Incorrect heading indicator, Incorrect altimeter setting....

[Bubba Fett]

I keep seeing these at random and can't get rid of them once they show up.
The heading one says push 7 to set and the altimeter says push 9 to set, but neither of them seem to do anything.
Am I supposed to push that button on my KB, my number pad, that number button on my joystick, that number on my throttle. WTF???????
I'm pretty sure I've tried all 4 of those options multiple times with no luck. :^(

And why is it incorrect in the first place? Is there not an assist I can turn on to make them correct from the start to the end of the flight?

I'm not an actual pilot and I don't want to learn all the systems of a plane just to get rid of these stupid alerts.
Can anyone tell me how to solve this?

[Biggles]

Press 'D' on the kb to set the heading, press 'B' on the kb to set the altimeter.

[kalnaren]

Originally posted by Bubba Fett:

And why is it incorrect in the first place? Is there not an assist I can turn on to make them correct from the start to the end of the flight?

The altimeter is based on static air pressure, and seems to always start the game at 29.92 in/hg (at least on the ground). That's ICAO standard atmosphere (the "standard" that all aviation instruments are calibrated to), and is fine... assuming the pressure where you're flying is in fact 29.92 in/hg. One thing you can do, before you take off, check that altimeter is reading your field elevation (which you can see in the Nav Log section of flight planning, IIRC it shows it on the window in the lower left when the flight loads, as well). So if your field elevation is 700', turn the little dial on the altimeter so it reads 700'. Or the 'B' button.

I've started a couple of times with the heading indicator misreading, and if you get the 'frozen instruments' bug momentarily it will really be out of whack. In reality the heading indicator is a gyroscope instrument that's based on rigidity in space -basically the gyro stays put while the airplane rotates around it. That's how it shows you where you're going. The problem with that is Earth rotates under the gyro.. so it periodically needs to be reset to the compass (about every 15 minutes -this is called gyroscopic precession). There are options in the game menu to turn this function off. I have mine disabled because I'm lazy, though I have noticed every now and then I still need to reset it using the 'D' key anyway. I'm not sure if the game models gyro tumble if you're doing really steep maneuvers or something. Quick way to check is to fly straight and level and compare the heading indicator with the compass. They should show the same thing. If not, hit 'D'.

I'd just get in the habit of resetting them every now and then during flight using the hotkeys, or when you see the alerts pop up.

[Bubba Fett]

Thanks for the info. That should help.