This thread has been interesting and helpful. The last couple of days I’ve been reducing the condition lever about a quarter on landing after the threshold and as the plane was getting ready to float. By doing this, the plane settled so nicely on the runway without excessive floating. After reading this thread yesterday, I did a flight (gorgeous Sint Maarten to Guadeloupe at sunset) with the condition lever at high on the Kodiak’s quadrant, not full forward on my throttle quadrant, landing was perfect and felt very good. So in the future, I’m going to go full forward when taking to the runway for departure and for landing I’m going to pull the condition lever back slightly to high as indicated in the Kodiak. Usually running about a half of full payload,1000-1200 lbs. 

Here is what the Kodiak developer had to say on Discord when I asked about the condition lever setting. The "Agreed on that" comment was in response to my posting what the POH shows for the condition lever.  It does seems there are some sim induced complications he has to deal with. It will be interesting to hear what he learns from talking with the Kodiak factory.

Quotes from Alex Vletsas:

The condition lever for take-off is full forward, to get to flight idle, which should get you about 70%Ng when power is on IDLE.

Agreed on that. There are these things that are important to me regarding this lever:
1) Design choice. The OFF-LOW-HIGH condition lever was presented by Asobo in SU6 and I didn't like it so I purposedly stuck with the "Mixture-style" setup that you see.
2) Pilot input. The manual two pilots operating a PT6 engine (Kodiak and PC-6) say that the current implementation is correct. I am working on cross-verification for this and plan to check with the factory as well. If this is indeed the case, then our implementation is correct and will stay that way for non FADEC-equipped aircraft.
3) The manual implying that the Fuel Condition Lever can be "advanced to 58%Ng". This is supportive to #2 and indicates that just like in similar planes (C208, PC-6, King Air) the lever has a range for High Idle and isn't granular.
4) The PT-6 training manual states that the fuel lever has a movement range that will rotate the fuel control rod from 72 degrees (Low idle) to 90 degrees (High Idle). This further supports that the lever moves in a range. This is also supporting evidence.
5) Assuming #2-4 are correct, it would not make sense to have such a tiny movement range on the Condition Lever to go from 54% to 70%

Again, all of the above are subject to further research and verification as that was information we didn't get until late in developement. As the Kodiak will live on to the PC-12 and other similar aircraft at some point, we want to know if we got this right in terms of movement range and operation -and if not, to fix it. (edited)

Alex Vletsas
 

 

Edited January 17, 20224 yr by ark

15 minutes ago, ark said:

Here is what the Kodiak developer had to say on Discord when I asked about the condition lever setting. The "Agreed on that" comment was in response to my posting what the POH shows for the condition lever.  It does seems there are some sim induced complications he has to deal with. It will be interesting to hear what he learns from talking with the Kodiak factory.

Quotes from Alex Vletsas:

The condition lever for take-off is full forward, to get to flight idle, which should get you about 70%Ng when power is on IDLE.

Agreed on that. There are these things that are important to me regarding this lever:
1) Design choice. The OFF-LOW-HIGH condition lever was presented by Asobo in SU6 and I didn't like it so I purposedly stuck with the "Mixture-style" setup that you see.
2) Pilot input. The manual two pilots operating a PT6 engine (Kodiak and PC-6) say that the current implementation is correct. I am working on cross-verification for this and plan to check with the factory as well. If this is indeed the case, then our implementation is correct and will stay that way for non FADEC-equipped aircraft.
3) The manual implying that the Fuel Condition Lever can be "advanced to 58%Ng". This is supportive to #2 and indicates that just like in similar planes (C208, PC-6, King Air) the lever has a range for High Idle and isn't granular.
4) The PT-6 training manual states that the fuel lever has a movement range that will rotate the fuel control rod from 72 degrees (Low idle) to 90 degrees (High Idle). This further supports that the lever moves in a range. This is also supporting evidence.
5) Assuming #2-4 are correct, it would not make sense to have such a tiny movement range on the Condition Lever to go from 54% to 70%

Again, all of the above are subject to further research and verification as that was information we didn't get until late in developement. As the Kodiak will live on to the PC-12 and other similar aircraft at some point, we want to know if we got this right in terms of movement range and operation -and if not, to fix it. (edited)

Alex Vletsas
 

 

So then according to item #2 in the above, all the pilots that are flying the Kodiak in real life on Youtube videos  are doing it wrong? 

1 minute ago, Bobsk8 said:

So then according to item #2 in the above, all the pilots that are flying the Kodiak in real life on Youtube videos  are doing it wrong? 

What he might be saying is that this is what he thinks he has to do to get the correct engine values within the sim imposed limitations. I appreciate that he is seriously investigating the issue and wants to get the best results he can.

Al

Here's another interesting point of info:

When I said this on Discord:

BTW,  for what it is worth, I noticed that while sitting on the runway with the brakes on, if I push the throttle full forward (takeoff power), the engine values I get  do not change between the full forward and high idle positions of the condition lever. When at a cruise IAS of about 140kts at 10,000ft, the full forward position of the condition lever increased the torque about 12% and the NG about 10% compared to the high idle values.

The developer responded:

This is a bug that I'm looking to address in the next updates. The Condition lever should only affect LOW idle, not maximum power output. Like I said above, it currently uses a "mixture-style" implementation that was used before SU6 and that, unfortunately, also handicaps max power.

Clearly I have a lot to learn about condition levers!  🙂

Al

 

56 minutes ago, Bobsk8 said:

So then according to item #2 in the above, all the pilots that are flying the Kodiak in real life on Youtube videos  are doing it wrong? 

No. All real life pilots push the condition lever fully forward: the only difference is that in real life most levers stop at the high idle mark (and can't be pushed any further) while in the simulated Kodiak you CAN push the lever fully forward. The net result (when it comes to power) is the same. A real life pilot pushing his lever fully forward (up to the mark) gets the same readings as a sim pilot pushing the lever fully forward. In other words: it's only a visual difference. The easiest solution (if you can call this a problem at all) is that SWS changes the animation of the lever so it can't go further than the marking while still getting the same numbers. If you want to get the same numbers on your dials as a real life pilot, you have to psuh the lever fully forward as it is now.

But as has been posted: it hardly matters because the difference is quite small in practice. 😉

  

20 minutes ago, ark said:

Clearly I have a lot to learn about condition levers!  🙂

LOL Yeah, I never ever thought I'd talk so much about a condition lever! 😂

Edited January 17, 20224 yr by tup61

1 hour ago, ark said:

5) Assuming #2-4 are correct, it would not make sense to have such a tiny movement range on the Condition Lever to go from 54% to 70%

That could be so but in real life they do clearly seem to use such a tiny movement! I'd like to see this changed (EDIT by SWS, of course: SWS should change the behaviour of the lever: the full forward motion should stop at the marker as it does in the real life plane BUT of course with the end result still being the same. The numbers of the SWS Kodiak are correct, the animation isn't, that's all.)

Edited January 17, 20224 yr by tup61

2 minutes ago, tup61 said:

That could be so but in real life they do clearly seem to use such a tiny movement! I'd like to see this changed!

You should contact Kodiak, and tell them they are doing it all wrong, and the lever should go all the way forward. 😉

5 minutes ago, Bobsk8 said:

You should contact Kodiak, and tell them they are doing it all wrong, and the lever should go all the way forward. 😉

LOL I edited my post to make it more clear SWS is doing it wrong, not Kodiak LOL

Hello! A bit late to the party but now I have some time to address this question directly.

1. Lever animation: does it move past the mark or not? Asked and will find out soon.
2. How does the condition lever work? The answer (confirmed from factory) is that the Idle lever is not a three-position toggle switch, but more similar to a mixture lever that controls the Idle value. Max power setting should always land you the maximum torque.
   • Cutoff position: it does what it says
   • Low idle: this sets the fuel valve to achieve the low idle Ng percent, which is 54% in the Kodiak's case.
   • Moving the lever forward from low idle opens up the fuel valve gradually, increasing the Ng. The forward stop at high idle will get you to 68% Ng (yes, I know, I will fix this). If one opts to idle at 58%, like when you turn on the Air Conditioning, then you just need to push the lever forward a notch.
   • The three-position style condition lever that you see in MSFS as of SU6 is not appropriate for aircraft like the Kodiak. That style would be more appropriate in FADEC equipped planes where you have a ground and flight idle option and then the computer regulates the valve automatically depending on the aircraft's needs.
3. Maximum torque: In the real aircraft maximum torque at sea level, full power will always be 1790ft-lbs at 2200rpm Np, regardless of the position of the condition lever. Our Kodiak does not do that correctly, because our condition lever also limits the maximum fuel flow. This is a behaviour we were aware of before release and did so by choice. Our goal is to develop a condition lever that adheres to #2 above and this cannot be done with the new-style condition lever.

I hope that helps.

1 hour ago, A320_SX ALX said:

I hope that helps.

Sure does! Thanks for the effort you are putting in this detail! 😉

This was just posted on the Discord channel by Alex:

Regarding travel of the lever: the amount of travel depends on the rigging. On some planes it stops there, on other aircraft it travels further.

That confirms my posts about this. I always like it when my posts are confirmed LOL 😎

To sum it all up once and for all: as it is now you need to push the lever all the way forward for the most realistic experience and to do it as the POH tells you to.

49 minutes ago, tup61 said:

This was just posted on the Discord channel by Alex:

Regarding travel of the lever: the amount of travel depends on the rigging. On some planes it stops there, on other aircraft it travels further.

That confirms my posts about this. I always like it when my posts are confirmed LOL 😎

To sum it all up once and for all: as it is now you need to push the lever all the way forward for the most realistic experience and to do it as the POH tells you to.

So how come all the You Tube videos flown by Kodiak Pilots  clearly show the lever going to the high idle position, and the Missionary Pilot says that is where his lever goes also? 

52 minutes ago, tup61 said:

This was just posted on the Discord channel by Alex:

Regarding travel of the lever: the amount of travel depends on the rigging. On some planes it stops there, on other aircraft it travels further.

That confirms my posts about this. I always like it when my posts are confirmed LOL 😎

To sum it all up once and for all: as it is now you need to push the lever all the way forward for the most realistic experience and to do it as the POH tells you to.

The POH manual clearly states that the lever should go to the high idle position. 

Prior to takeoff, move the fuel condition lever forward to the HIGH IDLE position. Leave 
the fuel condition lever in this position until after landing. The HIGH IDLE gas generator 
speeds allow for faster engine acceleration when adding power from an idle condition.
E

Edited January 18, 20224 yr by Bobsk8

18 minutes ago, Bobsk8 said:

The POH manual clearly states that the lever should go to the high idle position. 

Prior to takeoff, move the fuel condition lever forward to the HIGH IDLE position. Leave 
the fuel condition lever in this position until after landing. The HIGH IDLE gas generator 
speeds allow for faster engine acceleration when adding power from an idle condition.
E

Correct! However, in its current state the simulated Kodiak won't deliver the correct numbers if you do so: it will only give the right numbers with the lever fully forward. That's the problem. HOWEVER!!! The solution is upcoming! 🙂 The dev just posted a minute or so ago on Discord that he will 'virtually re-rig' (if that's how you say it) the lever so it will stop at the correct (physical viewable) position (which is at the marker!) and still deliver the right numbers! Problem solved! So in a next update or patch we will get the condition lever as (for instance) the bush pilot has it and we can set it at high idle according to the POH and get the correct numbers at the same time!

The fact remains that the lever doesn't stop at the exact same location in all real world Kodiaks (it's depending on the rigging) but it seems that most levers do stop at or near the marker (and not fully forward): the line above it also seems to indicate that that is the most desired position. It's great that the developer took note of our discussion here and is changing this as we speak! 😉

Edited January 18, 20224 yr by tup61