Hello Folks;
I have a VKB GNX FSM-GA. I am having trouble binding all the buttons to the aircraft panel. I fly the TBM 930 and the H-jet. The buttons which do not function are as follows: NAV, APR and VNAV. It’s really no big deal, as I use the mouse in aircraft to engage the button. However, it would be nice to have them working. As always Thanks in advance. I have tried all the VKB recommendations.
Gary
Hi Gary,
Could you explain a little more what the issue is - Do you mean that you can’t find the appropriate control within MSFS 2020 to bind the buttons to, or do you mean that the buttons don’t appear to work / cannot be bound to a requested control when you press them?
Cheers, Grahame.
I just checked on my FSM-GA in 2020, and the APR button is bound to the game control: “Toggle Autopilot Approach Hold” and it works as it should for me.
Same thing applies to NAV, which is bound to: “Set Autopilot Nav Select” and also to “Autopilot Nav1 Hold” for some reason. I’m sure only one of these is necessary, but it definitely works as it should.
For VNAV, that control doesn’t work in MSFS 2020, in that there is no in-game control for VNAV or ‘Vertical’ anything, beyond ‘Vertical Speed.’
The solution is to use spad.next or Mobiflight, and bind it through that programme, as they both offer you all the controls that are missing in 2020. Personally I use Mobiflight, because it’s very well set up for VKB gear and recognises every panel. It’s also free to download and use, although the developers appreciate a donation or a coffee now and again.
As well as VNAV, I use Mobiflight to bind to several other controls that aren’t available or don’t work properly in 2020. One that I find especially useful is Heading Bug Align, whereby with a push of the HDG/TRK button on the VKB panel, the Heading Bug in the sim automatically aligns to your current heading.
Anyway, this is the full list of controls that my VKB devices interact with MSFS via Mobiflight:
This is the input config that works for VNAV:
And this is the one that works for Heading Bug Align:
I hope this is helpful, but shout if you need anything further. There are YouTube tutorials on Mobiflight available from the creators themselves btw, which will be far more concise and helpful than me trying to talk you through it if you don’t already have it.
Grahame: Thank you very much for all the info. I will do as you say. I will also donate and utilize Mobiflight, as I use VNAV when I’m feeling lazy. I also couldn’t get my heading bug to work as you described, but I failed to mention that. I will also use that info to set that button as well.
I really appreciate you spending all of your time to help me. I will keep you posted.
Thanks
Gary
No problem, always happy to help out.
The Heading Sync not working was what first led me to Mobiflight - it’s really annoying if you can’t use it on bush trips or any flight where you want to use AP but adjust heading manually, to follow or go around landscape features.
As you can see, I have the map range, push buttons and rotary controls for the G1000 all mapped to my controllers through Mobiflight or the in-sim native control options. Apart from clicking on ‘Ready to Fly,’ I don’t use the keyboard or mouse in flight at all anymore.
Good luck with getting it set up!
Wow, I still use the mouse a lot mostly to look at the scenery from outside of aircraft. I also binded my remaining buttons last night, per your instructions. As you stated, they work fine. I would have never thought to bind those buttons to those control functions.
I have my computer friend coming over today to work on Mobiflight install and set up.
Thanks again and My Best wishes!
Gary
Yeah, I have an analogue stick and an 8-way hat on the throttle, and the same kind of setup on the joystick, so panning views and moving around in and outside the aircraft can all be controlled from those.
Good to hear you got some of the functions mapped to your buttons, the descriptions can be pretty opaque!
I have Mobiflight installed on the same drive that I use for MSFS, but it doesn’t need to be inside the Community Folder or anything like that. I’m not sure if you have to tell it where MSFS is stored - I downloaded it probably 3 1/2 years ago, and I can’t remember all the details exactly.
When you install it, go to ‘Settings’ and the ‘Peripherals’ tab. You might need to tick ‘Enable Joystick Support,’ but once done it should recognise all of your controllers, like this:
Then from the main screen, go to the ‘Input Configs’ tab, and you can add in all the controls you want. Add a new line and put in the description, then click on the ‘…’ to edit the setup. Scan for input first, and press the appropriate button on the FSM-GA so it knows what you’re setting up. Then you just use the dropdowns as per the pictures I posted of the input configs.
Don’t forget to press Save once you’re done! When they’re all set up, you just need to start Mobiflight before you start MSFS. It will connect automatically, and the controls should work as seamlessly as they do in the native game setup.
Great advice. I will look into that, Thanks again for taking the time to respond,
Gary