Opencockpits MCP737NG

Visit You Tube For a nice movie of the Opencockpits MCP with my script.

A very special part in my Simulator is the Mode Control Panel (MCP), sometimes also called Autopilot. The MCP is the main interface between the pilots and the Automatic Flight Director System (AFDS).

I'm using the Opencockpits MCP737NG as a 767 MCP. It is a low cost solution, you only have to pay for the hardware, the sofware (SIOC) is free. The SIOC script that I have made for it is based on the predefined Level-D MCP SIOC variables by my lekseecon program.

Unfortunately the push buttons in the shafts of the Rotarie encoders are not wired to inputs. For a 737 this is ok, but for a 767 we miss something. To compensate for this I have given the SPD button extra functionality in my SIOC script: a single click controls the SPD function and a double click the SPD Intervention function. In the same way the HDG SEL button gives you HDG SEL with a single click and HDG HOLD with a double click.

All functions of the Level-D 767 are now supported (!), even BCRS, with the exception of the bank angle selector only. In addition, my lekseecon program provides cold and dark support and a lights test function.

Here a picture of the MCP when lights test is activated:

All this works out of the box, plug and play!

Modifications I made ...

This is only for people that have some skills in electronics, certainly no plug and play work ...

The out of the box solution works fine. However, I wanted to get rid off double clicking and to make it function even more like a 767 MCP. I opened the MCP, found the two pins of each push button of the SPD knob and the HDG rotary encoder, and welded three wires to these pins, one common ground (the red one) and a wire for each push button:

These wires are leaving the box, next to the USB cable, and they are connected to two spare inputs at one of my Master Cards.

With this simple hardware fix, I could now add in SIOC the SPD intervention function to the push button in the shaft of the SPD rotarie encoder and HDG SEL to the push button in the shaft of the HDG rotarie encoder. The HDG SEL button is now reprogrammed to act as HDG HOLD, conform a 767 MCP!