I'm enjoying SU4 but its implementation has messed about a bit with some of my control settings.  And I've had complete memory sweep over the year since initially setting up MSFS2024 best part of a year ago!

My challenge is (should be) simple.   I can't remember how to set up the controls to be able to start up, for example, the fabulous Black Square Baron - or any other piston twin - one engine at a time.  I was pretty sure that I used to be able to highlight with the mouse, say, the left starter, and then scroll my mouse wheel to move from 'Off' to 'R' then 'L' then 'Both' and then to 'Start' and, pressing a second mouse button hold until the engine fired.  I could then repeat the process for the right engine.

I can't find any way of doing that, though, as all of the commands seem to be a specific engine (1 or 2) or both together.

I have a Honeycomb Alpha which has a rotary switch and am more than happy to use that as an alternative...but again, I seem to be only able to start either one engine or both together.

Can someone trigger my memory of the best way of doing this?

Always grateful to receive suggestions from you knowledgeable folks (and with better memories than I have!) 👍

I'd love to help but I can't really get to what you mean?   You've said all functions either work on 1 engine at a time, or both.  That's the bit that's confusing me.   What else should they be doing, if not working on 1 engine at a time, or both?  (I don't mean that in a challenging way - just trying to understand).

Is the issue that you are describing the fact that, if you use the mouse to drag the starter, you then have to hold it there, and how do you therefore set the mixture axis up, to get fuel?

When I fly GA piston twins, I have a separate throttle for each engine, but then I use a single axis for both prop levers and another axis for both mixture levers.   So I pull the starter with the mouse, then push the mixture lever up.  Does that make sense?

If you're doing it all with mouse, then it's a good question... I don't know how you pull the starter, hold it there and then move the mixture axis up.   It must be possible as there are people without hardware axes for prop and mixture - just a single axis for the throttle.

Sorry I haven't been much help!

- Turn on both L and R fuel tanks (and also verify you have fuel)
- Set both L and R mixtures Off

Let's assume for this example you are starting Left and then Right...

- Turn on only L fuel pump
- Crack L throttle about 1/4
- Raise L mixture to full rich for a few seconds and then return it to off (for priming only L engine)
- L mag to on and then to crank/start
- While holding L mag on start you can toggle the L mixture a bit to add a bit of additional fuel during cranking.
- If L engine starts, then raise L mixture to rich and adjust the L throttle for desired warup RPM.
- if L engine did not start, it was probably either flooded during the process or never got enough priming fuel to begin with (Black Square cheat: you can watch the engine details in the tablet to see the fuel state of too lean or flooded).

Repeat these steps for the Right engine -- important not to accidentally shutdown the running Left engine while raising & lowering the Right engine's mixture.  They need to be handled independently.

Edited December 17, 2025Dec 17 by jes0811

Many thanks for all of the above.  My difficulty is more straightforward.  It isn't the mixture/prop/etc settings and movements - I am using the honeycomb bravo lever block for those.  It is, instead, either:

- how do I get a mouse wheel or button to push and hold the throttle in the 'Start' position for each of the two starter rotary switches?

or

- if I don't use the mouse, how do I achieve the same with commands using spare buttons ?

The above is easily done if you are just starting one engine, or starting both together, but I'm at a bit of a loss how you start one engine and then the other one.

 

 My original post should have been clearer - apols 

I set my hardware to L and R full rich, then I use my mouse to pull them both to off before turning on the battery.  Then again mouse only to manipulate the Left mixture, and again, mouse only to manipulate the Right mixture.   On my hardware controls (I do not have bravo) once I set my hardware to 100% rich, I can move the virtual mouse mixtures without the hardware moving them back.  It's only after I have both engines running that I touch the hardware mixture lever again.

Edit: You could also map "MAGNITO 1 START" and "MAGNITO 2 START" to custom keyboard keys so you can hold them on start independently while mousing other objects.

 

Edited December 18, 2025Dec 18 by jes0811

OK - I've worked it out.

First step - and remember this is for a Controls Profile specifically for twins - was to remove all of the present assignments on the Honeycomb Alpha relating to the starter switch on the Honeycomb yoke. 

I'm sure there are many ways of achieving this, but in case anyone else has similar brain fog and/or their sim loses or deletes the default controls settings, having removed any possible clashes with the Honeycomb, this is how I have now set the mouse wheel to be able to get it to rotate any magneto/starter rotary switch from 'Off', through to 'Right' Magneto, then to 'Left' Magneto, then to 'Both' Magnetos and finally to - and hold at - 'Start' until the engine starts up:

Set the mouse wheel to 'Cockpit Interaction Increase' when rotating the wheel forwards

Set the mouse wheel to 'Cockpit Interaction Decrease' when rotating the wheel backwards

Set the mouse wheel push click to 'Cockpit Interaction - Primary Action' and/or 'Interact'  (I have both set)

 

This allows me, after priming and cracking open the throttle, to highlight the Left Engine Starter, and use the mouse wheel to rotate the switch through 'Right', 'Left' & 'Both' to 'Start' and, crucially, then use the mouse wheel click to keep the Starter engaged until the engine fires.  When it fires, I release the mouse wheel click and the starter switch in the sim springs back to 'Both' magnetos. 

With left engine now running I repeat the process for the right engine.

Note that I haven't used any of the MSFS2024 'engine start' commands in this process as, for twins or other multi-piston types, 'there be dragons in them there places' 🙂 

 

 

Edited December 18, 2025Dec 18 by AJZip2