Today I gave the default A321 and tried to have some serious fun with it. However the fly by wire prevented me from doing anything really crazy. Also if you try and stall out with a high angle of attack it will eventually advance the throttles and lower the nose regardless of what you are trying to do with your joystick or your own throttles. Kind of a cool feature but not sure if its my cup of tea. It just feals strange having HAL take over. Only bug if it can be called that is a couple of times it firewalled the throttles and I could do nothing about it. Not sure I did something wrong or what but absolutely nothing would work. Even tried yanking the throttle levers back manually did not do anything. So we need some kind of fuse control for the HAL 9000 computer :-lol Also its a simple feature. I added Fly-By-Wire to the IFDG A320 by simply adding the following line "fly_by_wire = 1" at the bottom of the airplane_geometry section. No other configuration work is needed. Overall pretty cool to see this now included in the sim. However not sure its my cup of tea now that I had a chance to experience what it does.

heh heh hehThat's what the real one does too... :-)You just gotta know how to turn it off nice and quick. :-wink2 Try flying it sensibly and you shouldn't notice much, if any, difference.It's only really there to save you from getting into an unrecoverable situation.I'm glad it's going to be included but there's a time and a place for it.Have fun,Ian

No expert but that sounds more like 'bus alpha floor protection - cool that it's simulated though :)If you pitch up say 10deg on takeoff and let go the stick does it maintain the pitch?Wonder just how far that .cfg parameter goes - interesting.regards,MarkXPHomeSP2/FS9.1/3.2HT/1024mb/X700pro256

>No expert but that sounds more like 'bus alpha floor>protection - cool that it's simulated though :)>>If you pitch up say 10deg on takeoff and let go the stick does>it maintain the pitch?>>Wonder just how far that .cfg parameter goes - interesting.>>regards,>MarkHi Mark,Yes, FSX accurately simulates most aspects of the Normal Law. With wings level, it will correctly maintain 1g unless commanded otherwise. It will maintain pitch with bank angles up to 33deg. Beyond 33deg of roll, you must hold constant sidestick input or it will automatically roll back to, and maintain, 33deg. Max bank is 67deg.Autotrim works correctly, as well.The various FCC's are correctly modeled, such as the ELAC's, SEC's, and FAC's. Some reversionary modes are also available. Direct Law is there, but I don't remember in Alternate Law is modeled or not.I didn't notice the progressive pitch down bias that forces the pilot to flare during landing, and it seems that the Autothrust code still needs some work, but otherwise its very well done.Regards,Nick Landolfi

Some intersting info here about the FBW system within FSX. Are there any configuration settings for it so that it could be tweaked or is it what you see is what you get?

I was wondering when someone else was gonna notice this - the A321 was the first thing I tried in the beta and I was extremely surprised and pleased to see that it has rudimentary FBW capability. MS really outdid themselves with the default planes this time.

I can't wait to see what you guys can do :) but until then, looks like we'll at least be able to have some fun with the default bus :(

Only real bug I see with the FBW system is the auto throttle feature. If you are about to stall out the FBW system will lower the nose and firewall the throttles for you. When the plane returns to a safe flying condition the throttles remain firewalled and you can't do anything about it. Even trying manually will not help. Airspeed will climb to dangerous levels and eventually overspeed warning will sound. Killing the fuel to the engines and gliding down was the only option. Its happened 3 times now and I can't figure out why its happening. So its either something I am missing or a bug. I have not tried to see if it will maintain bank or pitch but I believe it will make an effort returning you to zero pitch and bank if you are in a turn. I don't believe its a user adjustable feature but the SDK might have something about it. This is above my capabilities. However you can ad it to any aircraft you desire.

>When the plane returns to a safe flying condition the throttles>remain firewalled and you can't do anything about it. Even trying>manually will not help. Airspeed will climb to dangerous>levels and eventually overspeed warning will sound. Killing>the fuel to the engines and gliding down was the only option. >Its happened 3 times now and I can't figure out why its>happening. So its either something I am missing or a bug. I haven't tried doing that since Beta 1, so I don't know if its changed or not. In the real airplane, after activating the Alpha Floor, the ATS will go to TOGA LOCK. You won't recover manual throttle control until you place the thrust levers in the TOGA detent. Only then will a thrust reduction be possible.So try that and see if it works...push the throttles all the way up to the mechanical stop, then reduce thrust.>I have not tried to see if it will maintain bank or pitch but>I believe it will make an effort returning you to zero pitch>and bank if you are in a turn.Neither the real airplane nor FSX will return to straight and level flight unless commanded to do so. The FCC's will, at bank angles between 34deg and 67deg, reduce bank to 33deg unless constant roll input is held. This is realistic.>I don't believe its a user adjustable feature but the SDK>might have something about it. This is above my capabilities.>However you can ad it to any aircraft you desire. True.Regards,Nick

>>When the plane returns to a safe flying condition the>throttles>>remain firewalled and you can't do anything about it. Even>trying>>manually will not help. Airspeed will climb to dangerous>>levels and eventually overspeed warning will sound. Killing>>the fuel to the engines and gliding down was the only option.>>>Its happened 3 times now and I can't figure out why its>>happening. So its either something I am missing or a bug. >>I haven't tried doing that since Beta 1, so I don't know if>its changed or not. In the real airplane, after activating the>Alpha Floor, the ATS will go to TOGA LOCK. You won't recover>manual throttle control until you place the thrust levers in>the TOGA detent. Only then will a thrust reduction be>possible.>>So try that and see if it works...push the throttles all the>way up to the mechanical stop, then reduce thrust.>>>>I have not tried to see if it will maintain bank or pitch>but>>I believe it will make an effort returning you to zero pitch>>and bank if you are in a turn.>>Neither the real airplane nor FSX will return to straight and>level flight unless commanded to do so. The FCC's will, at>bank angles between 34deg and 67deg, reduce bank to 33deg>unless constant roll input is held. This is realistic.>>>I don't believe its a user adjustable feature but the SDK>>might have something about it. This is above my>capabilities.>>However you can ad it to any aircraft you desire. >>True.>>Regards,>>Nick >I will try messing with the TOGA Detent button. I think its located just above the thrust levers on the default A320 panel. I do remember seeing it aluminated but it was locked in the on position when I tried hitting it if memory serves. I think it was but I am an arm chair flight simmer so what do I know :-lol

As far as I remember (very hazy) just move the thrust levers to TOGA and back to CLB. That should change autothrust from armed back to active.

Forgive my ignorance but where do you find the default airbus? i only have the ultralight, beech baron, rj , and beaver. thx!

These guys are talking about the beta. The rest of us mere mortals have to deal with the demo and this doesn't contain any bus. But anyway, it seems that the FBW is better implemented in FSX than I expected. Good to hear. Seems that the default planes and the missions can fill the payware gap for a long time.Alex

So a good idea for those who don't have FSX-beta would be to add the line "fly_by_wire = 1" to the crj's cfg-file. According to the description this should activate the FBW-system also on FSX-demo.Try and post your experiences!Martin

This makes the PMDG A320 that much more of an exciting prospect in FSX. I predict the PMDG A320 will be just as much well received as their 744 was upon release...