I’ve seen people repurpose their powered, force feedback steering wheels as an axis for trim control.
Could someone much smarter than I somehow take advantage of that powered wheel to sync with the aircraft trim wheel when AP is on or in an Airbus for example?
Interesting idea. I’m sure it is technically possible. Obviously may need to attach a custom appropriately sized wheel to the base, and find room to attach that bulky base somewhere. Practical considerations, though: How many rotations do you need? Direct drive, I think, can spin forever, but gear or belt drives will max out at 3 full rotations for the best models, sometimes less. Is that enough?
Edit/sidenote: I’m new to flight simming. I don’t yet know how long or deep I will ever get into it. But I am reluctant to invest too much in better equipment because I feel like the whole segment is doing us wrong. It short, it’s unconscionable that for a hobby as established and full of dedicated/paying enthusiasts as this one, force feedback is not the norm. Sim racing is laughing at us.
You are not wrong. My ffb wheel is older and far from 900’ of rotation so I would immediately be making a compromise.
The thought occurred to me because it could potentially solve the issue of the physical trim wheel being out of sync when you disconnect the autopilot.
I also know how noisy my wheel is when the computer moves it around and hearing it wirring and clunking would be a bit much.
I’m using the buttons on the wheel along with the paddles, pedals, and shifter in sim so why not incorporate the wheel. A better use may be to use on aircraft that allow separate tiller & rudder control to steer the nosewheel when taxing.
I might just try and bind it to the trim axis tonight as is and see how it acts compared to the woeful trim wheel on the Bravo.