How can I set up mouse-controlled cockpit camera movement and zoom in FS2004?

Mouse look & zoom in FS2004 (what’s possible out of the box)

FS2004 doesn’t have the newer “mouse look” cockpit camera system like later sims. So with a stock FS9 install you can’t truly “click-and-drag” to freely pan the VC the way you might be thinking. What you can do in FS2004 is:

1. Pan the view using hat switch / keyboard view commands (or assign them to your mouse buttons if your mouse software supports it).
2. Zoom using FS’s zoom commands (keyboard), or by mapping them to a mouse wheel/button via mouse driver software.

1) Zoom controls (works in VC and 2D)
Try these first:

• Zoom in: +
• Zoom out: -

If your keyboard layout requires it, you may need to use the main keyboard plus/minus rather than the numpad (or vice versa). Also check you’re not using a laptop “Fn” layer that’s stealing the keypresses.

2) Panning the cockpit view (keyboard / hat switch)
FS2004’s built-in way is the “look” commands. Typical defaults are along the lines of:

• Spacebar (hold) + mouse movement in some setups will only work in certain panels/add-ons, but it’s not a guaranteed global FS9 feature.
• Hat switch on a joystick for pan (if you have one).
• Keyboard “look” directions (varies depending on your assignments).

The reliable way is to go into FS9’s control assignments and make sure the “pan view” / “look” commands are assigned to something convenient (hat switch is easiest). If you don’t have a hat switch, a lot of folks map “pan left/right/up/down” to extra mouse buttons using Logitech/MouseWare/SetPoint-style software (outside FS).

3) If you specifically want click-and-drag mouse look
That generally requires a third-party utility in FS2004. Since you didn’t mention any add-ons, I don’t want to steer you toward a specific tool you may not have, but that’s the category you’re looking at for “modern” mouse-driven camera panning in FS9.

A couple quick questions so I can point you the right way

1. Are you flying in the Virtual Cockpit or only the 2D panel?
2. Do you have a joystick with a hat switch, or are you strictly mouse/keyboard?
3. Are you running a “clean” FS2004, or do you already have any camera/view utilities installed (even something you forgot about)?
4. When you press + / -, does the zoom value change at all?