Throttle Control

From the manual:

The throttles in the F-14 have detents preventing unintentional engine start and shutdown and unintentional selection of afterburner.

Is it the intention, or could it be, to add a bindable command and/or special option like the Hornet has?

I've heard the sounds in place in the Tomcat similar to what the Viggen has. But I, personally, would prefer a bindable command as I have found the most confidence in the bind other than a sound or other cockpit indications.

Adding this also directly links to the statement in the manual.

Any comment on this? It's a big ticket item for me.

Yes, please, this makes a big difference when flying the FA18 and works really well.

Heatblur, please consider this type of functionality for both the F14 and AJ37. As it is already in use on the FA18 to great effect (for myself and many others), the button for this functionality is already reserved on my throttle.

Yeah I agree, this would be a great option. That way you can just slam the throttle and not worry about being in AB. Then just hit a button when you need it.

There are already threads about this. Not a huge deal to me personally as the Tomcat, more than any other module bar the Viggen, really lets you hear and feel when the afterburner lights.

It's not so much about whether the aircraft indicates that you're in afterburner or not (great effects by the way!), but rather the inability to reliably set the throttle without engaging them. This leads to lots of wiggling to find the right setting, repeatedly engaging/disengaging the afterburners. This is even more prevalent when you attempt quicker adjustments.

To quote myself from a separate post: "...would eliminate a lot of frustrating throttle wiggling back and forth trying to find 100% MIL without constantly engaging/disengaging the afterburner."

The functionality works so well on the F/A-18, and emulates/simulates sufficiently the existence of the real life physical indications (i.e. detents/lift etc.).

For me personally, because I have a throttle with an adjustable detent, I prefer the way the tomcat works now as opposed to the f18. The f18 has a super dead zone at the bottom of the range near the idle detent that reads as nothing when you move the throttle. Wish it behaved just like the f14 does now instead.

For me it worked right off the bat, just assigned the throttle axis and the detent in the TMWH was set perfectly, no curves needed.

Given that it worked straight away I can only assume that Heatblur had this in mind when designing the F14b?

For me it worked right off the bat, just assigned the throttle axis and the detent in the TMWH was set perfectly, no curves needed.

Given that it worked straight away I can only assume that Heatblur had this in mind when designing the F14b?

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And even if we do, we might not want to have an odd curve on it to make it fit.

#FFBThrottlesNeedToBeAThing

+1

I am all for HB adding this afterburner detent as an option. While the sound of the throttles hitting the detents are amazing and have so far worked for me, I do have to make an effort to make sure I am listening for it and like others, I have to do a bit of wiggling at times to get it just right.

Too bad we don't all have warthog throttles, amirite?

 

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Maybe yeah, but I’m not sure if I’m right about heatblur doing anything to ensure they work off the bat but that is my experience.

And even if we do, we might not want to have an odd curve on it to make it fit.

 

#FFBThrottlesNeedToBeAThing

True, but like I said there are no curves added by me, just a linear throttle set.

Do you have a TMWH? Why are you having to add a curve? I must admit that I was surprised that I didn’t have to set one.

Attached is my current throttle setup at max MIL power, the area below this is AB separated by the detent.

And even if we do, we might not want to have an odd curve on it to make it fit.

 

#FFBThrottlesNeedToBeAThing

I'm just waiting for brain-computer interface VR (a la Sword Art Online) to be a thing so we don't even need to use controllers at all, and the sim software itself will simulate feeling the actual throttle and stick of the real aircraft.

Yeah if you ask me I would opt for the solution just like the F18.

Everybody who dislikes the additional detent button could choose not to activate the feature.

This way everybody should be happy.

+1

Any particular reason the only acknowledgement of this has been to "listen to the clicks in the sim" from the Heatblur team?

I'm actually curious why to not consider this?

I've given the clicks a solid try for the last couple of weeks, but have run into problems relying on them.

- Hard to hear over jester at times

- Hard to hear over the radio at times

- The 'click' actually encompasses a range of throttle movement, at what point in the click actually full military power

- Running through the click during ACM (divided attention)

- Accidental selection of afterburner at undesirable times

+ On trap/bolter with a fast selection of mil

+ On the catapult

+ At night trying to avoid selecting afterburner

+ During TACFORM maneuvers

I mean, I do appreciate the time taken to give the detent a sound, but why not give the detent a detent then?

Time and priority?

Time and priority?

is a reason to say "Good idea, we can look into it later" or "We won't do that"

This has been brought up by a number of people in a number of places, they can't both be active and looking at the forums (there words) and not have time to acknowledge

For me it worked right off the bat, just assigned the throttle axis and the detent in the TMWH was set perfectly, no curves needed.

Given that it worked straight away I can only assume that Heatblur had this in mind when designing the F14b?

Same here. Worked right away as it should

Any particular reason the only acknowledgement of this has been to "listen to the clicks in the sim" from the Heatblur team?

 

I'm actually curious why to not consider this?

 

I've given the clicks a solid try for the last couple of weeks, but have run into problems relying on them.

 

- Hard to hear over jester at times

- Hard to hear over the radio at times

- The 'click' actually encompasses a range of throttle movement, at what point in the click actually full military power

- Running through the click during ACM (divided attention)

- Accidental selection of afterburner at undesirable times

+ On trap/bolter with a fast selection of mil

+ On the catapult

+ At night trying to avoid selecting afterburner

+ During TACFORM maneuvers

 

I mean, I do appreciate the time taken to give the detent a sound, but why not give the detent a detent then?

Wholeheartedly agreed. Heatblur, you've done a great job on recreating the F-14 for us simmers, but this is one of those times that the programmers and the SMEs need to meet us halfway. We don't all have throttles with options for physical detents, and the audible click is inconsistently useful as a tool to mitigate inadvertent or undesired afterburner selection. The menu option for a button press to push through the detent is something the F/A-18C module does objectively better than the F-14B. I'm sorry, but that's the long and short of it.