JupiterJoe

Yes, but this video seems to show it working as intended. In this example, as Cap traps and goes to full a/b he's manually over-riding the AT and the light comes on. You obviously wouldn't just need that warning light when you've landed, but on approach, to give the pilot a chance to react, especially at night, or in fog, when you'd need to know in a hurry if you've accidentally knocked the throttle out of AT. At the moment I can't get the warning to illuminate by any means. Hence I suspect a bug.

Anything for the F-14 included this time? It's been a minute.

Bug: Use of FFB stick affects auto-pilot and ACLS. Can I reproduce it 100%: Yes If not 100%, how often out of 10: 9 How to reproduce/ description: Engage ACLS and/or Auto-pilot. F-14 frequently not able to sustain level flight with ALT HOLD engaged. Track shows pitching up to 50+ degrees without any player control input. ACLS shuts off and aircraft pitches down once AP ref button pushed. I have sometimes found taxiing through another aircraft's wake can break FFB. Time compression has also caused problems. A restart is necessary to get FFB functioning as it should. Ground Track does not seem t work properly either. Version: 2.9.5.55918 M/T System Specs: Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8700K CPU @ 3.70GHz 3.70 GHz Installed RAM 64.0 GB Device ID 36C95E96-CEE8-4C82-AF93-9730F33AFFDB Product ID 00330-80000-00000-AA169 System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor Windows 11 Pro NVDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 Peripherals: Joystick: Microsoft Sidewinder FFB2 Throttle: Virpil Controls T-50 CM3 Head-tracker: Third-party Track IR Mission File: Instant Action: F-14A Carrier Quals - Marianas. Track: See attached. Please compare two tracks, with and without FFB sticks. It should also be noted that FFB ceases to work properly if you switch aircraft. A full restart is required. ACLS test with ffb.trk auto throttle test no ffb.trk Workaround: Deselecting 'Use FFB Trim Implementation' in the F-14's Special Menu enables ACLS to work as it should. A shame because realism is sacrificed. Perhaps HB and/or ED will find a fix in future. It should be noted that auto-pilot behaviour remains erratic with FFB. A big thank you to @scommander2 for pointing me in the right direction.

Bug: Auto-throttle disengaged warning light not illuminating. Can I reproduce it 100%: Yes If not 100%, how often out of 10: 9 How to reproduce/ description: Step1: Engage ACLS and activate auto-throttle. Step2: Manually over-ride auto-throttle. DCS Version: 2.9.5.55918 M/T System Specs: Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8700K CPU @ 3.70GHz 3.70 GHz Installed RAM 64.0 GB Device ID 36C95E96-CEE8-4C82-AF93-9730F33AFFDB Product ID 00330-80000-00000-AA169 System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor Windows 11 Pro NVDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 Peripherals: Joystick: Thrustmaster T-Flight Stick X Throttle: Virpil Controls T-50 CM3 Headtracker: Third-party Track IR Mission File: Instant Action: F-14A Carrier Quals - Marianas. Track: Please ignore first pass. The second pass demonstrates taking manual control of the throttle and the auto-throttle disengaged light not illuminating. It should also be noted that FFB ceases to work properly if you switch aircraft. A full restart is required. auto throttle test no ffb.trk

Be great if there was such a thing at this stage. The F-14 is near completion, hence why the list is currently a manageable size. We, the community, have no idea what bugs are currently known/not known to the Devs. Hence why this thread organically came into being.

The F-14's FFB model was originally developed on the MS Sidewinder FFB2, by Fat Creason apparently. I doubt HB would have released it to market if the autopilot was un-useable with it. I suspect subsequent patches have screwed something up. Personally I am getting a spurious flight controls input (gradually pitching up/down to at least 50 degrees) when AP is engaged. It doesn't cause the AP ref light to illuminate in ALT HOLD, which makes me think it's more than just a slack/loose centralising force.

The F-4 alone must be one of the most complex flight sims ever offered to the public. As well as all the other modules each patch has to cater for. DCS continues to offer a calibre of product we wouldn't even dare dream about a few short years ago. So let's cut the guys some slack, eh? Otherwise we're in danger of sounding like a bunch of spoilt brats. This community strives to be better than that.

Thank you Lt_Jaeger. I understand in real life the ACLS was rarely used and manual carrier landings is the way to go, but it would be nice to get autopilot/ACLS to work as it should with FFB. I'm very new to the world of FFB and find my MS Sidewinder FFB2 stick breaks away from ATT/ALT hold too often to be useable. A huge shame, because it's so wonderful in manual flight. EDIT: No patch today Be nice to see what, if anything, was planned for the F-14 in the next patch.

Thank you Draconus. Did the ACLS/AP warning light illuminate with weight on wheels, as seen in the video above? The timing of going to full power (MIL for the B & A/B for the A) in the arresting wires may be a factor in getting the auto-throttle disengaged warning to illuminate. I would argue that getting ACLS to work with FFB sticks would be something we could add to the wish-list. EDIT: I cannot get 'auto-throttle disengaged light' to illuminate either.

Okay, well that is exactly what happed. Thank you. I did try my non FFB stick too and the same thing happened. Perhaps a reload was required. It's getting so the deficits of using FFB outweigh the benefits . "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away." EDIT: Yeah, ACLS works with my non-FFB stick after a restart. No lights illuminate when disengaging Auto-throttle and/or ACLS/AP though. Near the end of this video they illuminate when there's weight on wheels. Perhaps that's the key factor. I had a vague memory of seeing them illuminate in the air. Guess I was wrong. The lights don't come on at all in this more recent video though. The AOA indicator lights are also out though, so perhaps he has the brightness dial turned down below 5. Which I understand is a known issue.

Understood. I made sure I was on needles, gear down, flaps & hook down, DLC engaged, AP and ACLS engaged and datalinked to ship. The AP Ref light was illuminated and Pressing the AP ref/NWS button made everything disengage and all lights extinguish. Never seen that happen before today. As I said I haven't used ACLS in a while.

I was testing both sticks, to eliminate the chance it was my new MS FFB2. ACLS doesn't work with either for me. EDIT: Restart required. D'oh!

No. The colour change is already done. I just wanted to confirm they're illuminating/extinguishing as they should.

Yes. I haven't used ACLS in a while. I just wanted to test what Nacquaii was saying about the lights illuminating. I haven't changed the binding and it used to work just fine:

Thank you for taking the time to respond @Naquaii. Currently for me, neither the ACLS/AP or Auto-throttle light illuminate when disengaged. I don't think ACLS is working. So it's difficult to check if the above lights are working as they should. I just pressed the AP ref/NWS button and everything disengaged. Can someone test ACLS and confirm it's working as it should and the lights mentioned above illuminate when disengaged? EDIT: ACLS doesn't currently work with FFB apparently.

During the assisted start-up procedure it asks you look for fluctuations in the Control Surface Position Indicator. As I've said, the manual could be wrong. THE NWS light doesn't illuminate when it's dis-engaged...and it's right next to Auto-throttle (which doesn't currently illuminate when it disengages anyway). Surely the light extinguishing indicates the system is disengaged? Just as with the NWS.

Aren't the Auto Throttle & ACLS/Auto-pilot lights supposed to illuminate when those systems are engaged? It sure would make sense. Afterall, Nose-wheel Steering illuminates when it is engaged. It says in the manual that they're to indicate when the system dis-engages, but I don't think they come on then either. Surely the light going out would indicate the system is disengaged? Anyway, seems like a strange set-up to have one light illuminate to indicate it's engaged (NWS) and an adjacent light illuminate to indicate it's dis-engaged. I doubt the NATOPS manual was 100% accurate and so this error may have been carried-over into HB's model. It's a complex model of a very complex plane from the analogue era, so there's no shame in it. The HB F-14 is a landmark in flight simulation. Of course, it's far more likely I'm wrong Also, when doing an assisted start-up, Jester asks you to look for fluctuations on the Control Surface Position Indicator when you deploy the airbrake (partially & fully), to verify the system is working. I don't think this is modelled. The lights are green in the manual, perhaps indicating there was a mis-understanding of how this system worked earlier in the build.

+1

I take it you want things kept exactly as they are then?

Then it would be a nice touch to have a newer cockpit on the B. Again, to differentiate. You spend a lot more time in the cockpit than you do looking at the exterior. Even the exhaust nozzle gauges in the B are from the A.

I seem to be experiencing something similar. I get an occasional sudden pitch-up whilst in ALT HOLD. Strangely the A/P Reference light doesn't illuminate, even though the aircraft must be wildly out of hold tolerances. My MS S/W FFB2 stick gently pitches forward & aft when in ATT HOLD, as if hunting. Is this normal? FFB works great in most ways. It's just frustrating to have A/P 'breakaway' by itself sometimes, as if receiving electrical interference/spurious signals. It's almost as though ATT HOLD is conflicting with ALT HOLD. Combined with the fact the ACLS doesn't work with FFB either, FFB is not really fit for purpose at this time. A shame, because @fat creason has done such a nice job of modelling it.

What about glove vanes, to differentiate the early A's from the B's?

My FFB2 stick rocks slowly back and forth a slight amount in Attitude Hold. Does everyone's FFB2 stick do this? I think this sometimes causes the stick to break-out of AP grab.

FYI, I had this problem with my MS Sidewinder FFB2 and the F-14. I found that if you don't blank off the grip sensor on the stick, Autopilot is all but un-useable. My stick rocks slowly back and forth a slight amount in AP, when in Attitude Hold. Does everyone's FFB2 stick do this? I think this sometimes causes the stick to break-out of AP grab.

Is there a way to adjust the centering force with the MS FFB2? Even if it means opening it up. Mine is very vague around the centre, thus making AP difficult to engage.