Joby S4 broken after SU1

User Support Hub Aircraft & Systems
, , ,
1

Using the template below will greatly help the team reproduce the issue and ease the process of fixing it. Before posting, search for an existing report. If you are not sure it’s a bug, please first report in User Support Hub.

3 tags are required - add them in the tag section next to the title above:

Feel free to delete this quote section after adding your appropriate tags.

ISSUE DESCRIPTION

Description of the issue:

I’ve been really enjoying flying the Joby S4 recently, until SU1 when suddenly it has started misbehaving. It no longer properly transitions to FLY mode, leaving the rotors pointing vertically and yet still manages to fly at 160+kts. The controls behave as if it is in hover mode, using the rudder to turn even at that speed. Adjusting vertical speed is hit and miss. The airspeed indicator stays at 0.

This happened immediately after installing SU1, and happens identically in the PC version and in Xbox Cloud.

See here for confirmation from another user:

If applicable, which aircraft is experiencing this issue:

Joby S4

[PC Only] Did you remove all your community mods/add-ons? If yes, are you still experiencing the issue?

I have no add-ons

FREQUENCY OF ISSUE

How often does this occur for you (Example: Just once, every time on sim load, intermittently)?

Every time I fly the Joby S4

REPRODUCTION STEPS

Please list clear steps you took in order to help our test team reproduce the same issue:

  1. Start a flight with the Joby S4

YOUR SETTINGS

If the issue still occurs with no mods and add-ons, please continue to report your issue. If not, please move this post to the User Support Hub.

What peripherals are you using, if relevant:

MS Side Winder joystick on PC
Xbox controller on Xbox cloud

[PC Only] Are you using Developer Mode or have you made any changes to it?

No

[PC, MSFS 2020 Only] Are you using DX11 or DX12?

[PC Only] What GPU (Graphics Card) do you use?

Nvidia 2080

[PC Only] What other relevant PC specs can you share?

Nothing relevant, but i9 CPU, 32 GB RAM

MEDIA

Please add a screenshot or video of the issue occurring.

[END OF FIRST USER REPORT]

:loudspeaker: For anyone who wants to contribute on this issue, Click on the button below to use this template:

Do you have the same issue if you follow the OP’s steps to reproduce it?
•

Provide extra information to complete the original description of the issue:
•

If relevant, provide additional screenshots/video:
•

2

Hi There!

I’m trying to figure out what’s happening for you. Note this is not a Technical Support response, but I am very familiar with the product as a QA tester.

Please see the video below and let’s see if there’s anything different you’re doing.

Note a couple of things:

  1. I tried to use only virtual cockpit controls and not any of my hardware controls since those couldn’t be shown in real-time operation while the video was recording.
  2. My hardware throttle is set to mid-point axis throughout the entirety of this video - I have markings on the axis of travel and they roughly correspond to 50 percent input.
  3. Note the phase shift from Translational Rate Control (TRC) to SPEED mode - speed kicks in because of two things - one is my throttle setting per Point 2 above and the other is the use of the Autothrottle Knob as seen in the video.
  4. As I gain speed and come out of Hover speed range (essentially >50 knots), TRC will flash yellow and eventually extinguish, meaning we have successfully transitioned to Forward Flight / Up-And-Away (Joby’s term for it).
  5. I switch between internal and external views to show the engine nacelles are indeed translating forward as we gain speed into Forward Flight/Up-And-Away.
3

Thanks for the reply.

I’ve just set up to record the behaviour I’m getting and it is magically working as expected again. I’ve done nothing at this end so that’s a puzzle. And I tested it in Xbox cloud as well as PC and got the same behaviour. Odd. Anyway, it is working now so I guess this is no longer a bug…

Steve.

7

I think I’ve figured out what is going on. If I start the Joby S4 at an airport, on a runway, it is set up and ready to fly, and all is well. If I start on a helipad the pitot tubes are covered and have to be removed. If you don’t, you get the behaviour I described above.

This did not happen before SU1 - the aircraft was always ready for flight, even when starting on a helipad.

I’m not sure which behaviour is correct but it seems to me the behaviour should be consistent regardless of where you start the flight.

Anyway, I know the cause now and can work around it, so at least the S4 is flyable again. It would be nice not to need the workaround, though!

1 Like
8

Believe it or not, we’ve been trying to get true Cold & Dark to work on a helipad. It made no sense to start already running on a helipad when in many real instances, one would perform a complete startup at that location, in the same way a fixed wing plane would at a ramp spot.

This was absolutely not working throughout the Dev Build process where we had the Alpha and Beta access leading up to the November launch. Seb even talked about it during the FSExpo '24 and Grand Canyon preview, saying it was likely a sim wide setting that he could address and that it was originally set to Engine Running because he needed faster testing iterations for his team.

So this is correct, in our thinking.

1 Like
9

I can see that. It does make sense. I guess I was just confused by having it change with SU1. Now that I know, I can deal with it. That is the only things needed on the S4 before flying it though. It certainly doesn’t start cold and dark!

10

Thank you for sharing this!

1 Like
13

Moved to User Support Hub since a solution has been marked, not a bug.