Throttle question for Twin Pilots
Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 11:30 pmI have 2 Saitek throttle quadrants side by side.
...but it's quite a renown fact that IRL there is no engine that is perfectly 100% similar to another. Between two very same model of engine, built in the same factory, in about the same timeframe, and kept efficient in the very same manner, you'll find ALWAYS operational differences, and these differences translates in very rarely having throttle axis lined up, like so very often happens in the various sims.And if you keep in mind that prop governors and carburettors are similarly NOT 100% similar one to the other of the same kind, just like engines, props and mixture controls follow the same rule.
There's no really "acceptable differences" written on paper that I know of (and if there is, it is expected it should change between a plane and another). If an engine begins straying too much from the expected parameters, it simply means it needs to overhauled, but unless you use some complex payware with very complex damage modules that work per engine, I don't think you need to worry about this.
The various simulators for PC (all of them) give often a very unrealistic response to single axis throttle commanding multiple engines, like so often happens when using a joystick with a small throttle controller like mine, but being non professional softwares, consistency is often preferred over perfect simulation (and it makes the coding easier too). Consistency that IRL rarely, if ever happens.
Of course in YOUR case, you may fall straight into the rule that no throttle control is perfectly 100% similar to another of the same kind (yes, the rule is valid for PC throttles too
), and using two different throttle levers to command an engine each, you have surely a more realistic response than... than me, for example. I wouldn't really begrudge that, was I in your shoes. 
