Button-Controlled Reverse Pitch for Piston Props

[radialben]

Hi Pete,

can you tell me if there's any way to set up FSUIPC4 (for FSX) so that you can select reverse pitch using a button push/switch? The reason I ask is I'm fooling about with a home-built throttle quadrant for four-engined propliners, specifically the Lockheed Constellation. Using FSUIPC and my quadrant I can do everything I'd like to do except the reverse pitch:(. I know you can designate a sector of an axis as reverse thrust or even a completely separate axis as such but I can't get either to work with the Connie, although I'm not particularly concerned about that as I would prefer to use a button etc.

I don't know if you are aware, but Lockheed used a secondary lever on each throttle to activate reverse pitch when needed. I've been playing around with a flight model of an L 1049H which uses a simicon on the panel to do the same thing. This works fine in the sim but I thought it would be cool to mimic the Lockheed setup using a microswitch somehow.

The odd thing about it is I'm not sure how they're getting the simicon to do it's thing because there's no designated keystroke in the FS control setup menu specifically for reverse pitch and I'm not savvy enough to know where to look next.

Anyway, if you have any tips or suggestions I'd be keen to hear them.

cheers

Ben

P.S. thank you SO much for creating FSUIPC; quite possibly the best bit of software ever written!

[Pete Dowson]

can you tell me if there's any way to set up FSUIPC4 (for FSX) so that you can select reverse pitch using a button push/switch?

Same as on the keyboard in FS -- just assign a button to PROP PITCH DECR (or, for separate engines, PROP PITCH1 DECR through PROP PITCH4 DECR. You can do this in FSUIPC's assignments or FS's (The generic PROP PITCH DECR control is is normally assigned to keypress Ctrl+F2 in FS -- listed as something like "Propeller RPM decrease quickly" in FS's assignments).

The odd thing about it is I'm not sure how they're getting the simicon to do it's thing because there's no designated keystroke in the FS control setup menu specifically for reverse pitch and I'm not savvy enough to know where to look next.

Actually there's no "designated keystroke" for reverse thrust either, yet everyone seems to know it is F2 ("THROTTLE DECR"). With all the three controls -- throttle, pitch, and mixture, the INCR and DECR controls simple do exactly that. So if you have forward pitch/throttle or mixture and you hit the appropriate Decrement control (F2, possibly with Ctrl and Shift as needed), it will decrease it a little. If it is already at idle/feather/cut, then reducing it further takes it into its "negative" or "reverse" zone.

You can always determine the internal FS name for controls -- the ones FSUIPC uses for assignment -- by enabling Event logging in FSUIPC and pressing the appropriate button. details are logged and you can look in the FSUIPC Log file (in the Modules folder) to see what control was used.

Regards

Pete

[Gypsy Baron]

Hello Ben,

As another "Connie lover" here, let me give you the information I have to offer.

The L-1049H uses a local variable, L:Propeller reverse, bool, to indicate

the reverse state to the rest of the code. The right-click of the mouse

on the red reverse throttle handles toggles this variable.

The code to sense the mouse click and move the red prop reverse handles is

in the "Throttle749.xml" gauge in the L10-49H.cab.

This L1049H does not respond to "F2" to enter/implement prop reverse.

It is entirely coded within the models gauges.

You can implement your desired switch function to enter prop reverse

by creating a MACRO file in FSUIPC to toggle the L:Var "L:Propeller reverse"

and assign that macro control to your switch via the FSUIPC Buttons + Switches

menu.

Here's how:

1. Create a file "L1049H.MCRO" using notepad

2. Cut & paste the following lines into the file:

[MACROS]

1=L:Propeller reverse=TOGGLE

3. Close the file and save it in your "Modules" folder.

4. Start FSX and load the L1049H

5. Open the FSUIPC menu in the "Addons" dropdown menu

6. Open the Buttons + Switches menu

7. "Check" the "Aircraft specific?" box.

8. Activate the button or switch you wish to assign to the reverse function

9. "Check" "Select for FS control"

10. Look down the list until you find the entry "L1049H:L:Propeller Reverse Tgl"

11. Click this selection and then "OK".

To test:

12. Back in flight on the runway, advance the throttles to get rolling

13. Pull back the throttles to minimum thrust, hit your "Reverse" switch

Note the red handles movement.

14. Advance the throttles to increase the RPM. Note that only the red handles move.

15. Pull throttles back to minimum to exit the reverse prop pitch condition

I have just done the above procedure to verify that it works.

If you are going to be implementing other features, I would suggest reading in

detail the FSUIPC PDF documents related to "Advanced users" and Lua plugins,

initially.

I've been doing a lot of experimentation/learning lately using lua plugins and compound

command control codings via the FSUIPC.ini file for several of the more advanced

aircraft in my inventory. ( A2A B-377, P47, J3 Cub and some Captain Sim models )

Once you get a bit of exposure to the marvelous additional features that FSUIPC provides you, you

will be able to create all the "custom" features you desire.

Paul

[radialben]

Hi Paul,

thanks for your reply, always good to meet another piston fan :D

I've set up the macro as you suggested (thanks for the clear instructions. I'm computer illiterate so you need to use words of one syllable or less with me) and it works just as you described, although I've discovered that my axis callibration was out on my throttles so closing them to idle wasn't cancelling the reverse pitch selection. Recallibrated and away we go, perfect.

One question: is it possible to modify the macro so that you can control pitch on each engine individually?

Thanks for your help

cheers

Ben

[Gypsy Baron]

Hi Paul,

thanks for your reply, always good to meet another piston fan :D

I've set up the macro as you suggested (thanks for the clear instructions. I'm computer illiterate so you need to use words of one syllable or less with me) and it works just as you described, although I've discovered that my axis callibration was out on my throttles so closing them to idle wasn't cancelling the reverse pitch selection. Recallibrated and away we go, perfect.

One question: is it possible to modify the macro so that you can control pitch on each engine individually?

Thanks for your help

cheers

Ben

Glad it's working for you, Ben. As to controlling pitch on each prop individually, are you talking about during the reverse

process?

The way the code works, from what I see, is that there is just the one L:Var to indicate the reverse state.

Once in reverse you can, of course, advance the throttles individually but you can't easily control the individual pitch values.

You will notice that on the FE panel there is just a single control that governs prop pitch, thus all four are

ganged together.

Paul

[radialben]

Hi Paul,

sorry, I suppose my question was a bit ambiguous. What I meant was is it possible to set it up so that you can select reverse pitch on each engine individually? I would guess that Lockheed didn't go so far as to give flight crews the ability to adjust pitch settings in reverse but my understanding of the setup they used was there was a master lever that governed pitch (and thus engine rpm) during normal flight with four toggle switches to allow individual tweaking of each prop to ensure correct synch (to avoid the dreaded wah-wahs!) but the pilot selected reverse pitch using the secondary levers mounted on the throttles. If this is correct then that is what I would like to emulate, if possible.

cheers

Ben

[Gypsy Baron]

Hi Paul,

sorry, I suppose my question was a bit ambiguous. What I meant was is it possible to set it up so that you can select reverse pitch on each engine individually? I would guess that Lockheed didn't go so far as to give flight crews the ability to adjust pitch settings in reverse but my understanding of the setup they used was there was a master lever that governed pitch (and thus engine rpm) during normal flight with four toggle switches to allow individual tweaking of each prop to ensure correct synch (to avoid the dreaded wah-wahs!) but the pilot selected reverse pitch using the secondary levers mounted on the throttles. If this is correct then that is what I would like to emulate, if possible.

cheers

Ben

Hello Ben,

To have individual control over the reverse pitch settings would require someone rewriting a whole

bunch of code in more than one gauge. The L:Var that I referenced to implement the button activation

using FSUIPC was in a gauge that just sensed the mouse clicks and provided the visuals of the reverse levers movement.

The L:Var state was then used elsewhere to actually implement the reverse pitch state. I didn't dig any further

to see what that code looked like since I had managed to implement your original request :)

It would be a fairly simple matter to have individual click spots on each reverse lever and to set seperate,

new L:Vars ( Reverse_1, Reverse_2, etc ) and then assign them to switches via FSUIPC but then the code

that implemented the actual pitch change would need to be rewritten to use those new variables.

Probably quadrupling that section of the gauge, wherever it is.

What would be your intent as to having those seperate reverse pitch controls? As I mentioned in a prior post.

once in reverse pitch mode you can chose to advance only one of two throttles, leaving the others at the

1% level and low RPM.

Paul

[radialben]

Hi Paul,

I don't think it's necessary to do all that extra work just for the sake of authenticity. The system works fine as you've designed it and, as you say, power settings on individual engines can be controlled once reverse pitch is selected so I'm happy. Thanks for taking the time to help me out, it's much appreciated. If I can make it all work maybe I'll build you a quadrant as payment :D

thanks again

Ben

[mnowinski]

I realize that the original post is a bit old, but I am in need of a step-by-step procedure to set up FSUIPC for FSX non-jet aircraft that have "Prop Reverse" capabilities.and using a Thrustmaster controller that has a throttle lever with a "power off" detent and prop/thrust reverser positions that works with single or multi-engine aircraft..,   I want to be able set up FSUIPC to apply this only to aircraft I choose as "type" specific.

I appreciate all answers, but please try and keep them in context with my original request.  Far too many go off on tangents that confuse me even more than a 74 yo should be.

Thanks very much.

Mike

 

 

 

Edited January 18, 2020 by mnowinski
word change

[John Dowson]

Above re-posted as a new topic here: