Axis control for Cowl Flaps
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I messed around with FSUIPC4 many years ago, probably in FS98 or something lol, but now updated to ver.7 and FS24 I can't see how to utilise a spare lever on the Bravo quadrant to control the cowl flaps, other than to achieve either full open or full closed.
Any tips would be gratefully received as I'm sure it must be possible to achieve full control without needing to revert to mouse control.
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@Woolies thanks ... and I might end up having to add another app running in the background, but since I already have FSUIPC7 running (not sure why to be honest lol) I'm hoping to be able to use it. But I appreciate the response.
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I might have to try Mobiflight. Just looked at the website and hadn't realised it was a free app. I've downloaded and will have a look and see if I can use your program line above ... once I work out how it all runs.
Quick question if I may: can Mobiflight take over ALL control inputs so as to render FS24's clumsy control interface obsolete?
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Yep.
I also come from FSUIPC and still have them running in parallel with older addons, simply, because they work.
But Mobiflight is really powerful and much easier to use. For example you can do things like.. you can only use the magneto switch if the key has been inserted, which only works if the gust lock has been removed, as IRL. So you can actually have this safeguard setup like it should be. -
FSUIPC should work almost out of the box with it, under Axis controls you should be able to specify the Cowl Flaps axis in one of the dropdowns.
I have not yet had time to set my Commander up or take her for a spin, but for all my other Black Square aircraft with cowl flaps that has worked just fine for me.
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@jmarkows That's what I expected, but when I tried there was nothing related to an axis for the cowl flaps. I'll have to check again!
Thanks, though, for the confirmation that what I'm hoping to do should be possible
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@jmarkows That's what I expected, but when I tried there was nothing related to an axis for the cowl flaps. I'll have to check again!
Thanks, though, for the confirmation that what I'm hoping to do should be possible
@SkipperMacz Actually I owe you something of an apology. I haven't started the sim in a while to look at the FSUPIC UI with my profile loaded, but I did crack open my saved profile ini files this evening to confirm what I expected.
I have done two methods for cowl flaps across a few different aircraft. For the BS Bonanza, I made an event in the myevents.txt file as follows:
BT36_Cowl_Flap#@ 16384 + 32767 / 100 * 0 max 100 min (>A:RECIP ENG COWL FLAP POSITION:1, percent)This gets bound to the axis of my choice and converts it to the 0 to 100% that the Avar in use there is expecting in my Bonanza profile:
3=BR,256,F,PBT36_Cowl_Flap,0,0,0 -{ TO SIM: Preset Control }-So there was a little bit of work to get it done, mostly to convert the axis range from 0-100 I think, but should be "fairly" simple to do.
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@SkipperMacz Regarding your question about whether MobiFlight can take over all of the control inputs, I have been experimenting with doing essentially that with the Commander 114.
I have uploaded my current MobiFlight project to Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bt0euYHjSdla7srvA_8fSl4J8yQjiLlk?usp=sharing
For my Honeycomb Bravo, with the exception of the flaps, I have removed all of the MSFS 2024 control assignments and MobiFlight handles everything. For the Alpha yoke, I leave only the pitch and roll axes assigned in MSFS 2024. All of the switches, buttons, ignition switch, trim controls, and other functions are handled through MobiFlight.
I have also repurposed quite a few of the Alpha and Bravo controls specifically for the Commander rather than using them according to the labels printed on the hardware. The folder includes a Word document showing exactly what each physical control is mapped to.
The project also includes things such as the Bravo cowl flap axis, throttle, prop, mixture, fuel selector, parking brake, electrical controls, lighting, environmental controls, ignition, trim, landing gear, and the System 60 autopilot controls.
It is still something I am experimenting with and may change, but this is the setup I am currently using if you want an example of how far MobiFlight can be taken.
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@jmarkows no apology necessary. I'll have to study your program lines carefully, although I'm tempted to go the Mobiflight direction...
@fredgarven thanks for this! I've downloaded your project and 'hey presto' I have full control of the cowl flaps ... and an awful lot of other things! Its good to see how a MF 'project' is formed and now I need to decide if I want to attempt to move over completely from FS24's clunky system. I might need to read the manual first though as those lines of code are seriously technical looking for an old geezer like myself lol.
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@SkipperMacz In case you are interested, I have completed the project based on v1.1a. I have also updated the accompanying document. Check out the link:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bt0euYHjSdla7srvA_8fSl4J8yQjiLlk?usp=sharing
I added in all the axes and reconfigured a few things. There is now no need to have anything configured in FS2024 itself.
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@SkipperMacz In case you are interested, I have completed the project based on v1.1a. I have also updated the accompanying document. Check out the link:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bt0euYHjSdla7srvA_8fSl4J8yQjiLlk?usp=sharing
I added in all the axes and reconfigured a few things. There is now no need to have anything configured in FS2024 itself.
@fredgarven said in Axis control for Cowl Flaps:
In case you are interested...
I'm VERY Interested! Many thanks @fredgarven for this further insight into MobiFlight use for the Commander 114. Your cowl flaps control has already enhanced the experience and I look forward to exploring what else you have magically included in this project finale
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@SkipperMacz Actually I owe you something of an apology. I haven't started the sim in a while to look at the FSUPIC UI with my profile loaded, but I did crack open my saved profile ini files this evening to confirm what I expected.
I have done two methods for cowl flaps across a few different aircraft. For the BS Bonanza, I made an event in the myevents.txt file as follows:
BT36_Cowl_Flap#@ 16384 + 32767 / 100 * 0 max 100 min (>A:RECIP ENG COWL FLAP POSITION:1, percent)This gets bound to the axis of my choice and converts it to the 0 to 100% that the Avar in use there is expecting in my Bonanza profile:
3=BR,256,F,PBT36_Cowl_Flap,0,0,0 -{ TO SIM: Preset Control }-So there was a little bit of work to get it done, mostly to convert the axis range from 0-100 I think, but should be "fairly" simple to do.
@jmarkows Would it be too much trouble if you could give us the actual FSUIPC (edits) commands that need to be added so that the commander cowl flap works with the Honeycomb Bravo control and the second mixture lever, please?.
I have seen the commands in your post but I am unable to replicted in the INI and PRESET files so that it works.
Thank you. Christian C./
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@jmarkows Would it be too much trouble if you could give us the actual FSUIPC (edits) commands that need to be added so that the commander cowl flap works with the Honeycomb Bravo control and the second mixture lever, please?.
I have seen the commands in your post but I am unable to replicted in the INI and PRESET files so that it works.
Thank you. Christian C./
@cconesa
COMMANDER114_COWL_FLAPS#@ 16384 + 32767 / 0 max 1 min (>B:ENGINE_CowlFlaps_Set)In case I got it backwards:
COMMANDER114_COWL_FLAPS_REVERSED#1 @ 16384 + 32767 / 0 max 1 min - (>B:ENGINE_CowlFlaps_Set)
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Hah, that probably would have been the way to do it if I had been a thinking man that night. On finding that it was apparently reversed compared to the Bonanza, I spent a good bit of time figuring out how to subtract negative numbers and ended up with this:
AC11_Cowl_Flap#@ 16384 - -32767 / 100 * 0 max 100 min (>A:RECIP ENG COWL FLAP POSITION:1, percent)
@fredgarven I understand that the # signifies the end of the preset name and the @ is the incoming axis or passed value, but what's the significance of putting the #1 @? What does that do, invert the input?
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Hah, that probably would have been the way to do it if I had been a thinking man that night. On finding that it was apparently reversed compared to the Bonanza, I spent a good bit of time figuring out how to subtract negative numbers and ended up with this:
AC11_Cowl_Flap#@ 16384 - -32767 / 100 * 0 max 100 min (>A:RECIP ENG COWL FLAP POSITION:1, percent)
@fredgarven I understand that the # signifies the end of the preset name and the @ is the incoming axis or passed value, but what's the significance of putting the #1 @? What does that do, invert the input?
@jmarkows The
#1isn't anything special. The#just separates the preset name from the calculator code.So this:
COMMANDER114_COWL_FLAPS_REVERSED#1 @ 16384 + 32767 / 0 max 1 min - (>B:ENGINE_CowlFlaps_Set)is just using
1 - valueat the end to reverse the axis.I used 0 to 1 because
B:ENGINE_CowlFlaps_Setexpects a normalized value. Your 0 to 100 version is doing the same basic thing, just writing directly to the A:Var.I probably should have spaced it out better the first time because
#1does look like some kind of special FSUIPC syntax. -
@jmarkows The
#1isn't anything special. The#just separates the preset name from the calculator code.So this:
COMMANDER114_COWL_FLAPS_REVERSED#1 @ 16384 + 32767 / 0 max 1 min - (>B:ENGINE_CowlFlaps_Set)is just using
1 - valueat the end to reverse the axis.I used 0 to 1 because
B:ENGINE_CowlFlaps_Setexpects a normalized value. Your 0 to 100 version is doing the same basic thing, just writing directly to the A:Var.I probably should have spaced it out better the first time because
#1does look like some kind of special FSUIPC syntax.@jmarkows @fredgarven , thank you both for the reply and now I am going to be as thick as two planks...
This line goes into the events file in FSUIPC?. If so, how to activate it in FSUIPC so that the second mixture throttle detects it as a cowl flap setting?.
Thank you.
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@jmarkows @fredgarven , thank you both for the reply and now I am going to be as thick as two planks...
This line goes into the events file in FSUIPC?. If so, how to activate it in FSUIPC so that the second mixture throttle detects it as a cowl flap setting?.
Thank you.
@cconesa Go ahead and add this line to your myevents.txt file. If it doesn't exist, create it; you could just put it in events.txt if you wanted, but as that's the Mobiflight event library, the next time you install or update FSUIPC you run the risk of overwriting it and losing all your custom events.
//Black Square/Commander114/Engine
AC11_Cowl_Flap#@ 16384 - -32767 / 100 * 0 max 100 min (>A:RECIP ENG COWL FLAP POSITION:1, percent)Once you have that in there, either start FSUIPC or, if it was already running, go to File -> Reload Presets. From there, in the Axis menu, you should be able to move the axis you want bound to the cowl flaps and select Assign to Preset on the right, then either dig the AC11_Cowl_Flap preset out of the large list or click the Find Preset button to navigate around to it.
My sim is not running and my stuff isn't set up right now, otherwise I could provide some UI images of FSUIPC.
