MILTECH SIMULATIONS MV22B - README - IMPORTANT NOTES AND FAQ
Frequently Answered Questions and Known Issues
Autopilot Issues
- AUTOPILOT DURING CONVERSION/VTOL (Nacelles >0 deg): Full autopilot capability is not supported when nacelles are at an angle greater than 0 Degrees. The only fully supported function during VTOL is HVR CPLD. As a general rule, the "ARM" button illuminates when Autopilot CPLD is available.
- HOVER (HVR CPLD): Hover-hold functionality. This function only becomes available (“ARM” comes on) under stable hover (VTOL) and calm wind conditions. Radio altitude must be between 40ft and 300ft, at stable forward and lateral speeds. Vertical speed must be no more than 500ft/min, either upwards or downwards, and wind speed must not be more than 25kts(Forward), 20kts(Sideways) and/or 10kts(Backwards). HVR CPLD will automatically deactivate if any of these variables go out of the specified bounds, sudden input from the control stick or throttle/collector or change of nacelles angle.
- VOR/ILS/WYPT Navigation: ENAV Must be ON before engaging VOR/ILS/WYPT. VOR and ILS frequencies are inputted through the CDU.
My engines die mid flight!
This is in fact a feature, not a bug. As described in the aircraft manual: "Engines can afford high RPM (> 98% Ng) for a maximum period of 60 seconds continuously. Any longer and the engines will be damaged and shut down. This simulates the real counterpart, which can stand limited amounts of time at high RPM. Engine limitations can be deactivated by switching “Flight Reality” to EASY on the CDU.". Visual queues have been recently added: Interm power on your PFD will blink red to alert the pilot flying of potential damage to the engine. If this indicator blinks red for more than a few seconds, the engines will fail due to overstress.
Blade Fold/Wing Stow Stuck on the Last Step
This is due to your flaps not being in Auto. The last step of BFWS sets flaps to full automatically. For this to occur, the Flap lever in the cockpit must be set to Auto. If you have a Flaps axis mapped to your controllers, it may be the case that flaps are set to zero instead of Auto. Manually move the flap lever to Auto in the cockpit, and the sequence should complete automatically. Since this aircraft features Autoflaps, it is recommended that you remove any axis mapped to Flaps on your controller profile for the MV-22B.
My aircraft is stalling on VTOL, and can't recover by applying power
This is in fact a feature, not a bug. As described in the aircraft manual: In VTOL config (Nacelles between 80 and 97 degrees) and airspeed < 30 Knots, the aircraft will start to roll/stall uncontrollably when V/S (Vertical Speed) gets over 1500 ft/min. This is due to Vortex Ring State, a type of stall that is common in helicopters and VTOL aircraft and requires special attention from the pilot when descending in VTOL mode. This can easily be avoided by controlling the descent speed and/or airspeed (avoid the “Red area” from the V/S Indicator)
How to move the Nacelles?
One of the unique characteristics of the MV-22B is the rotating nacelles, which increase/decrease in angle relative to the fuselage to allow for VTOL/STOL and transition over to regular flight. Nacelles are operated manually by the pilot.
Nacelles are manually moved using the following commands:
Increase Cowl Flap 4 - Move Nacelles up (increase angle)
Decrease Cowl Flap 4 - Move Nacelles down (decrease angle)
These must be mapped to a key on your keyboard, or button on your joystick. Creating a new controller profile unique to this aircraft is highly recommended.
Beware that hydraulic pressure must be at least 3800psi on at least one HYD system for nacelles to move. The aircraft will progressively increase HYD pressure after startup - adding some throttle will increase HYD pressure faster.
Control Mapping
The MV-22B uses a single "throttle" axis to control both engines, which then controls both engines through the aircraft computers. Each engine cannot be controlled independently. Therefore, having a multi-axis throttle quadrant would give you problems when mapping axis to Throttle 1/Throttle 2. This is another reason why a controller profile unique to this aircraft must be created: The MV-22B shall be controlled with a single throttle lever, which is mapped to "Throttle" axis on MSFS.
It is recommended to not have a Flaps mapped to an axis as it may lead to issues with BFWS procedures.
Aircraft is Crashing/Overstressing
It is strongly recommended to have crash detection turned OFF. MSFS conflicts with custom physics, triggering false crashes. The MV-22B features a custom-made crash detection system that will trigger failures if the props collide with objects.
Multiplayer Issues
Multiplayer is fully supported on V1.0.0 of the MV-22B, except for the syncing of some animations.
You may not see some of the complex animations on multiplayer aircraft - such as nacelle rotation, BFWS and opening doors. This is a limitation of MSFS, which only syncs "essential animations" via Multiplayer. There are no variables available to sync rotating nacelles via multiplayer.
That being said, we are investigating workarounds to this issue, and full Multiplayer support should be implemented in future updates.
Active Pause
"Active Pause" (key Press P) is not supported by the MV-22B during Conversion (Nacelles >0deg) as the code will continue executing, and it may lead to unexpected results. If you want to pause the sim during CONV, use keypress ESC instead.
MSFS Realism & Flight Model Settings
Due to the uncommon flight dynamics of this aircraft, the Assist Realism Settings for Piloting and Aircraft Systems must be set to “True to Life”. This is due to the limited compatibility of VTOL aircraft with MSFS, requiring special code for the flight dynamics.
UPDATE: After V1.0.4, the default mode for the aircraft is "Volocopter", and hence, "True to Life" is no longer required. It is, however, strongly recommended to switch "G-Effect" to Jet Pilot and "G-Suit" to On (under Assistance Options/User Experience). Crash detection is also recommended to have it OFF.
The Flight Model (Options -> General -> Flight Model) must also be set to “MODERN”.
Cockpit Scale in VR
This has been subject of debate among VR users. Unfortunately we do not have a solution for this issue as of now. The MSFS VR Engine uses a global setting for VR scaling - "VR Global Scaling". The cockpit model of the MV-22B is 1:1 to real aircraft dimensions, as far as we can possibly tell from the public diagrams and documentation used. The odd scaling of the cockpit in VR is likely a combination of the position of the cameras and global scaling settings. This issue seems to be common among other aircraft, and there are lengthy forum threads on this matter: https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/cockpit-size-and-world-scale-in-vr/338584/162
We have investigated this issue, and contacted Asobo for additional help. Unfortunately, the only solution to this issue is to adjust VR Global Scaling, due to lack of independent control of internal and external VR Scaling, and the lack of a camera SDK.
- LIn reply toMiltechSimulations⬆:Andy Kauffman @Latka808
Hi! I apologize I’ve only looked in the FAQ so far.
MV-22B and SPAD.neXt? I’ve tried setting my flap lever on the Honeycomb Bravo to both the SimConnect and FSUIPC versions of cowl flap 4 increment / decrement, and thus far I’ve not gotten it working.
How do they rotate the nacelles in the cockpit? RTFM thing? 🤪 If I can do that, then I can use SPAD.neXt to “capture” the data that is being passed and replicate that.
Miltech Simulations @MiltechSimulationsNacelles are rotated using the commands:
Increase Cowl Flap 4 - Move Nacelles up (increase angle)
Decrease Cowl Flap 4 - Move Nacelles down (decrease angle)These are buttons (pressed-unpressed) instead of an axis. The real MV-22B uses a spring-loaded rotatory two-way switch instead of an axis. However, we are looking into adding axis support to nacelle rotation just for ease of use.
- LAndy Kauffman @Latka808
Have you folks done it with SPAD.neXt? The two methods I mentioned above didn’t work.
I tried looking around the cockpit but either I missed it or just haven’t found the switch you’re talking about yet. Is it on the throttle in the Osprey?
If I can find the button or rocker in the aircraft, then I can run SPAD’s data monitor just so I can see what it’s outputting. Unfortunately thus far I’ve been unable to get it working.
- Miltech Simulations @MiltechSimulations
I have never used SPAD.next, to be honest - I don't own anything from Saitek.
The two commands are not mapped to any button in the virtual cockpit. The rocker is modeled but not functional through clicking, as its located in a very odd place (on the bottom right side of the Throttle control lever - to be operated with the thumb). You wouldn't normally have any reach to that area with your mouse, making it very uncomfortable for the pilot to operate.The two commands are to be mapped to two buttons in either your joystick or keyboard, and can be easily done through the MSFS Controller options menu:
I can't speak for how this translates to SPAD.next
- LAndy Kauffman @Latka808
Fair enough. I know it can be done through the default MSFS mapping, I’m just trying…to do things the difficult way apparently! :)
I’ll keep messing with it. It’s probably a knowledge gap on my side to be honest. If I can get it sorted, I will be sure to pass on the info.
Haven’t flown ‘er yet but the model is very well done!
- HIn reply toMiltechSimulations⬆:Josh Stewart @heatsokay
Hey there! The following is being forwarded from the FSDevloper thread as I have not yet received a response:
I currently do a lot of VATSIM flights, utilizing COMMS, Navigation aids, ILS and other features you have implemented in the osprey, it actually works pretty well.However, as I continue doing these flights, I do start to notice new bugs. Here are some bugs in questions listed below:
Radio/Nav:
- Will COMM2 be implemented? If it already has, it is not properly picked up by the VPILOT client like COMM1 is.
- HSI compass does not always properly align to the heading shown.
- NAV2 ILS does not work, only NAV1Tested further, works properly.
- Glide Slope and centerline diamonds do not properly displayTested further, works properly.
Flight model:
- In full ARPLNE MODE, it is very difficult to hold a consistent airspeed. Below a certain throttle threshold, the engine RPM spools down and the airspeed drops dramatically. Extremely fine input hardly makes a difference as when the RPM spools back up, the airspeed then increases dramatically, making it difficult to maintain an airspeed that ATC may assign.
- Note that Autopilot SPEEDHOLD is also affected by this. It cannot properly hold speed, due to the RPM increasing and decreasing at certain points.
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With external flight model (HOVERING), The rudder input seems finicky. As rudder differential increases, it suddenly becomes apparent with the aircraft yawing instantly. there is no slow acceleration to the rate of yaw. Letting go of rudder after spinning has a nice feature of it slowly decelerating the yaw rate.
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Last question, I saw someone briefly mention it. Since it may be difficult to add flight planning to the osprey until MSFS24, is it possible to add in a Garmin as a whole on one of the CDU pages in the meantime? This aircraft has great capability in real life, and it's bit of a bummer we have to resort to only radio navigation in these modern times with this add-on.
- Miltech Simulations @MiltechSimulations
Hey Josh,
- Comms 2 should be implemented already. I have not tested it with VPilot, will take a look at what may be the issue
- The APLN flight model is driven by the turboprop flight model on MSFS - not much we can do there without messing up something else. I've seen some users take advantage of custom throttle profiles to overcome some of these rough edges, see here (this one is for VTOL but should work fine for APLN as well): https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/mv-22b-osprey-throttle-axis-tuning-for-vtol/609917
- Rudder on VTOL - we are aware of this and will look at it
- The flight planning on CDU is unfortunately postponed indefinitely. We hit a roadblock as the entire aircraft systems are programmed on WASM and any attempt to create a custom nav system on WASM would result on other aspects of the aircraft failing. We are likely going to opt for an easier solution - just adding an Aera-style GPS (optional) for these kind of ops
- HJosh Stewart @heatsokay
Comms 2 should be implemented already. I have not tested it with VPilot, will take a look at what may be the issue
Yeah unfortunately the Vpilot client for VATSIM does not recognize it. As far as i can tell, there is also no way to switch the audio monitoring from COMM1 to COMM2. The radio panel directly on the dash switches the standby and active frequencies of the COMM1 radio, which actually comes in handy in congested airspaces, although i wish it showed the current and standby frequencies instead of the UHF band which is not supported in MSFS (and if it is, seems useless as all atc is communicated in VHF on VATSIM and in-game). But anyways, i dont see a way to select monitoring and talking on COMM2, can only see that i can input a freq on the CDU.
The APLN flight model is driven by the turboprop flight model on MSFS - not much we can do there without messing up something else. I've seen some users take advantage of custom throttle profiles to overcome some of these rough edges, see here (this one is for VTOL but should work fine for APLN as well): https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/mv-22b-osprey-throttle-axis-tuning-for-vtol/609917
Ah, that is unfortunate news. Could I ask that you try and revisit how Speed hold is coded then? In APLN mode, it seems it can in no way hold a speed, and the autothrottle wildly oscillates trying to compensate for the lowered rpm at low throttle placement.
We are likely going to opt for an easier solution - just adding an Aera-style GPS (optional) for these kind of ops.
I cant stress enough how HUGE this would be if you implemented even a basic direct-to GPS, or like I said before, adding one of the default GPS displays found in the aircraft that come with the game. It would greatly enhance the virtual mission set this aircraft can provide. Anything that could allow this aircraft to select a new airport or fly to a waypoint fix without having to exit the game tot the main menu would be an absolute breakthrough!
Thanks again for considering my opinions and looking into the bugs. Did you catch the NAV HSI compass bug btw? The compass is about 10 or so degrees off from both the map that sits behind it, as well as the heading number at the top of the compass. I can post screenshots if this helps.
-Josh
- Progresswith handling this problem