Can I use an X Box controller ?

D

Doogerie

New member
So I have been looking at this for a few days and it looks amazing fun and I am seriously considering getting it. but I am wondering do I really need the RC controller or would I be ok with an X Box controller on a PC? I know it’s not perfect and it’s got to be better the nothing right?

thans for your help
 
Yes, you can use an XBox controller. I did it for the heck of it. It's going to be far from perfect, though. To use it, you'll spend some time adjusting the Controller Profile, which is where you map the sticks and buttons to airplane radio channels for controls. Once that's done, it does work.

Are you just trying to figure out if you're interested in radio-control (RC) flight before spending a lot of money on it? RealFlight isn't a great as a game, and there are other flight simulators out there with fancier graphics if you're more interested in realistically piloting a plane from the front seat. RealFlight has earned a following as a great simulation for working with real RC models and helping you practice the controls before going outside. Part of that experience is using a controller that feels like a real RC transmitter and has switches rather than momentary buttons for changing functions on the aircraft.
 
See I am asking because due to a medical condition I would not be physically strong enough to pick up a plane irl so I need to live within my means and this seems like a way to kind of do something that I want to do but physically can’t also I don’t think my local flying club survided lockdown so yeah that’s why I ask.
 
Realflight Evolution is a great simulator and should fit your needs perfectly, try it for a while with the X box controller and maybe later on purchase the DX Controller.
 
IMHO, you'd be better off buying RF with the controller even though it's more expensive. The fact that the X-box controller centers both sticks is a REAL problem. AFAIK, you'll go to 1/2 throttle if you let go of the sticks instead of leaving the throttle alone and neutralizing the other controls.
 
Bill Stuntz is correct, buying the simulator-controller combo will save you money, as opposed to purchasing the items separately, and you will have more channels available to use, the X box will get you approximately 8 channels and the DX will have 14 channels.
Yes, the stick centering can be a problem for airplanes, but it is a bonus for flying Heli's.
 
asj5547 said:
Yes, the stick centering can be a problem for airplanes, but it is a bonus for flying Heli's.
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I'm not a heli pilot. How is centering the collective/throttle stick an advantage for heli's? This is not a snarky question. I just don't understand.
 
I'm a lousy heli pilot, but I'll take a shot at that question. I always tried to adjust throttle and pitch curves such that the heli would hold altitude and hover around 50% throttle, at least in a "normal" flying mode. (I never got to stunt/3D modes.) If you've got it set that way, then self-center on the throttle stick could be a good thing. The multirotors with pressure sensor altimeters are intentionally designed so that both sticks are self-centered for "hover in place".
 
I can "see" it for multirotors with more-or-less autopilot functions onboard. But I find it hard to imagine how it would be an advantage for helicopters that are much less stable - especially considering the different flight modes of heli's. IMHO, multirotors are not "helicopters." Am I wrong about that? They seem to have inherent stability, maybe built into the onboard flight controller, more like trainer aircraft that self-correct when the sticks are released as compared to 3D models if we were talking about fixed wing. When I've let go of the sticks while I'm trying to fly a heli in RF, it's usually the wrong thing to do. With a trainer aircraft it's often the right thing to do.
 
My neighbour had a Heli when he first moved in he flew this thing upside down he has a drone now that is just as cool but drones have a ton of red tape in regards to the camera
 
Not exactly what you were asking but I too have limited mobility. I encourage you not to limit yourself because of it.

I can’t get out to the field often but RF is a good substitute. When I do get out the time spent on the sim has improved my flying experience.

they do have park flyers that are very light and all you need fits in a box thats very light. Many of these are part of RF models.

my local club members are always eager to help me carry anything I need at the flying field. they will even walk down the runway to recover my plane if I land too far away. Any club that aren’t willing to help you probably aren’t worth being a member of.

good luck to ya
 
BILLFITT said:
Not exactly what you were asking but I too have limited mobility. I encourage you not to limit yourself because of it.

I can’t get out to the field often but RF is a good substitute. When I do get out the time spent on the sim has improved my flying experience.

they do have park flyers that are very light and all you need fits in a box thats very light. Many of these are part of RF models.

my local club members are always eager to help me carry anything I need at the flying field. they will even walk down the runway to recover my plane if I land too far away. Any club that aren’t willing to help you probably aren’t worth being a member of.

good luck to ya
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I have Muscular Dystrophy so it’s only going to get worse I have only one working arm but thank’s I will look in to that.
 
Doogerie said:
I have Muscular Dystrophy so it’s only going to get worse I have only one working arm but thank’s I will look in to that.
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I had a quadriplegic friend who could move his arms but had no control of his hands/fingers. He had hand braces with pencil erasers kinda like extra thumbs that stuck out 90 degrees below his little finger. He could use those to type and move/click a mouse. I suspect that he could have manipulated both R/C sticks with those, but we never tried it. But he'd have had trouble with the knobs/switches. Do you have enough control of your "bad" arm to do simething like that?
 
RealFlight will recognize the XBox controller as a "Gamepad" profile.

Now that I'm trying this again (hooked up an XBox Series X controller via USB), I'm pleasantly surprised how well the default mapping works.

Left stick = Throttle (up/down) / Rudder (left/right)
Right stick = Elevator (up/down) / Aileron (left/right)

X button = Flight Mode, toggles between flight mode 1 and 3 (RealFlight Channel 8)
Y button = Dual Rate, toggles between low and high rates (RealFlight Channel 5)
A button = Flaps, toggles flaps full up and full down (Real Flight Channel 6)
B button = Both Smoke (Real Flight Channel 7) and Throttle Hold (RealFlight Channel 9), which should make it either toggle landing gear up or down on a plane, or toggle Throttle Hold on/off on a heli

The D-Pad will move the cursor around the menus. In RF Evolution, D-Pad left will open up the ESC menus, just like pressing the Cancel button on the InterLink DX controller.
- Up = Move cursor up
- Down = Move cursor down
- Left = Back up/Cancel
- Right = Select

Menu button = Reset (put the aircraft back at the starting point)

The bumpers are assigned to RealFlight Channels 14 and 15, which don't have typical functions. You could remap those to something else. I'd probably set one of them to RealFlight Channel 12 to control Panic Mode or Reverse Thrust on the planes that support those features.

The triggers are not assigned to anything, as Windows treats them as proportional inputs like sticks rather than buttons.

The buttons in the middle of the sticks are not assigned to anything but could be.

So, absolutely, it does work!

The only part that's really strange as mentioned in other posts is that the throttle stick self-centers, so it will apply 50% throttle unless you're holding it in a different position. It's really not a big deal while you're flying. The aircraft wants to take off immediately when it appears on the screen, but it's easy enough to get your thumb on the left stick, pull it back, and then press the menu button on the controller to reset and start over. If you aren't holding that stick because you're working with menus or something else in RealFlight, the aircraft will take off again, but you can just ignore it.
 
flightengr said:
Yes, you can use an XBox controller. I did it for the heck of it. It's going to be far from perfect, though. To use it, you'll spend some time adjusting the Controller Profile, which is where you map the sticks and buttons to airplane radio channels for controls. Once that's done, it does work.

Are you just trying to figure out if you're interested in radio-control (RC) flight before spending a lot of money on it? RealFlight isn't a great as a game, and there are other flight simulators out there with fancier graphics if you're more interested in realistically piloting a plane from the front seat. RealFlight has earned a following as a great simulation for working with real RC models and helping you practice the controls before going outside. Part of that experience is using a controller that feels like a real RC transmitter and has switches rather than momentary buttons for changing functions on the aircraft.
Click to expand...
ho can you use an xbox elite controller for that? i want to try it out but it gives me an error message every time i try to run realflight
 
If you're trying to do it wirelessly, then your computer needs to have whatever parts are necessary to support a wireless connection to an Xbox controller. What you need varies by computer, version of Windows, and version of controller.

As I mentioned, I used a USB cable from the computer to the controller.

RealFlight can't use a controller if Windows doesn't recognize that it's there. In Windows, run a program called "joy.cpl" to make sure your game controller is functioning with Windows.
 
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