First launch

First launch acknowledges force safety, gives a 30-second orientation, and checks local device readiness. Simulator and network availability are not part of the automatic startup preflight.

Set up the physical device under Hardware

After the welcome and safety acknowledgement, select the physical device, set its strength ceiling, calibrate directions, and assign controls under Hardware. Then use Tuning only for aircraft feel. Open the hardware guide.

Safety acknowledgement

The very first screen is a safety modal. The bridge drives a physical motor that moves the stick on its own, so before anything else you're asked to acknowledge the physical-hazard brief. The modal blocks dismissal until you tick the “I understand” checkbox.

This shows once, ever, on first launch. It's stored separately from the welcome dialog so upgrading from a pre-safety build still triggers it once.

Figure 1. Safety-acknowledgement modal. Tick the checkbox and click “I acknowledge” to continue.

disarmed

Disarmed means Bridge aircraft forces are off; the stick or yoke may still have native centring or resistance. Managed MOZA bases restore their captured settings, including an original zero spring. Armed Base resistance minimums are not kept after a successful restore. Safety Stop remains latched until acknowledged in the app.

Welcome dialog

After safety, one 30-second welcome panel explains the main workflow. Open Support guide closes it and opens Support → Resources; Got it closes it. Don't show again controls future launches.

To replay the orientation, open Settings → General, enable Show welcome on next launch, then restart FFB-Bridge.

Automatic device preflight

At launch, FFB-Bridge quietly checks the device backend on Windows, Linux, and macOS. Linux also checks read/write access to a supported event node and whether the installed udev rule covers every current device permission. WARN or FAIL shows a non-blocking Review and fix banner naming each problem.

If all checks pass, nothing opens.
Startup does not probe the simulator or network; a closed sim is normal and remains a runtime concern.
While the dialog is open, Auto-arm waits. Review and fix the issue, or dismiss it when the device is intentionally disconnected; after dismissal, Auto-arm can continue only if its other prerequisites pass.

Figure 2. The startup banner names only device/setup checks that need attention and opens Support → Health checks already populated when you choose Review and fix.

The main window

After the welcome dialog closes, you'll see the Dashboard. The layout is the same on every page: a full-width status strip across the top, a left-hand navigation rail below it, the page itself filling the centre, and a thin flight-telemetry tape along the bottom. At this point the device is detected but disarmed — Bridge aircraft forces start only after arming. The base can still have its own native centring or resistance while Disarmed.

The window uses the normal operating-system controls for minimize, maximize, close, and resizing. The close action still follows the tray behavior described below.

Figure 3. The current Dashboard with SIM and aircraft information, Learn about your aircraft, central Arm and device readiness, and profile controls in the top strip. The bottom telemetry tape shows flight values and commanded outputs. This demonstration capture illustrates the interface.

The controls that stay with you

SIM shows the simulator connection. AIRCRAFT shows the name reported by the simulator when available. The coloured Learn about your aircraft button opens Aircraft Library from any page.
The central Arm control shows the force state and a device or readiness message beneath it. DISARMED means Bridge is not applying aircraft forces. ARMED means the force session is active. SAFETY STOP needs your acknowledgement before forces can resume; FAULTED identifies a condition that must be resolved.
The right-hand profile picker shows the active tuning profile. Tune opens its controls; Save appears when there are unsaved changes. Selecting an aircraft reference in Aircraft Library is separate from selecting a force profile here.

Aircraft Library →

The flight-telemetry tape

The thin tape along the bottom of the content area is a quick-read of the live numbers the pipeline is working with. From left to right:

IAS — indicated airspeed in knots.
G — load factor.
MACH — Mach number.
PITCH F — the force the pipeline is currently sending on the pitch axis (fraction of full authority, signed).
ROLL F — same on the roll axis.
AGE — milliseconds since the last snapshot arrived. — when no data has been received yet.
TICK The control loop targets 50 Hz normally and 200 Hz when the active renderer needs host-side waveform blending or a device-coupled feedback loop.

Arming the stick

Select the central Arm control when the device and input source are ready. On the first on-screen Arm action, Bridge asks whether future Arm / Disarm clicks should show confirmation. Change that choice later in Settings → Session. A controller shortcut or tray action follows its own direct action; a Safety Stop always requires acknowledgement in Bridge.

Safety first

Before arming, make sure nothing — including you — is resting on or near the stick. When forces first come online the centring spring snaps the handle to the trimmed centre position. Treat every arm as a “hands clear” moment the same way you would a sim yoke reset.

Disarm stops Bridge-owned forces. Supported managed MOZA bases restore their captured native configuration. Opening a reference, changing pages or minimizing the window does not disarm; use the Arm control or your assigned shortcut when you want forces to stop.

Closing the window

Close behavior follows Settings → General: Ask, Minimize to tray, or Quit. In Ask mode, the first close offers Minimize and Quit. Without tray support, closing quits.

When Minimize to tray is selected and a tray host is available, the window hides while FFB-Bridge keeps running. Use Quit to stop force output and release the device.

Show window — bring the UI back from the tray.
Arm / Disarm — same effect as the Dashboard toggle.
Quit — shut the bridge down for real.

Figure 4. Close behavior follows Settings → General: Ask, Minimize to tray, or Quit. In Ask mode, the dialog offers Minimize and Quit; without tray support, closing quits.

Figure 5. System tray menu. Show / Arm / Disarm / Quit. On Linux this lives in whatever tray your desktop provides; on Windows it's the standard notification area.

Desktops without a tray

Some Linux desktops, especially stock GNOME Wayland, do not expose a tray host. When the bridge detects that, it tells you close will quit directly instead of hiding the running app. Install AppIndicator Support or use a desktop with a tray if you want hide-to-tray behavior there.

Controller shortcut

A controller Arm / Disarm button can be assigned under Settings → Session. It works while the window is minimized. There is no global Space-to-arm or number-key page-switch shortcut.

Next steps

If your sim was already running, FFB-Bridge should have found it — check the SIM status in the top strip. If it is not connected, use the guide for your simulator:

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 / 2020 (Windows and Linux)
X-Plane 11 / 12 (Windows, Linux, and macOS)

On macOS the supported simulator is X-Plane; MSFS connects on Windows and Linux only.