Throttle issue

[curbz 22]

On the ground with the throttles at idle, N1 is at 20%. I can increase the throttles, taxi around, and placing the throttles back to idle will return N1 back to 20%.

On landing however, when I retard the throttles to the idle position, N1 will not fall below 30% preventing use of the reversers and spoiler deployment. If I move the throttles slightly forward so that N1 increases to say 35% and then back to the idle position, N1 will reduce to 20% and I can use the reversers.

Any ideas why N1 will not fall below 30% unless I move the throttles forward first? I've only seen this problem since moving from P3D v3 to v4. I use a Saitek TQ which is calibrated/axis assigned in P3D controller settings.

Thanks

[Nighthwk 566]

Have you tried just using the function keys and see if that works? Upon touchdown, I usually hold F1 while pressing F2 to idle the power and activate the reversers. If this works then you'll know it is a hardware calibration issue.

[Budbud 227]

Hi, did you recalibrate your TQ in the windows settings and P3D when you switched from v3 to v4?

[curbz 22]

On 23/02/2018 at 9:17 AM, Budbud said:

Hi, did you recalibrate your TQ in the windows settings and P3D when you switched from v3 to v4?

Yes, I basically uninstalled everything beforehand including all add-ons and started from scratch, which included recalibrating yoke, pedals, throttles etc. Thanks for the suggestion.

[curbz 22]

On 23/02/2018 at 2:47 AM, Milton Waddams said:

Have you tried just using the function keys and see if that works? Upon touchdown, I usually hold F1 while pressing F2 to idle the power and activate the reversers. If this works then you'll know it is a hardware calibration issue.

No, i hadn't tried that. So when I press F1, the target thrust momentarily reduces from around 35% to 30%, but thrust can't seem to get to that target and the target moves straight back to 35%. 

I've watched a few YouTube videos of others landing the ngx, and idle thrust did actually seem to be around 35%, so maybe this is correct? In which case the problem is that I cannot engage the reversers. I'm not really sure. In these videos reversers were still able to deploy at 35% as far as I could tell.

Edited February 24, 2018 by curbz

[curbz 22]

So I disabled all add-ons and software that might potentially be messing with the throttles and even switched to use a different hardware throttle quadrant. The problem still exists. Pressing F1 on the keybaord does however now fully retard the throttles and N1 decreases to 20%. 

The throttles are fully calibrated and work as expected - I can move them the full range and N1 will go from 20% to 100% and back to 20% as many times as I move the throttles back on forth without issue. However if I fly a circuit, when I close the throttles over the threshold, they are not fully retarded as can be seen in this screenshot: https://cdn.pbrd.co/images/Ha2Uu3Y.jpg

It's driving me nuts, just can't figure it out how before take-off the hardware throttles and those in the VC are fully synced, but on landing I just can't fully retard them!

 

 

Edited March 2, 2018 by curbz
screenshot link edited

[downscc 1,327]

There is a difference between flight idle and ground idle and you are treating them as the same. FCOM 7.20.15:  Idle N1 is not a prerequisite for thrust reverser actuation; however, the control must be in idle position before commanding reverse thrust. Also, the increase in thrust in reverse mode is delayed until the mechanism is in place.  Hope this helps.

[curbz 22]

27 minutes ago, downscc said:

There is a difference between flight idle and ground idle and you are treating them as the same. FCOM 7.20.15:  Idle N1 is not a prerequisite for thrust reverser actuation; however, the control must be in idle position before commanding reverse thrust. Also, the increase in thrust in reverse mode is delayed until the mechanism is in place.  Hope this helps.

thanks. yes, so this is my problem, the control is not in the idle position - it is slightly forward as show in the screenshot, yet the hardware TQ is fully back. Before take-off the TQ in this position results in the control being in the idle position, but on landing the control will not go into the idle position. The only way I can get it there is to press F1 on the keyboard. I don't understand why. 

[downscc 1,327]

1 hour ago, curbz said:

The only way I can get it there is to press F1 on the keyboard. I don't understand why. 

Your throttle controller sounds like it does not have zero and full span calibrated.  The controller should be able to close the throttle all the way.

[curbz 22]

55 minutes ago, downscc said:

Your throttle controller sounds like it does not have zero and full span calibrated.  The controller should be able to close the throttle all the way.

Indeed, I would completely agree, but what is not making sense is that 1) I have calibrated the controller 2) I have even changed to a different controller 3) zero to full span work on the ground prior to flight, but once back on the ground, zero is no longer achievable. I'm at a loss as to what to try next.

[nizar_AF 3]

Hello Darren,

There's been time when I had the exact same problem. And btw you're not alone in this as many simmers encountered this from FSX time right after the first NGX upgrade. Just use the search function on the forum and you'll find other threads talking about this.

Anyway, to the cure. But first, are you assigning specific levers to throttles and reversers using FSUIPC? If so, then what you need to do is, using FSUIPC, set up a very small range in your "reverser" axis as "Throttle cut" and set it to repeat while in this range. What this does is making sure your throttles are at idle (same as F1) which is required before engaging the reverse throttle. 

Once this assignment made, when landing, as soon as you touch down (your throttle control being at idle of course) , bring your reverser lever into that range for a second or two then bring it all down to get full reverse. This is the only way I got my reversers to work in the NGX. This workaround was found by someone else I forgot his name and for which he has all my thanks.

Hope this will help you too.

[lencarne 6]

Common prob with PMDG I have read. I have also read that some have had success by deliberately calibrating the idle stop not quite at full idle. That way you have a little bit of extra 'shove' to get the beast to behave. Worth a try?

[curbz 22]

On 3/5/2018 at 1:43 PM, nizar_AF said:

But first, are you assigning specific levers to throttles and reversers using FSUIPC?

I'm not using FSUIPC, however there are other ways I can achieve this following the same principal you have described. I'll experiment with this, thanks.

On 3/6/2018 at 3:48 PM, lencarne said:

deliberately calibrating the idle stop not quite at full idle

yes, I did try this, but unfortunately it didn't work. I even calibrated it to a ridiculously small range just to make sure. Whilst you would think that it must be related to calibration, it just doesn't appear to be - preflight the throttles sit very nicely in the idle position no matter how many times I move them back and forth, but after take-off, they just ain't going back there, ever. Thanks for the suggestion.

[downscc 1,327]

4 hours ago, curbz said:

but after take-off, they just ain't going back there, ever.

How do you know this?  You cannot be using engine gauges to determine if throttle is closed because flight idle is different from ground idle.  Are you looking at the throttles in the VC cockpit and basing your observation on not seeing those in the closed position when your controller is closed?

[curbz 22]

20 hours ago, downscc said:

Are you looking at the throttles in the VC cockpit and basing your observation on not seeing those in the closed position when your controller is closed?

Yes, as you can see in this screenshot, the VC throttles are not fully closed, despite my controller being fully closed: