Disconnecting and connecting a joystick while flying


Today I flew from KCMI to somewhere near KORD, I used a joystick to take off from KCMI and charged my phone while the auto pilot was on. Then while I was preparing for my approach I disconnected my charger and connected my joystick but I noticed that it didn’t recognize the axes of the joystick, the buttons worked just fine but I wasn’t able to use the axes of the joystick at all. So flying the airplane was a problem.


Hey there, first off I would recommend taking a look at this

Secondly, this link below has all of the how-to’s for joystick support


I’ve checked the tutorial before, doesn’t say anything about why a controller won’t work after you’ve disconnected your joystick during a flight.

Which joystick do you have?

(Also can someone move this into support please?)

My device is an Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge 32 GB with Android 6.0.1, the joystick I’m using is a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro

Hmmm I’m not sure i have a Thrustmaster flight hotas x and never experienced anything like this so.

yeah it’s weird, the joystick works just fine if I keep it plugged in before I join a server, but when I want to charge my phone during a flight and unplug my joystick and then once my phone is charged and I reconnect my joystick (still in the same server and the same flight) it stops recognizing the axes, the buttons work just fine but the axes won’t work.

I have same problem with Tab S2+ T hotas.

BTW I use a USB OTG adapter to connect my joystick directly to my phone

so can someone help me out?

Once you are set up in the app, it is strongly recommended that you do not back out of the app or run background apps because your device my force close IF or you may experience lag. Case in point, having your joystick connected then disconnecting it and reconnecting just complicates things. This is the trade off when you aren’t utilizing a service such as Live Flight Connect.

so it’s strongly recommended to use LiveFlight if applicable?

Try not to unplug things while you are flying and keep the app open without backing out.

makes sense but how are you able to charge a phone if you’re using a joystick? especially with the long haul flights when global comes out, you pretty much have to charge your phone during a flight.

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I have an iPad so I don’t have that issue. Maybe someone with an Android device has some recommendations and suggestions. But even with the iPad I refrain from closing the app and unplugging anything.

how do you charge your device though? Do you fly long haul flights? Because a device (even with a decent battery life) isn’t able to work for that long without charging it correct?

just wanna make sure I’m not missing out on anything, I know it’s weird that it happens but I’m trying to find a solution. Appreciate the effort! And if you are able to find a solution that would be amazing!

Unless someone else can chime in there isn’t a real solid solution on charging your device with the OTG cable.

yeah… can’t think of one either. guess the only solution would be to use LiveFlight connect, right?

that way you can charge your phone and use a joystick