Pete....Please help with throttle reverse thrust

[tranthamdv]

Hello Pete! I have just learned that it is possible to use FSUIPC to program my CH yoke throttle to have throttle, idle and reverse thrust! I have your latest FSUIPC and have printed the manual and also ventured into the Joystick section of FSUIPC. I found page 1 and 3 but really do not understand what to do now. Also, I must admit that I am really skittish about making these changes..

I have programmed my Mixture control to give me reverse thrust in my jets but haven't tried it yet.

I have the CH Yoke and Pedals USB running with Windows XP. I would appreciate any help/advice you can give me on how to set my throttle to give me reverse on my props.

Many thanks,

Dave in Raleigh, North Carolina

[Pete Dowson]

I must admit that I am really skittish about making these changes..

Why skittish? If you make a mess or don't like the results, simply delete the Joystick calibration sections in the FSUIPC.INI before you load FS next time. Or reset all of FSUIPC's options to default by deleting the FSUIPC.INI file altogether and making it restore the defaults.

I found page 1 and 3 but really do not understand what to do now.

What part of the documentation isn't clear, please? I spent a lot of time (and I do mean a lot) on the documentation -- much more than I am likely to spend here, so it is difficult to know how to explain things any better than I have already.

I shouldn't need to do this, but here is a copy of the relevant paragraph:

If you have a single throttle control and you’d like to have an idle and reverse zone on this, then in the throttle part of page 1 select the “Map to 4 throttles” option. Then turn to page 3 of 6 and calibrate your throttle using the throttle 1 axis. The other three will match exactly. Choose the minimum (full reverse) and maximum (full forward) in the usual way, but then make a centre ‘idle’ zone wherever you want it on your lever’s movement—close to a détente or other stop if you have one.

Isn't that clear enough? What is it there you don't understand, please? If it is merely how to calibrate the throttle, please simply follow the step-by-step calibration instructions earlier in that same section of the documentation!

Regards,

Pete

[tranthamdv]

Hi Pete,

Many thanks for your prompt reply and I apologize for not being more specific as to my problem.

I have a pretty good understanding of the process and I think I can set it up but my question really centered on the 'idle' portion of setting up the throttle for reverse thrust.

How do I determine where to set the min/max for the idle zone? I imagine this zone should be very small so I'll have room for the full throttle as well as incremental reverse thrust. If this is the case and since I don't know exactly "where" the idle zone is, then how do I avoid passing right on through the idle zone and into the reverse thrust zone?

Your friend, Ray Proudfoot, is also a very good friend of mine and he said you guys had discussed this a bit and you mentioned having some sort of 'detents' or 'markers' on the CH yoke throttle to avoid this situation. Would you comment on this for me?

As for me being "skittish" about losing my settings, etc., I now realize that I can back up my current FSUIPC.INI and have it in case my new settings don't work out as I had hoped, so no sweat there.

Many thanks for all your support!

Dave

PS. You may receive two messages from me. I sent you one earlier but upon submitting it, I got a message that it was an invalid session. So I had to write again. I have no idea what happened to the first note.

[Pete Dowson]

How do I determine where to set the min/max for the idle zone?

Wherever you like. Give yourself more movement on the forward thrust side -- you don't need anywhere near as much movement for reverse provided it is at least consistent. Many airliners only use two reverse settings in any case. For instance, on the 737 there are three notches. The first "arms" the reverse mechanically, but leaves the thrust at idle, so you don't need that. The third is normal reverse thrust, and the second is used on the way back, when cancelling reverse, to allow the engine to re-stabilise at a low setting before mechanically closing the reverser. They don't really seem to use variable amounts of reverse -- you either need it or you don't. It's only used for a short time in any case of course.

I imagine this zone should be very small so I'll have room for the full throttle as well as incremental reverse thrust.

The idle zone needs to be large enough to always reliably find it -- if there is much jitter or variation in the readouts your lever gives then it will need to be wider. Things like humidity and temperature variations can affect the values being provided. You must always be able to set idle, else you will certainly have problems.

Just experiment till you can get it working well in all circumstances.

If this is the case and since I don't know exactly "where" the idle zone is, then how do I avoid passing right on through the idle zone and into the reverse thrust zone?

That's the problem with doing it with one smooth lever slot. I'd recommend making some sort of notch -- a piece of rubber or a sponge gate perhaps, glued to one or both sides of the slot, for instance. A little piece of rounded corner from a soft rubber pencil eraser might do.

Your friend, Ray Proudfoot, is also a very good friend of mine and he said you guys had discussed this a bit and you mentioned having some sort of 'detents' or 'markers'

Oh, hi! Friend of friend! :D

I imagine that the discussion was something on the above lines. The other method I had considered for one of my throttle quadrants (an old FlightLink one) was to fit a hinged metal gate across the slot, only moving it out of the way when I needed reverse. This is rather more ambitious though and permanently disfigures your controls.

Regards,

Pete

[tranthamdv]

Hi Pete!

Many, many thanks for your reply to my last post. You have answered all my questions!! Hoorah!! And a special thanks for the "extra" info on how the reverse thrust works in the real world. Very informative!

Also grateful for the advice on the 'detent' problem. Ray said you had mentioned maybe two erasers glued to the side of the throttle slot to indicate the idle zone. Very good idea. I especially like your idea of a hinged piece of metal that could be flipped out of the way when reverse is needed. I have done a lot of modeling in my life so I will really give this some thought.

I hope to tackle this beast today and experiment to see what happens.

Again, many thanks. If I come up with something that works, I'll keep you posted.

Love FSUIPC!

Best regards,

Dave