GoFlight compatibility to 3rd party aircraft

[Guest gasebah]

Hi y'all,what I am really missing at GoFlight's website and FAQs is some basic information about what is what is not possible with 3rd party add-ons. I assume most of the people that are buying a stack for 800 US$ are hardcore simmers and use either the PIC, PSS Airbus or DF737 for flying.We all know that these programs are modelling a lot of stuff outside FS2002 and therefore do not function very well with the GoFlight stuff. I am absolutely aware of that and despite the fact I ordered the GF-AC a few days ago. So I don't not think that it would limit their sales possibilities in any way if they would make the user aware of this fact before he buys. It would be very helpful and I guess appreciated by the users if their site would give a short overview and maybe even some workarounds for this prob.In the dreamfleet forum e.g. I read about a problem concerning a change of the aircraft.cfg that led to some problems. I can surely understand that these problems occur, what I cannot tolerate as a user is that this kind of thing is not addressed in any way at their website. As they are addressing the fact at dreamfleet's website they must be aware of it. I also wonder why GoFlight does not have their own support forum. To make a long story short here is my question:Is it possible to assign simple keystrokes to the GoFlight units? I am asking because there is a freeware program out there that can assign mouseclicks on certain areas to a keystroke. I guess this should be a good possibility to make some 3rd party aircraft's functions accessible with GoFlight units.Thx fr any GoFlight user answers.Bst rgds,Alex

[akriesman 0]

Alex,The GoFlight interface maps the various controls (buttons, switches, etc) directly to the FS2002 functions/tasks. You cannot map the buttons to keystrokes using the GoFlight software. I have never had a problem with GoFlight and 3rd party aircraft. However, I have never purchased commercialware aircraft (except for the Commander, which works fine with GoFlight stuff).The GoFlight hardware is top notch. I highly recommend it. However, I would not rule out the possibility of incompatibilities with some advanced commercial aircraft software.Allen

[Guest gasebah]

Allen,thx fr the clarification.When I meant 3rd party aircraft I meant commericial planes like DF737 and Pss Airbus. These planes have very adavnced autopilot functions like VNAV that are not modelled in FS2002. It is good to hear that it works with the Commander that also fly regularly.Here is my hangar:DF737PSS AirbusPSS 747FSD CommanderFSD Piper CheyenneDF ArcherI am glad about any information regarding these planes and GF.Rgds,Alex

[Guest Aidi]

Where as i cant vouch for the "Heavys" I can tell you the CommanderCheyenneArcherAll work flawlesly with the GFAC units.The most recent aircraft i have purchased being the 421 Golden Eagle also works without fault.Hope this helps a littlehttp://www.avsim.com/vfr_center/avsim_sig.jpg

[Guest gasebah]

Well, that is good news.I also just recevd an e-mail from Doyle frm GoFlight saying that he is working on a little key mapper for the GoFlight units that will allow to assign keys to functions.Together with that other proggie mouse2key it should help out with a lot of compatibility issues with the more complex airliners.Doyle said in his mail that the release of the key mapper will be around end of July beginning of August. Given the fact that developers are always a little optimistic with their forecats I still would expect it sometime in autumn.Bst reds,Alex

[Guest jabberthecat]

I have had the following for about 6 weeks now - very pleased:GF-166GF-P8GF-45GF-T8GF-LGTGreat variety in the above setup.My P8 function assignment is:MAGS, A/P MSTR, HDG HOLD, NAV HOLD, APPR HOLD, ALT HOLD, PREV(45), NEXT(45)My T8 function assigment is:ENG START, AVNCS MASTR, PANEL LTS, LAND LTS, TAXI LTS, NAV LTS, BEACON LTS, STROBE LTSI have a CH Yoke for other button functions ( views, rudder trim, center rudder, center virtual cockpit view )The LGT trim wheel is very nice, the flaps is a luxury as I could have got that from my yoke, the gear know is alot of fun as the lights move from red to green ( although I fly the 172, Archer, and Piper with fixed land gear alot )In the GA planes I get a total hand off the keyboard engine start up by hitting Master Bat/Alt on my Yoke, then MAGS 3 times on the P8, and then switching on the ENG START T8 until the engine turns over.My set up works great with:FSD CommanderFSD Piper SuperCubDF Archer( really looking forward to the new DF 177 )FlightOne C421 Eagledefault FS2002 planesI have the DF737, but I have been stuck flying the GA of late -haven't tried the DF737 or default Boeings with GoFlight yet( although I know the default Boeings will work ).- Myles

[Guest gasebah]

Miles,thx very much. More of this. This is exactly my stack. Sounds like a very reasonable setup you have there. It is going to be interesting what I will do with all the buttons on my yoke when the stuff arrives :-).Alex

[Guest Aidi]

When that stuff lands on your doorstep, it will be like Christmas come early... Be prepared to go into "isolation" once your all setup, the outside world becomes very insignificant for quite a while. If you have a wife..... better start sweet talking her now!!!http://www.avsim.com/vfr_center/avsim_sig.jpg

[Guest gasebah]

Hi Aidan,my wife accepted long ago that she has a very busy husband with two very stressful and time consuming jobs (Product Marketing Manager (daytime) and Airline Pilot (nighttime)). We found an arrangement. I leave her the TV :-).Delivery is delayed until tomorrow. I just checked chronopost online tracking. Almost can't stand the anticipation.Cheers,Alex

[Guest jabberthecat]

... about a few "buglets" you might have to work around.When you run the GF utility to update the panel.cfg files ( you only really have to do this after adding new flyable planes ), it currently can errantly alter the .cfg flys for the Archer and EagleC421. There is one GoFlight line that gets added to each panel.cfg file:gauge42=GFDev2k2!HardwareIn C421:...gauge38=C421NJ1!PL, 160, 575, 25, 31gauge39=C421NJ1!LL, 133, 549, 25, 31gauge40=C421NJ1!TL, 160, 549, 25, 31gauge41=C421NJ1!AS, 519, 499, 1, 1//--------------------------------------------------------//-------------- AUDIO / AUTOPILOT/ XPNDR ----------------//--------------------------------------------------------gauge42=GFDev2k2!Hardware[Window01]file=CommPanelBG.bmp size_mm=399,264window_size_ratio=1.000 ...In the Archergauge39=SimIcons!Map Icon, 182, 556, 15, 15gauge40=SimIcons!Avionics Icon, 200, 556, 15, 15gauge41=SimIcons!GPS Icon, 218, 556, 15, 15//_________________________________________________________________________________RADIO PANEL//_________________________________________________________________________________gauge37=SimIcons!Kneeboard Icon, 146, 556, 15, 15gauge42=GFDev2k2!Hardware[Window01]BACKGROUND_COLOR=2,2,2size_mm=297, 535 window_size_ratio=The utility can "mess up" some of the gauge lines above it ( not in any other planes that I have noticed ). So you should backup these 2 panel.cfg prior to running the GF utility - then restore them after running the GF utility and insert the single line yourself with notepad - at least that is what I do. Doyle is probably working on a fix for this, but it workable as is.Enjoy your stuff !- MylesAnd alittle more - this took me a minute to know how this worked :The GF45 : if you tune on of your P8 buttons to NEXT ( PREV ) GF-45 Function, then you can use that button to step thru the 6 or 7 primary GF functions. Two of those function have sub-sets which can further be stepped thru using the left tuning knob when you get to that multi function. Those 2 are Instruments and Auto PilotI think function order is something like this:COM1COM2NAV1NAV2ADFXPDRINSTRUMENTS ( when you get here use the left knob to step thru the sub list of ALTIMETER, OBI, and some other stuff )AP ( when you get here use the left knob to step thru the sub list ofHDG, ALT, MACH, VS, and a couple others.-Myles

[Guest gasebah]

Miles,thx fr the great explanation. I was aware of the Archer prob. But you made it easy to understand.Alex

[fspaan 1]

Today I returned from a flightsimulator shop in the Netherlands. They told me that they like the products, but are disappointed over the service GoFlight delivers. Shipments take sometimes over 3 months!Has anybody had similar experiences with GoFlight?Products is not everything, also the quality of the company counts...Regards, Ferry

[Guest]

Hi guys,Aidan turned me on to this thread, it's fun to read... :-) thanks mate!Just a few quick comments before I get back to programming...which I'm sure you would rather have me doing... :-)1. The issue with shipping to Europe from here (Portland, Oregon, USA) continues to be a challenge, especially when working with small hobby shops that can't afford to take a lot of product at one time. This is just a reality of the hardware business I'm afraid. The good news is that since you guys keep on buying, and our dealer family continues to grow, pretty soon we'll be able to send a whole container at a time "across the pond" and then some of these issues should go away! Two things I've learned in the last 2 1/2 years of doing this: (a) FedEx, though expensive, does the best job of getting stuff from here to there with no hassles -- for us it's just "fire and forget." (:( Never send stuff USPS Surface ("slow boat") -- we have had THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS of product simply DISAPPEAR, apparently hung up in customs, only for it to be returned to us unexpectedly, 6+ months later, in a beat-up box with every single item disassembled. There is no tracking either. Anyway, overseas shipping is a non-trivial challenge. I'm open to all suggestions if anyone knows a better/faster/cheaper way!2. I'm aware of the panel.cfg conflict issues with some of the Flight One planes (mainly Archer and 421C, which are most savory birds, by the way) I'm now testing and bug-fixing GF release 1.23, which will eliminate these problems once and for all. In addition, you will have ADF and Transponder on the GF-166. And GFConfig will no longer muck around with the panel.cfgs, meaning that if you are running FS2002 you will no longer have to wait for that update every time you add a plane.3. Compatibility issues with the DF737, PSS 747 and Airbus, 767PIC and a few other big iron planes' autopilots are still there. As long as you don't try to control the autopilot with our modules on these planes, most other cockpit functions should work just fine. I am still working this and it's looking like the 767PIC issue will be solved first, thanks to some excellent support from Laurent Crenier at Wilco. Hopefully the others will follow. I recently threw together a beta of another app called "GFRemote" that either is -- or will soon be -- posted on Enrico's site for users of the Project Magenta MCP. Those of you who have FS setups with networked clusters of PCs, and run the Magenta MCP on a remote box, will enjoy using GFRemote. Feel free to send me your comments if you try this out.4. GFKeys -- I have a key mapper app in beta that someone mentioned -- it will be released later this summer and will allow use of GF hardware with ALL sims and games, including things like MS Train Sim (which works well, by the way!!)Okay, back to testing 1.23 -- it will be posted later this week or early next on our Support page (optimistically, that is... ;-)Cheers,Doyle Nickless - GoFlight

[Guest RichardL]

Doyle,Whew, that's a lot of information. Thanks! Didn't you forget to mention one future product, GF-166 Remote Mount?Richard

[Guest]

On the 421 how do you select each engine for start. When I've tried using T8 and P8 both engines start together.RegardsPaul Gardner