX. It took longer to upload this post than to make the new 9pack. So get to know the PSX display design philosophy, and you'll see how powerful a tool it is.

New version:



Old version:



The 9pack with layout #1 changed, so that the PFD is more in the center, and the EICAS is smaller (top picture):

http://www.hoppie.nl/forum/var/WJC_03_Custom.9pack

(remember to right click and save)

I have been fiddling around trying to get a good layout(s), must admit I haven't mastered this altogether so far!

Good tutorial helps me!

Version 03 is really good for me.

I really like the hat concept, will try this later.

Thanks for your work Will.

Hi Will,
I went with your layout a while back; it is really great. Thanks a ton.
A request. Any possibility of your post as a PDF? I'd be happy to do it and host it with your permission.
Many thanks again.

Engine start seems to be one of the trickier tasks and may need a few layouts:

You have to contact the ground for clearance (pedestal or glareshield PTT), set the packs to the correct config (overhead), pull the start switch (overhead), watch the indications (EICAS), lift the fuel cutoff lever (thrust quadrant) and keep your hand poised there throughout the sequence, continue watching the indications (EICAS), and make sure the start valve closes (light out on the start switch at 50% N2/N3, overhead), continue watching the indications until stable (EICAS).

Rgds
JHW

Now I just need a variat of your 9 pack to suit my X-Plane10 out-of-windshield visuals :-)

Thx for the excellent tutorial!

Thanks everyone, for the comments.

John: Everything for engine start can be accomplished on layout #9, except for the fuel control switches. Those are on the layout immediately adjacent layout, which is one DOWN button away, no hunting. (I'm using a PTT button on a flight controller, and not in the graphical cockpit.) I agree, it's a complicated sequence.

funkyhut: I will go ahead and make a pdf. It will take a day or so, since I need to resize the screenshots.

Thanks Will.

John H Watson wrote

Engine start seems to be one of the trickier tasks and may need a few layouts:

You have to contact the ground for clearance (pedestal or glareshield PTT), set the packs to the correct config (overhead), pull the start switch (overhead), watch the indications (EICAS), lift the fuel cutoff lever (thrust quadrant) and keep your hand poised there throughout the sequence, continue watching the indications (EICAS), and make sure the start valve closes (light out on the start switch at 50% N2/N3, overhead), continue watching the indications until stable (EICAS).

Rgds
JHW

Take screen 9, add a split to the upper right side where the upper panel is and drag the fuel cutoff switches into that space. Perfect spot for it as everything else is already there.

You have pack controls, beacons, eicas messages cancel/recall button, engine start switches, upper and lower eicas displays for duct pressure & engines, fire bottles, power panel for post start cleanup, etc.

In Brian's tutorial he makes reference to some possibility of flickering when the frame size is not the same, but for me, who will be using PSX with X-Plane 10 for the outside visuals, I need to make a specific layout occupying only the lower half part of the screen, so that in the upper part the X-Plane 10 window can be seen. On the remaining 8 views I will have only PSX visible occupying the whole 1920x1080 of my monitor, and the layout fully expanded to cover the whole monitor.

Does this mean I can experience flicker due to this unheaven layout dimensions?

I've played quite a bit with layouts, of all shapes and sizes, and I've never seen any flickering.

Hi Will,
Thanks for thread.... gave me some more ideas too.

@John - this was like a puzzle for me - I thought I was there - 4 frames nicely zoomed and arranged and then I forgot something.... drag.... arrange..... It's an art

Regards

Carl

Hi Will,
just preparing holidays in nice, cote d'azur, france, I prepared also my laptop with your PSX Layouts.
It is quite amazing.

Thank you for your engagement.

regards
Horst

Danke, Horst!

I ended up taking Ray's advice (thanks, Ray!), and I moved the start switches to the panel with the overhead so that the entire start sequence can be completed on one layout, with no switching necessary. If you're interested:

http://www.hoppie.nl/forum/var/WJC_04_Custom.9pack

The 04 version will be the one I use for the pdf, when I finally make it.

I can't take any credit, I just happened to be reading Mike Ray's 747-400 Pilot Handbook and was going through the manual engine start process and the only thing missing was the fuel cutoffs. Adding them meant I didn't have to remember what screen they were on!

Hi Will
Version 04 is excellent. I have just been practising engine start up after getting the ATC instructions to push back. And now doing a push back. Feel like a real pilot if only. Excellent job on these layouts Will, have helped me such a lot. Off the throttle now so can have a drink.

Will,

I am enjoying your layouts - please keep them coming! I learn something from new revision, and also benefit from their improvements.

--------------------------------------------------

BTW, I learned the hard way that one should not name a layout file as shown below, or the file will be ignored by the instructor page in PSX:

textTEXTtext.9pack - more text.9pack

Instead, in this example, one must remove extra ".9pack" character strings in the file name, changing this example file name to:

textTEXTtext - more text.9pack

Apparently, the file name parser in PSX stops at the first ".9pack" text string, and then PSX ignores the file if it has additional ".9pack" character strings in the file name.

There are other hidden refinements, too... In Version 04, on the Left Seat Panorama and the Right Seat Panorama, the zoom level and both the horizontal and the vertical anchors are now identical. They were a bit off in previous versions.

A question not related to layouts but not important enough for its own thread - how does one illuminate the maintenance panel that contains the Squib Test buttons? I've searched throughout the manual and can't find where the light dimmer or switch is for this panel...

The dome light knob, on the overhead panel, will make it bright enough to use.

Quote

I've searched throughout the manual and can't find where the light dimmer or switch is for this panel...

There is no backlighting for the maintenance panels, so you will have to switch on a light which illuminates the cockpit generally. The P6 circuit breaker panel is similar.

Rgds
JHW

Thanks for the assistance re illuminating this panel as well as P6. I had searched the manual for every phrase I could think of and couldn't find the magic lighting button for them.

Perhaps we should ask Hardy to implement a keyboard-activated, mouse-driven virtual flashlight?! It would need to be added to the other functions of the mouse, and then deactivated by keyboard when not needed. Easy for me to suggest, of course. Somehow I suspect Hardy's priorities for modifying PSX already has quite a few much higher priority items in it.

I assume that real pilots would use a real flashlight if they needed to fool around in those panels at night...

On the other hand, it's probably a bit unusual to test squibs in the middle of the night out over the Pacific or Atlantic or North Pole! Maybe it's just as well they live "in the corner, in the back, in the dark".