Hey, thank you so much for the very detailed and valueable answer!
While i won't say that it still should be possible there might be some ways to still do it i think. A nice guy over at the HPG discord build his own FFB stick using stepper motors and hall sensors amd using FSUIPC and a own lua script to get it done.
The LVars are in fact retrievable using another python based library.
Maybe i misunderstand you here, but the trims in helicopters work different than in airliners for example. In helicopters the AP actually drives the stick to the physical position needed to attain a specific attitude. This is the exact same position you need to move the stick to when handflying to achieve the same attitude. So i don't see the double input problem here or am i missing something?
Thanks again for taking your time and the detailed explanation!
I fully understand trim in helicopters vs fixed wing aircraft. My comment about trim was more generic in nature as an example of the fundamental issue. Helicopter force trim has further issues in MSFS as it barely even implements the concept (why would it since it doesn't support FFB).
There is a force-trim implementation in TelemFFB for MSFS but it does not interact with the simulator in any way. It is a hardware only implementation and is identical to the hardware trim you can set up in VPforce Configurator (except that it doesnt implement hat trim adjustments, only 'force trim button').
Regarding the autopilot following.. it would entirely depend on how the sim, or the aircraft, handles the joystick inputs while the autopilot is active. My guess is that since it expects a joystick to always be at 0/0 when it is idle (remember, it has no concept of FFB or axis offsets), any deviation from 0/0 would cause an AP disconnect. Perhaps not, but the only way to really know would be to implement the feature and that wold be an awful lot of work just to find out it doesn't work.
I didn't want to sound like i doubt that you know how helicopters work. Just wanted to make sure we are talking about the same thing.
The helicopter i am talking about has a 'no springs' option which let you deflect your stick while using (internal) trim release and creates a new center where you release trim release. So that should be helpful.
But i have no doubts that it will still be very complicated to implement the autopilot logic.
I will play around a bit and have a chat with the coder of the helo. Until then i will enjoy the Rhino in it's current state.
So thanks again for your effort and the very helpful information.
While waiting for my Rhino to be built and arrive I am thinking of going into VR…. I am undecided between the Varjo Aero and the Bigscreen Beyond. Which one would you recommend?
Depends on if you value comfort or clarity. I am biased as I have the aero (since day 1) and have zero complaints about the comfort. Performance in "my sim" (DCS) is second to none with dynamic foveated rendering support. Its an absolute steal at the new price in my opinion.
BSB uses a 3d scan of your face to make the pad.. might make sharing to show a buddy or selling it in the future difficult. also it is stemvr only, there is no native openxr (unless mbucchia makes one like he did for pimax!)
So I recalibrated my rhino to work better for the stick throw limiter I made, then the forces were off, so I clicked the reset button, but it factory reset it. I can’t figure it out now. Does anyone have a way to upload the settings just like it came out of the box? Thanks
Look for vr flight sim guy on yt, he has a few breakdowns on those 2 plus the pimax. Keep in mind the price decrease was recent so older vids will be taking the old price into account.
Another thing to consider is the software powering the device. Varjo software is, simply put, incredible. Top of the line high end software that would be far superior to anything BSB offers.
There's also a ton of pre-established tweaks and fixes and setting adjustment by the community to get as much performance as possible out of the Aero for flight sim
Another thing to consider is PC hardware. Are you on at least a 3080 with a decent CPU? Also you need to be using Nvidia GPU for the Aero, not sure about BSB.