Jump to content

Fly-by-wire through EasyFBW?


rjbrown89

Recommended Posts

Hi all,

 

I was wondering if anyone on here has had experience of using easyFBW? I've been really interested in testing it out in FS2004 but don't seem able to make the program work properly.

 

When I start the program it appears to be working, as when I move the joystick the joystick coordinates it displays change with my inputs. However when I click "FBW Toggle" so that FBW Status is "ON" my joystick inputs are not recognized by the program and as a result my aeroplane is stuck in its initial attitude in FS2004.

 

I was wondering if anyone had come across this problem, if there was a fix out there or if easyFBW works well for others as I can't seem to find any information on the web.

 

Thanks :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

my aeroplane is stuck in its initial attitude in FS2004

 

That's what it's supposed to do, it's working as it should. Just move your joystick until the plane is at the attitude you want and easyFBW will hold the plane at that attitude until you move the joystick again.

Tim Wright "The older I get, the better I was..."

Xbox Series X, Asus Prime H510M-K, Intel Core i5-11400F 4.40GHz, 16Gb DDR4 3200, 2TB WD Black NVME SSD, 1TB Samsung SATA SSD

NVidia RTX3060 Ti 8Gb, Logitech Flight Yoke System, CH Pro Pedals, Acer K272HL 27", Windows 11 Home x64

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's what it's supposed to do, it's working as it should. Just move your joystick until the plane is at the attitude you want and easyFBW will hold the plane at that attitude until you move the joystick again.

 

Hi tiger1962,

 

Thanks for replyng! Just to clarify, what I mean is once you toggle the program to "on" none of my joystick inputs are registered, so only the initial attitude is held - the only way to change your attitude is to quit easyFBW all together. Sorry for the confusion, I hope that makes a bit more sense.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

According to the manual, easyfbw only works with a plane which has an FS default-type AP, in other aircraft the AP must be disengaged before switching easyfbw on. The manual doesn't say whether easyfbw is compatible with USB joysticks, but assuming that it is, you also need FSUIPC installed for it to work properly. Which aircraft are you flying it with, and have you configured your joystick in easyfbw?

Tim Wright "The older I get, the better I was..."

Xbox Series X, Asus Prime H510M-K, Intel Core i5-11400F 4.40GHz, 16Gb DDR4 3200, 2TB WD Black NVME SSD, 1TB Samsung SATA SSD

NVidia RTX3060 Ti 8Gb, Logitech Flight Yoke System, CH Pro Pedals, Acer K272HL 27", Windows 11 Home x64

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmm.

 

I've tried running easyFBW in conjunction with a few different airfraft because I didn't completely understand the line in the manual about non-default type AP's and wasn't sure if having to disengage the AP meant turning it off (in other words pressing Z) or something more technical.

 

I've tried to calibrate my joystick with easyFBW (which I haven't tried before so thanks for the tip) but it's still being a bit of a mystery.

 

So I just tried doing a bit of a test flight. I selected the Cessna which comes as part of the default game. I selected my flight in FS2004 and returned to the desktop to calibrate easyFBW.

 

I selected a button to toggle the program on and off and noted that in the easyFBW window the joystick X and Y numbers were changing as I made inputs to my joystick.

 

I returned to FS2004 and engaged easyFBW whilst still on the ground. I made a take-off in the Cessna and began to gently bank to the left.

 

After a couple of seconds I heard the easyFBW sound that indicates the program has moved into normal mode and from this point I could not make any changes to my aeroplanes attitude by moving the joystick.

 

It does seem a total mystery because from reading the manual I don't think I've messed up the procedure they give to operate the program properly and I find it strange that easyFBW is understanding inputs from my joystick until the FBW Toggle Statues is changed to "ON" and then unless I quit the program my joystick inputs aren't understood. I have the latest version of FSUIPC installed (although it is the unregistered version).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have the same experience as you with the default C172 - I have to click the FBW Toggle button on the easyFBW window to engage/disengage it. The joystick button will only engage FBW, it won't disengage FBW. I'm running on Win 7 x64 with 64 bit drivers so maybe that's the issue?

Tim Wright "The older I get, the better I was..."

Xbox Series X, Asus Prime H510M-K, Intel Core i5-11400F 4.40GHz, 16Gb DDR4 3200, 2TB WD Black NVME SSD, 1TB Samsung SATA SSD

NVidia RTX3060 Ti 8Gb, Logitech Flight Yoke System, CH Pro Pedals, Acer K272HL 27", Windows 11 Home x64

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah I'm running on Win 7 64 bit too. I'm sure there must be a software/comparability problem in there somewhere because the problem arises as soon as easyFBW is engaged - before then all my joystick inputs are recognised by the program.

 

Unfortunately after I've engaged easyFBW the only way to alter my aeroplanes attitude is to quit easyFBW all together.

 

I must admit it's really disappointing because I was really interested in this program and I think it would add a lot to Flight Simulator :-(.

 

Do you regularly use easyFBW? Do you find it works without issue or are there certain aircraft/conditions where it won't work for you?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've never used it before today, but I found that others have had the same problems with it in the past, while searching the net for clues myself. It probably can't do much more than a full autopilot really, since it has to use the same commands anyway, though there are a few military jets in the library here with fbw features that could be worth a try.

Tim Wright "The older I get, the better I was..."

Xbox Series X, Asus Prime H510M-K, Intel Core i5-11400F 4.40GHz, 16Gb DDR4 3200, 2TB WD Black NVME SSD, 1TB Samsung SATA SSD

NVidia RTX3060 Ti 8Gb, Logitech Flight Yoke System, CH Pro Pedals, Acer K272HL 27", Windows 11 Home x64

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, this is why I wanted to try using it, I think the idea of (what basically seems like) an autopilot that can hold an attitude, rather than a heading and an altitude is really interesting. It seems less of a fly-by-wire simulator and more like the FPAH part of the autopilot seen in fast jets (especially the VRS Superbug).

 

I will have to have a look and see which jets in the library have fbw features!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I tried EasyFBW, with the same results, so I guess it's a compatibility issue. Regarding airliners with FBW, I can mention 2 freeware ones:

 

- Project Airbus A380 (with PA gauges)

- Aeroprojecto Sukhoi SSJ-100

 

I can recall these two have the FBW* coded in XML, so, with a little knowledge of gauge programming, they can be easily ported to any other panel.

 

*Well, the augmentation given by FBW. If you think about it, in FS, all joystick inputs are converted to electric signals that command the deflection of virtual control surfaces. Isn't that FBW? ;)

Best regards,

Luis Hernández 20px-Flag_of_Colombia.svg.png20px-Flag_of_Argentina.svg.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Imhariano,

 

Thanks for replying! I've been having a bit of a read around the internet and found a couple of people who said they had had these problems with easyFBW seem to have upgraded from a 32 bit OS to a 64 bit OS. So I'd agreed there's probably a compatibility issue somewhere.

 

Thanks for the advice, I've just had a very quick look at the Project Airbus A380. I was wondering if you cooling give me any advice on finding the fly by wire elements of the aircraft. Do you know whereabouts they will be? You mentioned about them being in the gushed?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes. For the A380, the FBW XML is located in this file:

 

FS9\Aircraft\Project Airbus A380-800\panel.pa\_ap

 

Where FS9 is your main FS9 folder. It uses FS9 default autopilot for keeping bank and pitch. You'll end up hearing an AP disconnect everytime you move the joystick, but otherwise, it's brilliant.

Best regards,

Luis Hernández 20px-Flag_of_Colombia.svg.png20px-Flag_of_Argentina.svg.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes. For the A380, the FBW XML is located in this file:

 

FS9\Aircraft\Project Airbus A380-800\panel.pa\_ap

 

Where FS9 is your main FS9 folder. It uses FS9 default autopilot for keeping bank and pitch. You'll end up hearing an AP disconnect everytime you move the joystick, but otherwise, it's brilliant.

 

Thanks for the advice Imhariano. The problem I seem to be having is that when I copy the _ap folder out of the gauge folder, and then updating the panel.cfg file, nothing happens - no new gauges are showing up... I can't work out why though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This gauge has no visual elements, it just controls the behavior of the aircraft during manual flight. What you need to do is, with your aircraft flying (100 ft AGL or higher), set an attitude (pitch and roll) with your stick, let the stick center and see that the aircraft is keeping this attitude.

 

For better results, this gauge should be loaded in [VCockpit01] section of panel.cfg, even if the aircraft has no VC.

Best regards,

Luis Hernández 20px-Flag_of_Colombia.svg.png20px-Flag_of_Argentina.svg.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...