OnCourse Software

Hi. I don't think this exists already (does it??), but it would be good if, as in real-world aviation, the pilot/user were able to request a specific change in altitude (especially when reaching ToD and the pilot wants to descend there and then), which is not linked to clouds or turbulence, as it is at present.

I was imagining something along the lines of there being a hotkey to request ascent or descent, as now, but PF3 then waiting for a number input from 1-9, so entering '6' for example would lead to ATC granting a change of altitude of 6000' ("Speedbird 100, descend to flight level 300" - if you were at 36,000'), up or down depending on the first hotkey input of course.

Or simply as it is now, but minus the 'excuse' of clouds/turbulence: the option to disable 'unable at this time' would be useful too: some a/c don't properly recover their FMC profile if you delay descent at ToD - you can end up way too high for the G/S).

Just a tweak of what is already there, I suppose.

Thanks.

H + n (where n = 1 to 9) to request climb to current altitude + n × 1000'. You need to press and hold the H key then quickly press and release the numeric key and finally release H.

Use L + n to request descent

Oh, wow! Already there. I will give it as go, though how I am going to arrange things, given I always fly in VR, I am not yet sure!

Unfortunately, my request to climb didn't work. I don't know if you can tell from the log what went wrong.

I was climbing towards 13,000', the altitude I had been given by ATC at clearance. At about 10,000', I thought I would test how the climb request worked, so I pressed and held down the three keys Ctrl+Shift+H (you didn't mention the Ctrl+Shift, above, but I assumed that was a given - Ctrl+Shift+H and Ctrl+Shift+L are already listed in the Hotkeys of course for climb and descend) and then pressed a number key - I can't remember which. '6', perhaps. I was expecting PF3 to ask me to climb to 19,000', assuming I pressed '6', but as I am sure you can tell from the log, it didn't work out like that, I was asked to maintain a lower altitude than 13,000'. I tried again, several times with various number inputs, but the results from ATC seemed to bear no relation at all to the keys I had pressed. Did I misunderstand completely what is meant to happen??

In the end, as again you will probably see, I got a CTD in X-Plane, and that was the end of my testing! I don't suppose it was related to PF3 though.

Hope you will be able to see what happened here Dave (or whoever!), as this feature (which has probably been there all the years I have had PF3, but I hadn't 'twigged' what it does ) will be really useful.

Thanks.

EDIT: On testing with just the keyboard and a text file, seems that for as long as I hold down Ctrl+Shift+H on the keyboard no further keyboard input is accepted. Once I release the three keys, then I can enter 1, 2, 3 or whatever. But that's not what you instructed above. ((Maybe it works in PF3 where it will not in a txt file).

You don't use the Ctrl + Shift... just H + n or L + n

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You need to press and hold the H key then quickly press and release the numeric key and finally release H.

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You don't use the Ctrl + Shift... just H + n or L + n

OK, thanks - I tried exactly as above, several times, but there was never a response from PF3. I have checked there are no assigned keyboard shortcut/hotkey clashes and will try one more flight a bit later. If my keyboard input (hold down 'H' or 'L' key, press a number on the main keyboard (not NumPad, right?) and release the H/L key) is still met with complete silence as earlier, I'll post the PF3 log.

Yes, hold down the H/L key whilst you press and release the numeric key (top row of keyboard) and the release the H/L key

The numeric key has to be hit immediately after holding down the H/L key, otherwise it will not be recognised.

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Yes, hold down the H/L key whilst you press and release the numeric key (top row of keyboard) and the release the H/L key
The numeric key has to be hit immediately after holding down the H/L key, otherwise it will not be recognised.

Have done that Dave, exactly, and repeatedly. No response from PF3 at all . I have the option set to play a sound when PF3 receives an input - there is no sound. Pressing just 'L" or 'H' doesn't seem to be recognised by PF3 at all as an input.

In the Current Hotkeys page, Ctrl+Shift+L shows, under 'current assignment' in the right-hand pane, "Plus 1 thru 9 to request lower altitude". Ctrl+Shift+H shows the same for 'higher altitude'. In fact, I can't initiate any request at the moment to descend or ascend: as soon as I enter Ctrl+Shift+L, the pilot requests the altitude at which he is (I am..!) currently flying.

I attach the log in the hope that you can see what the problem is. I hope it is fixable, as to be able to request a descent when I need it would help a lot: often ATC doesn't ask me to descend until several minutes after the ToD: it's not always easy to get 'back on track'; one can only descend so fast of course, and I can often end up too high to land at my destination. (I think I said that earlier! )

(I suppose this topic is not now in the right part of the forum! Can it be moved to its own thread somehow? Or doesn't it matter?)

Thanks.

Ah, well, If you have your H/L set to Ctrl+Shift+H etc then no, H on its own will not work. This is not the default setting. Was there a reason you chose to change it? Pressing all those keys together plus having to press a number key would be far too cumbersome.

Oh, so that's not the default? I assumed all the keys needed Ctrl+Shift before them, wrongly apparently. Yes, I see in the manual that 'L' and 'H' do not have Ctrl+Shift in front of them. I must have changed them as 'L' and 'H' were already in use in the simulator and so there was a clash.

Ok, I'll change it and try again! (On the other hand, when I was trying Ctrl+Shift+L (as per the Hotkey page) and a number key, that wasn't having any effect either - no littrlke sound to tell me the input was received).

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Pressing all those keys together plus having to press a number key would be far too cumbersome.

Yes, though I have it set up as a macro, so it isn't. But losing the Ctrl+Shift is better of course, I agree. I'll reassign any duplicate keys in the sim rather than PF3.