SurClaro Flight Simulator Resources

Last edited by Rhythmosaur on Wed May 05, 2004 11:04 pm; edited 1 time in total

Here is how to move data to the kneeboard as requested by a fellow simmer of this forum.

This is a grandmother and fool proof step by step do it yourself guide (well, I hope) for everybody, experienced or not. It has been successfully tested with my 12 years old sister. Unfortunally, my granny wasn't available. I couldn't persuade her to leave her grave for this...

What's the use of it?
Readme files and manuals often provide data you may want to read WHILE you are about to fly or even within flying. Did you ever pause your simulator to open a .pdf format manual or a readme file because you needed data? Did you keep them all in mind when you proceeded flying? Enough with that! You can easily improve your situation!

A useful example everybody could do
I'll show this with the following example:
You want to copy the content of the water plane manual of the default Cessna 208 Caravan Amphibian to your reference tab within the kneeboard to use this information WHILE practicing water take offs and landings.

FS02
- Find your FS02 main directory
This could be for example G:\Flightsim\FS2002. or, if you liked to appear the name Microsoft on your set more often then necessary, C:\programs\Microsoft games\FS2002.
- There you'll find a folder called aircraft. Open it up.
- Select now the folder of the aircraft wich you want to work with. In this example, it is the default Cessna Caravan Amphibian, so open the folder called c208. (NOT 208b - that would be the Grand Caravan)
(G:\Flightsim\FS2002\aircraft\c208)

Alongside a couple of folders like model, sound, panel etc, you find some .txt files. If necessary, increase name column size or adjust view settings to see the full name of those files:

cessna208_check.txt The checklist
cessna208_ref.txt The reference tab
cessna208_notes.txt Notes you typed into your kneeboard if any. Should only manually be modified when no flight is active, otherwise your data may be lost.

All these files can be opened with an ordinary test editor like Notepad. Just click the file to open it up.

- Open up cessna208_ref.txt
- Open up your source text wich you want to copy to the kneeboard. In this example you will find it here:

...FS2002\HELP\floats.pdf

- Before you proceed:
There's a limit on file size for .txt files. It is a decent number, but it might happen to you that you try copying a large portion of text and then get a weird error message wich is totally misleading (with Notepad). Proceed by copying in smaller portions and reduce text to the core, then it will work.

When you go to the limit with the note file, you might erase some information during the flight but still be unable to type something in. This seems to come from a somewhat lower limit FS02 allowes. You might need to errase some more (in flight) till you will be able to type something in again.

- Copy the text of your source file to the reference file
- Make sure word wrap is turned on and reformat the text (not mandatory). Erase things you don't need to make it more comfortable to get a particular information during flight. Erase the constantly repeated keycodes (unless you are not yet familiar with them).
- Save the reference file.

Note that images and pictures are marked while you copy, but are not transfered to the .txt file.

FS04

The procedure is the same for FS04 with a little difference:

The corresponding files are .html pages you open with your internet explorer. It allows more complex text formating, charts and - I believe but did not check yet - to fill in immages and pictures. Nevertheless, I'd not do so for framerate reasons.

There's no notes file anymore (GRMBLGRFTJX! What were they thinking to do this at Microsoft? I told them...)

That's it!

The Rhythmosaur

Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2004 11:47 am Post subject:

Thank you for this info, I'm sure there are many who have wondered how this was done. I finally figured it out for 2k2, but hadn't yet gotten around to figuring the process out for FS9

Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2004 1:30 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the information. I used your tutorial when modifying the checklists for my ultralight. I was really, really helpful. But now you need "Do it yourself-How to write in HTML"

Twisted Evil

-The Thankful, Greedy Disaster

Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2004 5:27 pm Post subject:

Insured Disaster and anyone else not sure of HTML...

One way of learning how to write the info you want is to follow the steps to open up the HTML document that Rhythmosaur described above (START/D:/PROGRAM FILES/MICROSOFT GAMES/FS9/AIRCRAFT/(whichever A/C you want)/(open the _check or _ref HTML file). Once open, right click the page and click "VIEW SOURCE" this will open up another window showing all the HTML code for that particular checklist file. Use this file as an example. Now open up the A/C that you want to either edit or create checklist data for.

EXAMPLE: If I open up the _check file for the Cessna Caravan C208, this is a portion of what I see, and what you'll see on your kneeboard:

CESSNA CARAVAN C208 AMPHIBIAN PROCEDURES

For detailed instructions on how to fly this aircraft, see the Caravan Amphibian Aircraft Information articles in the Learning Center. For suggested speeds, see the Reference page of the Kneeboard. Note that most actions can also be performed using the mouse.

To... Press...
Display/hide radio stack SHIFT+2
Display/hide GPS SHIFT+3
Display/hide engine controls SHIFT+4
Display/hide annunciator panel SHIFT+5
Display/hide compass SHIFT+6

After clicking "VIEW SOURCE" this is what the above Cessna info will look like in a new window (the BOLD data is the info you'll be editing to reflect the new A/C):

<html>

<head>
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<title>CESSNA CARAVAN C208 AMPHIBIAN PROCEDURES DRAFT</title>
<style>

</style>
</head>

<body>

CESSNA CARAVAN C208 AMPHIBIAN PROCEDURES 
 
For detailed instructions on how to fly this aircraft, see the Caravan Amphibian Aircraft Information articles in the Learning Center. For suggested speeds, see
the Reference page of the
Kneeboard. Note that most
actions can also be performed using the mouse. 
 

<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-width: 0" bordercolor="#111111" width="260" id="AutoNumber1">
<tr>
<td width="191" style="border-left-style: none; border-left-width: medium; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: medium; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: medium; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1">
To...</td>
<td width="66" style="border-left-style: none; border-left-width: medium; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: medium; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: medium; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1">

Press...</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="191" style="border-left-style: none; border-left-width: medium; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: medium; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: medium">
Display/hide radio stack</td>
<td width="66" style="border-left-style: none; border-left-width: medium; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: medium; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: medium">
SHIFT+2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="191" style="border-style: none; border-width: medium">
Display/hide GPS</td>
<td width="66" style="border-style: none; border-width: medium">
SHIFT+3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="191" style="border-style: none; border-width: medium">
Display/hide engine controls</td>
<td width="66" style="border-style: none; border-width: medium">
SHIFT+4</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="191" style="border-style: none; border-width: medium">
Display/hide annunciator panel</td>
<td width="66" style="border-style: none; border-width: medium">
SHIFT+5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="191" style="border-style: none; border-width: medium">
Display/hide compass</td>
<td width="66" style="border-style: none; border-width: medium">
SHIFT+6</td>
</tr>
</table>

That's a lot of typing for such a little amount of viewable data, and that's only for the HIDE/DISPLAY SHIFT+KEY assignments. I've highlighted (made BOLD) the info that you'll need to change (cut and type new data) to represent the A/C data for the A/C you want to use. Any text within brackets such as beginning tag <HTML> or ending tag </HTML> should not be changed unless you know what you are doing. A mistake can change the entire look of the document or worst case, will render the document unviewable completely.

If you have an example _check file open you can open it twice to view two copies, use one as the example and the other to change the A/C data. When you are finished editing, save the file as the _check file for the A/C it will be assigned to.

EXAMPLE:If I want to change the A/C in the HTML below I'd cut the A/C data that is located between the tags and enter the name of the new A/C

CESSNA CARAVAN C208 AMPHIBIAN PROCEDURES 

 

BOEING 737-400 PROCEDURES 

HTML can be pretty easy and fun to work with. Type a few lines and open the file in your web browser and you've created something. For others it can be a long and complicated task. Anyone wanting more info on HTML, what all the codes mean, how to change font or background colors, check out this beginners guide to HTML:

http://www.davesite.com/webstation/html/

And there's always the "Idiots Guide to HTML" at your local bookstore.
Last but not least, if I have some free time and this is a task you just have to try, give it a try and if it doesn't work, private message me and email me a copy of the file you tried and I'll proof read it and maybe, MAYBE, edit any errors.

Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2004 6:42 pm Post subject:

Thanks man, I think I will go with the book. I can easily destroy a checklist, as you can see by my ultralight, I simply removed or edited the existing 172 checklists and reference section. But say I wanted to make emergency sections in red or change something huge? I want to be able to create things of beauty that stir the human souls and inpire pilots to achieve new heights in safety and efficiency. But thank you for mentioning the book. It was something I never thought of.

The Clueless Disaster

Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2004 11:22 pm Post subject:

I tried the book and it was great. I can now create HTML well enought to make a checklist from scratch. Thanks. Very Happy

Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2004 12:53 am Post subject:

Anytime man, good luck.

Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2004 6:41 am Post subject:

Yeah, Ricktobin! Great job! Another issue I can scratch from my tasklist! Thanx a lot!

Rhythmo

Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2004 8:09 pm Post subject:

Certainly. If anything mentioned above seems vague or anyone's experience level dealing with HTML is in need of help, let me know and I'll try to assist.

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 10:26 am Post subject: afcad files

Is there a way to get afcad files or maps of some sort to this part of the simulator? I find myself constantly checking airport layouts to find the runway requested to taxi.

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 11:19 am Post subject: You can use a utility called...

You can use a utility called "airports charts viewer", it is freeware and found on most sites.

The version you will want is here at:

http://www.surclaro.com/download.php?op=getit&lid=6204

There are also other commercial products but I find this one to be the easiest to use and light on the system.