AIRSTRIKEpro, level-bombing app for Saitek X52pro display

[FS~Daedalus]

AIRSTRIKEpro v2.3

Accurate levelbombing is indeed not too easy and there are some very good tutorials on how to make bombing runs and how to use bombsights, but since wind found its way into our favourite sim (v4.10.1m and following) accurate levelbombing became even more challenging.
I tried to solve most of the upcoming difficulties by writing a small application for the display of the Saitek X52pro joystick that is capable of computing correct dropping-angles and sideslip-corrections even when there is wind.



Update to version 2.3

- AIRSTRIKEpro communicates with IL2 1946 via DeviceLink. It receives IAS and altitude directly from the game, no need to enter these values manually anymore with this feature enabled (optional).
- Integrated simple autopilot, no restrictions, it can control every aircraft in the game (two modes: fighter or bomber)
- Speedbar, fuel status and engine temperature/setup information added
- option to choose units, select between (km/h, m), (mph, ft) and (kn, ft)
- option to temporarily disable the DeviceLink connection
- Clutch button LED indicates connection status
- reworked page-design
- no console window anymore but a Tray-Icon instead (the bomb )




This is the current page layout:





Download: AIRSTRIKEpro v2_3.zip



The scroll-wheel on the left lets you scroll through the pages, the scrollwheel on the right lets you increase or decrease the values shown in the active line. The active line can easily be spotted by the arrow "->" in front of it. Pressing the right scroll-wheel (select) lets you jump through the lines of a page and navigate to subpages.
Have a look into the ReadMe to learn more about the application and how to use it on bombing missions.

Add these two lines at the end of your IL-2 1946 conf.ini:

[DeviceLink]
port=3333

If you wish to use DeviceLink online (some important information is not sent by DeviceLink when playing online) please activate the 'DeviceLinkOnline Mod by Fireball' which is already included in the download.
The application supports all bombers in stock game (v4.11.1m), HSFX 6 and UP 3.
The pages #4, #5 and #6 are optional, have a look into the file startup.ini to customise the program to your likings.

The tool does not interfere with the Saitek Programming Software, so you can use it along with any joystick-profile you created for IL2 1946. The tool will just create a few new pages on the display.
Depending on what driver-version for the X52pro you currently use it might be necessary to update your drivers to the latest version.
You can find the latest Saitek X52pro drivers and SD6 programming software here: http://www.saitek.com/uk/down/drivers.php


Known Issues and Workaround

There are reports of the display showing strange behaviour when having the X52pro plugged to an USB-hub. This is a known issue, but saitek does not fix it (they can't or they don't want to...).
(For me) the issue was solved by plugging the stick directly to the computer.


There are also reports of the display not showing anything after starting AIRSTRIKEpro. This has probably to do with 64Bit operating systems (like Win7 64Bit) and the “Saitek DirectOutput Service” not being started correctly after your computer started.
Should you not see anything on the display of your X52pro after starting AIRSTRIKEpro please do the following (once):

1. Restart your computer and do not start AIRSTRIKEpro
2. Reinstall the latest drivers for your X52pro
3. Right click on the task bar at the bottom of your screen and select "Task-Manager"
4. Select the tab "Services"
5. At the bottom right, you will see a button "Services...", click on that button
6. A window will open, scroll down and find "Saitek DirectOutput". Right click on it and choose "properties"
7. Again a window will open, in the middle of it you will see "Startup type:" and to the right you will see a pull down menu.
Click on the arrow on the right edge and choose "Automatic (Delayed start)". Click the button:"OK"
8. Close the Task-Manager and restart your computer

After your system rebooted there will now be a 10 - 15 seconds delay before your X52pro display will work properly, so just wait a few seconds after your computer started before starting AIRSTRIKEpro.




Improvement suggestions, bug report and critique welcome!

Daedalus

[Fenice_1965]

+1+1+1

[fruitbat]

That is awesome, thank you very much

[ECV56_Guevara]

Gracias Daedalus!!!

[FS~Daedalus]

Thank you very much for your kind words!

To all that have tested the program:
Any feedback so far? Does the application connect to your X52pro without problems? Do the pages show up on the display correctly?
Feedback (positive and negative) will help to improve the utility and sort out any kind of problems.


Daedalus

[322Sqn_Dusty]

...WoW...

Currently the Hotas set is disconnected but i'm going for this one for sure! very clever.

[FS~Daedalus]

Update to version 2.0!
- AIRSTRIKEpro v2.0 now communicates with IL2 1946 via DeviceLink. It receives IAS and altitude directly from the game, no need to enter these values manually anymore with this feature enabled (optional).
- Integrated simple autopilot, no restrictions, it can control every aircraft in the game
- option to choose units, select between (km/h, km, m), (mph, nm, ft) and (kn, nm, ft)
- reworked page-design


Check the first posting of this thread, download link there is up to date.

Daedalus

[FS~Daedalus]

Bugreport and workaround

There are reports of the display not showing anything after starting AIRSTRIKEpro. This has probably to do with 64Bit operating systems (like Win7 64Bit) and the “Saitek DirectOutput Service” not being started correctly after your computer started.
Should you not see anything on the display of your X52pro after starting AIRSTRIKEpro please do the following:

1. Restart your computer and do not start AIRSTRIKEpro
2. Reinstall the latest drivers for your X52pro
3. Right click on the task bar at the bottom of your screen and select "Task-Manager"
4. Select the tab "Services"
5. At the bottom right, you will see a button "Services...", click on that button
6. A window will open, scroll down and find "Saitek DirectOutput". Right click on it and choose "properties"
7. Again a window will open, in the middle of it you will see "Startup type:" and to the right you will see a pull down menu.
Click on the arrow on the right edge and choose "Automatic (Delayed start)". Click the button:"OK"
8. Close the Task-Manager and restart your computer

After your system rebooted there will now be a 10 - 15 seconds delay before your X52pro display will work properly, so just wait a few seconds after your computer started before starting AIRSTRIKEpro.

[FS~Daedalus]

Update AIRSTRIKEpro v2.2

Work on the update to version 2.2 is done!
The page-layout changed a bit and I added two new pages, a 'classic speedbar' (IAS or TAS) and 'Engine temperature and settings' for each engine of your aircraft (up to four engines).




Please check the first posting in this thread for the download-link and additional information.


Daedalus

[Ze-Jamz]

Hey mate..

even though i don't play il2 much nowadays i appreciate the work gone into this..

fair play to yer!

~S~