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Variable spoilers


jparnold

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Just arrived home after a flight on a B737-800.

I noticed that during descent the spoilers/spoilerons or whatever seem to have been deployed at different positions.

On touchdown of course they were fully deployed as expected but during descent sometimes they were only raised a small amount and other times a larger amount.

Are there any FSX aircraft which allow the spoilers to be deployed other than full on?

Thanks

John

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Any aircraft with spoilers allow variable opening. The problem is with the control you are using, rather than with the aircraft. Set the spoilers to use an axis, rather than a button or key, and you can have variable spoilers, whether on a 747 or on a sailplane.

 

Larry N.

As Skylab would say:

Remember: Aviation is NOT an exact Science!

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Thanks Larry

Never gave that a thought.

 

HOWEVER when I assigned (in the settings>controls>control axis) the spoilers to the SLIDER (on my joystick which is normally assigned to throttle) to see what would happen I could NOT get the spoiler to go to a mid position between full on and off.

 

Also can anyone advise if the spoilers are controlled (in real aircraft) by the auto-pilot to reduce speed say during descent when the aircraft is flying faster than the autopilot speed set.

 

 

 

John

John

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Thanks Larry

Never gave that a thought.

 

HOWEVER when I assigned (in the settings>controls>control axis) the spoilers to the SLIDER (on my joystick which is normally assigned to throttle) to see what would happen I could NOT get the spoiler to go to a mid position between full on and off.

John

 

As Larry said, it's possible with any aircraft in FSX.

But there are a few restrictions.

 

Assuming the axis is properly calibrated and has a normal sensitivity (to try if if works at all: use Max sensitivity and No Nullzone for the Spoiler Axis):

Did you test this with the aircraft on the ground and the throttle Idle (with engines running) ??

If so: you probably tried this with an aircraft that has an Auto-Spoiler configured (meaning that if you ARM the spoiler in the air, it will auto-deploy on touchdown).

You can check this if the aircraft.cfg has a line

auto_spoiler_available = 1

in the airplane_geometry section.

If it does, the "partial" spoiler doesn't work on the ground with the throttle Idle: it's either On or Off, depending on the SpoilerHandle position you set (either less then or more then 30 percent). This 30% is the ARM transition point.

 

So try the partial spoiler in the air, and it probably does work.

If you want a full contiguous "partial" spoiler (lineairly with your axis) from 0 to 100%,

either on the ground or in the air, you have to set

auto_spoiler_available = 0 //1

 

I never figured out if this works this way in real life too, or if it's just one of those buggy implementations in FSX ... ;)

 

Rob

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Prune is s good forum - thanks.

 

FYI (all readers)

I recently downloaded a B738 panel and in the install readme is the following -

 

Technical Issues

Spoilers

FSX has a technical problem when trying to deploy spoilers incrementally. If you attempt to

deploy spoilers incrementally nothing will happen until about one third of the way then they

will suddenly fully deploy. Subsequently they can not be retracted at all. All of the aircraft I

have tested including the default aircraft have this problem. I have found this problem in FSX

Gold Edition and in FSX Acceleration. Possibly other versions may not necessarily have this

problem. I do not know if FS9 has the same problem.

Oddly the partial deployment of the outer spoilers in conjunction with ailerons does work

correctly and the spoilers handle can be incrementally deployed while the simulation is

paused (which is not much use)

Fortunately however the Spoilers on/off function still works and the default Boeing 737-800

seems to recognise this problem so like the default version this aircraft can switch spoilers on

and off.

This means there is only a choice between fully deployed and retracted which is not that

realistic but is the best possible solution available.

 

So it appears that there is NO SOLUTION as I have checked this with all the other jet aircraft including a payware one I have and they all do the same. The ONLY aircraft which will allow incremental spoiler settings is the SAILPLANE.

John

Gigabyte Z390 UD Intel Core i7-9700K 3.60 Ghz Dual 16Gb DDR4 2666

Gigabyte RTX2060 OC 6GB 2 X 256MB SSD drives 1 X 500GB HDD

Windows 10 64bit Home Logitech Extreme 3D Pro joystick

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The ONLY aircraft which will allow incremental spoiler settings is the SAILPLANE.

 

Then how come several military aircraft, in addition to the sailplanes, will work. I've been doing this for years, always with an axis in control.

 

Larry N.

As Skylab would say:

Remember: Aviation is NOT an exact Science!

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Yeah, that's a rubbish statement. Aftermarket aircraft have incremental spoiler control. As does the default 737, 747 and Airbus if you use the mouse to drag the lever...

 

What people get confused with is ground v. in flight operation. In FSX spoilers are On/Off only while on the ground as part of the poor implementation of the `lift dump`system they are trying to portray. In the air they are incremental.

 

There's a long back story that isn't worthy of the level of discussion here, but if it's a problem assigning a spare axis to spoiler operation (and calibrating it), simply assign spoilers using incremental functions and buttons from within FSUIPC.

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You are correct and my mistake.

I CAN deploy the spoilers incrementally in the air with all the default FSX jet aircraft I tried.

 

I was reporting what I read in a readme which came with an aircraft (not my words).

I have since found that an IFly jet aircraft allows incremental spoiler settings on the ground and so maybe they got the "poor implementation of the `lift dump`system they (FSX team) are trying to portray" sorted out.

I guess I should have been experimenting in the air instead of on the ground, it's just quicker to try things on the ground than getting getting the aircraft flying level in the air - except of course the undercarriage :)

 

At least that is cleared up.

 

Never tried a military aircraft as I don't bother with them.

 

"While I live I learn"

John

Gigabyte Z390 UD Intel Core i7-9700K 3.60 Ghz Dual 16Gb DDR4 2666

Gigabyte RTX2060 OC 6GB 2 X 256MB SSD drives 1 X 500GB HDD

Windows 10 64bit Home Logitech Extreme 3D Pro joystick

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It's worth keeping in mind that not all aircraft in the real world have "incremental" spoilers.

 

I've flown several aircraft where the only option was in or out... Be sure to have your seatbelt fastened!

 

Also, the amount of spoiler deployment available on more advanced aircraft is dependant on your airspeed/ Mach No. E.g, full spoiler deployment at Mmo on some aircraft would be catastrophic.

Cheers,

Strikey

Embraer E190 Driver

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