mixture lever

[WildBillKelsoe]

"RUN" is automixture. It is both rich and lean :)

 

:) I know. But it would be cool to have the former as an option. But if this means the gold will be delayed, in any shape, or form, forget it. We want it out! And we want it out NOUWW!!!

[Yo-Yo]

yes, I can understand that, but fixed? not necessarily. If the plane had only a two stage wing flaps (up or down) position and the mechanism only knew those two positions to go to), sure the pilot may be able to get a momentary inbetween setting through a flick of the lever (the same can be achived with a tap of a key). To get that wing flap to sit and stay fixed somewhere between the up or down position, to use the wing flaps in acm in sims (as mapped to the thumb slider on some Saitek controllers), is where the can of worms is. Similarly if the flaps had settings of 10, 20, 30 degrees (for instance) and the sim pilot wanted to sit (stay fixed) the flaps at 15 or 25 degrees for example... there be some more of those dang worm thingies wriggling around

 

There are a number of ways flaps work - P-51 has servo hydraulics that tracks the lever position, i.e. the flaps stop to move when its actual position is the same as the lever position. It's a kind of collective pitch booster in Ka-50 or control stick booster in A-10 (or whatever). That's why it's rather axis than switch.

 

The second type of action is DOWN-STOP-UP. It's similar to A-10 airbrakes. Three-point switch, no doubt.

And the third type is Up-Down (two position w/o stop). Two-point switch.

[Echo38]

If I remember aright, the Spitfire was one of the ones with the "up-down-only" sort of flaps, so that the only way a pilot would be able to obtain a half-up, half-down setting would be to constantly flip the lever up and down. And unless there was some sort of visual indicator (doubtful), he wouldn't be able to tell where the flaps where, except by counting how many seconds had passed. I've never sat in a real Spitfire cockpit, so I can't confirm.

Edited July 30, 2012 by Echo38

[Wolf Rider]

Thanks Yo-Yo.. yes of course, naturally it depends on the mechanism for the control... yes, I understand your point on "axis" for some mechanisms. (in a way were both saying the same thing, I think :) )

 

Yes Echo, that's right unless the flaps were mapped to a slider (like that mentioned before) or tapping the mapped keyboard key

Edited July 30, 2012 by Wolf Rider

[cichlidfan]

I wish the rich and lean positions are available as an option prior to flying.

 

For what??

[Echo38]

Yes Echo, that's right unless the flaps were mapped to a slider (like that mentioned before) or tapping the mapped keyboard key

 

I meant the real Spitfire. Naturally, as Yoyo and others pointed out, gaming joystick sliders and such can add unrealistic abilities to simulations.

[Wolf Rider]

I meant the real Spitfire. Naturally, as Yoyo and others pointed out, gaming joystick sliders and such can add unrealistic abilities to simulations.

 

 

and that, my friend, is the "can of worms" mentioned

[Slayer]

It's right in the P-51D manual who knows why this argument goes on forever...

 

http://books.google.com/books?id=SfwqCTY9I6MC&pg=PA15&lpg=PA15&dq=P-51D+mixture+lever&source=bl&ots=hOIEZzTRG-&sig=ZmSewI30Y-3pwAFq6539CJYcGVU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=3tAWUM-gFMmjqQGe94HACw&ved=0CE4Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=P-51D%20mixture%20lever&f=false

[Stuntie]

Flaps often have multiple settings - 5, 10, 15 ... up to 30 etc.

In effect a series of bands rather than a totally variable setting like the throttle.

In sims we have two ways to handle flaps - use an axis (which the sim can interpret either directly as % of operation or banded) or use a set of +/- max up/max down keys to enable flap movement via the keyboard.

Both options co-exist side by side for use as the simmer themselves desires.

 

So why not do the same for the Mixture lever. It may only have three detents, but it opertes in a simialr physical manner -and more importantly have banded input rather than a straight on/off operation that a switch has.

 

This has three advantages:

1) People can use whatever they prefer - axis or buttons.

2) Homebuild pits can use a physical lever rather than a bunch of buttons.

3) Other aircraft with further detents (Corsair + P-47 with four etc.) or a full axis mixture lever can be modelled much easier if an increase/decrease keys + axis system is used.

[ErichVon]

Is there a way to map mixture lever as axis?

 

My CH Pro Throttle, I map button 14 to the 3-way rotary. But it is not an axis setup. I like it.

[WildBillKelsoe]

My CH Pro Throttle, I map button 14 to the 3-way rotary. But it is not an axis setup. I like it.

 

in mine, to the index 4 way rotary. the one you push down and up, and left and right..