Malcolm Wright

I've been having problems ith a "Ghost Controller", that is a controller that is defined in the "Standard" controller file as a 3 axis 9 button Joystick" but has no physical existence. I have tried deleting the "Standard" file and then running FSX to get the file created anew, and hopefully as there is no physical "3 Axis 9 Button Joystick" then it should not appear in the "Standard" file of controls. Unfortunately this doesn't work. The file is recreated but also includes the "3 axis 9 button Joystick" which shouldn't have been recreated, but has. So I am back to where I started from! The only thing that I have found by digging around is that the Controller for the X-Box is also called a "3 axis 9 button Joystick". I also know that the last time my computer was in the repair shop, the owner who is a MS tester for the new Flight Simulater, used it to test the new new simulator. I don't know what controllers he used but if he used an X-Box then there is the possibility that the reference to the "3 axis 9 button Joystick" was buried into the computers software, or on a disk or whatever and this information is being used to recreate this controller though one does not exist physically. This is, of course, at the moment purely theoretical, but something is recreating a controller that doesn't exist and putting an entry into the "Standard" file. I don't have the knowledge of how the Standard file is created but if someone in Avsim knows something about this I would appreciate their help. I've just bought the latest version of EZYDOK but have not been able to do more than fiddle around with it due to the above problem and I would dearly like to be able to fly to really test it out. Thanks in advance for any help/advice etc that anyone can offer. Malcolm Wright

Jon, What a great help you have been. I've finally located the file and as soon as I can get a bit of editing done I should be able to get rid of that strange joystick. Which will be a great relief. I'd like to buy you a beer but as you are in Aussie I'm afraid that's not going to be possible. Thanks for your perfect memory. All the best Malcolm Wright

I need some help from someone! I fly FSX but a problem has developed, possibly created while my computer was in a repair shop. A new controller has appeared out of the blue, it is called a "3 axis 9 buttons joystick" and takes control when I try to fly. There are several wierd things, firstly I don't have a "3 axis 9 buttons Joystick" and I always fly using a Saitek Flight Yoke. However when I start up FSX and check the current controller that is in control it is the nefarious joystick again. As I don't have one of these I can't fly without changing the default back to the Saitek Yoke. I would love to get rid of this thing but I can't find any way of deleting it. I have a vague memory that there is a file in FSX somewhere that contains a list of controllers and is editable. I've tried to find this file but I can't find it. If anyone knows of a way of getting rid of this controller entry then I would be eternally grateful as I've not flown for sometime and am feeling depressed as a result! Many thanks in advance Malcolm Wright

Recently I have been having serious problems with most of my aircraft. Essentially when loaded the cockpit, in the majority of cases, have large sections missing. Mostly this is the non electronic/working part of the cockpit. The instruments hang in place with nothing to support them and the ground can be seen between the gaps. In some case the main panel with the flying instruments, etc is ok but there is nothing at the sides. I have contacted the aircraft manufacturer who supplied most of my current aircraft, about this but so far they don't seem to come up with a solution. In many cases these aircraft are those that I have had for years - and this suggests the possibility that the problem comes from the computer itself. As it happens the computer is going back to the manufacturer tomorrow for some upgrades and there is the possibility that this might sort the problem. However, being a pessimist, I am not holding my breath. So I am wondering if any one else has had this problem and come up with a solution? If so I would be delighted to hear from you. All the best Malcolm Wright

Donet, I have the Realair Turbine Duke V2 ever since it came out. I have just run it up and the startup and running engines seem ok to me. However I have never heard a real Turbine engine spool up and therefore can't confirm that it is realistic, but they sound ok to me. The one thing I did notice is that in panel.cfg entry for gauge 21 that I have in my panel.cfg is slightly different from the one you mention. I include it below, Though whether the difference is important I don' know!: gauge21 = RASDukeTv2_Sound!Sound, 1,1,2,2,./SimObjects/Airplanes/RealAir Duke Turbine V2/Panel/Sound/RASDukeTv2_Sound.ini The Real Air company is out of business now but Sean now runs another company called, If I remember correctly, Vertex, or something like that. He is a very amiable man and I wouldn't be surprised if he would be able to help you. The Realair Turbine Duke V2 is one of my favourite aircraft. It's a pleasure to fly so I hope that you can sort out your problems. Cheers and good luck. Malcolm Wright

Aircraft: Eaglesoft Citation X 2.0 - because it's fast - up to .9mach and flies high 51,000ft possible. RealAir Duke Turbine V2 - because it was made by one of the best aircraft makers in the business and even though it is years old still reliable and fun to fly. Carenado AT42/500 - Sufficiently complex and fun to fly. Utilities: MCE - Used only for radio but makes life so much easier. EZCA - All my aircraft have views controlled by EZCA Little Nav Map -The best free flight planner + that I have ever found. Airports: EGMH Manston - Only because I learnt to fly there. Now sadly may be turned into a lorry park because of one womans greed. LEMG - I lived in Spain for 10 years and flew in/out from Malaga a lot. Original Hong Kong Airport VHHX- one of the most fun airports to fly into. Texture/Shaders None Malcolm Wright

I bought the Carenado A42 500 recently and on the whole find it a pleasant aircraft to fly. As always it looks great, but there are some fairly minor problems with some of the systems. By default it comes with a FMS driven autopilot and it didn't seem to word. I couldn't get to grips with it and had to fly using the HDG option for each leg rather than NAV. This may have been my problem more than the aircraft but old age is making me lazy! However it does come with an option to use GTN750 and when I converted mine to that the autopilot worked perfectly. I also have had some initial problems moving from autopilot to manual control where a part of the right side ailerons has got stuck in the up positions and the plane become uncontrollable and with the inevitable result is the plane crashed. I reported this to Carenado and they are looking at it. However I do have to say that for the last couple of flights it has worked well with no crashes! The review that Carenado has on the ATR webpage mentions a problem with real ATR 42's and says that it might have something to do with the ailerons and that as a result ATR's are mostly used in warm countries which might suggest something to do with icing. Because this is a possibility - though how Carenado could have simulated it I don't know - I have kept a close watch on outside air temperature during climb and descent and have also used a stepped climb and descent system allowing temperature changes to take effect. I can't understand why this works in a simulatio but it does - at least on my system! To sum up - now I've got the GTN750 installed I am happy with this plane. I've added in a camera to allow me to see the top of the wing to inspect it before turning off the AP to ensure that the panel is not up. Have fun Malcolm Wright

Bert, Thanks for your comments, much appreciated. I have thought all along that it is probably a failure in the connection between the GPS source and the autopilot and it is encouraging to see that you think that the basic FSX autopilot is what is mostly used. I don't know if you happen to know if Real Air built their own autopilot as it is really the only autopilot, that I have that is reliable. The other problem is that not all the aircraft have the GTN750. Some have the G1000 setup, but I find that difficult to use. I find in general that apart from the GTN750 the various FMC systems are the best. I have started out setting up my system to carry out a whole series of tests using most, though not all, of the aircraft I fly. However this will probably take some time. If I come across anything of interest I will post it here. All the best, (Your mod to the Phenom 100 works fine! Thanks for that.) Malcolm Wright

Thanks for the response Bullpup, I know only so well that we are in a simulation. I have a PPL (now no longer current) and have a number of hours in real life so I can tell the difference. However if you spend time setting up a flight and it then goes wrong because of an unknown reason then it is very annoying. Also it means that flying a complex aircraft becomes impossible. Malcolm

Dave, Yes it is. I am about to test most of the planes that I fly regularly to identify which work and which don't. Though this may take some time! The following is a flight plan that I use to test various aircraft. The one that I know, off hand, that fails is the Carenado DA62- even with, or without, a mod to replace the G1000 with the GTN750. (One thing I should point out is that I have a fault in the G1000 flight plan where the individual leg is calculated correctly but placed in the wrong sequence. I.e. the first leg, instead of going from EGMD to EGKK goes from EGMD to EGGW (As I recall) This route takes place in the South East of the UK. It starts and ends at EGMD: EGMD - EGKK - EGGW - EGMD - DVR - EGMD Cheers and thanks for your help. Malcolm Wright

Dave, Thanks for your help. The answer to your questions are: 1. Yes there is always a flight plan loaded unless I'm just buzzing around at random and in that case I wouldn't use the autopilot. 2. As far as I can judge the navigation in all the aircraft is set to use the GPS. I set the autopilot to NAV and in the cases where the auto pilot works that works fine. I mainly use the GTN750 as my directional source and I build the flight plans in that (assuming the aircraft is fitted with the GTN750 however even in some of the aircraft fitted with the GTN750 it doesn't work well - sometimes not at all.) I have 197 different aircraft - including multiple differing set ups for the same basic aircraft and including some AI's. So I haven't actually tested all the possibilities! I am quite happy to accept that there is something wrong with my system - however finding out exactly what that is, and fixing it, is another problem. I fly only in FSX - boxed version. You can see my rig set up in my original post and in addition I have several Saitek extras. These include: Autopilot - which works well with some aircraft but not with all. When it works with the aircraft I make all autopilot changes/commands using the device. I have tested disabling the Saitek device to see if that is causing the problem but first indications suggest there is not a problem there, though it might benefit from some more testing in that area. Radio box - which works well for comms. No input to navigation as I use radio sources fairly rarely. Switch Panel Proflight Yoke System with and extra throttle unit which allows me to assign two throttles, two pitch and two mixtures. All the best Malcolm Wright

I've been having some problems with various autopilots recently. The most common problem is the inability to follow a flight plan. This has led to me having to direct the plane entirely using the "HDG" option which is possible but takes up a lot of the pilots time. As planes get more complex they also need more attention. If however the pilot - and in FSX that is mostly a single person - is having to concentrate on keeping the plane on course then things can be missed which can lead to a disastrous situation being developed. To allow the pilot to concentrate on the important things in life it is essential to have an autopilot that can do two simple things: 1 - Follow the flight plan and 2 - Follow the height instructions and climb to the predetermined height. Unfortunately recently many of the most recent aircraft that I have don't do either or both of these jobs. At the only moment the only aircraft that I fly regularly now - the RealAir Duke Turbine V2 - will do both these specified jobs without any problems. In the majority of cases, even after setting up a flight plan and setting the autopilot to use the "NAV" function the aircraft will suddenly go off on a tangent - and in many cases just fly around in circles. This is true of a whole variety of aircraft from a whole variety of flight sim aircraft manufacturers. I've been flying flight sims from the middle 1970's so I have some experience. I also have real life experience but sadly not with an autopilot. So after that preamble I come to my question: Does anyone know how autopilots are constructed in FSX? It seems to me that it could be done in two ways: 1. FSX contains a basic autopilot mechanism and supply a method for a manufacturer to interface with this code. 2. Manufacturers write their own autopilot code. 3. (There is a third option?) Because this is happening across aircraft from several different manufacturers I am beginning to wonder if the first option is the true one. If this is the case then it assumes there is a problem with the FSX autopilot code. In which case does anyone have any idea how to fix it? If option 2 is the correct answer then the situation is more complex. I've found out that some firms will be helpful but can't really do much to help. And one or two will just refuse to admit the existence of a problem. (No names, no packdrill!) Anyway I would appreciate any help that anyone can give. Malcolm Wright Computer: ACPI x64-based PC: Intel(R) Core(T) i7-7700K CPU @ 4.2GHz (8 Cores) Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Samsung SSD SCSI Disk Device 500gb Drive 😄 Only used for OS and FSX and related items. ST1000DM 010-2EP102 SCSI Disk Device Drive 😧 Everything else! Memory 16MB

Would be very grateful if Jorge Rexach or anyone who knows about his mod to the DA62 to allow the use of the GT750 to contact me via this forum. I have tried contacting him directly via his direct contact address but have heard nothing from him. I would very much like to get hold of his Carenado DA62 mod to allow the GTN750 to be installed in the plane. This could be the address of the F1 website where the mod is installed. Thanks for any help you can offer. Malcolm Wright

nel 5 by Jorge Rexach, on Flickr DA62 GTN FLC Climb by Jorge Rexach, on Flickr

Just as an update -I have now fixed the problem. I realised that although I had disconnected the keyboard and all the flight sim bits and pieces I hadn't tested the mouse properly. I had found another mouse and that gave the same result. All my mice are wireless and today I realised that I hadn't tested the mouse receiver. I went looking for a wired mouse - none around in our household! - however I did find another receiver and plugged it in and - hey presto - it worked. LFM is now working fine - as usual! I feel a little guilty at not having contributed to this fabulous package so I will try to do so this coming week. Thanks for your help and advice. All the best Malcolm Wright P.S. I like this new ability to specify data for the aircraft that we use. However I am a little unclear as to where this information is available. Does it mean flying every plane in my hanger- a fairly big one!- to collect the data or is there a legal, publicly avilable database anywhere where this infor can be found - especially fuel usage. MW