Is there a way to prevent engaging Beta Mode while on approach? My throttle axis on my Honeycomb Bravo uses 0-30% and >30% for Speed Control. When I need to reduce speed right before landing, I have unintentionally moved my throttle control into Beta Mode and crashed. It is too easy to slip in Beta Mode with the way the Bravo controller works! Reducing speed on approach in Career Mode more problematic then it is in Free Flight.
Maybe someone like ProDeskSim could do a addon that add detents for that
Thanks, I check it out!
There was some discussion about this early in this thread, see the above.
Iâm not a real pilot, but one or two of the early posts were by experienced Caravan pilots, and it seem that the beta range is actually our friend in this matter.
Early on, I had no success at all in landing the 2024 Caravan after enjoying the 2020 model for a long time.
On one occasion I thought Iâd discovered perpetual motion when the blessed thing would not reduce altitude for landing even though the engine had been cut, full flaps, nose down trim, and I had gone around again eight times!
I use a Logitech yoke and quadrant, so I set the throttle, prop and condition quadrants to their respective axes as normal. The sim appears to match these pretty well with the markings on the Caravanâs quadrant. It was noteable that the condition lever went across its âgateâ properly between the two idle states, but condition is another story.
On my quadrant there is a switch/push button at the bottom of the throttle travel, and I map this in the sim âcontrolsâ to âToggle throttle reverse thrustâ. There is a small amount of travel below the switch point which I leave unused. On the Caravan, engaging the switch puts the image of the quadrant in my cockpit view, into the beta range, but does not provide any reverse thrust.
In the Caravan (apparently, from what our friends above have said) the reverse thrust power is actually applied by raising the throttle very carefully above the bottom detent (or switch point on a simulator quadrant) - blade pitch, positive or negative, is âtaken care ofâ by the system.
Your quadrant might be different but you need a digital control of some sort mapped to âToggle throttle reverse thrustâ - but check that the throttle lever in the cockpit is actually in the beta part of its travel when you activate that control.
If you are one of these nerdy, experimenting type pf people like me you might have the Simvar Watcher" utiility set up - it is covered quite well in the SDK help files. By using that I could see exactly when the actual âthrustâ on the aircraft goes negative, and from what was said by those experienced pilots above, it has been modelled very well in the sim.
So, to cut the story short, you need to get the Caravanâs throttle lever into the beta range to land. By the way, if youâre landing below 2000ft or so, ensure that the condition lever is fully forward too as it likes the proper mixture for the altitude.
Fly as usual down to decision height or thereabouts (with flaps at first notch, v. low throttle, fine pitch, rich condition, ias about 80-110kts, 250-900 fpm descent, prop rpm n/a) , and put your throttle lever into beta range. I do this with the throttle lever switch described above.
You should see a reduction in torque and a decrease in airspeed but thrust will be still positive at this stage. The aircraft at this stage is nice and stable - very small amounts of throttle should be enough to keep you on track. Whatever you do, please donât blip the throttle to add bit of airspeed because all you will do is to add a bit of reverse thrust and youâll stall!
I have to admit to something of a cheat or kludge before I got mine working. I also use SPAD.NXT to set up unusual things and and I have an unused indicator light set to glow GREEN when thrust is positive and greater than the parking brake can hold, ORANGE in the normal taxying range, and RED when thrust is negative and more than the parking brake can manage. During final approach I work in the green to orange range.
Thatâs not a RL technique.
Additionally, the Fuel Condition lever should be in High Idle when airborne, from taking the active runway for takeoff until clearing the runway after landing.
The POH has a bunch of great information. 
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yes. as youâve probably noticed, the problem is that by default, the 0% throttle position is partially into the Beta range instead of Ground/Flight Idle, which is obviously a bug. to fix it, use the Cessna 208B unique axis THROTTLE SET, and apply this curve (credit @Ringo9872 and @PirateAntz)
this will make 0% throttle ACTUALLY map to Ground/Flight Idle, and the throttle can be pulled by into Beta/Reverse by activating the reverser levers (at least on the ATC Qudarant, but hopefully also on the Bravo).
see also [MSFS2024] Cessna 208 B Grand Caravan EX - #202 by speedwayst4r and Thrustmaster TCA Airbus edition throttle configuration for C208 Grand Caravan EX - #10 by Ringo9872
Unfortunately the Bravo levers reach their lowest axis value when you get to the detent, below that only a switch is activated to trigger reverse (which can then only be full on or off). I donât know why Honeycomb designed them that way, would have been better to still have an analog axis below the detent. Up to now I was careful to not go below a certain point while in the air, but now i have the idea to change the axis scaling depending on whether the condition lever is in high or low idle (using SPAD.neXt, donât know if this can be done using the in-app control mapping).
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In my case, since my quad is metallic, Iâm using a magnet to mark the starting point for beta. My plan is to spend some time on these assignments and with this temp solution. I want to confirm whether these assignments will be definitive or if Asobo will come up with a new idea to bind them. Then, I would consider a 3D printing solution that would be easy to remove and attach to mark the different detents.
For some reason I cant seem to bind a key for reverse thrust. It was working then all of a sudden when I bind a key for reverse thrust, it feathers the prop.
Thatâs some quality intel, and here Iâm always using low idle thinking itâs good for saving fuelâŠ
Thanks, thatâs good information to have - letâs hope that sooner or later the sim will model the real life conditions a bit better and we can fly without workarounds.
Mine is plastic, so a small piece of thick tape does the job.
You already can.
I think you can prove to yourself that you donât need your workaround. In free flight practice âslow flightâ at low altitude (say 2000â to 5000â over flat terrain, like Florida or Iowa). Turn down turbulence and winds.
To simulate being in the traffic pattern for landing, set
Fuel Condition Lever - HIGH IDLE
Prop RPM Lever - as required to get 1900 RPM (should be close to MAX)
Flaps - 10 degrees (and then 20 degrees) once youâre in the white arc
Power Lever - As required to hold 75-85 KIAS
Fly around at 75-85 KIAS and hold your altitude, fly a box/rectangular pattern. Do this for a couple of minutes, itâs the nominal approach speed under normal conditions. This is really worthwhile practice IMO and will give you a sense of the power required.
Now âcrack the power backâ just a little bit and descend at 75-85 KIAS and note your descent/sink rate (AKA vertical velocity). If your descent rate is less than 400 fpmâŠcrack the power just a touch more. If your descent rate is greater than 500 fpm, nudge the Power Lever forward.
On a 3 degree glide path (most VASI/PAPI/PLASI and ILS approaches) your descent rate should be ~400 fpm.
If thatâs too hard, try doing this exercise at 90 KIAS. Approach and landings can be done in the sim without using BETA.
[edit after some quick testing] This airplane is very âslipperyâ it doesnât like to slow down in a descent. So if you tend to get high on final you will very easily wind up against the BETA threshold with your HOTAS throttle. I did on 2 visual approaches at my local airfield KANE. So I aggressively pushed over 1 to 2 miles on final to correct back to the 3 degree picture (one with VASI, 1 with Mark 1 eyeballs). The numbers from the table work in the sim. I flew at 75 KIAS and held ~400 fpm descent to the roundout/flare.[/edit]
As weâd say in the business (fighter pilot and airline pilot business), âa professional never blames his tools.â 
Let me know how it works out for you. Iâd like for you to succeed.