How To...Install A Vistaliners 727 Panel

By Robert Jacobs (24 November 2004)

Recently, Erick Cantu released his latest work of art, the 'Vistaliners' Boeing 727-200 and -200adv. These aircraft are excellent representations of the 727 and many people have downloaded them. There is also lot of confusion over what panel to use with this wonderful aircraft though, as it doesn't come with one. I've selected the amazing FS2002 panel by Richard Probst, and am going to go though, step by step, what to modify in order to make it fully functional in Flight Simulator 2004.

Please note that the fixes detailed here are not my own work. I asked questions on many forums and this is a compilation of those replies so that everyone can see what to do. The most helpful reply came from the SGA forum, at www.sgair.net.

Okay, first of all, you must download three files. The three files you must download are:

1. RP727PN4.ZIP 8 mb (this is the base panel)
2. RP727ICO.ZIP 19 kb (this provides a sim-icon to access the overhead panel)
3. CFRP727.ZIP  5 mb (this fixes several faulty alarms and adds some data charts)

Once those files are downloaded, backup the original .zip files, (in case you make a mistake) and then follow these instructions:

1. Install RP727PN4.ZIP as per the instructions in the download. Please install it exactly as the installation instructions say.
2. Install only the gauges of CFRP727.ZIP. JUST THE GAUGES!
3. Install RP727ICO.ZIP as per the instructions.
4. Open up the 'With Charts" panel.cfg in Notepad, and turn on word wrap. Make the following changes to this file:
   1. Change "Window06=Do Not Use" so that it reads "Window06=Landing View"
   2. Copy the [Window02] from the default b737 panel.cfg and paste it in place of the current [Window02]
   3. Change [Window03] gauge 00= section to read "gauge00=Rp727_2!ap, 0, 197, 400, 103"
   4. Save your work, and replace the current panel.cfg file with the edited one.

That's it! You're done. Now, the autopilot should work, the GPS should be the default FS2004 GPS, and the overhead panel should work. One more thing that might be required to get the yaw damper switches to work is to go into the aircraft.cfg file of your Vistaliners 727 and change the "yaw_damper_gain=0.00000" line to "yaw_damper_gain=1.0000". This enables the yaw damper switch.

Legal Stuff: This fix won't harm your computer in any way, but if something happens to your system, I am in no way responsible.

With that out of the way, please feel free to email me if you have any questions or issues with this fix. Don't hesitate to email questions, or ask for clarification.

Robert Jacobs
Wingnut172N@yahoo.com