I set the forward position on my hat switch to look straight ahead (in "Map controllers", on your clipboard). You will have to map this for every plane you fly but while pressing forward on the hat switch, push your page down key on the keyboard, so that the gauges can now be seen clearly. Then while still holding the hat switch, press the F10 key. That will lock that view to coincide with your forward hat switch key. Depending on the plane, you may need to fine tune the view using the four keyboard arrows, to get it exactly the way you want. F10 key saves whatever view is showing.
Now if you want to see your gauges, one hat switch press will show them. Release and you're back to normal view.