I'm trying to remember if the Europa fuselage I sat in at Airventure was a trike or monowheel... but no matter- I agree that the finger-brake system is a brilliant idea from an engineering standpoint, but that setup in the Liberty (same as trike Europas) looks "fiddly," all right. Seems like there's more travel in the levers than I'd want to deal with, especially with my left hand.
It'd be better to have a sprung, pivoting bar or pad on either side of the throttle lever, running the length of its travel,so one can extend a finger to tap one or both brakes without any concern about throttle position. It'd be tempting to put buttons on the throttle handle for brakes, but that could lead to some serious "whoopsies".
I think the monowheel Europas use a single brake lever on the throttle handle, sort of like working a motorcycle hand brake, and steering is courtesy of rudder/tailwheel input. Bet that's pretty easy to learn to use.

Quote:


Flying with a stick in your left hand isn't much different than flying by yoke with just your left hand.

And for that Liberty... I'm not the only pilot who's not comfortable giving up both a steerable nose-wheel AND not having toe brakes. Like I said.. it's not that big a deal getting used to it, but it definately compromises the positive, and by comparison, precise control you get while NOT having to teach your hand/fingers/thumb new tricks. Let me assure you, it makes taxiing in a crowd, with wind, more demanding. It's a manufacturing short-cut and money saver.. pure and simple.

The more we ponder this.. the less I like the Liberty..

I don't know about the Europa, but another cost-cutting compromise that probably has a lot to do with the fact that those god-forsaken finger brakes are used, is that you can't adjust the seat ! You heard me right.. When fitting yourself into the cockpit of the Liberty, you have to actually adjust the position of the rudder pedals     The hardware/plumbing involved to make toe-brakes adjust along with the pedals (let alone having to make seperate, adjustable, stand-alone brake pedals (the Europa doesn't have toe-brakes.. it uses seperate brake pedals)) would weigh quite a bit and cost a bunch too.

These aren't innovations. Nobody said, "hey.. let's fit this thing with better, easier to use brakes". They're engineering/manufacturing/money-saving short-cuts.

Brett_Henderson wrote on Dec 13^th, 2006 at 4:42pm:

I've got the logitech right now and it uses push button for trim.  Unless of course you map the throttle to the trim, if its even possible, but I have no interest in doing that.

Thanks.  I think the main problem is a lack of patience on my part and the difficulty of trimming a 172

If you are flying the default C172, I can recommend downloading the RealAir C172 http://www.realairsimulations.com/home.php?page=home
They make great aircraft and that one is free, it has won numerous awards and is said to be much more realistic. I fly this aircraft and it does trim out out much better. If you don't like the stock colour I have a repaint you can have if you like, also some better (in my opinion) sound files.

ahh Lol just editing as noticed this has already been said. In that case I back that up.

Hey Friday, I have just found a great free model of the C150, the panel is fantastic and she flies beautifully. Have to say its the best free trainer ive come across.
(Im not connected by the way). Give her a try. Go here and check out the free downloads link
http://www.carenado.com/ecommerce/buscador.php3?categoria=3

Well, when  you try and load it, it does flag as having some incompatible parts, but if you accept them anyway it flies perfectly and everything seems to work.
Except for one thing, as I landed for the my first online touch and go I crashed and came to a grinding halt. It appears that although the Cessna has fixed gear, the sim still has the 'G' key armed.
I shall have to disable it in aircraft.cfg or wherever and that will be it sorted.

Its well worth a try anyway Fridaychild