Saitek Pro Flight Instrument Panel Plugin For Mac

We've put everything you need to get started with your Flight Instrument Panel right here. If you still have questions browse the topics on the left. The radio panel in particular is pretty much plug-and-play now. I just accept that a few of the switches don't work for certain aircraft that tap specific LVAR parameters (for example, the BATT and ALT switches on A2A aircraft are typically funky, as are some of the light switches).

Logitech Saitek Pro Flight Instrument Panel

The Aspiring Pilot's Introduction to Flight Simulation Hardware

Whether your preferred plane is commercial or private, the Saitek Pro Flight Yoke with included Throttle Quadrant is a must-have for beginning and advanced flight simulation enthusiasts. Delivering realistic and precise control while enhancing muscle memory, the Yoke and Throttle Quadrant with five total axes simulate what it feels like to truly fly an aircraft. Saitek's Pro Flight equipment is modular and interchangeable, and the Yoke anchors a comprehensive flight sim setup. There's no better way to begin your flight sim experience than with Saitek, the market leader in high-performance flight simulation hardware.

Simple Plug-and-Play Installation

The Throttle Quadrant connects to the Yoke via PS/2 connector cable, and the Yoke directly connects to a USB port on your PC or Mac. You can then simply load your favorite sim, set controls in the sim's options menu, and you're all set for virtual flight without the need to load drivers or install extra software. The Yoke's four-foot-long USB cable frees you to place the controls where they're most convenient for you.

This blog and its pages are dedicated to custom instrument panels using Saitek's FIP hardware on the X-Plane Flight Simulator. I noticed there were quite a few resources for using these panels with MS Flight Simulator X, but failed to find a decent repository for X-Plane, so I thought I'd set about creating one!

As well as the Info Pages (on which I will list reference information), I will also be making blog posts detailing my trials and tribulations making custom gauges for these nifty little bits of kit.
If you have not already done so, please read the X-Plane and Saitek Hardware page to learn my motivations for doing this and the reasons why I have opted to just stick with the standard Saitek plugin rather than using the plethora of third party plugins available via the X-Plane Forums; if all you're after are some nice looking FIP displays then others have done far more detailed work than I have towards this end and you might be better served using one of their solutions.
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I will list any links to external (ie. on other sites) resources or information pertaining to X-Plane and using the Saitek hardware in the Useful Links page.

Downloads

If you're itching to get going, why not check out my first gauge? Just click the link below the picture for more information including a (free) download link:
All-in-one HSI, RMI, DME, VSI with Turn Coordinator and Wind Indicator

Saitek Pro Flight Instrument Panel Plugin For Mac Download


Tutorials & In-depth How-To's:

I've started creating a series of informational how-to posts to help those aspiring to create their own gauges - I hope they're of use to you:
  • First tutorial in which we take the default Saitek Attitude Indicator, set it up to use the full screen rather than just the right hand two thirds of it and add simple text readouts for speed and altitude:

OS Support

Please note that the Saitek plugin only supports the Windows platform. I'd like to see a version for Mac and Windows, but as I strongly suspect that the plugin is linked against FSX APIs I think this is probably unlikely. I may later code a driver of my own (I'd love to see these panels working in FlightGear), but this is such a low priority for me that you may as well just assume that only Windows will ever be supported.

Feedback please!

Please feel free to comment throughout this blog if you so desire; in particular I always want to hear about anything I've gotten wrong, but if you have any questions, requests, suggestions or general remarks feel free to contribute. I do, however, only have limited time to devote to this blog so please don't be offended if I don't respond.

DISCLAIMER:

Saitek Flight Instrument Panel Upgrade


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I create custom gauges purely for my own interest and use. I am providing all the information here as well as links to download my gauges free of charge and open source in the hopes that it will be useful to you, but I cannot accept any responsibility or liability for anything that may happen as a result of using my gauges or the information in this blog and its pages.
This is as much a learning process for me as it will be for you, and it is likely that I have made assumptions that turn out to be false or otherwise come to false conclusions throughout this blog and it's pages! Of course I will correct any errors as soon as I am aware of them, so please let me know if you find something here that isn't quite right!