BOEING 707 circa 1970 - Flight Engineer's Panel

To select the Flight Engineer's Panel, clicking the Flight Engineer button or press Shift+ Keypad 3 (with NUM LOCK off).

Secondary Engine Instruments

The Secondary Engine Instruments


These instruments indicate the status of the oil system in the engines, with oil quantity, temperature and pressure gauges provided. The lowest row is a row of N2 RPM gauges, included to allow the flight engineer to monitor the engine thrust setting.

The Fuel Panel

Each engine has its own fuel tank, and there is also a central fuel tank. Reserve tanks are available for the outer two engines

  • The Fuel Gauges - these indicate the amounts of fuel in the aircraft's tanks, in thousands of pounds or thousands of kilograms, depending on your International settings.
  • The Boost Pumps - these must be switched ON for the engines to work above 20,000 feet. If a pump is left OFF the LOW PRESSURE light comes on as a warning. Only one out of the two pumps for each tank is required to maintain engine operation.
  • The Flow Valves - if all flow valves are OFF each engine draws only from its own tank. Switching ON these valves (indicated by green lights) will connect the engines to the central tank and to each other. Similar valves allow fuel in the reserve tanks to be accessed.
  • Total Fuel Gauge - this shows the total amount of fuel available in all tanks.
  • The Engine Cutoff Switches - these switches inside the engine symbols can cut fuel to the engines.

NB: Due to FS restrictions, the outer main tanks are denoted AUX in the Fuel dialog box, and the reserve tanks are MAIN (MSFS always empties AUX tanks before MAIN tanks). The inner wing fuel tanks are denoted CENTER 2 and CENTER 3.

Fuel Panel
Electrical Panel

The Electrical Panel

  • The Battery Panel - switch and meter (left = discharge, right = charge)
  • The External Power Panel - amber CONNECTED light comes on when ground electrical power is available. When switched on, white PWR ON BUS light comes on)
  • The Generator Panel - the meters at the bottom show generator outputs. Switches on second row switch generators into the 4 engine buses, while covered switches on top row control cross-connections.
  • Bus Warning Lights - the bottom row indicates generators not working due to non-functioning engines, the middle row, generators not working or switched off, and the top row, power inavailability on buses (either from own generator or from cross-connection).
  • The Essential Power Switch - selects power for the instruments - this may be from any engine bus, or from the external power unit.
  • The Duct Pressure Gauge: compressed air may be supplied from bleeds or turbocompressors (see 'Air Conditioning and Pressurization'). At lease 30 psi duct pressure is needed to start engines.
  • The night lighting switch for the Flight Engineer panel is also in this section.

Air Conditioning and Pressurization

The low-bypass JT3D engines used on the Boeing 707-320B and -320C only have limited air bleed capability, insufficient for pressurization except at high power rating. For this reason, the 707-320B and -320C have 3 turbocompressors, driven by engines 2, 3 and 4. The American Airlines 707-323C lacks the engine 4 turbocompressor.

The 707-700's CFM56 engines have much more powerful air bleeds, and thus are not equipped with any turbocompressors.

  • Turbocompressor RPM gauges - these gauges should read 100% when the turbocompressors are swiched on, showing that turbocompressor air is available.
  • Engine Bleed switches - engine bleeds are also available from all four engines, although these only have limited capability for pressurization.
  • Wing Valves - to use the turbocompressors or bleeds from an engine for pressurization or air conditioning, the wing valve on the appropriate side must be open. To cross-bleed engine start using a turbocompressor or bleed on the opposite wing, both wing valves must be open to allow air to flow from one wing to the other.
  • Cabin Altimeter - shows the equivalent altitude inside the aircraft. An alarm sounds if this exceeds 12,000 ft, unless the oxygen supply is switched on (the oxygen switch is on the overhead panel). Before landing, the orange bug (indicating thousands of feet) should be set 200 ft below the destination airport elevation.
  • Cabin Differential - monitors the difference between inside and outside air pressure. The maximum achievable cabin differential in a Boeing 707 is 8.6 psi.
Pressurization Panel

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