Nice job with the sidebar.
On the lower UI, I once did somethin similar once except the txt window was static, and then the station icons and dial's were on seperate sliders. In the end i gave it up, just wasn't my cup of tea after awhile. But the UI sliding out of the way, REALLY helps at night when on the bridge. You can see MUCH better with the UI out of the way.
Im sure alot of people will really enjoy this mod and find it helps with the immersion factor. Particuarlly those who are used to using keyboard shotcut keys and not the mouse as much