How do I set Airbus throttle detents in FSX with FSUIPC?

To set Airbus throttle detents in FSX or FSX: Steam Edition with FSUIPC4, remove every competing FSX throttle binding, assign each lever to its own engine, calibrate reverse, idle and TOGA travel once, then teach CL, FLX/MCT and TOGA to the Airbus add-on through its calibration page or documented custom controls.

FSUIPC4 does not create Airbus detent or autothrust logic. It can calibrate an axis and translate physical lever positions into controls, but the aircraft must recognise the intermediate detents. The default FSX Airbus A321 uses generic FSX throttle and autothrottle behaviour rather than a fully modelled Airbus thrust-lever system.

What are Airbus throttle detents?

Airbus detents are fixed thrust-lever gates that select defined thrust limits or autothrust ranges rather than simply setting an arbitrary throttle percentage.

With autothrust active and the levers in CL, the virtual levers normally remain at that gate while the system varies engine thrust. That differs from aircraft in which motorised throttle levers move with the autothrottle. Our explanation of how Airbus-style throttle quadrants and their gates work covers that operating distinction in more detail.

Which FSUIPC throttle axis mode should I use?

Use direct FSUIPC calibration for conventional FSX throttle inputs, but follow the aircraft developer's required input method when an Airbus add-on provides its own calibration system.

The direct FSUIPC controls and the normal FS axis controls have similar names but are not interchangeable. A mistake we see constantly is selecting Axis Throttle1 Set while the direct-calibration option is active, or processing the same axis through FSX, FSUIPC and the aircraft at once.

FSX and FSX: Steam Edition use the FSUIPC4 branch. If the module is absent from the simulator's Add-ons menu, use our FSX-specific FSUIPC installation checks first. The user assignment and calibration facilities must also be enabled in FSUIPC4; an installation used only for add-on communication may not expose them.

How do I configure separate Airbus throttle axes?

The reliable method is to isolate each physical lever, assign it once and calibrate its complete travel before defining any intermediate gates.

1. Confirm the hardware axes. Open the Windows game-controller properties and check that each lever appears as a separate, steady axis that reaches both ends. Software calibration cannot repair a missing axis or an electrically noisy potentiometer.
2. Remove duplicate FSX assignments. In FSX controller settings, inspect every connected quadrant, joystick, gamepad and unused controller. Delete the throttle-axis bindings for any lever that FSUIPC will manage.
3. Create an aircraft-specific profile. Load the Airbus before opening FSUIPC and make the assignments profile-specific. This prevents Airbus detent settings from affecting conventional aircraft.
4. Assign each engine separately. Move only the left lever, use Rescan if FSUIPC detects the wrong axis, and assign it to engine 1 using the chosen route. Repeat for engine 2 and, for a four-engine aircraft, engines 3 and 4. Do not leave a combined throttle control assigned as well. See our separate-engine axis setup if the levers remain coupled or control the wrong engines.
5. Calibrate the endpoints once. For direct assignments, open Joystick Calibration and locate the separate-throttles section. With analogue reverse travel, record full reverse, a small stable idle zone and full-forward TOGA. Without analogue reverse, use the no-reverse-zone option where provided, set IDLE as the lower endpoint and TOGA as the upper endpoint.
6. Correct inversion before setting detents. If the value falls as the lever moves towards TOGA, reverse the axis and repeat the endpoint calibration. Keep slopes or response curves linear until all gates align.
7. Calibrate the Airbus detents. Open the aircraft's throttle-calibration page and place both levers at each requested gate in the stated order. Capture separate values for each lever if the add-on supports them; physical quadrants rarely produce identical raw numbers on both sides.
8. Test the powered aircraft on the ground. Move each lever slowly through REV, IDLE, CL, FLX/MCT and TOGA. Check the cockpit lever position and the add-on's detent annunciation or flight-mode response, not just the FSUIPC input number.

Do not copy calibration numbers from another simmer. Raw values vary between individual devices, USB interfaces and Windows calibrations. Our detailed FSUIPC axis-calibration procedure explains endpoint and idle-zone capture without relying on borrowed values.

How are CL, FLX/MCT and TOGA detents set?

Set CL, FLX/MCT and TOGA in the Airbus add-on's own calibration page whenever one is available, because that is where the aircraft defines the tolerance and mode logic for each gate.

Place the physical lever firmly in the notch before capturing it. Each gate needs a small tolerance band around its stable value so normal axis noise does not make the aircraft alternate between a detent and the manual-thrust range. The bands must not overlap.

Calibrate the full-forward endpoint at TOGA, not at CL. CL and FLX/MCT are intermediate positions inside the complete axis range. Capturing CL as maximum compresses everything above it and makes the forward gates impossible to distinguish.

Can FSUIPC axis ranges create Airbus detents?

FSUIPC axis ranges can associate a physical notch with an add-on command, but only when the aircraft documents the exact command, offset or key input it expects.

Record the stable raw value at the notch, create a narrow non-overlapping range around it and send the documented control when the lever enters that band while retaining the continuous throttle axis. Do not substitute generic fixed-percentage throttle commands for CL, FLX/MCT or TOGA: they can cause abrupt thrust changes without engaging the Airbus mode.

Range-based commands are a fallback, not the first choice. Two physical levers seldom enter a narrow band at exactly the same moment, so a global mode command attached independently to both axes may chatter or trigger twice. An aircraft calibration page that evaluates both levers is usually more reliable.

How should reverse thrust be configured?

Configure reverse according to whether the quadrant provides analogue travel below IDLE or only a button, latch or switch.

• Analogue reverse travel: calibrate full reverse as the lower endpoint and create a stable idle zone around the physical IDLE gate.
• Button or latch reverser: calibrate the main axis from IDLE to TOGA with no reverse zone, then assign the reverser input to the control documented for that aircraft.
• Conventional FSX aircraft: the standard throttle-decrease or reverse control may be suitable, but a complex Airbus can require its own command.

Do not combine analogue reverse calibration with a second toggle command unless the add-on explicitly calls for both. That often produces reverse at IDLE, a stuck reverser or a lever that jumps when the latch is released.

Why do the Airbus detents not line up?

Misaligned Airbus detents usually result from duplicate bindings, double calibration, an incorrect endpoint or tolerance bands that are too narrow.

When using direct FSUIPC calibration, FSX sensitivity and null-zone sliders do not repair a poor detent setup because the axis is bypassing FSX's normal controller processing. Correct the Windows calibration, FSUIPC endpoints and aircraft-specific tolerance bands instead.