iFlyBMS v1

Okay, on to why this blog was created.  If a picture is worth a thousand words...

The main purpose of this creation is to minimize having to grab the mouse when in flight.  Note that some use of the mouse is unavoidable, primarily during startup and shutdown procedures, but hopefully once in a good jet, there will be minimal need to use the mouse as everything will be just a tap or a swipe away.

Inspiration for this came from my TM Cougar MFDs.  When I first started flying DCS A10C, I found that using the mouse to click the MFD OSB buttons was very difficult.  Not only did I have to let go of the joystick (even when reaching for a left MFD OSB button), I needed to keep my head as still as possible while I aimed for and clicked the OSB.  With the TM Cougar MFDs, I could easily hit an OSB even if I was moving my head around --- so having a physical item I could interact with made flying easier.

After that, I looked at building my own pit, or at least build the A10C UFC and CDU first, but the electronics alone were quite expensive, not to mention the CNC'ed acrylic kits to make them look good.  Then a DCS simmer by the name of Jan created the iPadPit and brought this possibility to my attention.  However, the limitations present at that time was too much for me to fully utilize the iPadPit and that fell to the wayside; I still had to use my mouse for interacting with 80% of my cockpit controls.

A few months ago, I hit a plateau with DCS A10C and one of my flying buddies brought Falcon 4 BMS to my attention.  I loved Falcon 4 Allied Force years ago, and the new 3D pit of BMS made sure the return to the F-16 was even more immersive than my previous experience.  However, I hit the same problem again, and in this case, interaction with the ICP was mandatory... from changing radio presets to setting bingo level to configuring the datalink.  Oh boy!  And the ICP was even more "congested" than the A-10's UFC!  I had to find a solution, and for a long time, I looked into building a physical ICP.  But with a limited budget, no woodworking equipment or skill, and even less electronics experience, the odds were stacked against me.

Jan told me that someone had made a similar app for BMS and I looked up the thread on the BMS forums.  I gave the setup a try but it wasn't what I needed.  It was, however, a step in the right direction.  So, I gritted my teeth, went under the hood, and learned what I can about iPadPit and the background app that ran it, TouchControl.  I decided I was going to start from the ground up.  Fortunately, Dave, the guy who made the TouchControl app, provides amazing support for his app and I got off to a good start.

So here it is, the first version of iFlyBMS.  I've crammed as much as I can into the space available, and so far is serving its purpose beautifully.  However, it's not quite ready for general public use as yet, as I am still tweaking some of the controls and troubleshooting some odd quirks and bugs that pop up every now and again.  So... thanks for looking, thanks for reading the backstory, and thanks for the interest.  Hopefully I can have version 1 up for public use within the next week or so, as soon as I finish documentation for it.