Rossco

G'day Ray, I tend to agree with most of what you say & the aircraft does appear to fly nicely, that is till you get up a bit higher. I tried to do a nav with it the other day & as the AP is pretty much non functional at present tried to hand fly it. Can't remember exactly what FL I was at but it was in mid to high twenties but I found I couldn't trim it for straight & level. I have a PFC Yoke with buttons set up for trim & also have a Saitek Trim Wheel which can be handy for fine trim adjustments however using both these systems I was unable to get her to trim properly. Normally would be using AP here however she should be able to be hand flown at any level. Still alpha of course so interested to see how this pans out down the track. Down lower & doing circuits I didn't have an issue & she did behave very nicely. Also very impressed with the electrical system so far particularly the way the lights dim at night when you start an engine! Like you am eagerly waiting for the next update.

Yes but not implemented yet.

Hi Ray, I used SPADneXt to program it as it's an LVAR from memory. Have found this utility great for this type of programming. Can be done with FSUIPC however a bit more fiddly than SPAD. Also like the way I can program long & short button presses to create different commands. Am not near my sim rig for the next couple of weeks so am unable to tell you which LVAR it is but from memory it was pretty easy to find. I have also used SPAD to program two of my old inverted TQ levers to act as on/off levers for starting & shutting down the engines (use them for the B737 & B777 engine start/shut also). Again I think these were LVAR commands. Not sure what's going on with the pitch up issue, maybe a reinstall might fix it however one thing I did pretty much straight away was to disable the auto throttle in the .cfg file as my throttle has a TOGA switch & I don't like the throttles going automatic on me. Maybe this has a bearing on your pitch problem?

Hi Ray, Forgot to mention I do land with full flaps & have the yaw damper programmed to one of my old Saitek throttle switches which is mounted upside down beneath my PFC Throttle. Following closing the throttles I can easily reach the YD switch & as it sounds a horn at disconnect I can tell it has activated without taking my eyes from the runway. Regarding the pitch up I have encountered this if I have allowed the aircraft to reach stall speed or close to it & the AP has automatically disengaged. Expect the AP has been trimming up to compensate for the slow speed. Haven't noticed it at any other stage.

Hi Ray, After some research I use the following technique, most of the procedure gleaned from the CAE Simuflite LR25 Cockpit Reference Handbook I found on the web. Apparently the real aircraft, having the engines at the rear plus a "T" tail actually pitches up when closing the throttles so in real life when flaring & closing throttles the PF has to counter this which I don't find happens in the sim. I usually disengage the Yaw damper during flare (as per CAE) & once touch down is achieved I deploy the spoilers followed by the reversers once the front wheel is on the ground. I then leave the reverse thrust engaged until around 60kts (this from CAE Manual) & apply brakes throughout the landing. The manual states "Brakes......As Required." Re the initial roll, not sure if it's true to life however I find I have to increase throttle to around 70% to get her going then adjust depending on the load. Hope this is of some help.

Hi Olivier, I find my com 1 & 2 are independent & changing the display for either does not effect the other.

Good to hear you got it sorted.

G'day Oliver, I have mine working OK using a profile I downloaded (by dixdetention I think) however unlike most other aircraft in my hanger I need to press the standby button first to activate the selected radio or nav unit. I am then able to change frequencies slowly as the response time is somewhat delayed. Once the frequency is selected then I'm able to swap to the tuned one. Works OK for VHF radios, navs & ADF. The transponder however I'm not able to select & adjust using this profile.

Iv'e found a similar issue trying to do the Rwy 26 RNAV App as well. The approach goes OK from RTT to W1002 where the descent is supposed to begin, VNAV switches to approach mode however I notice there is an altitude of 9,500' showing for the next waypoint WI103 which is not evident in the flight plan page & the aircraft remains at 9,500'. I had been doing a series of flights between LOWI & LOWW to get the hang of ILS & RNAV approaches but am yet to have a successful RNAV approach to LOWI & have had to disconnect & hand fly it without vertical guidance. Odd thing was I dropped the HUD on one occasion & it appeared to be doing the descent OK however not certain on that. Not having any issues with cruise VNAV descents & find them great, along with other little tricks like calling up airport weather briefings if you have a weather engine (AS). Landings also are no issue with a little power on till touch down as recommended. Apart from this quirky RNAV system to someone used to the Boeing format I'm very impressed with this aircraft.

Hi Erich, Replacing pots is simple as they come as a complete unit (all six) so they all get changed at once. You don't change them individually. All you do is open the case, unclip one end of the return springs & the pot unit wire connector from the main board, undo four screws & remove it. Replacement is the reverse. You will find the brass pusher rods will need to be removed also however that is just a case of sliding them out through the front of the case. They can come out whenever the throttle unit is removed from the case as you have no doubt discovered. Open the case & you will get a better understanding of what I'm talking about & you will see how simple it is to change.

G'day Erich, I also have a PFC Throttle Controller plus a number of throttle units which I purchased in October 2016. Last year whilst the unit was still under warranty fortunately my #2 lever (same as yours?) started behaving oddly & was difficult to calibrate & align with either of the levers to the side of it. When checking in the Windows calibration window I could see the #2 lever advancing ahead of #1 & also jumping as it did so. I contacted PFC directly as I'm in Australia & they sent me a new pot slider unit which I easily installed myself. The throttle has been fine since. I have used the unit with W7 previously & now with W10. I would think that if your's is only a couple of years old it shouldn't need a W10 board as it should be compatible already. I suggest maybe contacting service @ PFC directly for some advice. My PFC SAAB Desktop Yoke on the other hand is much older & was giving me issues until I plugged it into my USB 3.0 port. It has worked perfectly since doing so otherwise I would have had to upgrade to a W10 board for it.

+1 Not only your controllers but all your buttons & switches as well. Iv'e been using it for years & it's indispensable as far as I'm concerned, although you can now program controllers & buttons in P3Dv4 & name & save them however an import is required whenever you change aircraft. With FSUIPC it's automatic.

Hi Ray, Check this link on how to find & program an LVAR using FSUIPC. A bit cumbersome compared to SPADneXt which lists all the LVAR's, Simmconnect & FSUIPC commands automatically ready for selection when programming a switch, button or lever. One reason why I use both, firstly FSUIPC then SPADNeXt for the more complicated stuff as I find it a bit easier. You can even program multiple commands for the one button & even nominate delays between implementation. This is probably possible with FSUIPC also but not so obvious in the GUI. Bill does a good job explaining how to set this up. In this case I have given you the command which appears to work for both on & off for the YD.

Re the YD guys, the command is an LVAR: "PEDESTALAUTOPILOTYAWDAMPEROFFBUTTONPOSITION (LVAR)" which I have assigned to a rocker switch using SPADneXt as mentioned previously. I believe there is a way you can do the same with FSUIPC. Appears to be working OK. I haven't assigned anything to the back up system as I test it using the button in the VC when doing my pre start checks.

Re the Yaw Damper, not sure the default keys work. I use SPADneXt along with FSUIPC to program all my controllers & see I've got an LVAR in for the switch I use for the YD. Did it quite some time ago but pretty sure I would have tried the Ctl-D commands first. One of the very handy things about SPADneXt is it sees all your hardware connected & allows you to program the switches & levers for them all & not just Saitek gear. In this instance I have a surplus Saitek throttle mounted inverted under my PFC one & use the two outside levers to start the engines & the switches for YD, engine sync & seat belts.