Hello,
I’m one of those who is still massively underwhelmed (to say the least) and one of the major reasons for that is the fact that my standard Cessna 172 (G1000) still isn’t fun to fly with my Logitech/Saitek Pro Flight Yoke as the input values are still greatly exaggerated and it feels like flying an Extra 300, just crazy and unbalanced at times, it really is about millimetres. However, I’m not a surgeon. Can’t remember yoke and plane acting like this in X-Plane 11, but then, it’s been a while.
What I do remember though is that back in September I tried tweaking the flight control surfaces’ effectiveness in the flight model config file which helped a little. But since the latest updates it’s all back to normal and the forum user’s information from back then was pretty vague anyway.
Since I’m only flying this very aircraft I would like to ask you to share your “ideal” sensitivity settings and flight model config tweaks for the Asobo C172, ideally in combination with said yoke system. I was looking to buy Carenado’s Mooney mainly for the steam gauges but right now I’m not willing to pay 30 quid for that thing. So the C172 and some basic VFR flying is basically the only thing for me right now in FS2020, please help me get at least this experience right. I can’t go any longer without aviation. I guess you know this feeling.
I don’t have your stick but if your worried about millimetres then it depends. When trimmed I always fly in sim and my real plane using tiny movements with my fingertips. Using either my honeycomb yoke or my warthog stick it is perfectly controllable and seems a lot like what I’d expect, based on the real aircraft I fly, once you understand the particular aircraft handling.
You want “ideal” settings but that depends on you. It is a simple matter to play with some very gentle curves as long as you realise that most normal manual flying is tiny control movements. If you want “realistic” you won’t get it unless you buy a replica yoke. Simple as that.
The main thing for you is to make sure your dead zone is as small as possible. Any dead zone makes fine control harder and a real yoke has no dead zone.
Know that in manual flying, tiny control inputs are near constant in anything except really still air (like in the very early mornings) and the more accurate your trimming the easier it is.
I also used to struggle with the sensitivity and after every update tweaked the flightmodel.cfg file to my convenience in conjunction with the sensitivity settings of my Saitec yoke. But after the latest update the control was way better and I didn’t need to tweak the files annymore. After every update the only file I change (swap) is my custom camera file. After the update I adjusted the sensitivity as shown in the screenshot. Everything is very smooth and a joy to fly. I haven’t changed the sensitivity anymore and I use it for the C152, 172, 209 and the M20R. I have to admit that I removed one of the two elevator control springs of the yoke. That improved the nasty detend of the elevator axis.
To be perfectly honest, the Saitek yoke is actually kind of terrible. Between the giant dead zone on both axes that can only be corrected with an electronic modification (it’s not a hardware issue, but rather the firmware that’s garbage), and the hard detent due to the springs that can more easily be fixed with some rubber bands and zip ties, it makes controlling your plane accurately extremely difficult stock.
Hopefully you can manage to get some decent settings that wil make things more enjoyable. But my #1 suggestion - sell it and get a Honeycomb. You won’t believe what you were missing out on. #2 suggestion - if it’s not still new enough to be under warranty and you consider yourself handy with tools and / or electronics, look up for the yoke mods on YouTube. IN that case, you also won’t believe what you were missing out on.
