FSUIPC help with prop-based taxi speed and throttle?

[Agrajag]

Pete,

I own FSUIPC (thanks for the great product) and have a problem others seem to be experiencing too. I prefer to fly the default King Air 350 and use a CH Products Yoke and Pro Pedals. The throttle has a bit of dead space in it where you register no movement (though that's not the problem). When it does finally register movement, the King Air seems to bolt into too much power and my taxiing ends up being a tedious affair of continual brake application. There just doesn't seem to be a way to keep it under control. Others say they've gotten around this by using just the keyboard controls to get it to the right minimal speeds but that defeats the purpose. I was wondering if FSUIPC might be able to help here.

Others note the problem with any joystick with a throttle control, not just the yoke.

[Pete Dowson]

Others say they've gotten around this by using just the keyboard controls to get it to the right minimal speeds but that defeats the purpose. I was wondering if FSUIPC might be able to help here.

Well the only adjustment you have is the sensitivity slider in FS. But really any throttle setting should be possible with any half decent throttle lever. When you watch the throttle positon on screen, can you see its positon? Does it "jump" from idle to some fast setting? If so it is faulty.

Any throttle setting possible from keyboard should also be possible from a throttle lever -- well, almost. A typical lever might have 40-160 different measurable readings, maybe more for optical reading ones rather than potentiometers. There may be more (smaller) increments possible via keyboard, but I wouldn't have thought you'd need finer precision.

The only thing I could do, eventually, in FSUIPC would be to provide a facility for setting a curved rather than linear response -- one that was less responsive in the lower area and more responsive in the higher area. (You can't have it less responsive all the way else you wouldn't reach full throttle). But I expect then there would be complaints that fine adjustment of cruise speeds wasn't possible, or some such. You can't have more in one place without less in another.

This sort of curved response is useful sometimes for yoke and rudder controls, to give less control surface movement near centre, and more movement to the extremes. In fact I do that already in the PFC driver, via a range of selectable "S" curves. But I've never heard of a need for it on throttles at all, and it would worry me that it would make throttles less easy to use for the reason I just stated.

If you use a good aircraft model in FS then there should be a recommended throttle setting for taxiing -- in terms of N1 or N2 or EPR or RPM or whatever the measure might be. You normally have to use a little more to start the thing moving of course, but then bring it back to the set level.

On my lst of things to do in the future is a complete analogue axis assignment and calibration facility, by-passing the FS DirectInput system altogether, and providing much more detailed calibration facilities, even point-by-point so that curves can be applied. But I don't think I can get to this for months yet.

Regards,

Pete

[Agrajag]

When you watch the throttle positon on screen, can you see its positon? Does it "jump" from idle to some fast setting? If so it is faulty.

I haven't really watched it but will to see what it's doing. Many others report this so I'll be surprised if we all have faulty hardware.

(You can't have it less responsive all the way else you wouldn't reach full throttle). But I expect then there would be complaints that fine adjustment of cruise speeds wasn't possible, or some such. You can't have more in one place without less in another.

I agree. It's a rough catch-22. Do a search on this here and at Flightsim.com and you'll see it's quite common.

Thanks for at least giving me some things to look into.

[Agrajag]

OK Pete, I have more information. The keyboard makes no difference. Apparently, at least on my end, it's the KingAir that's at issue. The smallest touch of the keyboard of the throttle on the yoke sets the plane off at a high rate. So high that I end up skidding all over the tarmac when I execute any turns, etc. I've even crashed a few times from tipping over onto a wing. I found that I can offset it a bit by feathering but even that is touchy. I would assume that as I feather, the prop blades move in degrees but no setting there appears to be right either. Either the plane is going along too fast or, it comes under control for a bit but then the plane comes to a slow stop requiring me to push the feather control back to where the plane goes into high gear again.

[Pete Dowson]

I have more information. The keyboard makes no difference. Apparently, at least on my end, it's the KingAir that's at issue. The smallest touch of the keyboard of the throttle on the yoke sets the plane off at a high rate.

In that case I can only think it's the aircraft model itself. Evidently no amount of "fiddling" the throttle input would do the job for you. I suppose you made sure you were heavy enough? Full tanks?

Perhaps there are some parameters in the AIRCRAFT.CFG file which you can change which will help, but this is not an area I know enough about to advise on, I'm afraid.

Hopefully you can get it sorted if you can find some asircraft modelling experts to chat about it with. Sorry I'm no use here.

Good luck,

Pete

[Agrajag]

I only run full fuel. I haven't every progressed to the point of flying with less.

I'll look to the cfg and modeling people for help. It appears MANY are having the same problem with this plane.