Looking for Community Help PLEASE!
Over the past couple of year’s I have made several attempts to master this AC. I’m bound and determined it is going to happen. I am hopeful of some assistance from the community as I believe I’m going to need it. I have set every other AC and platform aside and am dedicating 100% of my simming time the next few months, or whatever it takes, to become proficient flying the Majestic Q400. I simply love this AC, but it has given me more headaches and fits getting it installed, configured and working than any AC I have used in nearly 25 years of flight simming. Perish the thought but I’m an inactive real pilot too. This one is just giving me a true challenge. I have the PMDG 737NG loaded and am starting out with a great virtual airline, and the region chief says fergetaboutit, move on to the 737 and don’t look back. I’m determined to learn flying commercial jet AC what I consider the right way. A year or so with regional routes and work my way up to the 737 and from there to even larger AC. So I stand in this virtual room with crumpled up hat in hand and ask for pity and compassion to get this puppy flying with my hardware the way it should. Humbling, humiliating, but true.
I have a fully loaded PC. I7-7700 4.2 GHz, 32G ram, Nvidia 8800ti, a 32” BenQ 4K monitor, 6 GoFlight Modules, a second acer 19” monitor, CH Rudder Pedals and a TH Warthog HOTAS and Throttle.
I use FSUIPC registered version. I have a separate profile for the Q400 in FSUIPC. The only other AC I fly regularly in P3D is the Manfred Mahn C47 (default FSUIPC profile) I have the Enable Controller(s) box unticked in P3D.
After many hours of tweeking and configuring I am able to get the AC sitting ready for taxing. I have the ailerons+mouse option active in CPAN.
I must have AT LEAST 25 hours in to get to this point.
Here is what is happening:
I ensure the taxi tiller switch is on. I ensure I have responsive throttle and condition levers. I ensure the spoiler switch is set to taxi. Very slight changes on my throttle do move from idle to full power. Of note: idle sees the throttle levers nearly 75% forward on the TM throttle. I have I believed set the engine controls correctly, but I don’t believe they are. I had bookmarked the many posts on the old Majestic forum and the now gone AVSIM forum but am now starting out at ground zero with this issue. Yes, I run CPAN with the Q400 running and in admin mode.
Two events happen that I don’t believe are correct.
First: When I crack the throttle to begin to taxi the AC begins to turn hard right. If I apply full left rudder and full hard left up aileron (stick full left) the AC will move forward in a straight line. Releasing these two controls has the AC begin a hard right circle again. I CANNOT, no matter what control I use, get the AC to taxi to the left. When I attempt this, the whole cockpit view slants about 40 degrees to the right and the AC moves only forward, never left of straight.
Second: Any additional throttle increase beyond just past idle will flip the toggle from taxi to flight and the two spoiler lights come on.
If I eventually muscle (or spawn) the AC to the runway I can get sufficient power for a TO and it appears to fly rather well. I can adjust the throttle and condition levers on the TM throttle and they respond, but are they VERY touchy moving from position to position.
There it is guys….. I’m attentive and hope for some help to get this beautiful AC to respond to my setup. I’m getting closer, I’m almost to the point, after quite some time, to begin serious training.
ANY AND ALL HELP WOULD BE MOST APPRECIATED.
Comments
Hi,
first off, I would recommend you to not connect any flight control axis of the Q400 through FSUIPC. Here is how I would recommend setting up your controls, it works like a charm for me:
At the same time, make sure that those 3 control axis are not binded to any axis within the P3D controls menu!
Off the top of my head, i would say that you have a controller conflict. Ie, an x-box control, or some other axis device that has been assigned to your flight controls. Or maybe a brake axis that needs to be set in reverse.
Which version of P3D, and the Q400, are you running? The 125 hz control interface is only available on the Q400 Pro and higher versions.
"Very slight changes on my throttle do move from idle to full power. Of note: idle sees the throttle levers nearly 75% forward on the TM throttle."
This is most probably due to improper calibration of your controls. When setting up your throttle axis', ignore the throttle levers in the Q400 vc and focus on where you want your TM hotas throttle handle to be. Example, for flight idle, ideally, you want your throttle to be at the 50% point of its travel. So, when calibrating your throttles in the cpan, move your levers to the half way point in their travel. make a note of the number showing in the position box, and copy it in to the box labeled "IDLE." Do the same for each throttle position. (ie;Throttle lever at 25% for "DISC", etc.) Do this for each throttle lever. Your condition levers are a different matter, as you do not mention how you are moving those. Edit; i see that you are using a switch or rotary knob on your hotas for these.
"Any additional throttle increase beyond just past idle will flip the toggle from taxi to flight and the two spoiler lights come on.
This is by design. When the power levers are moved past the flight idle position, the spoiler flight/taxi switch automatically moves to the flight position.
OK... went into FSUIPC and cleared all the axis assignments associated with the Q400 profile. Control surfaces and throttle axis. Enabled the controllers in P3D.
Doing a visual all my control surfaces now respond correctly using P3D. I checked every other setting in the three controllers to see if there were any other axis conflicts. None exist that I could find, and I looked a number of times over all the assignments.
Trying to set my throttles in CPAN. Whenever and where ever I move the throttle levers I get input movement in the position box, but they ALWAYS settle back at 32768, which is about the 50% mark in movement. MAX has 65536 and DISC has 32768. ANY movement begins to change the numbers but always settle back at 32768.
There is no "back to default" or reset control that will reset the values in the 5 bottom boxes back to defaults. I "discard", I try changing them to other values, "Apply" and completely shut down P3D, bring it back up and the same numbers as noted above come back and the same behavior repeats.... 32768 in both DISC boxes, and any movement in the throttle shows an attempt to change, but the number in the INPUT box above settles back at 32768.
I do not have a Hotas joystick, so i can not check this myself. Is there anything in there
(a setting/profile) which may be causing your throttles to revert back to the idle position?
I am NOT using the TM Target software. Have never opened it. Throttles work fine in my DC3 and other aircraft. In fact they respond as they should when I take off and manually fly the Q400 off the runway.
"... and any movement in the throttle shows an attempt to change, but the number in the INPUT box above settles back at 32768."
32768 seems a high value for the "Disc" setting of the power levers. The fact that the values keep reverting back may be a windows permission issue.
Are you running the Q400 control panel as admin? Right click on the control panel exe (mjc84cpan.exe) file, (or right click on the desktop icon, if you have created one.) select properties, click on the compatibility tab, and tick the "Run this program as an administrator."
Your issue is very odd, to say the least. A reinstall, by running the installer as admin, and disabling any antivirus or malware scanning software before hand, may be in order.
edit, Assuming you are running Win10; have you installed any windows updates recently?
It is a common occurrence after win 10 updates that a reinstall of the Q400 may be necessary.
Yes, I am running CPAN as admin.
I pulled my WH HOTAS and Throttle out of the system. I replaced them with my CH Yoke and THQ. The CH rudder petals I left alone.
I have removed FSUIPC from the computer. Doing so has allowed me to set the CPAN windows with inputs that seem pass for functional and normal.
My two throttles and condition lever now respond normally to the CH THQ inputs.
I use CPAN to calibrate my Yoke and rudder also and all went fine. However, the AC will not taxi using the aileron control. I can taxi using the mouse just fine and get around as expected. The aileron WILL NOT move the nose gear no matter what direction I choose.
Significant progress, but still some issues with being able to taxi. I use ChasePlane so I can set up a view that allows me to see out the cockpit and utilize the mouse to taxi, but it would be better to be able to have use of the aileron taxi feature.
Not sure what steps to take to get that working, and suggestions would be welcomed.
At least I can start training in earnest being able to taxi, sort of.
Cheers,
Am happy to hear that you have made some progress. For the steering issue I can only think of the nose wheel steering switch hasn't been set to ON. It is located on the pilot's side panel, just in front of the tiller.
Cheers, and have fun.
OK.... some fine tuning has brought a response to the tiller when aileron is used... sort of. After engine start, I move condition levers to full, turn on tiller.
As soon as I put my foot on either rudder pedal and depress with any pressure at all the nose wheel heels over to 90 degrees right and stays there. The aileron control, if moved full left, will bring the nose wheel to the head on position. Returning the aileron to center has the nose wheel move 90 degrees right.
Turning the AC left is impossible. I can taxi OK head on and make nice turns right, but cannot turn left.
I looked over the brake axis controls. Brake Left X Axis with reverse checked. Brake Right Y axis with reverse box checked. Rudder Z axis reverse box not checked. Calibration is just fine.
Six hours today of configuring this AC today. It should not be this difficult.
Halleluiah!
Reinstalled Q400, downloaded installed and configured 125hz control. Had to fiddlef’k around with the CPAN a few times to get the settings to take, but she will taxi like a dream now. Shut down and restarted a number of times, and then built a new scenario, ran her up and got around PAJN with no issues at all.
Thank you for your patience gentlemen. I have wanted to learn to master this AC for a few years now and am now on my way. Looking forward to adding on a bunch of airports, flight planning software, already in a good VA, some other nice addons and learning to fly commercial aviation online (VATSIM).
I’m getting ready to retire here shortly and am looking forward to the learning curve. I really wanted to start with a regional turboprop and work my way up through the heavier AC. Just like it is intended.
I’m sure I will have more questions as the curve is climbed. Will utilize some of the better forums and start the dozens and dozens of hours of reading and studying.
I feel like doing cartwheels in the aisle! It has been exceedingly frustrating, but once again persistence wins!
THANK YOU!
Cheers.