Use LEDs and Encoders in MS Flight Simulator and X-Plane with MobiFlight

[Delta]

Hey everyone,

over the past year or so, I have become a contributor to the MobiFlight project, integrating VKB controller functionality into this very useful piece of software. This means that for Microsoft Flight Simulator, X-Plane, Prepar3D and maybe soon also ProSim, it is now possible to control LED events directly from the simulator, and thanks to Alex Oz it even helps make the rotary encoders on your FSM, STEM and STECS grip that much more responsive.

First of all, a few words on what MobiFlight is - At the core of it, it is an open-source suite that enables users to design, build and fly with their own cockpit panels, targeting a wide range of budgets and skill levels - be it users of commercial panels, novice electronics tinkerers, engineers or even would-be manufacturers of devices. The hardware range is similarly diverse - be it an Arduino with a switch and an LED hooked up to it, a MIDI control panel, one of a variety of GA/civil aircraft panels by companies that target that particular market, community hardware designs, or, since last October, VKB controllers.

Ever since I got VKB controllers working, I have been using this software pretty much on every MSFS flight I did. My first act was to integrate the landing gear LEDs on the STEM, a friend from the VKB Discord server (@UntoldForce) hooked the FSM.GA up as a fully functional autopilot panel, and so far we have been pretty happy with it all. I also took a few GNX modules with me to FSWeekend 2025 in Lelystad, the Netherlands (about an hour's drive from VKB FSC Europe, I reckon) as an example of gear on the market that has been integrated into MobiFlight.

If anyone wants to give MobiFlight a try, you can get the software on mobiflight.com.
Instructions for general use are found at docs.mobiflight.com. Look for VKB-specific instructions in the game controllers category (https://docs.mobiflight.com/game-controllers/vkb/).