ask for advice on activating the auto throttle

[Michael-Fr]

Hello,

I can't engage the autothrottle correctly during my final approaches: I have a reduced speed, I push the throttle to about half, but I have to try several times to succeed in engaging it..
Any advice would be welcome

[draconus]

https://heatblur.se/F-14Manual/general.html#throttle-controls

Quote

To allow selection of auto mode the throttles need to be between 75 to 90% rpm, the gear handle needs to be down and with no weight on the wheels. If these criteria are no longer met, the throttles are manually overriden with force or the Cage/SEAM button on the left throttle is depressed the solenoid releases the switch and it reverts to boost.

It says 75-90% but in our Tomcat it's a bit lower from my experience.

Edited October 18, 2024 by draconus

[Joch1955]

Yes, 1) throttle 75-90% and 2) gear down should do it, but auto-throttle is a bit finicky and sometimes does not engage for no apparent reason. I find engaging it on the downwind leg in level flight and stable speed around 150 seems to work best.

Edited October 18, 2024 by Joch1955

[Michael-Fr]

I am ashamed to waste your time with my questions when I should study the manual more.. it is nice of you to answer me, it comforts me and makes me forget my frustration.

Do you think it is possible to perform on DCS without Trackir, (I feel a little clumsy when changing views etc. at critical moments)?

[RustBelt]

It’s possible, but it’s not easy. Without head tracking you’ll want any controls used on landing mapped to keys or joystick buttons. 
 

I have head tracking and it still can get dicey trying to work throttle stick and a mouse with one pair of hands. 

[MAXsenna]

I am ashamed to waste your time with my questions when I should study the manual more.. it is nice of you to answer me, it comforts me and makes me forget my frustration.
Do you think it is possible to perform on DCS without Trackir, (I feel a little clumsy when changing views etc. at critical moments)?

Get yourself a headtracker, you will never regret it, and hit yourself on the head asking yourself why you didn't do it before.
Cheers!

Sent from my SM-A536B using Tapatalk

[NAM]

Beam eye tracker is very good.. can do both eye and headtracking.. it very cheap and work with android/iphone as well

[Joch1955]

I re-tried the auto-throttle, works fine for me, but reminded me why I do not like to use it. It keeps the plane’s speed too low for my taste. The plane feels mushy and on the edge of a stall. I would rather keep it on manual, come in slightly hot at 145-150 and adjust the AOB on the final approach.

[draconus]

On 10/19/2024 at 3:17 PM, Joch1955 said:

The plane feels mushy and on the edge of a stall

Ha, that's a definition of landing speed. After setting the aircraft to landing config you should fly with 15 units AoA.

On 10/18/2024 at 6:00 PM, Michael-Fr said:

Do you think it is possible to perform on DCS without Trackir, (I feel a little clumsy when changing views etc. at critical moments)?

Before I had bought headtracking I used joy hat for view and a button on throttle to center view. Worked well after some training even for combat.

[Bealdor]

On 10/18/2024 at 6:00 PM, Michael-Fr said:

I am ashamed to waste your time with my questions when I should study the manual more.. it is nice of you to answer me, it comforts me and makes me forget my frustration.

Do you think it is possible to perform on DCS without Trackir, (I feel a little clumsy when changing views etc. at critical moments)?

Du you have a webcam? If yes, try out opentrack.

It's free and works very well if your camera doesn't only run at 15fps.

TrackIR may be a few % better but it also costs quite a bit.

[Michael-Fr]

I tested opentrack some time ago, but I don't like it, turning my head in one direction, my eyes in the other .. I prefer to stay quietly in front of the screen .. my eyes are too old for vr ..
so training again and again ..

[draconus]

6 minutes ago, Michael-Fr said:

tested opentrack some time ago, but I don't like it, turning my head in one direction, my eyes in the other

Yes, that's how it works. Give yourself time to accustom a few weeks and you'll never look back

[RustBelt]

7 hours ago, Michael-Fr said:

I tested opentrack some time ago, but I don't like it, turning my head in one direction, my eyes in the other .. I prefer to stay quietly in front of the screen .. my eyes are too old for vr ..
so training again and again ..

Think of it more like a neck activated joystick for looking around. 

[FR4GGL3]

11 hours ago, Michael-Fr said:

turning my head in one direction, my eyes in the other ..

I don't know open track, but it shouldn't be that you need to turn your head to the edge of one direction and your eyes at the max angle of the other direction. At least in Track IR you can finetune the needed movement. It is more a matter of using a few degrees. And this is something you can get used to.

Thinking about driving at a road. There is always some independent movement of body/head and eyes necessary in order to stay safe. You do this naturally for shure. Headtracking shouldn't need more. Actually I do a lot more movement with wider angles in a car or riding the motorcycle.

[draconus]

40 minutes ago, FR4GGL3 said:

At least in Track IR you can finetune the needed movement.

Same in opentrack and facetrack(noIR).

[Michael-Fr]

the "natural head movement" function is what I like most of all; I dream of being able to associate it with a target tracking (friend or foe) thanks to an addition of functionality (I posted a request in the dedicated section of the dcs) otherwise too bad I continue with the means at hand ..
Would it be possible in your opinion to obtain a view tracking comparable to that of the RIO which looks randomly in the future?

[draconus]

4 minutes ago, Michael-Fr said:

I dream of being able to associate it with a target tracking (friend or foe) thanks to an addition of functionality

I really don't understand what you're trying to achieve but check F5 view which tracks the nearest aircraft from your POV.

[FR4GGL3]

This sounds like the search for something like an "Auto Aim". I really don't know if the latest and greatest real life Aircraft can do this, but it isn't something I'd like to see in a game (sorry for all the DCS is not a game people - you shurely know what I want to say here).