Suggestion: Allow covers/chocks to be set programmatically from inside the cockpit!

Currently it’s only possible to programmatically set the various ‘Covers’ while in the preflight/walkaround external camera mode.

This is extremely short-sighted. While it might seem sensible from a user viewpoint (after all, a pilot wouldn’t be reaching out to slip on a propeller tie-down at 12,000 ft), and therefore not needed while inside the cockpit, I can assure you that all developers would appreciate the freedom to interact with these elements as they choose.

The particular item of concern for myself is the chocks. There are many aircraft of a historical nature that do not have parking brakes. For these aircraft, the wheels would be chocked until after engine start, and even after engine run-up, at which point the ground crew would remove the chocks. The pilot would never touch them.

In MSFS 2024, we now have a situation where we are forced to exit the cockpit to remove the chocks at the appropriate time (or as a dev, using the nice and handy Covers & Chocks window, but not many users have devmode turned on).

And yes, there are other ways of faking functional chocks and holding the aircraft in a static position, but it seems incredible silly to have to resort to one of those methods when there’s already one built into the simulator!!

Additional note of concern: I’ve heard plenty of complaints from users that dislike being forced to remove these elements by hand and would like a method to do so in the cockpit, or better yet, have them automatically removed upon entering the cockpit. However, to allow any sort of automatic removal of these elements without some level of control on the part of the developer would be just as bad as the current situation.

I think that would be best as an assistance option that can be turned off or on, otherwise it would be impossible to experience the failures e.g. no air data, that occur when the covers are left on.

My point in my last paragraph is that a blanket ‘fix’ of responding to users complaints by providing any sort of means to automatically remove the covers/chocks, without the ability of the devs to tailor this behavior to the needs of a specific aircraft, would be just as bad as the current situation.

An assistance option where all covers/chocks are automatically removed would cause issues in aircraft where the chocks are needed for engine start and run-up. Just the reverse of what we currently have, where the chocks are indeed present for engine start and run up, but leave the user/pilot with no means of removing them without exiting the aircraft.