Calibrate a Thrustmaster TCA Airbus throttle in MSFS with correct engine axes, detents, reverse settings and fixes for bad inputs.
To calibrate a Thrustmaster TCA Airbus throttle in Microsoft Flight Simulator, first confirm that Windows sees two smooth, full-range axes. Then bind each lever to its matching engine axis, remove duplicate throttle and reverse assignments, keep the response linear, and calibrate the IDLE, CL, FLX/MCT and TOGA detents inside the aircraft when supported.
Calibrate the TCA throttle in the correct order
- Test the physical axes in Windows. Connect the quadrant directly rather than through an unreliable hub, press Windows and R, enter
joy.cpl, select the TCA quadrant and open its test page. Move both levers through their complete travel. Each axis should move independently, smoothly and reach both endpoints. - Fix hardware-range problems first. If an axis jumps, stops early or is missing, reconnect the unit and check its driver and firmware before changing MSFS sensitivity. Use the manufacturer’s hardware recalibration procedure for your exact TCA revision if the Windows test remains wrong; button sequences can differ between TCA models.
- Create a clean MSFS control profile. Select the throttle quadrant in Controls Options and duplicate the default profile or start with an empty one. In Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, profiles and filters are arranged differently; our clean-profile setup for TCA controls in MSFS 2024 covers that interface.
- Remove conflicting assignments. Search the assigned controls for
THROTTLEandREVERSE. Clear any combined throttle axis, duplicated engine axes, digital increase or decrease commands, and unwanted reverse commands before adding the intended bindings. - Bind the levers separately. Assign the left lever to
THROTTLE 1 AXIS (0 TO 100%)and the right lever toTHROTTLE 2 AXIS (0 TO 100%)when the aircraft uses separate forward axes or its own detent calibration. If movement is backwards, enable the axis-reversal option once; do not reverse it in several places. - Start with a linear response. Leave sensitivity at its neutral setting and use little or no dead zone. Add a small dead zone only if the Windows test shows jitter. Avoid using large curves or extremity settings to force the Airbus detents into place.
- Calibrate the aircraft’s detents. If its EFB, tablet or MCDU offers throttle calibration, record each requested position with both physical levers centred in their notches. Save or apply the calibration, then reload the aircraft if its instructions require it.
Which throttle axis bindings should I use?
Separate engine axes are the correct choice for the twin-lever TCA quadrant because they preserve independent control of engines 1 and 2.
| Binding method | Use it when | Avoid it when |
|---|---|---|
THROTTLE 1/2 AXIS (0 TO 100%) | The aircraft calibrates detents itself or uses separate commands for reverse | The aircraft specifically requires a full-range axis with reverse included |
THROTTLE 1/2 AXIS | The aircraft documentation explicitly treats part of the axis as reverse | You are also using reverse buttons or an EFB reverse-on-axis system |
Combined THROTTLE AXIS | You deliberately want one lever to control every engine | You want the TCA levers to control engines independently |
Control names can vary slightly between Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, MSFS 2024 and individual aircraft. The rule is more reliable than the label: use one axis per engine and only one reverse-thrust method.
How do I align the Airbus throttle detents?
Physical TCA notches do not guarantee that every simulated Airbus will recognise IDLE, CL, FLX/MCT and TOGA at the same raw axis values.
Open the aircraft’s throttle-calibration page, place both levers precisely in each requested notch and record the position. If it allows separate calibration or tolerance zones, calibrate each lever independently and make the zones wide enough to absorb minor input jitter without allowing adjacent detents to overlap.
Test the result in the cockpit. The virtual levers should show each detent at the matching physical notch, and both engines should enter it together. An Airbus remaining physically in the CL detent while autothrust varies engine power is normal operation, not failed calibration.
Should reverse thrust be part of the throttle axis?
Use reverse on the axis only when the aircraft’s calibration system supports it; otherwise, stop the forward axis at IDLE and operate reverse through the quadrant’s gate switches or assigned reverse command.
Mixing reverse-on-axis calibration with hold, toggle or decrease-throttle bindings is a common cause of reverse appearing above IDLE. Our guide to selecting and configuring the TCA reverse-thrust method explains the two approaches without combining them.
Why is the TCA throttle still misaligned?
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| One lever moves both cockpit throttles | A combined axis or duplicate default binding | Clear it and retain only separate engine 1 and 2 axes |
| A lever moves backwards | Incorrect axis polarity | Use the MSFS reverse-axis option once |
| TOGA arrives before full travel | Response curve, extremity setting or incomplete hardware range | Restore a linear response and retest with joy.cpl |
| CL flickers between detents | Axis jitter or an overly narrow detent window | Add a small dead zone or widen the aircraft’s detent tolerance |
| Forward travel activates reverse | Two reverse methods are active | Keep either reverse-on-axis or reverse commands, not both |
| Only one engine responds | Both physical axes were assigned to the same engine | Use input detection and correct the engine number |
If the quadrant is absent from the controls screen or produces no input at all, work through our device-detection and assignment checks for an unresponsive TCA before recalibrating detents.
Do I need to calibrate it for every Airbus?
The Windows hardware check is normally done once, but detent calibration is often aircraft-specific because different Airbus simulations interpret the raw axis differently.
Keep separate MSFS profiles when aircraft require different axis or reverse configurations. Recheck the cockpit detents after changing profiles, resetting controls or installing an aircraft update, but do not repeatedly recalibrate healthy hardware to compensate for a bad binding.