Can Saitek Throttle lever, or switch, be allocated to the speedbrake

[fudge 701]

I have allocated a Saitek Throttle switch for the speedbrake "Arm" and "Disarm" functions which is working well. Does anyone know if something can be allocated for moving the speedbrake lever from the "Arm" position to the "Flight Detent" position and then back to the "Arm" position. I have tried various things but cannot find anything that works.

Also can the fuel levers be allocated to a switch?

Thanks

[Super27]

Hi,

I also use a switch on my Saitek throttles to operate the speedbrakes and have it programmed as follows:

 

on the throttle switch T3, I use “Speedbrakes extend one”

on the throttle switch T4, I use “Speedbrakes retract one”

 

Try these commands on your setup and see if this works for you.

Hope this helps,

Werner 

[fudge 701]

Thanks for the reply Werner.

On my setup your suggestion only moves the speedbrake arm from Down to Armed and back to Down, plus from the Flight Detent to Up and from Up back to Flight Detent. 

I am unable to find a way to move the lever from Armed to Flight Detent while descending except by moving the lever with the mouse.

Any further suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks

Edited November 26, 2019 by fudge 701

[fudge 701]

Have experimented further and found that if I move the speedbrake lever from Down to Arm using the mouse I can then move the lever from Arm to Flight Detent with an allocated switch using "Speedbrakes extend one". At least using this method I will be less likely to extend the speedbrakes to the Up position, although a second press of the allocated switch does move the lever to the Up position.  I am still trying to find a way to move the lever from Flight Detent back to Arm. 

[Litjan]

Have you tried the "speedbrake retract one"? I think the X-Plane logic is: ARM - DOWN - FLIGHT DETENT - FULL EXTEND. Whereas on the 737 the "ARM" is between "DOWN" and "FLIGHT DETENT". So simply "retracting" the speedbrake past the "DOWN" position might get you to the ARM.

Cheers, Jan

 

[fudge 701]

Thanks for the reply Litjan and sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I am in New Zealand and it is 12.10 pm here. Your post was received while I was tucked up in bed last night.

After lots of trial and error this is what I have been able to sort out regarding moving the speedbrake lever using Saitek throttle levers / switches.

Allocate "Speedbrakes extend one" to a lever or switch and "Speedbrakes retract one" to another lever or switch.

One click of the "Speedbrake extend one" lever / switch will move the speedbrake lever from "Down" to "Arm".

To move the speedbrake lever from "Arm" to "Flight Detent" the lever must be moved slightly towards the "Flight Detent" position using the curser, when you require the speedbrakes to be deployed to the "Flight Detent" position click the allocated "Speedbrakes extend one" lever / switch, a second click on the lever / switch will move the lever to the "Up" position. 

To move the speedbrake lever from the "Up" position to the "Flight Detent" position click the allocated "Speedbrakes retract one" lever / switch.  To move the lever from the "Flight Detent" position back to "Arm" first move the lever slightly towards the "Arm" position using the curser. Now the lever / switch can be used to move the lever back to "Arm" then "Down" with the second click

Cheers

Graeme

[Litjan]

Glad you got it worked out, Graeme!

The speedbrake lever is one good example where it hurts to not have force-feedback or powered controls (the thrust levers are the other ones). The real speedbrake lever moves by "itself" (its servo motor) a lot - when it extends after touchdown, auto-retracts in case of a go-around or even auto-extends in case of a rejected take-off (without being armed).

In all of these cases, the "virtual speedbrake lever" is out of sync with the physical joystick-axis, requiring some method of re-syncing. In case of the thrust levers we solved this with the "ghost throttles" (since most people have a physical throttle joystick axis), but for the speedbrake we don´t have that. To tell you the truth, I think the speedbrake is best manipulated with either button-clicks (like you did) or with the mouse or moved in the VR cockpit. Unlike the throttles there is little need to "finely manipulate" them. They are pretty much always in one of the 4 defined positions, even when manually flying the real plane.

Cheers, Jan

[fudge 701]

Thanks for your advice Jan, I am not a real world pilot so have no idea what the real aircraft controls feel like.

I use trackir and try to have as many controls as possible mapped to switches / keys etc as I do not like to have pop up screens open when flying. I also have a problem with my hand shaking which is not good when trying to turn dials etc using the mouse. (I am 74)

 My setup consists of Thrustmaster pendular rudder pedals, Logitech (Saitek) pro flight yoke system with an additional throttle quadrant plus a Logitech switch panel. I am using a 49 inch Sony 4K TV as a monitor.

I do love flying but some of my landings would upset the passengers, so practice, and more practice will fix that problem. That is what I tell my wife anyway. 

Cheers

Graeme.