X-Plane 12 Flight Model Update – Supersonic Transition, Delta Wings and Mass

Re:X-Plane 12 Flight Model Update – Supersonic Transition, D... by potatolicious on Tuesday June 21, 2022 @05:23PM (#31829277)

Also worth adding that a reasonably complex modern aircraft cannot be fully controlled by the keyboard alone. We're well past just simple throttle up/down, flaps up/down, gear up/down, etc.

How does one interact with the MCDU in an Airbus with the keyboard and joystick? How does one set the A/P altitude and airspeed? Set the radio frequency? What's the keystroke combo to manage the EFB? What keys are bound to "APU bleed on"? The sheer amount of functionality in a modern cockpit defies keyboard control - both because you very rapidly run out of available keybinds, and also that glass cockpits require input modalities that are fundamentally at odds with the keyboard.

I'd hazard to say the "3D cockpit + mouse interaction" mode is the only practical way of flying a modern complex aircraft, short of some type of VR/hard cockpit setup.

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Re:X-Plane 12 Flight Model Update – Supersonic Transition, D... by ses1984 on Tuesday June 21, 2022 @05:45PM (#31829453)

What about some kind of "spotlight" search?

Imagine you press a keyboard chord to pull up a virtual search bar, then type "APU bleed on" and a virtual hand reaches out and does the action.

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Re:X-Plane 12 Flight Model Update – Supersonic Transition, D... by dieortin on Wednesday June 22, 2022 @02:02AM (#31832559)

Something like this with voice recognition would be really cool

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Re:X-Plane 12 Flight Model Update – Supersonic Transition, D... by vultour on Wednesday June 22, 2022 @05:56AM (#31833866)

This exists for quite a while now: https://planecommand.com/

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Re:X-Plane 12 Flight Model Update – Supersonic Transition, D... by rlpb on Tuesday June 21, 2022 @10:30PM (#31831430)

Maybe this is already implemented, but a voice recognition interface seems appropriate here. Because aircraft that are this complex have two pilots, and it's normal procedure for the pilot flying to call for the other pilot to make settings changes.

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Re:X-Plane 12 Flight Model Update – Supersonic Transition, D... by yellowapple on Wednesday June 22, 2022 @12:58AM (#31832208)

"Alexa, raise the flaps."

"Now playing 'Raise Your Glass' by Pink on Spotify."

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Re:X-Plane 12 Flight Model Update – Supersonic Transition, D... by jupp0r on Tuesday June 21, 2022 @06:30PM (#31829833)

The cockpit interface could be implemented as a command line user interface. Having lots of buttons with text labels is obviously better in emergency situations.

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Re:X-Plane 12 Flight Model Update – Supersonic Transition, D... by colechristensen on Tuesday June 21, 2022 @07:08PM (#31830155)

You absolutely could have a REPL+extras kind of keyboard interface for an aircraft (it would be an interesting project!) but it might not be the best decision for an actual aircraft (actually testing this, how a pilot trained to be an expert in this kind of control would faire in stressful situations would also be an interesting project)

It would probably be a bad idea for a real world aircraft, but designing and testing it would be fun!

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Re:X-Plane 12 Flight Model Update – Supersonic Transition, D... by kqr on Wednesday June 22, 2022 @06:16AM (#31834013)

This would be frightening but not because I think the REPL itself is a bad idea. However, with a REPL comes -- whether you want it or not -- scripting. Do I want to fly a plane scripted by the pilot? Probably not. Even if they end up creating great scripts, it means they aren't exercising that checklist manually anymore and might be unable to once it's needed!

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