Flaps - Extend But Don't Retract

[kwompus21]

Working w/ FSUIPC 5.124.  P3d V4.2. Sim avionics software/737 and throttle.

I have set up my throttle and all works including the speed brake.  I have also set up my flaps as outlined on page 41-43 of the manual.  I have a 737-800 and there are total of 9 detentes.  After setting up, the flaps will extend to the fist and second detente and also retract.  But once I go to the third detente (5 degrees) they will no long retract.  Also, if I stop on the third detente it will no longer extend.  If I reload the plane the flaps will reset to fully retracted.  Note - I can extend flaps to any detente if chosen initially, but after the 3rd detente they no longer retract.

I have re calibrated the throttle in Devices page of Windows 7 and to be sure have double checked that I have all control settings removed in P3d.

If it is of any help here is an image of FSUIPC showing the #3 detente settings.  If there is other information I can post/send that would be of more help just let me know.

Thank you.  Chuck

[Pete Dowson]

9 hours ago, kwompus21 said:

If it is of any help here is an image of FSUIPC showing the #3 detente settings.  If there is other information I can post/send that would be of more help just let me know.

Pictures aren't much help. This one does show two things:

1. The lever is at one extreme (16383) which should equate to fully extended.

2. You've not checked the REV option, to reverse the action. Usually for airliner flap levers you want the lever at furthest position to be 'flaps up' and nearest you to be 'fully extended'. (NOTE: The REV must be selected BEFORE calibration).

Either way, either your lever is misbehaving, and giving Max Reading from part way through its travel, or you've done something wrong in the flap detente calibration stage.

So, first check that moving the lever from one extreme to the other does change the input value continuously, from something more than 16,000 to -16,000.

For the detente settings which you've made, best to show me the [JoystickCalibration] section of your FSUIPC5.INI file, from the P3D Modules folder. (Actual data is always better for me than pictures).

Pete

 

[kwompus21]

8 hours ago, Pete Dowson said:

1. The lever is at one extreme (16383) which should equate to fully extended.

Correct.

 

8 hours ago, Pete Dowson said:

2. You've not checked the REV option, to reverse the action. Usually for airliner flap levers you want the lever at furthest position to be 'flaps up' and nearest you to be 'fully extended'. (NOTE: The REV must be selected BEFORE calibration).

I tested the REV option, but did not select prior to calibration - must have missed this note in the manual.  I will re-calibrate tonight.

 

8 hours ago, Pete Dowson said:

So, first check that moving the lever from one extreme to the other does change the input value continuously, from something more than 16,000 to -16,000

I can confirm this to be correct.

 

8 hours ago, Pete Dowson said:

best to show me the [JoystickCalibration] section of your FSUIPC5.INI file

[JoystickCalibration]
AllowSuppressForPFCquad=Yes
ExcludeThrottleSet=Yes
ExcludeMixtureSet=Yes
ExcludePropPitchSet=Yes
SepRevsJetsOnly=No
ApplyHeloTrim=No
UseAxisControlsForNRZ=No
FlapsSetControl=0
FlapDetents=Yes
ReverserControl=66292
Reverser1Control=66422
Reverser2Control=66425
Reverser3Control=66428
Reverser4Control=66431
MaxThrottleForReverser=256
AileronTrimControl=66731
RudderTrimControl=66732
CowlFlaps1Control=66162
CowlFlaps2Control=66163
CowlFlaps3Control=66164
CowlFlaps4Control=66165
SteeringTillerControl=0
MaxSteerSpeed=60
Aileron=-16384,-512,512,16257
SlopeAileron=-2
Elevator=-16384,-512,512,16045
Rudder=-16384,-512,512,16319
LeftBrake=-16384,0/16
SlopeLeftBrake=-2
RightBrake=-16384,0/16
SlopeRightBrake=-2
Throttle1=-16216,-512,512,16049
Throttle2=-16303,-512,512,16062
Spoilers=-16321,-12569,-12319,16380
Flaps=0,16380
FlapStarts=-16384,-13743,-9485,-5443,-1563,2641,7114,11102,16383
FlapEnds=-16114,-10725,-7437,-2587,1347,4904,9269,13365,16384

 

 

[Pete Dowson]

1 hour ago, kwompus21 said:

Flaps=0,16380
FlapStarts=-16384,-13743,-9485,-5443,-1563,2641,7114,11102,16383
FlapEnds=-16114,-10725,-7437,-2587,1347,4904,9269,13365,16384

The only odd thing I see there is the final setting, for flaps fully extended.  Apart from the range allowed being verey small (16383 to 16384) the maximum calibrated value is 16380.

However, apart from the fact that this should work in reverse, it looks okay. I'll try your exact settings here.

Pete

 

[Pete Dowson]

Okay. I have a Saitek throttle quadrant which I use for testing. I assigned one of the axes to FS control "Axis Flaps Set" and used a direct copy of your calibration settings ...

... snd I have to say they worked perfectly here with the default FSX/FSX-SE 738.

When you calibrated, were you doing this with the 737 throttle quadrant showing on screen? I'm not familiar with Sim-Avionics so I don't know even if its 737 has an on-screen cockpit you can see. But you need to do it for the model you are using -- they are not all the same. In particular, for instance, I know the axis values needed for the PMDG 737 flaps are different.

And possibly Sim-Avionics has a different method enirely for flap positions?

Any chance of you getting a default 737 to test with? I'm not sure if there is one for P3D unless you also have an FSX or FSX-SE installation.

I'm also wondering if you might not get more joy from Sim-Avionics support? I use ProSim737 for my cockpit, but my quadrant is part of my original PFC 737 hardware cockpit, with shell, and its flap lever has built-in detentes, calibrated though my own PFC driver (PFCcom64.dll for P3D4). ProSim737 comes with its own 737 model, but no on-screen cockpit display so I can only check by the feedback on the flaps gauge, and of course the "notch" value available in offset 0BFC (one byte, 0-8, 0=up).

Pete
 

[kwompus21]

45 minutes ago, Pete Dowson said:

When you calibrated, were you doing this with the 737 throttle quadrant showing on screen? I'm not familiar with Sim-Avionics so I don't know even if its 737 has an on-screen cockpit you can see. But you need to do it for the model you are using -- they are not all the same. In particular, for instance, I know the axis values needed for the PMDG 737 flaps are different.

Nothing on screen.

My understanding is the the Sim Avionics 737 is based on the default airplane.  Also, the SA manual pushes us to your manual.  I'll reach out to SA as this problem is a first for me I also want to re calibrate so I have 'Rev' selected prior to setting the detentes.  I wonder if that might not solve my retracting issue - then I will have one issue resolved.

Thank you for the time - I'll report back as to what I find out.

Chuck

[Pete Dowson]

2 hours ago, kwompus21 said:

My understanding is the the Sim Avionics 737 is based on the default airplane.  Also, the SA manual pushes us to your manual. 

Do you assign to the default FS/P3D flaps control (Axis Flaps Set), or Flaps set, or "direct to FSUIPC Calibration" flaps? I had mine set to the normal FS one, "Axis ...".

Also it might be worth just monitoring that 1 byte offset 0xBFC, to see if it changes correctly from 0 to 8 or vice versa. You can Moniroe an offset by entering its details on the right-hand side of the FSUIPC Logging tab and selecting a display method or log below.

Pete

 

[kwompus21]

First of all, thank you for the time on this.  I checked w/ SA and my sense is the manual I was using is out of date.  The detents are handled by the SA server.  Either way, I learned something more about FSUIPC so that's a good thing.  Thank you again,  Chuck