how to handle engine start levers (a.k.a. cut off/idle ...

[Guest emroom]

Hi there,In FS2004 I always fly with the PMDG 737-700 (version 1.3).I have recently bought myself a throttle quadrant (from Go Flight, inc) and therefore I don't need the throttle quadrant window anymore. That is, except for setting the engine start lever from cut off to idle during the engine start phase. I have not been able to find a method to do this in another way than using the mouse.I would like to use some axis to toggle the engine start levers and since you can assign key strokes in FSUIPC to a joystick axe (axe? axis? sorry, my knowledge of the English language is not good enough here) it would be nice to know which keyboard action could be used to toggle the levers.While in the default 737 you can use CTRL-SHIFT-F1 to toggle the engine start levers (both at the same time), this does not work in the PMDG version. Now I can understand that you cannot toggle the engine start levers using CTRL-SHIFT-F1 because it makes no sense to toggle them both at the same time (you want to toggle them one by one) but I would like to know if there is any other key stroke implemented to toggle the engine start levers?Thanks in advance,Edwin Room.--Edwin Room,Zaandam, The Netherlands.

[Guest robfather]

Hi,If you're using FSUIPC, you can allocate specific keystrokes to each fuel valve so you can start each engine seperately. When in FSUIPC go to the "Key Presses" windo and enter your keystroke combination, then on the pull down menu for the action to be taken when pressed, select "Toggle Fuel Valve 1." Do the same for engine number 2 - fuel valve 2. That should work. Check that it works with the Overhead screen - you should see engine 1 & 2 fuel valve lite up in the fuel panel which shows the valves are closed. You may have to toggle them closed first. On engine start-up when the engine reaches 20% on #2 toggle the fuel valve. I assume that you are working from a cold and dark start-up?Any problems, send an email.If you have any kind of Go Flight switch panel, you can use either a switch or a pushbutton to accomplish the same.Rob

[Guest emroom]

Wonderful, Rob! Works fine, as reflected on the overhead panel. The throttle quadrant does not reflect it, however. I guess I should just close the throttle window and never look at it anymore.Thanks,Best regards,Edwin.

[Guest tmetzinger]

Strange, my quadrant levers move when I do this... PMDG 737/8/9

[Guest emroom]

Hmm... that might be the difference, because I use the 737-700. Maybe this is something that has changed between the 2 versions?I am using the 737-700 instead of the /8 or /9 because I am also using the Glass Cockpit software from Project Magenta. There are patches available to make the PMDG 737/6 and /7 work with PM, but no patches for the 737/8/9.Edwin.