FS2004 kneeboard

[dva51]

Hello to all
I open this topic hoping to find someone who can help me to understand how to set up, within the kneeboard a sheet of "instructions", which appear in the window before the radio communications window; I've look for that without result, and I doubt that will not be connected to the aircraft but to specific flights. (for FS9, although I think it should be common to FSX)
The above because I'm re-arranging the various files reference and checklist that I adjusted [1].
I take this opportunity to wishes to all Merry Christmas and Happy new Year,
and thanks in advance to those who will give me a hand
Aldo

[1] simply inspired by "Aircraft Performance Database V.2.0
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/38829151/FS9/kneeboard.wmv

 

[antaris]

Hello Aldo

Well, as far as I know, you can do this with MS Word for text editing and MS Paint to resize and prepare images. If you have Adobe Photoshop, the better... because it has a lot more flexibility to tweak and create images from scratch. I will try to summarize how I would do it (for sure, there are better ways).

• Step 1: First thing to know is how and where you can "call" this specific information within the simulator. This is done within every aircraft.cfg file and you can find it in the specific aircraft folder where you want your check list and reference files. I will take as example, a helicopter I made:

1.- It is located in the main aircraft folder: D:\Flight Simulator 9\Aircraft
2.- The specific aircraft folder where we will create all necesary files is located here: D:\Flight Simulator 9\Aircraft\Bell_429_Naval_FS9
3.- Once we are there, I will find the aircraft.cfg file for this specific rotorcraft (see the image below):

• Step 2: I will open the aircraft.cfg file with "notepad":

• Step 3: Understanding two key lines in the aircraft.cfg file. As you can see, for every livery you have (under every single header [fltsim.X]) there are two lines highlighted in green. the first one, tells the simulator where it can read the checklist information and the second line do the same for the reference information for this helicopter. Please note that the information after the equal sign "=" are the file names which you will create!!!. As a side note, they can be named as you want. In my case the checklist file is called Bell_429_check and the reference file Bell_429_ref.

• Step 4: Once you set up this two lines under every livery header (I need to stress this enough) and write the appropriate names for both files, next step is to write down all specifications, tables, insert images, etc. in each file. I will assume that you know how to use the software (or its equivalents) that I mentioned before.

• Step 5: File creation. It takes a little bit of trial and error with text and images; mainly because you need everything clean and readable results. I usually create "tables" with transparent borders and where apply, lines and borders. Table and image dimensions are up to you and need to be tested to fit your own needs.

• Step 6: Create a new folder where you will store your source documents and Images. For convenience, it might be in your "desktop". Why you need to do this? Well, because you need to have a backup before you save your files in the appropiate format. Once you've done writing and positioned all images; each one need to be saved as webpage, filtered (*.htm; *.html):

• Step 7: What do you have after saving? Ok, there we go: When you save your first file (lets say the checklist), you will have the original document transformed into a file which can be readed by the "kneeboard" and a folder with the same name followed by the word "files" . The folder and the file recently created, must be in your particular aircraft folder. In my case, within D:\Flight Simulator 9\Aircraft\Bell_429_Naval_FS9
• Step 8: Repeat step 7 for the "reference" file. Using my source files, the result can be seen like this:

I will attach the original *.doc files and images I used to create this files; you can do with them whatever you need; however, you need to rename them as required (see the attached subfolder in zip format).

Well, that's it!
I hope this might be helpful.
Sergio.

 

[dva51]

... I hope this might be helpful...

Hi Sergio "Antaris"
and thanks for your answer.
It is very nice explained, but I'm afraid your content is related only to "reference" and "checklist" of the aircraft.
As you can see in the enclosed zip, I already obtained material to place in the kneeboard, for checklist and references.
What I'm asking for is a further doc to place in the "instruction" window of the kneeboard, even if I afraid it could be not referred to aircraft but to a specific flight.
Anyway, thanks again for your infos
I send you my best wishes for Merry Christmas an Happy New Year
Aldo

 

[antaris]

It is very nice explained, but I'm afraid your content is related only to "reference" and "checklist" of the aircraft.
As you can see in the enclosed zip, I already obtained material to place in the kneeboard, for checklist and references.
What I'm asking for is a further doc to place in the "instruction" window of the kneeboard, even if I afraid it could be not referred to aircraft but to a specific flight.

Opss... Hopefully this would be helpful for someone else. Well, my head is in Jupiter this days!

On the other hand, what you need is beyond my knowledge... AFAIK you need to create a module programmed in "C". If I can recall, you want something like the Aerosoft Airport Services.

 

[Ronald]

What a great tutorial Sergio, thanks man!

 

[dva51]

Hi to all
at the end, looking a bit in the folders of the Flight Simulator program, I found a way to accomplish what I wanted. As expected, the document is to be integrated on the flight and not in the aircraft folder.
Here's a little video of the result

bye
Aldo