Helicopter Offsets in FSUIPC?

[DirkS]

Hello everyone,

I am trying to build a Schweizer 300 based Helicopter Simulator and am using the Gauges and interfaces of flightillusion. The configuration software contains only a number of functions most of which are not Helicopter suited, so I have to define the ones in need myself using the offsets from FSUIPC. Is there a list of typical FSUIPC offsets to be used for helicopters? Does anyone have experience with the Schweizer model in particular?

I have the german version of the Schweizer 300 extension for FSX and I am not sure which functions really give me the rotor rpm, pedal or the pitch position. Also, is there a tool that displays just a the values of a number of variables through FSUIPC during flight? The flighillusion config software has that a bit, but it is very hard to do when you don' t know the exact FSUIPC offsets.

Thanks!!

regards, Dirk.

[Pete Dowson]

Is there a list of typical FSUIPC offsets to be used for helicopters?

You use the offsets which

(a) provide the information relevant to the cockpit gauges you need, and also

(b) are actually supported by the base FS model upon which you a building your craft.

The latter point is important to note. The simulation method in FS for the Robinson is very different from that for the Bell, and so on. Each supports different read-outs for instrumentation. One of them is more like a prop plane in this respect. You'd have to determine which values were usable for your model.

I am not sure which functions really give me the rotor rpm, pedal or the pitch position.

Don't the names and descriptions of the offsets in the documentation help? Certainly there's a rotor RPM, but "pedal" is "rudder" still -- it controls the rear rotor or its vanes, to set or control yaw. And your "pitch position" is ambiguous -- there's the pitch of the craft, as on the AI, and the "elevator" which represents the forward/backward movement of the cyclic, whilst "aileron" would be for the left-right movement of the same stick.

Also, is there a tool that displays just a the values of a number of variables through FSUIPC during flight?

There's FSInterrogate2, part of the FSUIPC SDK. If you are referring to the Offsets Status document for FSX, surely you also have that program? If you are not even referring to the offset documentation, why on Earth not?

You can also use and extend the Lua plug-in provided, the one called "display vals". You can alter that to display what you want, in real time, on the FS screen.

Regards

Pete

[DirkS]

Thanks, Pete, incredibly quick reply.

The comments on the tools help. I had a feeling that each model is different, will have to find out about it. I also contacted the development team, maybe they have something for me. The SDK docs and tools help, but there are so many offsets, even if some are named pretty straight forward regarding their meaning.

Is it possible that some of the variables the model uses can not be accessed through FSUIPC? I guess what I am actually asking is: I am willing to search for a needle in the haystack, but it comforts to know that it is in there for sure. :-)

thanks, regards, Dirk.

[Pete Dowson]

Is it possible that some of the variables the model uses can not be accessed through FSUIPC?

Generally, if they can be displayed in a gauge they are accessible. There may appear to be exceptions, but in those cases it is usually because the gauge code itself is deriving a displayable value from other values emanating from the simulation core, which is the source for the FSUIPC offsets.

I guess what I am actually asking is: I am willing to search for a needle in the haystack, but it comforts to know that it is in there for sure. :-)

Best to ask specific questions when you have them. Obviously no one can really answer the general question "how do I do what I want to do when I haven't yet defined it?".

Regards

Pete