MU-2B-60 2.0 Hardware Setup

X-Plane is able to create hardware profiles that save all your axis and button bindings. These profiles can then be assigned to any aircraft you desire. Once assigned, these profiles will load with the aircraft. In this way, once you have up your hardware set up for a particular aircraft, even though the settings may be different from other aircraft, you should not have to change the settings.

Read about creating hardware profiles here. Check out the video at that link also, it is very helpful!

Also, before you set up your hardware, we highly recommend you become acquainted with the Power Plant Controls operation, since it is those control behaviors we are wanting to simulate as accurately as possible. You can read more about them HERE

NOTE:
When beginning a simulation, the MU2 does not know where where your harware levers are until you move your hardware controls. It is best practice to move your hardware levers a bit when beginning a simulation so that the 3D animations in sim sync up to your hardware first.

NEW! Ghost Throttle Visual Aid

Ghost Throttles

The Ghost Throttle is a visual aid in the lower right corner of the X-Plane window. This visual aid increases your awareness of the ALPHA and BETA quadrant regions when using hardware throttles without physical detents, in order to avoid accidentally moving your hardware levers into the BETA region. Those users who have tried the IXEG 737 and the TBM 900 may be familiar with this type of visual aid. The ghost throttles are specifically designed to be used in conjunction with the Auto-stop power levers at detent preference and also in conjunction with one of 4 custom commands to lift the power levers (virtually) over their detents. If the Auto-stop power levers at detent preference is not checked, then the ghost throttles will not be visible.

Typical use of the ghost throttles begins as you move your throttle levers aft in the ALPHA region towards the Flight Idle (FI) Position between the ALPHA and BETA regions. At this point, your hardware levers (dashed outline) and 3D levers in sim (gray box) are normally in sync and aligned. As you continue to move your hardware levers further aft into the BETA region, then the 3D levers will STOP at the FI detent if you continue to move your hardware levers aft. This mis-alignment is easily seen as shown in the 1st and 3rd images below. In order for you to move the 3D levers into the BETA region, you must virtually "lift" the levers over their detent first. This is done by using the custom command, xscenery/mu2b60/lift_power_levers_SP (for single throttle hardware) or xscenery/mu2b60/lift_power_levers_DP (for dual throttle hardware). In order for the lift command to work however, each hardware lever (dashed outlines) must be in the Lift Zone, denoted by the yellow line. The green line in the middle of the hardware axis denotes the position of the lever. The yellow Lift Zone size is configurable via two Preference values, Power Lever Upper Limit (from 0.5 to 1) and Power Lever Lower Limit from (0 to 0.5). To illustrate, in the left image below, the Upper Limit has been set to 1 and the lower limit to 0 , which means the Lift levers commands can be used at any time. The default values are 0.45 for the lower limit and 0.6 for the upper limit. When the Lift Levers command is executed and the Hardware position is within the Lift Zone, then the 3D levers will immediately move to match the hardware position.

The ghost throttles can also be set to show under differing situations. A pull-down menu in the Preferences can be set to show the ghost throttles ALWAYS, NEVER, Lift Zone and Below and When Out of Sync.

Hardware Configuration Options

There are 5 possible hardware configurations to control the MU2 throttle quadrant levers. Refer to the respective sections that applies to your hardware situation. Click the icons to go to the related section.

Keyboard and Mouse

If you have no hardware levers and only a keyboard, then you have two options. You may use the mouse to manipulate the controls onscreen directly, or you may use keyboard commands or a combo of both. Using the mouse is quite straightforward, you simply move the levers onscreen in the way that you would in reality. You may move each lever independently; however, when each lever pair are set to approximately the same position, then you may click in the small space between the levers and move both of them at the same time. This is true for both the power and condition levers.

Note that the lift-gate detents are simulated. Since you cannot pull the mouse out of the screen to lift the levers over the detent, When dragging the levers onscreen, this is accomplished by moving the mouse cursor towards the right side of the screen as you reach the lift-gate detents and as you do, you will observe the levers lift slightly. A benefit of this system is that as you drag the levers aft with the mouse, if you keep the mouse cursor biased to the left of the lever handles as you drag, then you will not be able to drag the levers past the detent accidentally. With practice, it becomes quite natural and quick.

For keystroke/command actuation of the power levers, the MU2 uses the standard throttle key commands to control the power levers; however, they are modified from their default behavior. The commands are: 

 * sim/engines/throttle_up  (F2 key by default)
 * sim/engines/throttle_down (F1 key by default)

For the MU2, the, throttle up command will advance the power lever forward and the throttle down command will advance the power lever aft but with a condition. IF the power lever is in the ALPHA region as you command throttle_down, then the power lever will stop at the lift-gate detent, even though you may continue to command throttle_down. In order to continue to move the lever further aft, you must lift the power lever over the lift-gate detent. This can be done in 2 ways, 1) using the mouse onscreen or 2) using the following custom command.

 * xscenery/mu2b60/lift_power_levers

Once the power lever is lifted, then the throttle down command will continue to move the power left aft towards reverse. The same is NOT true for the throttle up command. Because the lift-gate detent only restrains lever movement when moving the lever aft, using the throttle up command will move the power lever through the lift-gate detent point without any additional action.

I myself find it convenient to map the custom lift power levers command to my spacebar key and I can hold down the F1 key and then tap the spacebar with my thumb as the power lever contacts the detent while continuing to hold down the F1 key. In this case, the lever lifts and continues to move aft as desired in a natural way.

The condition levers operate the same as the power levers, requiring the lift action when commanding the lever aft of the TAXI lever position, but not forward. The following commands control the condition levers lift and direction:

  sim/engines/prop_up (F4 key by default)
  sim/engines/prop_down (F3 key by default)
  xscenery/mu2b60/lift_condition_levers

Single Paddle No Detent

This is probably the most common configuration with flight sim hardware. There are two ways to use this configuration with the MU2, LEGACY and MODERN (with ghost throttle). NOTE that there are special configuration options available for Honeycomb Bravo® users, which is described further below in the section on dual levers with no detents.

LEGACY THROTTLE METHOD

With this method, you use a command to toggle your joystick paddle function between the ALPHA and BETA regions, such that when in the BETA region, you move your joystick throttle paddle forward to apply reverse thrust, and the 3D animation moves the levers backwards, opposite your joystick lever movement. While individual lever operation is possible using the mouse (provided the Manips with Hardware preference is enabled), the levers will automatically sync up any time the hardware throttle is moved. If single lever operation is desired, ensure you do not move your hardware throttle during the operation. Implementation of LEGACY behavior is a 5 step setup process:

  • First assign your joystick throttle paddle to the THROTTLE 5 parameter in X-Plane's joystick setup dialog. Make sure you do not accidentally assign it to THROTTLE or THROTTLE 1. The Throttle parameter in X-Plane is heavily affected by Laminar's own code and is not suitable for the custom Throttle Lever behavior required for the MU2. Throttle 5 is a 'free-axis' that we use to fully customize the throttle behavior to be more realistic.

  • After assigning your throttle lever to THROTTLE 5, ensure that there is NO RESPONSE CURVE on the THROTTLE 5 axis. You should observe the words, "Add Response Curve" underneath your axis assignment. This assures you do not have a response curve for the axis.

  • In the GUI Preferences, Ensure that the checkbox, Auto-stop power levers at detent is NOT checked.

  • Again, in the GUI Preferences, ensure that the numerical field, Hardware Power Detent Ratio is ZERO.

  • Use the default X-Plane command sim/engines/beta_toggle or sim/engines/reverse_toggle to toggle in and out of the BETA region. NOTE that the joystick lever must be close to full aft for the toggle command to work. (3D levers near the Flight Idle position)

MODERN THROTTLE METHOD (With Ghost Throttles)

This method is preferred. With this method, your joystick throttle lever cannot move the 3D animated levers into the BETA region without first executing a command to lift the power levers (See command above). If you pull your hardware throttle lever all the way aft while the 3D levers are in the ALPHA region, then the 3D levers will STOP at the Flight Idle Detent automatically and ignore your hardware inputs below 0.5. When you execute the command to lift the power levers with your joystick throttle lever in the Lift Zone region, then the 3D levers will move to match your hardware throttle lever position. When moving the levers forward, the 3D levers will automatically traverse the detent so no command is needed when moving your joystick throttle forward. Implemention of this MODERN METHOD for a single throttle paddle is a 4 step setup process.

  • First assign your joystick throttle paddle to the THROTTLE 5 parameter in X-Plane's joystick setup dialog. Make sure you do not accidentally assign it to THROTTLE or THROTTLE 1. The Throttle parameter in X-Plane is heavily affected by Laminar's own code and is not suitable for the custom Throttle Lever behavior required for the MU2. Throttle 5 is a 'free-axis' that we use to fully customize the throttle behavior to be more realistic.

  • After assigning your throttle lever to THROTTLE 5, ensure that there is NO RESPONSE CURVE on the THROTTLE 5 axis. You should observe the words, "Add Response Curve" underneath your axis assignment. This assures you do not have a response curve for the axis.

  • In the GUI Preferences, Ensure that the checkbox, Auto-stop power levers at detent IS CHECKED.

  • NOTE: The numerical field, Hardware Power Detent Ratio is ignored when the Auto-stop preference is checked.

  • Use the custom command xscenery/mu2b60/lift_power_levers to virtually lift the power levers when a lever is within the Lift Zone. When this command is executed, the 3D levers in sim will then move to match your hardware throttle position.

CONDITION LEVER

Both condition levers, with a single paddle, are simulated using the default PROP axis assignment. Set up the response curve as shown below. Be sure to set your keyframes exactly as shown. Keyframe 1 should be 0.00 | 0.08 This will control your prop speeds from approximately 70% to 100% RPM when in the BETA region.

The condition lever hardware axis cannot move the condition lever below the TAXI region. If you desire to move the condition lever into the EMER STOP position, then you do so by either using the mouse onscreen or by using one of the following custom commands:

xscenery/mu2b60/condition_levers_to_EMERSTOP 
xscenery/mu2b60/toggle_emer_stop

You may return the condition levers to the TAXI position either by simply moving your hardware lever assigned to the PROP axis, or by executing the command:

xscenery/mu2b60/condition_levers_to_TAXI

Dual Paddles no Detents

THROTTLE LEVERS

A dual paddle configuration with no detents may be set in the same manner as described above for single paddles, with the exception that the left joystick paddle is to be mapped to the THROTTLE 3 parameter and the right joystick paddle mapped to the THROTTLE 4 parameter. Do NOT use THROTTLE 1 and THROTTLE 2. Note that for the LEGACY method, if the joystick throttle paddles get out of sync with each other and the toggle reverse command is executed, then the animations in sim may become out of sync with your hardware.

HONEYCOMB BRAVO

Honeycomb Bravo users have a lever actuated button at the aft-most position of their throttle levers, which can be mapped to a command. This allows for a slight variation to the MODERN METHOD as described above, but it is not required. The idea is to utilize the MODERN METHOD with the lift command as described above; however, in addition, you create a response curve similar to that shown at left below, and move the left edge of the curve up to some value below 0.25. This adjustment will make it so that when you bring your Bravo throttle lever aft to the detent point, then you will not be in full reverse. As you move your Bravo lever further aft however, over the detent, then the left lever detent button should be mapped to the xscenery/mu2b60/left_power_lever_to_reverse command, and the right power lever detent button should be mapped to the command, xscenery/mu2b60/right_power_lever_to_reverse. When these commands are executed, then the 3D power levers in sim will animate aft to full reverse. To regain control of the levers, you simply move your Bravo throttle levers forward of the detent and the 3D levers will move to match your hardware position. NOTE that the mapped hardware axis values must be below 0.25 in order for the above reverse commands to work, hence the 0.25 limit on the response curve. A value of around 0.17 on the left side of the response curve results in near zero thrust; however, where you set the left edge is largely a matter of personal preference depending on how far you want the levers to move for full reverse. NOTE that some users prefer to add extra keyframes in their response curves, similar to that shown at lower right, in order to create a flat region around the Lift Zone. This yields a bit of extra wiggle room where you may move your hardware a bit and not affect Power or Blade Angle. This is a personal preference.

CONDITION LEVERS

Condition levers may be set up the same as a single paddle described above, but using joystick paramaters PROP_1 and PROP 2. Custom commands to move each lever into/out of the EMER STOP position are given in the Custom Commands section of the docs.

Single Paddle with Detent (or if you care to pretend you have a physical detent)

THROTTLE LEVERS

Typical hardware for this configuration might look like as shown below. Observe in this example that the physical detent on the hardware shown below is at about 25-30% of lever travel whereas the real MU2 power lever detent is at 50% of lever travel. The following steps described below will guide you to ensure that the animation of the power levers in sim are consistent with your hardware and the "feel" of the detent. This means that your hardware ALPHA range (above your detent) will be in sync with the MU2 animations of its ALPHA range.

Setup for the power lever requires 3 steps.

  • In X-Plane's joystick setup dialog, assign your power lever to the THROTTLE_5 parameter. NOT THROTTLE

  • Make sure you have NO RESPONSE CURVE, just simple 0 - 1 mapping.

  • In the GUI prefs, make sure the option Auto-stop power levers at detent is UNCHECKED.

  • In the GUI prefs, set the Hardware Power Detent Ratio to match the position of your real (or imagined) detent position. For example, if your real detent is at 25% of your lever movement, set the Power detent ratio to 0.25

CONDITION LEVERS

No provision is made for detented condition levers currently in this Verion 2.01. You may map the condition lever the same as the non-detented one described above, using the entire range of your lever motion, both the detented and undetended portion, OR you may apply a response curve such that your detent position is mapped to the PROP = 0.08 value and the region of your hardware condition lever below the detent is unused. The condition levers are moved to/from EMER stop using the custom commands:

xscenery/mu2b60/toggle_both_emergency_stop          //  toggles both levers between EMER and TAXI
xscenery/mu2b60/both_condition_levers_to_EMERSTOP   //  commands both levers to the EMER STOP position
xscenery/mu2b60/both_condition_lever_to_TAXI        //  commands both levers from EMER back to TAXI

Dual Paddles with Detents

This configuration is to be set up the same as the single detent description above, with the exception that the left joystick paddle is to be mapped to the THROTTLE 3 parameter and the right joystick paddle mapped to the THROTTLE 4 parameter. Further the left condition lever maps to PROP 1 and the right to PROP 2.

Lever Locks

Flight sim hardware generally does not have lever locks. If you set the lever locks using the mouse cursor in sim and then move any hardware levers you have assigned to the throttle or prop, then the levers will animate in sim, ignoring the lever lock positions. The lever locks in sim are intended to work with the mouse cursor and throttle/prop commands only.

MISC Technical Info

The following information is a bit technical, but may be useful for troubleshooting. X-Plane has a complex system for keeping track of the various hardware configurations for multiple aircraft. As authors, X-Plane only tells us which axes is moving and what the value is when it is moving. When no hardware axes are being moved, X-Plane does not tell us anything at all.

When the MU2 simulation begins, we sniff all the hardware axes and wait for any axes to be moved. Once an axis is moved for the first time, we take note of that for the rest of the sim session, assume a specific configuration and take various actions accordingly. For example, if you have a single paddle throttle (assigned to THROTTLE) and we detect it, then we hide the manipulators for the throttle so you don't mix and match interaction techniques, which is problematic; however, we keep the condition lever manipulators onscreen etc. The assumption here is you cannot get very far into the simulation without moving your hardware and once its moved in the session, things should be fine.

If you change an axis assignment mid-simulation, say you have a single paddle and you reassign it from the throttle to the condition lever in the same flight, which is quite unlikely of course, then this will cause issues. Any time you change a hardware axis assignment, you should begin a new flight so the code can reset and pick up the new setting. The obvious protocol here is simply to configure you hardware for the MU2 before your first flight and then all subsequent flights should be fine with that same hardware. Only changing axis assignements mid-flight would cause an issue and this is not terribly likely.

Further, if you assign any single axis to THROTTLE 1 or THROTTLE 2 (same with the condition levers) then we assume you have a dual lever setup and hide all manips for those levers. In other words, we do not expect a user with a single paddle to assign that single paddle to a LEFT lever only. We also do not expect a user with two levers for a single function (throttle OR prop) to assign one lever to a single power lever (THROTTLE) and the other to a single condition lever (PROP), etc.