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As you can see, the TQ6 throttle quadrant now sits below a column of GF modules, with space for another module just under
it. The entire subpanel sits on the tabletop, and is held by a simple C-clamp.
This is how the entire assembly looks now (compare with the pictures in the previous pages):
As you can see, I installed my homebuilt pushbutton panel under the throttles, and left the space immediately above empty
(now... where is that darn GoFlight blank panel cover I got a few months ago?...)
I discovered that FSUIPC allows me to assign the GF-LGT's flaps switch (which I don't need for the Citation because the
throttle quadrant has a multi-step flap lever function) for other purposes. I selected to control the Citation's speed
brakes with it, even though it is ABOVE the throttle, rather than BELOW them (as in the real airplane) because it looks a
lot like an electric speed brake control should. Works OK.
I had a LOT of trouble interfacing the Magic Touch USB touch-panel controller with my multi-monitor setup. It's
the fault of the rather primitive Keytec software. Whereas the TM-868 software (produced by an outfit called Chi Lin
technology - very impressive!) handles an arbitrary number and sizes of monitors elegantly, the Magic Touch SW only works
if the display that you are controlling is Number 1 (in the Windows XP hierachy) AND it is selected as the "primary display".
Primitive, as I said. Took me a week to figure out, but I finally got it to work.
STOP THE PRESSES!!! KeyTec just released a new multi-display driver that does what the Chi Lin driver does: lets you
select WHICH display the touch panel is attached to... good job, guys! (I stop the presses just one more time and I swear
the drive shafts are going to fail in shear..)
I had the choice of ordering the touch screen with a frame, or frameless. Being unsure about the sucess of installing
the frameless panel inside the LCD monitor's enclosure, I opted for the framed one (silver, to match the LCD monitor), and
it was the right decision. The framed touch-panel is supposed to sit on top of the monitor, held by two plastic
hooks and velcro strips. I didn't like the resulting separation between the touch-panel glass and the LCD
surface. SO: I partially dissasembled the touch-panel frame, removing the lower half of the frame (the half that would
normally touch the LCD's screen) and leaving the visible, "top", half on. I then used wide transparent scotch tape,
the type you use for packing, to secure the touch-panel to the LCD screen. It's barely visible (you can see
it in the pictures better than with your eyes) and it works. And the touch-panel glass is much closer to the LCD screen.
Yes, there are two unsightly half-circles on top of the frame - where the attachment hooks would have been, but c'est la vie!
Having complained about it, I must admit that the large touch panel is a joy to use. As you can see in
the picture, I replaced the rather jerky Eaglesoft ADI with RealityXP's JetLine 2 ADI, which, although "eletroniky-looking",
is so smooth as to make hand-flying an ILS a breeze. I retained their Sandel HSI, though (pushing the Sandel mode
buttons on the touch-screen is unbelievably realistic!). I also changed the VSI with a CRT unit that looks like the
one on my airplane, and repositioned and in some cases re-scaled a bunch of instruments and clusters (e.g. the pressurization
control panel) to make it easier to touch-control (I keep a full-size print of a real Citation panel on top of my monitors
just for kicks). With eight RP-48 knobs, and no Garmin 530 to control (the Citation I flew did NOT have a Garmin...
tsk, tsk) I can control altimeter setting, radio altimeter, rudder and aileron trim, the #2 OBS and a bunch of other useless
items (since the HSI OBS, HSI heading bug, autopilot altitude and altitude rate are controlled by the MPC module).
Late 2006: I broke down and added the RealityXP Garmin 530 to the Citation... so there!
The effect is very, very realistic; you don't need the mouse to control ANYTHING. Especially satisfying is turning
the engine fuel control on/off by just touching the area below the throttle images (you mouse them on the Eaglesoft Citation
model). Of course in the real aircraft you lift a gate on the throttles and slide them further down, but
this arrangement feels even better than assigning GoFlight buttons to the fuel cutoff functions. Now, if I could only
control the pressurization knob with an RP-48 knob... they only way I've been able to do it is by using key2mouse,
but it does not respond smoothly and realistically...
On the Citation, I used the smaller TM-868 also for the electrical subpanel - its left-hand side position mimicks
quite well the position of that sub-panel on the real aircraft (Cessna originally designed the Citation to be flown entirely
from the left seat, even though there are some Circuit breakers on the right side wall that are quite tricky to reach from
the left seat). I switch between the Garmin 530 and the sub-panel by letting a bit of each panel sneak under the one
above and touching the edge of the obscured window to bring it to the foreground (I do the same for the Avidyne and G-1000
displays shown in Page 4.)
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