X Plane 10 Keyboard Controls

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Raguel Charrette

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Aug 3, 2024, 1:52:12 PM8/3/24

to lialenoli

In the controls menu there might be a way to map that to some keyboard or mouse setting - it has a huge pile of things you can remap. Thing is, keyboard keys are binary rather than proportional controls, so they tend not to work well for steering and flying controls. An OK joystick can be had for not much more than $25 so it's well worth getting one for flight simulators. I have a Logitech one that was about that price and works well. It really adds a lot to the experience overall, compared to trying to fly with the mouse or keyboard.

Thanks Andy, I did play around with the Rudder Trim (assuming that's what you are referring to), but found it too slow to actually use as a control surface during flight. I do realize that you pretty much do need an analog input for something like a rudder though.

On my ipad, inside IF, I can see there are keyboard key assignments to some controls, but using a Smart Connector attached keyboard i cannot activate them. A bluetooth keyboard or external software may be needed to use them

Hi
I have the same problem. I want to use game using keybard in my tablet or running in windows 11 with bluestack (In the next days we will be able to install the game directly in windows 11 using the app store). So we need a way to use the game without accelerometer, using keyboard and/or on-screen control. Does it exist?

I think this topic would have come up before, but I couldn't find anything as yet. I don't have rudder pedals, or a joystick with rudder control, and I'm sure that I am not the only X-plane user out there still flying with mouse and keyboard. However, I have not been able to find any keyboard control for rudders. I'm sick of sliding around in the sky and it is not providing me with the most realistic flying experience.

You can use the 9 and 0 keys to adjust 'rudder trim', but I think the aircraft must be equipped with rudder trim controls in order for the key commands to work. As for actual rudder control, I dont think there is a key command for that. If you check the registry you will find a graphic keyboard layout (jpeg) that has all the keys commands labeled for quick refrence.

I know about the trim controls but I want the full range of movement. It seems crazy to build a flight sim without allowing for a vital flight control???? I love the sim, but there is no way I'm forking out for separate rudder controls...

Hey Wookas, you can also set some of the buttons on your joystick to control the rudder. In the "Joystick axis and buttons" menu, look for two options labeled "rudder move left" and "rudder move right".

I am -as newbie to X-Plane- also looking for an apt way to activate nose wheel steering. The '5' key does indeed center the nose wheel, but the other keys mentioned in this thread don't influence the wheel. Keys 1 and 3 do control the rudder as I can see it moving but the nose wheel remains in the same position. I admit that the joystick I own -an iShock- is far from ideal to use in a flightsim, but programming the buttons should be the same as with any joystick protocol, I guess. So, I tried also to access these particular functions in the Joystick/Axis menu but it seems that for the iShock these buttons far down in the list are not available.

Update: after a couple of hours of tweaking with the utility GamePad Companion (by Carvware) I got the nose wheel under control by assigning the X- and Y-axis to the mouse X- and Y-axis. Problem solved!

However, if I use Rudder first and then let go, the plane goes back to its original direction. If I hit some elevator first, then I can use Rudder and the flight direction stays changed and doesn't jump back.

So what is going on here? I thought by going into camera mode, I could fly with the keyboard controls but it depends on which ones I use first and such. It also seems like I have to change the camera view. Otherwise I get snap-back on all the controls. Is there an explanation of this somewhere or a better way to fly with keyboard controls with Mouse Aim.

I had the same question a while back. I bind C key to a thumb button on my mouse. It kinda works like free-look as long as the aiming reticle is outside of the viewing area (sometimes, when no enemies are near, I will move the aiming reticle further than its needs to be just to obtain manual controls). I wish they would fix it to where you could use manual keyboard control whenever you want. I also wish you could disable auto leveling.

Yeah I played with it some more and you don't really have to be in free look to get some assist from the keyboard controls but it is still not clear when the controls will work normally. The rudder just won't allow a real turn unless you do some elevator first.

Sorry. I don't always get the names right. "Mouse Look Around Mode" maybe. The mode where moving the mouse changes the third person view and does not change the plane direction. In that mode, you can fly the plane with the keys but if I try to steer with rudder first, the plane returns to original direction when I release the rudder key. The elevator keys seem to always work better (no auto snap back) and if you move the elevator enough, then you can steer with rudder and it doesn't snap back.

With the way things are, you can get some pretty bizarre automatic direction changes which can leave you like a sitting duck in the heat of battle. If no one else is near by, you can go into look around mode, mess with the elevator keys for a bit and then Auto direction stops working as long as you stay in Look Around mode.

Speaking of Look Around Mode, the default key assignment has key C that activates Look Around but you have to hold it down. Is there a way to have the Look Around key be a toggle? Press once to start LookAround and Press again to return to Mouse Aim. My zoom key works like that.

In that mode, you can fly the plane with the keys but if I try to steer with rudder first, the plane returns to original direction when I release the rudder key. The elevator keys seem to always work better (no auto snap back) and if you move the elevator enough, then you can steer with rudder and it doesn't snap

Yes, I would avoid using that key...unless you have enough time to recover...after you release the button the plane wants to point where you had your cursor was looking last...you can probably avoid that if before you release the button, point the cursor back in the general direction of the plane is headed .

In Flight Simulator, the stick held pitch steady and sent yaw and roll to neutral. So when you hit the key to pull up, not much changed, you just gradually pulled up; when you rolled you'd roll to where you want to go, then stop rolling. Normally you didn't touch the stick much. It's pretty similar to how you fly actual small planes.

In KSP with SAS off, the stick goes to neutral for pitch, and when you pull up, you very quickly get to the max input. So you jerk wildly all over the place trying to pitch. This is not how planes normally fly.

With SAS on, it's relatively smooth (unless the PID configuration is wrong) but as soon as you touch any key, it throws all the other (automatic) controls to neutral, and after you let go it fights whatever you just did. So if I want to roll a degree leftwards to flatten out my wings, I roll left, pitch down, yaw back to center, then SAS kicks back in again and I roll right undoing what I just tried to do.

Whenever I've wanted to fly planes "properly" (i.e. without having them jerk around all over the place), I've ended up relying completely on the trim controls, with SAS off.
It takes a lot of patience and you really need to act far in advance of whatever you're doing (as nimble and daredevilly to fly as Solar Impulse, I would imagine) but it does work: just keep your finger on Alt the whole time.

Haven't got anything to suggest unfortunately, @numerobis. I have seen mods before that would replace the stock SAS control, but I could never figure out how to use them properly and ultimately just went back to stock.

The answer, such as it is, is to feather your controls. KSP aerodynamic control surfaces have a response time, so if you hit a control key and release it quickly they will not achieve anything close to their maximum deflection. You can therefore control how much you turn by varying the interval between the presses, how long you hold it, or both. It's not ideal but it does allow for smoother turns, particularly with SAS in stability assist mode.