PFC (Precision Flight Controls)

[Matt Olieman]

I'm just curious and don't hear/discuss much regarding PFC (Precision Flight Controls). I'm a PFC Cirrus II Console owner/user and thought I would do a survey find out if anyone else uses their products.

Matt Olieman

[RalphW]

Matt

I just purchased two of their Jetliner 737 pedestal yokes. I tried to join their forum but was refused access because I did not buy direct from PFC so I sent them a note saying that I thought this was poor customer service. They did not reply so I am not impressed although the quality of the product is not in doubt.

Regards

[Rodney]

I also own a 737 Pedestal Yoke. Purchased it about 9 years ago from them. 2 Years ago it went haywire on me, I emailed them, they asked me to call them which I did. The controller was a first gen, and they sent me a current gereration with cables and switches (free). Many emails back and forth. It worked up to a couple of months ago when either static or the pots wore out. But anyway, I had great prompt support from them. I'll get new pots and rebuild it again sometime.

[AndyT]

I know who they are but their stuff is outside my budget.

[ryanf]

Hi All,

I have a cirrus II console - very good quality and reliable - thanks also to Peter Dowsons interface software.

I know its expensive but its great to have a fully assembled and working console of such high quality so I can do some GA flying while I continue with my a320 build at a slow pace!

One small issue I have with the console however is that it is designed to sit on a desktop but when moving the yoke, the console can move also due to the internal spring being fairly stiff. This is needed to give realistic feel but I have had to tape the console to the desk and I am thinking about drilling the case in order to install fixing bolts.

Matt - did you solve this problem?

cheers,
Ryan.

[Matt Olieman]

I use a rubber matting used for kitchen cupboards, works perfect and my unit does not move Also I have an adjustable table to lower the unit, more realistic to the yoke level in a cockpit.

I too am quite pleased with the unit and do lot of GA flying, including online. Although I fly using FSX I've got a few glitches with the landing gear lights going off and on. How about you Ryan?

Matt Olieman

[ryanf]

Hi Matt,

I use FS9. I don't have any gear lights since I didn't purchase any of the avionics or the RIC so I can't comment about that issue.

I have mostly been flying the Flight1 cessna172 so I have not had to worry about landing gear. Just starting to use the flight1 baron58 but having trouble getting it working - think its something to do with how the aircraft is initialised.

cheers,
Ryan.

[Peter Dowson]

I've got a few glitches with the landing gear lights going off and on.

I think that's a symptom of having a version of the firmware made before they added the motorised trim control facilities (as used in the 737NG cockpit). The commands my PFC driver sends for the motors are misinterpreted by the firmware. You need to turn off the motor action in the PFC options -- should have been off by default. This is the relevant part of the PFC DLL User Guide:

Trim/shaker motors fitted: Only check this to enable the facilities in PFC.DLL which drive the stick shaker motor (on stall or overspeed warnings) and trim motor (to turn the trim wheels), if you have these fitted. Do not enable them otherwise, as there is a possibility that the version of firmware in your console might then cause odd things to happen, most noticeably flashing of the gear indicator LEDs when trim is adjusted.

(my emphasis).

Regards

Pete

[Matt Olieman]

Thanks for your response to this issue Peter. I was hoping that would of been the problem, unfortunately, the box is not checked so there for I still have flashing gear lights.

I'm using PFC FSX Driver 4.30

and FSUIPC Version 4.30

Matt Olieman

[Peter Dowson]

Thanks for your response to this issue Peter. I was hoping that would of been the problem, unfortunately, the box is not checked so there for I still have flashing gear lights.

Hmm. Strange. How old is the firmware? I wonder if there are some other new commands they added which messed up old firmware decoding. Did they always do this, since you had it, or only, for example, with more recent PFC DLL updates?

You should be able to get PFC to supply a replacement firmware chip, if that is what it is. Otherwise, If I knew what caused it I could make that part optional too.

Contact PFC. They should be able to tell you how to find out your firmware version.

Regards

Pete