Phoenix R/C Professional Model Flight Simulation User Manual Version 3.
Contents • • • • • • • • • • • • Introduction Getting started Using Phoenix System o Setup new transmitter o Your transmitter o Your controls o Your keys o Program Setup o Check for Updates o Quit Models o Changing models o Editing models o Setup failures o Reset o Launch settings o Position settings o Recently used models Flying sites o Changing flying sites o Weather o Layouts o Buddies o Recently used flying sites Cameras and views o The camera menu o Views and Heads Up Displays o Toolbars Flight Re
Introduction Thank you for choosing Phoenix R/C – the professional model flight simulator for all levels of R/C pilots, beginner to competition standard, and for all types of R/C aircraft, whether you fly electric indoor shock‐fliers, .90‐sized IC 3‐D capable helicopters or scale warbirds.
Getting Started To use Phoenix successfully, you will require: • • • • • A compatible transmitter (see below) A genuine Phoenix USB interface (supplied with your Phoenix simulator) A genuine Phoenix installation DVD (supplied with your Phoenix simulator) Any additional adaptors that may be required to connect your radio (see below) A computer of at least the minimum specification or above (see below) Minimum requirements Phoenix requires that you have a computer of at least the following specification or
• • • • • • • • • Other E‐sky ("Mini‐DIN adaptor" required) Co‐Pilot ("Mini‐DIN adaptor" required) Blade CX, CX‐2, CX‐3, CP, CP+, CP Pro, CP Pro 2 and Blade SR (no adaptor required) Parkzone Transmitters with training jack ("DX5e adaptor" required) Art‐tech 100B (no adaptor required) Art‐tech 100C ("Art‐tech 100C adaptor" required) Walkera 2401, 2601 (Using "MINI‐DIN adaptor" supplied with transmitter) Walkera 2402, 2602 ("Walkera 2801 adaptor" required) Walkera 2801 ("Walkera 2801 adaptor" required) Plea
To begin, connect your genuine Phoenix USB interface to a spare USB port on your computer. Once you have done so, you should connect any additional adaptors (if required) to the 3.5mm “jack plug” end of the USB interface. At this stage, please make sure that your radio’s batteries have been installed correctly, and that the radio is fully charged. Please make sure that the charger is not still connected to your radio before connecting the Phoenix USB interface.
You can get back to this wizard at any time using the system > your controls menu. Setup complete Once you have completed the Initial Setup Wizard, you will be taken to the main Phoenix screen, with the default model on the field ready for take‐off. From here, you can choose a different model using the model > change menu, or change to a different flying site using the flying site > change menu. To change settings, open the system > program setup menu, and to exit the program, use the system > quit menu.
Using Phoenix The main window This is your view for most of the time when using Phoenix. This view shows your currently selected flying site, with all present models either on the field or flying above it. When you move your mouse, the main menu bar will appear, as well as any toolbars that are enabled and visible along the sides and bottom of the window area.
Toolbars Toolbars allow quick access to often‐used features, and can be hidden conveniently when not being used. If you close a toolbar, you can open it again using the view > toolbars menu. Any visible toolbars are located along the sides and bottom of the main view. All toolbars are either retracted or expanded, and only one toolbar can be expanded at a time on the left, bottom or right of the main window. When a toolbar is retracted, it will disappear when the mouse has been left for a few seconds.
System The System menu contains all system and program‐related menus and options, access to the automatic update system, and lets you quit the program. The first four entries let you setup and configure your radio and keyboard to control Phoenix: Setup new transmitter Selecting this option opens the Setup new transmitter Wizard, which guides you through the calibration and control‐profile setup of your radio/controller ready to be used with Phoenix.
Phoenix comes with a large selection of preset control profiles for a range of different transmitter makes and models. These are shown in the main “Saved control profiles” list to the left side of the menu. All control profiles are organised by radio manufacturer – double‐click a category to expand it and see the profiles contained within. You should select the control profile which is most similar to the one you are using with Phoenix from the list.
Control – this is the name of the model control or function, such as “Elevator” or “Retract Gear”. Min – Sets the minimum travel of this control. By increasing this, the control will not move to the full extent. Status – This shows the current state of this control coming from your radio (if connected). Max ‐ Sets the maximum travel of this control. By decreasing this, the control will not move to the full extent. Invert – Flips the control so that it has the inverse effect.
• • • Ignore – ignore the conflict, assigning both functions to this keyboard shortcut (not recommended) Clear conflict – clear the other keyboard shortcut. Try again – assign a different keyboard shortcut to the function. Clear Clicking this button clears this hotkey assignment, leaving no hotkey controlling this function. Default Re‐assigns the default, system hotkey to this function as it was when the program was first run.
User interface theme Select the user‐interface theme that you wish to use in Phoenix from a selection. This will change the way that all of the user‐interface elements appear while using the program. Display hotkeys This option controls whether model‐specific hotkeys are shown when you select a new model for the first time. Reset help messages Clicking this button will reset all help/warning messages that appear when you select certain program options.
• • No auto‐restart – When any impact or damage occurs, do not reset the model. When this setting is selected, you will need to use the Reset Model Hotkey (default = “B”) to reset the model, or assign a channel on your radio to the Reset Model Control and activate this. At idle throttle – When any impact or damage occurs, do not reset the model until the user has put their throttle back to the idle position (minimum stick).
The Enabled option to the right of the resolution drop‐down box enables/disables Fullscreen mode. The VSync option to the right of the Enabled checkbox controls whether Vertical Sync is enabled. This improves program smoothness, and should usually be left on. The advanced option lets you select from a greater choice of resolutions in the Fullscreen Resolution drop‐down box to the left. This is for advanced users, and should generally be left disabled.
Rotor Disk Visibility This slider lets you tune how visible the rotor “disk” is when your helicopter’s rotors are spinning very fast. Audio The audio menu contains settings for controlling all sound‐related functions. Sound volume This slider controls how loud all sound effects will play in the simulator. Sound library This drop‐down box lets you select an alternative sound library in the case of the default “XAudio” library being incompatible with your sound card.
This menu lets you change the language used throughout Phoenix. To change language, click on the required language from the list, and then click Accept. Please note that you will need to restart Phoenix in order for your language changes to take effect. Check for Updates This menu opens the auto‐update system, which is used to update the program to the latest version, and also to install new models, flying sites and colour schemes when they become available.
Models Phoenix comes complete with a huge selection of models included out‐of‐the‐box, with more available for free download on a regular basis. Almost all types of R/C flying model are featured, from indoor electric Shock‐fliers, to 3D capable high‐performance helicopters and airplanes and scale warbirds – and everything in between. When you select a model, it appears on the selected flying site ready for take‐off. You can only select and fly one model at a time.
Below the model selection list you will find another drop‐down box. Many models in Phoenix feature more than one colour‐scheme, and when this is the case you will be able to select them in this box. Variants When you edit a model, Phoenix creates a “Variant” of it which is saved so you can select it later. Variants are stored in your My Documents/PhoenixRC/Variants folder, and can be shared with other Phoenix users. Many models also feature preset or “system” variants which reflect common model setups.
Clicking the Edit menu opens the Edit Model menu, where you can make changes to the currently selected model. When you make changes to a model in Phoenix, a “Variant” is created which holds the changes you have made. These are stored in your My Documents / PhoenixRC / Variants folder so you can easily share them with other Phoenix users. Variants appear in the Model > Change menu under the model itself and can be selected in the same way as choosing the model.
To the lower‐right of the menu are buttons and controls for selecting and organising variants. When you change the central wheel, a variant will automatically be created and will appear in this drop‐down menu. You can then select this in future very easily from this menu, or from the Model > Change menu. You can also find any preset or “system” variants of this model in this drop‐down box which reflect common model setups.
• • • Drop‐down boxes – These are for attributes which have a set number of possible selections, such as which pilot a model features in its cockpit. To change this type of attribute, click on the drop‐down box to open it and select a new option from the list that appears. Check‐boxes – These are for attributes which only have a single enabled/disabled value. Change these by left‐clicking once on the check‐box to toggle it.
When you toggle this option on, small check‐boxes will appear to the left of any attribute in the Attribute List that is compatible with Inflight tuning. Toggling one of these check‐boxes will enable Inflight tuning for that attribute. To disable Inflight tuning, either disable all small checkboxes, or toggle the Inflight tuning option off. Scale wizard Clicking the Scale Wizard button in either Simple or Detailed mode will open the Scale wizard dialog.
The Setup Failures menu opens the Setup Failures menu, which lets you select from a range of different problems that can occur on your model during flight. You can then practice recovering from these in case they were ever to happen in a real‐life situation. The main section of this menu is a table displaying the available failures, when they should happen, and some further settings controlling their behaviour when they do occur.
This menu item will reset your model to its default position on the flying field. This will also occur if you have crashed or damaged your model and have the Auto‐reset options configured correctly under the System > Program Setup > Physics menu, or you press the Reset Model hotkey (default = “B” on your keyboard). Launch settings The Launch menu controls how the selected model will take‐off (launch) from the flying field.
Once you have selected a starting circle, you can then also select a starting angle by again left‐clicking when the red direction indicator is at a satisfactory angle. Once you are happy with your new position, press the Finished button in the bottom‐centre of the screen to exit the position changing mode and return to normal flight. Store Clicking this menu option stores the current model’s position, orientation and velocity.
Flying sites Phoenix uses high‐resolution photographic panoramic flying sites which give you photo‐realistic backgrounds that function smoothly on a wide range of computer specifications. There is a great selection of flying sites out‐of‐the‐ box, and more are released on a regular basis from the automatic updates system.
Click the Change menu to open the Setup Weather menu, where you can configure any wind, turbulence or thermal settings to be added to the flying field. Saved setups To the left of the Change Weather menu is the Saved Setups list. This list contains all of the preset weather setups, as well as any weather setups that you create yourself. A weather setup contains all of the wind, turbulence and thermal settings for easy changing.
above 60% will cause three thermals to appear on the flying field. Thermals can only be seen by the user if the View > Displays > Thermals menu option is selected. Thermal duration Controls how long a thermal will last for before dissipating and reforming in another location. A setting of 100% will cause the thermal to stay active for at least 5 minutes before dissipating and reforming.
Each panel consists of the following settings: Buddy avatar At the top of the panel is a large button displaying the buddy’s avatar icon. This is used to recognise the buddy on the field when there are multiple pilots present. Click the avatar icon button to open the Select Avatar menu, where you can choose an alternative avatar for the buddy. See the System > Program Setup > General menu for more information on choosing an avatar.
At the bottom of the Buddies Toolbar is a Configure button which can be used to quickly access the Configure Buddies menu. Recently used flying site list The bottom sub‐menu under the flying site menu stores a list of your recently used flying sites. Every time you change flying site, this list is updated up to a maximum of your last 10 sites. Clicking an item in this list will quickly switch to that flying site without the need to open the flying site > change menu.
Cameras and views The View menu contains all options and settings for controlling the current view, cameras and Heads‐Up‐Display (HUD) elements. This menu also contains the toolbars sub‐menu, which lets you show/hide the various toolbars available. Camera This menu controls the virtual camera, which views your model when flying. This menu can be used to change how the camera reacts to your model’s position, and even change which model the camera is looking at.
Please note that this is only valid when Free look is not selected from the camera modes above, and if the currently viewed pilot leaves the session, the camera will return to view your own model. Displays This menu contains all of the Heads‐Up‐Display (HUD) elements that can be selected to be displayed on top of the simulation view. Clicking any of the items in this list will toggle the display on or off.
Click the Blue “Settings” button at the top of the Flight Info widget to configure the different data items that are shown. All of the possible pieces of information are featured in the Items to Display list, with a check‐box denoting whether that item will appear in the Flight Info panel or not. Simply click the check‐box next to an item in the list to include it in the Flight Info panel, or clear the checkbox to hide it.
Binoculars The Binoculars widget shows a zoomed‐in view of your model at all times, no matter how far away from your location the model actually is. This is especially useful for keeping track of the orientation of the model even when it is a large distance away. The binocular view always shows the model at the same size, and does not show any background details or other objects. You can also resize the widget to get a larger or smaller view of the aircraft.
Clicking this menu option will enable the thermal display. When thermals are activated either through the flying site > weather > change menu, or by a competition mode such as thermal gliding, they will appear on the flying site as large semi‐transparent cylinders which show the extent of the thermal’s radius. Flying inside the cylinder will provide thermal lift to the model. Sky orientation Clicking this menu option will enable the Sky orientation display.
the toolbar will disable that Buddy. There is also a Configure button at the bottom of the toolbar which will quickly bring up the Configure Buddies menu (see this topic for more information on Buddies). Multiplayer The multiplayer toolbar gives you full control over any multiplayer‐related features and settings, including session and user control if you are the host, and chatting with other pilots. See the Multiplayer section later on for more information on the Multiplayer toolbar.
Flight Recorder Phoenix features a powerful and full‐featured flight recorder which lets you record a flight (or series of flights), and then save these to disk to share with other Phoenix users or analyse at a later time. The flight recorder will record your model and flying site changes when active, and when you play the recording back these will automatically take effect. Clicking the Open menu will open the Flight Recorder display. This can then be repositioned around the screen as you wish.
• movements if you have the onscreen controller visible. (see the View > Displays > Controller menu above for more details). Free‐look – In this mode, you have full control over the camera using the mouse. Change the camera’s viewpoint by right‐dragging with your mouse. Your model will not appear on the screen in this mode. Loop playback The next button is the loop playback toggle. When this is enabled the current recording will begin again at the beginning of the recording when it reaches the end.
Clicking this button toggles the playback colour bar at the bottom of the Flight Recorder display. Once this is active you can adjust the colour tint of the playback model using the sliders on the bar. In this way, you can adjust how the playback model appears onscreen – i.e. make it more or less transparent. Main playback bar The centre of the Flight Recorder is the playback bar. This shows the current status of the recorded file. When no file is playing, this will show “idle”.
Training Phoenix features a wide range of different ways to learn to fly R/C models, including dedicated training models which are easy to fly, the flight recorder where you can record and playback a flight, the Simulation Speed widget which lets you alter the speed of the simulation to learn a complex manoeuvre more easily, and the online multiplayer which lets you learn from other pilots.
Next to this is the Show/hide onscreen controller button. Clicking this will toggle the onscreen controller display on or off while viewing the tutorial video. This is a valuable training tool which lets you see what control inputs are used to perform the various manoeuvres and tricks. The next button is the mute/unmute audio commentary button. This lets you toggle the voice‐over commentary on or off. Please note that the voice commentary is only played when the video is playing at normal (100%) speed.
Auto‐restart This button lets you toggle the auto‐restart on or off. When enabled, the model will automatically restart if it moves a certain distance away from your position, or rotates too far over from level. Inverted This button lets you toggle between inverted and upright hovering. Once you have mastered the standard upright hovering, you can use this feature to learn to hover a 3‐d capable helicopter upside‐down, which is a much more challenging manoeuvre.
The right‐hand drop‐down box lets you select the starting position of the model – whether it will be coming in from the left or right of the central target position. Using this setting you can also setup the Autorotation Trainer to practice inverted autorotations – a difficult and advanced manoeuvre.
Once you have finished with the Torque Trainer, either click the small round “X” button to the top‐right of the control panel, or select the Training > None menu option to close and return to the main view and standard free flight mode. Landing training This training mode lets you practice your landings efficiently without needing to go through the routine of powering up, taking off and gaining height and position.
Competition Phoenix Competition modes give you a chance to try out your new skills in a fun and challenging manner. Starting one of these modes will teach you to fly your model in complex ways that you may not encounter when flying in the standard free‐flight mode, and so may increase your skill‐level faster than you would otherwise. Many of the competition modes have both a challenge mode and a high‐score mode.
At the start of the round, the following options are available: • • Difficulty – This lets you set the difficulty of the round. At higher difficulty levels, the balloons will become smaller, and will move position. Time – This lets you select the round time, in minutes. Please note that this competition is available in an online session for up to 4 pilots to play. Streamer cutting Fly against one or more AI‐controlled pilots with streamers attached to the wings of your plane.
• Difficulty – This lets you set the difficulty of the round. The easier the difficulty level, the higher you will start. Please note that this is a solo‐only competition and is available for gliders only. Precise autorotation This competition lets you test your autorotation expertise. Your model will start at the correct height, orientation and speed for an autorotation, but with no throttle. Your task is to safely land your model as close to the centre of the supplied target as you can.
Multiplayer Online flying can add a whole new element of randomness and excitement to flying on Phoenix, as well as let you network and socialise with a huge number of pilots from around the world. Phoenix includes a fully‐featured online networking and matchmaking system called Phoenix Online which lets you find other Phoenix pilots and fly with them over the internet. To start your online flying experience, open the multiplayer menu and click the Go Online button.
Phoenix Online Lobby Once you have successfully signed into the online service, you will be taken to the Phoenix Online lobby screen. This menu connects you will Phoenix pilots all over the world, and acts as a matchmaking service to help you find available sessions close to your location. Available Sessions List To the left of the menu is the Available Session List. This contains a list of all Phoenix sessions that other pilots have created.
If you did not locate a session you wish to join you can create a new session by clicking the Create Session button below the Available Sessions List. This will display the Create Session menu where you can setup your new session: • • • • • • • • • • Session name – Type a name for your new session here. This will be displayed in the Available Sessions List for all other Phoenix users to find and join. Session type – Select a type of session to start.
To fly in an online session, you must have your transmitter connected and functioning. If you switch your radio off or disconnect it while in an online session, you will automatically be placed in Spectate Mode. If you wish to manually change to Spectate Mode, press the on your keyboard, or click the multiplayer > spectate button at the bottom of the menu.
• pilots. With this option disabled, you will need to hold down the Voice Activation keyboard key ( by default) to broadcast voice‐chat to the other pilots. Mute all Users – Clicking this option will mute all users in the session. With this set, you will not receive any voice‐chat messages from any pilot in the session. Starting an online competition mode As well as the solo high‐score and challenge modes, some competition modes can be flown online against other pilots.
Help There are several ways to gain help in Phoenix. By opening the help menu, you can access this manual in your currently selected language by clicking the user manual option. If you are in Fullscreen Mode (See the System > Program Setup > Display menu for more information) then Phoenix will automatically change you to Windowed Mode so that the manual can be viewed.
