I just wondered if anyone else was enjoying this amazing little machine as much as I am in FS2024?

As someone who enjoyed time flying big powerful 4 engine jets I didn’t have much interest in  electric flying cars.

However randomly I thought I’d  take a look at the Joby S4 the other day and I’ve been flying it almost exclusively ever since, it’s just so much fun.

Once I’d worked out the control protocol, it’s based on the F35 in hover mode I was just amazed by what you can do and the places you can go in the little craft.

It’s like helicopters for dummies, if like me you like what helicopters can do but lack the skills to fly them properly then this things is the answer. In winds and turbulence you can just let go of the controls and it will stay put in a perfect hover, like a kestrel. It can be precisely manoeuvred straight over a helipad and landed with ease in a stiff breeze.

It’s not as though it's dumbed down using simulator assists either , it’s a close replica of the actual crafts FBW systems, behaving just like the real aircraft.

And the best part of all if you just want to go for a quick blast, all that you need to do from cold and dark is turn on the battery wait a few seconds for the attitude system to align, pull back the stick and you’re airborne! Then push the acceleration inceptor on the left fully forward and the props rotate into horizontal and the thing shoots forward at an amazing rate of acceleration straight up to 160kts. The whole thing is like a resting dragon fly launching off a leaf and flying off into the distance in seconds when it spots a kid with a net approaching!

I’m using the thrustmaster Airbus joystick and throttle to fly it, at it works like an exact replica of the real thing with the detent in the throttle corresponding to the zero acceleration position on the left inceptor. This will bring the craft to stationary in hover mode or lock your current airspeed in conventional flight mode. The TM joystick conveniently has the twist function which mimics the real aircraft’s joystick control for yaw.

Out of interest I flew it up to it’s ceiling of 15,000ft and hovered until the battery ran out , then, as I suspected it has sufficient wing area to glide back down to earth under control.

At speed it behaves like a conventional aircraft, but with extra FBW protections, instantly pulling the stick right back will lift the nose but also vector the props up , giving an amazing climb angle.

I’ve been taking off from the Manhattan heliport and doing a quick low level circuit of the island , and also flying around the heliports in San Francisco, it’s great in VR as well.

I’d highly recommend it , it’s one of the most unique and fun experiences flying it in VR that I’ve ever had in any sim.

The manufacturer has obviously been involved in the simulation, and there’s a video on their website with one of their software engineers who is also a flight simmer flying it from JFK to manhattan.

The systems displays are quite simplified at the moment. I get the impression that the real aircraft’s instrumentation hasn’t been finalised yet as it’s still in development, so it would be nice once the aircraft is launched if the developers revisited it and implemented the full final avionics.

Edited December 3, 20241 yr by jon b

Yes! I have a particular interest in this one as one of my clients is an investor in Joby. It’s quite the experience and brings a new kind of stress to flight (constant monitoring of remaining battery).

It seems to be capable of a good 90 minutes or 150nm once it’s settled into a 120kt cruise it’s the hovering that really zaps the battery (at least in the sim)

As a pilot I find that quite appealing as it’s a mandatory tea & biscuit break and leg stretch every hour or so to plug the thing in and recharge !

Edited December 3, 20241 yr by jon b

On the OP recommendation, I tried this out and got nowhere. Of course, that is because I did not understand how the darn thing is supposed to fly. Once I finally figured it out, it truly is one of the hidden gems in FS 2024 for VFR low and slow trips. It is definitely the helicopter I can get behind!

At the risk of repeating some of the instructions the OP already gave (which now make sense to me!), I am including a more step by step explanation below.

 

The key to flying it is you have to map the controls fo the LHI, for which the names in the vehicle do not match what you have to assign them to in the configuration screen. The keys that I have assigned are in parentheses, as I have a simple joystick, I mapped them to the keyboard in a WASDZ type of configuration for my left hand:

(LHI FUNCTION==>FS2024 KEYBINDING NAME)

SPEED HOLD MODE ==> ARM AUTOTHROTTLE (z)

SPEED SELECT INC ==> INCREASE AUTOPILOT REFERENCE AIRSPEED (w)

SPEED SELECT DEC ==> DECREASE AUTOPILOT REFERENCE AIRSPEED (s)

DECEL button ==> AUTOPILOT AIRSPEED HOLD (short and long press are supported) (d)

DISENGAGE button ==> TOGGLE DISENGAGE AUTOPILOT (a)
 

The Z key is almost not necessary, as when you increase the speed with the W key, it automatically puts the vehicle in speed hold mode.

 

HOW TO FLY (using my keyboard mappings above)

- Keep your throttle at 50%. This is the "neutral" position. You can see it indicated in the left MFD. Move the throttle up and down to see it move in the MFD and then set it to 50%.

- Set the left MFD to FLY mode using the soft key in the middle. LOAD mode is the equivalent to the "parking brake", engines off mode of an airplane.

- Pull back on your stick. This changes your VS to positive and if your throttle is at 50%, you will go straight up.

- Once you have reached the altitude you want. I typically short press the D key to put it in Hover mode.

- Using my rudder pedals, I rotate the craft to the direction I want, and then press the W key to set the initial speed to 50 (that is the slowest auto-speed setting available). Each press of the W key, raises the speed by 10. Each press of the S key lowers the speed by 10.

- Use the stick to change your altitude. Press down on the stick to reduce your altitude and pull back to increase. It functions like VS hold on the autopilot. You can finely set your VS by simply pulling and pushing.

- When you want to stop/hover. Set the speed down to 50 and then short press the D key to put it in hover mode, making sure your throttle is at 50%. It is not instant, you have to gauge where you want to land and start the hover mode before you get there. Thinking of how you stop a train. Get on the brakes before the station.

- Push the stick forward to get your VS speed negative, and bring the S4 down to the ground. If you have overshot where you want to land, from hover mode, reduce the throttle below 50% to go backwards.

I've been enjoying the Joby as well. I use the joystick trigger for level mode and my usual trim buttons I've assigned to speed increase/decrease.

If you run out of juice, just land anywhere and do a quick recharge at 32 x speed.

The manual is worth a read: https://flightsimulator.azureedge.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Microsoft_FlightFX-Joby-S4-Manual-V2.pdf

@salasnet Very comprehensive instructions, thanks.👍

It’s a very nice machine to fly in VR, I’m mesmerised by looking out to the side and watching the props change their angles. The great visibility and range of speeds means it’s perfect for exploring urban scenery.

The left MFD gives you an instantaneous  predicted time and distance required to decelerate to hover, once you are at that distance away from your selected landing spot just hit the “deccelerate to hover” button which I have mapped to a throttle button and the FBW takes care of everything.

It would be ideal for those ( somewhat annoying) occasions when you have guests round and they want a go on your simulator, it’s so easy to fly you can get them airborne and flying around quickly, with the added advantage they’ll soon run out of juice so you can get them off your sim.

Huh. How did I miss the PDF manual? Thanks for the link! Invaluable!

Anyway to take the pilot out of the aircraft? His head is sticking out above the windscreen.

Just realized it's the copilot and he can be removed by going to "Identity" from the Main Menu and selecting no copilot.

Edited December 4, 20241 yr by gpbob

I love it. It's a contrast with study-level airliners. And I can be perfectly lazy and switch on the 'altitude hold' and 'speed hold' modes. I just wish it had a 'heading hold' or LNAV equivalent.

The only 'gotcha' that caught me out is that starting anywhere other than a helipad or runway, when it's cold and dark, the subsequent flying is erratic and ultimately ends up stalling to the ground. It's a known bug which will hopefully soon get fived.

Yep it's good fun.  I salad like the Jetson one for exploring cities and landscapes close to the ground

I'm late to the party here, but I wanted to say that the Joby is fun in many environments, especially in VR. Recently I bought a scenery addon for Geiranger, Norway, made for 2024. Not only are the fjords and mountains beautiful to fly in and around, but the town has a lot of detail that makes it worth getting your avatar out of the cockpit and walking around (which I really enjoy since I hooked up an XBOX controller). The author has also placed a number of fictional ( i think) helipads in cool locations. Today I landed on a platform at 3000 feet on the side of a steep fjord wall (basically a mountain). I got out and started walking on the steep slope. My avatar is amazingly fit and virtually sprints up the mountain. Even on bare rock! It seems like it lets you walk unless the surface is truly vertical. 

On 12/3/2024 at 10:49 PM, scotchegg said:

Yes! I have a particular interest in this one as one of my clients is an investor in Joby. It’s quite the experience and brings a new kind of stress to flight (constant monitoring of remaining battery).

Tell him to get out now

Do know know what code to use for Swift and what code for Simbrief?