Dash-8 taxi characteristics

[Guest RiddlePilot]

Can someone help me with the erratic throttle settings I'm getting with the Dash. I have FSUIPC 2.88 and have mapped all the axis of my USB CH Flight Yoke. It says to slightly increase the throttle, so I did, and it just takes off...gets up to 20+ knots before I can even pull it back. As soon as I pull it back, it slows almost immediately to 0. The documents say to increase the throttle to get to the desired taxi speed, then pull it back slightly to maintain it. THIS AIN'T WORKIN for me. Can anyone help?

[Guest]

>Can someone help me with the erratic throttle settings I'm >getting with the Dash. I have FSUIPC 2.88 and have mapped >all the axis of my USB CH Flight Yoke. It says to slightly >increase the throttle, so I did, and it just takes >off...gets up to 20+ knots before I can even pull it back. >As soon as I pull it back, it slows almost immediately to 0. > The documents say to increase the throttle to get to the >desired taxi speed, then pull it back slightly to maintain >it. THIS AIN'T WORKIN for me. Can anyone help? It does the same thing for me as well. I don't think that it was designed to be used with a yoke. If you notice, even the "mixture" lever - which is acting as the 'condition' lever, won't work properly.That behavior, plus all the references to Ctrl-Fx keystrokes, leads me to believe that it won't work properly with a yoke.Worse, the AP absolutely will NOT work with FSNav. You can try till the cows come home, but it flat won't work.As lovely as the panel is, there are just too many problems to allow me to truly enjoy flying it... Even with the sub-panels moved to separate monitors and resized, they are still difficult to read.

[Guest]

I had exactly the same reaction as yourself, and I'm using a CH yoke as well. I emailed the author and he assured me that the beta-testers can manage to taxi to within 1 kt ground speed of their target. So I went back and practised and after a while you do get more proficient - it's just extrememly sensitive. The main thing to grasp, I believe, is that the full beta range includes a touch of reverse. Therefore, with the CH throttle calibrated through FSUIPC (I have done that too), with the throttle fully back, you're actually in about 3.5 degrees of reverse pitch. If you can keep the throttles as FLIGHT IDLE instead (ie the second main detent in the throttle quadrant) when stationary, and then advance it until you hear the prop pitch change this should get you moving. As soon as you move, bring it back to FLIGHT IDLE, not fully back to DISC. You'll note if you watch the throttle quadrant, that this means you have a very small amount of throttle travel to play with and that's why new users seems to leap off and then stop suddenly. If you taxi with the throttle quad on the screen, you'll see what I mean. I can do it now reliably and it really is quite effective. As to the matter of the condition lever - yeah, it does not work effectively with the CH yoke which is a shame, but you don't need to use it much and I would say that it would be a shame if anyone gave up on this panel because if that. Simply put, click up one detent to start the respective engine when Nh is at 19%, and then when both are started, CTL-F1 to bring the props up to normal speed. CTL-F4 prior to t/o and then reduce it using CTL-F2 in the climb . CTL-F4 again prior to landing and back to CTL-F1 once on the deck. The solution to the taxiing sensitivity is probably a larger throttle quadrant - I'm trying to persuade the Frau that a Precision Flight Controls throttle quadrant is a simply ESSENTIAL purchase for the dedicated simmer! Cheers,AndyEGTR

[Guest]

I can't help I'm afraid, all I can do is sympathise. I get the same problem as you. A similar problem happens with the condition levers.I have a Saitek X36 flightstick/throttle combo which works perfectly with everything else but not with this Dash8 panel. Right now it's basically unusable the way it is behaving, which is great shame.My guess is that it is using some custom-written joystick (throttle at least) handling code which works with the author's own equipment but needs some tinkering to make it suitable for a wider range of throttles.I wonder what equipment the author has? For anyone else who doesn't have this problem, what joystick/throttle hardware do you have?Oh well, it's a first release and we can hope for some more development (no pressure on Oleksiy though, we don't want another disillusioned freeware author!).RegardsAdrian

[Vulcan]

Adrian,Just to give you some confort I have the same stick as yourself and experience the same problem.I have played with FSUIPC settings until I am dizzy but still have that thrttole leap. Also the 2 throttles shown on the quadrant are not sychronised, when I advance the throttles to taxi the left throttle leaps well ahead of the right, but at flight idle they seem to sync, this is with all throttles linked via the FSUIPC settings.I will keep trying with the throttles and if i can get them working correctly my only other is reading the main panel, even on a 19 inch monitor.

[SAS263]

This is what changed it for me. On my first try I had the very same "on/off" behaviour as in other posts. After reading a post by Olekseiy(spelling?) about having the right sensitivity on the throttles, I went and changed mine from about 75% to max. That made a world of difference. That plus the changes to the panel.cfg that

[Guest]

I use a CH Flightstick and it has no problems :( I'm very glad that it works on my old PC :) Good luck to you all!Darren BoonAPR090 www.airpuertorico.netBAW902 www.bavirtual.co.uk

[Vulcan]

Hi Tord,>I remind you to press ctrl+F4 before starting to taxi

[SAS263]

My appologies! I wrote from memory at work (a bad combination, lol). Since I

[Guest]

Vulcan,What you stated is EXACTLY what happens to me. I've played around with the FSUIPC joystick settings and FS2K2's settings so much that I've covered every possible configuration.For something different today I installed Saitek's latest SST drivers and programming software (I was running the Dhauzimmer drivers and HazardScript) but it made no difference whatsoever.I'll keep trying to find a solution, or die trying :-)Adrian

[Vulcan]

Tord,No worries, I just wondered if the condition lever setting was wrong, so thanks for clearing that up, but I still cannot get smooth throttle operation down low :-(

[Vulcan]

My Dash 8 is back in the hanger Adrian :-(I have spent quite some time trying to get that low throttle control without any joy, so that, along with the need for new eyes to read the main panel has forced me to park the Dash 8 :-(

[Guest]

I've also left this particular Dash8 in the hangar waiting for the maintenance engineers to have a look at it :-(I have an emotional attachment to the Dash8 as it's the aircraft that I've had most real-life flights in, about equal to the BAE-146, so it's a real pity this panel isn't usable for me.Waiting with antici..........pation.Adrian