Starting to make little progress

[bolox]

if you are flying with full cem you will need radiator control(s)- set to full open for takeoff/climb- set to normal/half for normal cruising.- WATCH YOUR TEMPS

Prop pitch also needed. Have you used the 2 rotary controls on throttle for trim? if not might be a good idea to use one for prop pitch (in axes section).

[d.burnette]

Originally Posted by bolox

if you are flying with full cem you will need radiator control(s)- set to full open for takeoff/climb- set to normal/half for normal cruising.- WATCH YOUR TEMPS

Prop pitch also needed. Have you used the 2 rotary controls on throttle for trim? if not might be a good idea to use one for prop pitch (in axes section).

No I have not as of yet assigned my two rotaries on my throttle- have assigned keypresses for trimming that will get assigned to buttons on my stick.
I was thinking of using the two available rotaries, one for prop pitch, and the other for mixure? Would that make sense?

I do not plan on flying with full cem as I will be learning this sim for some time I am sure - maybe later on down the road...

Thanks,

[d.burnette]

Originally Posted by addman

That's pretty much it, superchargers you don't have to worry about until altitudes of 2500 m and up. I recommend assigning buttons to "supercharger next/previous stage". No need for magnetos messing about IMO. Mixture will be fine at default up until a certain altitude, you'll notice when your engine starts sputtering/belching black smoke (I think) then you need to lean out the mixture (lower it). Assign buttons to "increase/decrease mixture" and you're good, same goes for "open/close radiator", "open/close oil radiator". I only have these 2 button "add/decrease" setup for most of that stuff, same goes for prop pitch.

Many thanks again addman, I will take your advice and go ahead and assign commands for superchargers and radiators as well.

[mxmadman]

Originally Posted by d.burnette

No I have not as of yet assigned my two rotaries on my throttle- have assigned keypresses for trimming that will get assigned to buttons on my stick.
I was thinking of using the two available rotaries, one for prop pitch, and the other for mixure? Would that make sense?

I do not plan on flying with full cem as I will be learning this sim for some time I am sure - maybe later on down the road...

Thanks,

I would strongly suggest using your two rotaries for trim, specifically rudder and elevator. This is just preference in the end, but you will be using them the most often and you will want more fidelity. Tiny adjustments in trim are necessary almost constantly and are essential in setting up a good gun platform.

I would say prop pitch you will want to use on another analog control of some sort. I personally use a slider for this. For the same reasons above, you want as much sensitivity as possible, but its not as necessary.

And to respond to an earlier question: my 1, 2 ,3 suggestion for starting was only an example. I use my joystick for everything and almost never use my keybpoard, but to simplify things I still put them in a sequence that's easy to remember because there are a number of things you will end up doing on every sortie and only turn it on before take-off (like sight illumination, which makes your crosshair brighter and easier to see against certain backgrounds) and then you don't really need them again.

I don't think you should get too attached to your mappings. Once you get airborne you will feel differently about some and they will certainly change as needed.

[d.burnette]

Originally Posted by mxmadman

I would strongly suggest using your two rotaries for trim, specifically rudder and elevator. This is just preference in the end, but you will be using them the most often and you will want more fidelity. Tiny adjustments in trim are necessary almost constantly and are essential in setting up a good gun platform.

I would say prop pitch you will want to use on another analog control of some sort. I personally use a slider for this. For the same reasons above, you want as much sensitivity as possible, but its not as necessary.

Thanks, however I really only have the two rotaries available to me, and they are on my throttle. My stick, and my throttle as well, have several buttons available to me.
I guess in the early stages by not using CEM, probably not too big a deal as I understand those items will be handled auto for me - at some point though once I get truly comfortable , I am sure I will want to switch to using CEM.

Yeah I am sure once I get everything programmed into a file and loaded into my setup, there will be some things I will want to change. I am trying though to plan this out as good as I can to give me a good start with this.

Thanks for the other tips as well, much appreciated!

[mxmadman]

Will you be able to hold your joystick and make adjustments while also changing trim with the same hand? This is another benefit to the trim being on your throttle.

It's 100% your choice and the only correct answer is what makes you the most comfortable, but I suggest this because I did the exact same thing. I used hat switches for trim for about a half hour before I realized the rotaries are so much better. Mine, too, are on the throttle and were even made for trim, since they have notches at 50% so you can feel when you're not at level trim.

Either way will get you to the same result. Good luck and hope to see you on the ATAG server soon!

[d.burnette]

I think you have convinced me - my two rotaries on the throttle also have center detents, sounds like they will be more suited for trimming elevator/rudder.

Thanks for the hep!

[d.burnette]

Well finally, I have assigned key commands to just about everything I think I will need for the early going ,and many for probably down the road as I gain experience with this sim.

Just finally got finished writing the macro file for my Cougar, whoa was it long - whew!
Now all that it left, is to plan my stick/throttle layout for the buttons, and go in and start assigning some of these macros to the buttons. Should not take quite as long as what I have done so far now...

Once that is done, I can start getting some flying in and experiencing what this sim is all about.

Thanks again to all those that helped me at least get a sense of direction on getting going on this...

[mxmadman]

Its been days! You must have the best controller configuration around by now!

I command you to get in a plane and start having fun! Your setup must be quite different from mine if writing an entirely new macro file was necessary, but I really hope you don't get burned out before ever actually flying.

Let us know if you run into anymore snags.

Edit: perhaps I misunderstand this specific application, but generally I think of a macro as one button that performs several actions, ie button 1 would switch fuel cock, then open cockpit, then fire ignition (all examples), all from one button press. Is this not what you're referring to? It seems a little unnecessary but I'm sure could end up a lot more fluid than what I currently have - which is just 1 button for each action.

[d.burnette]

Originally Posted by mxmadman

Its been days! You must have the best controller configuration around by now!

I command you to get in a plane and start having fun! Your setup must be quite different from mine if writing an entirely new macro file was necessary, but I really hope you don't get burned out before ever actually flying.

Let us know if you run into anymore snags.

Edit: perhaps I misunderstand this specific application, but generally I think of a macro as one button that performs several actions, ie button 1 would switch fuel cock, then open cockpit, then fire ignition (all examples), all from one button press. Is this not what you're referring to? It seems a little unnecessary but I'm sure could end up a lot more fluid than what I currently have - which is just 1 button for each action.

No for writing a joystick file for my Cougar, it contains two seperate files - a macro file, and a joystick file. The macro file is just a list of commands, for instance a macro may be: Toggle Selected Engine = I.
OK? So a macro file for my Cougar, will have all the commands that the game offers, that I choose to assign, a key command for - or whatever the sim happens to have already assigned as default. So as you can see, my macro file for my joystick for this sim, can be quite long!
The joystick file, then all I do with it is designate a button - and whether it is toggled with another switch ( 3 way ), and I then insert the above command into that button.
IE - button S2 on my Joystick, I will enter " Toggle Selected Engine" - so in my joystick layout, that is what it will show. So when I actually press button S2 on my joystick with this profile loaded, it will then generate the letter I.

Anyways a little comlex, but once one gets the hang of writing the files for the Cougar HOTAS, it offers a whole bunch of options/flexibility. One hat switch can actually hold up to 24 key commands, or one button 6 commands, depending on my toggles used. I won't use near that many per button for the most part, but they are available. I created a lot more macros in the macro file for my stick than I will proably use, especially in the early going, but they will already be there and available should I want to add extra commands to my buttons as time goes on.

Enough bout that - hope it was not too confusing - well I am not this slow, I am home recovering from surgery and the last several days have been tough, did not feel up to doing a lot - but last 2-3 days have been improvements, so now I got back into it, thankfully!

But you are right, I need to fly now! Hope to get the button assignments, at least the ones I really need, done and some flying this weekend! Also have a new GTX 560 Ti 2gb vid card I want to get put in in the meantime as well.

Thanks again,