Cessna 172S rolling left at cruise

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I thought it may have been a dead zone issue as I had a slight left bias on my stick. I opened up the dead zone some so that it sits in there okay. I did the same for the rudder pedals as they had a slight bias too where the springs seem to hold neutral. After the adjustments I do notice some improvements.

However, I’m not sure if it’s now weather related or just flight characteristics. But it got a little tiring trying to hold a heading today.

After leveling off from a turn the airplane would roll left ever so slightly. Engine RPM was around 2200 and I had been flying level around 2800 feet.

I eventually got it to go away by abruptly correcting the other direction by a quick turn of about 5 degrees the other direction. Of course, I was then on the wrong heading but it was at least level.

So it seems if I try to make a slight course correction, it never wants to level off, especially if it’s to the left.

Is this normal for a Cessna 172?

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There will always be some turn to the left with a single prop, due to the direction of the prop spin.
You can counter that with aileron trim.
It is really noticeable when you accelerate for takeoff.

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I don’t think the 172 has aileron trim irl. I could be wrong.

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Read that discussion on a few other threads, it doesn’t :smiley:

General thought seems to be Cessna 152/172s fly rather level when set to proper cruise and don’t have a trim.

I think too high a throttle might cause it.

But it seems if I turn to a heading the airplane wants to drift back no matter what. Seems there is perhaps an amount of overshoot to do?

I try to hold steady and easy back on the control pressure but it’s like it just roles out unless I give a hard overcorrection.

None of that probably makes much sense. Hopefully I’m explaining well enough.

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5

How jittery does Windows Gaming Controller show happening on your stick using the Properties dialog? No amount of dead zone will really counteract that. If it’s slowly but certainly forcing a consistent left hand input, it will happen in the sim.

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No jitter, just a slight resting position just to the left. It’s less than 1%. I think it was in the default dead zone.

Just took another flight and it seems the harder I snap my turns, the less of an issue it is. The problem seems to happen when I fly gently I suppose?

However, I did have some terrible rudder issues early on I solved by unbinding the stick rudder. In the MSFS sensitivity settings, I could see the twist rudder was going crazy. It never did in the control panel or other utilities.

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Auto rudder is turned off?

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Yes, auto rudder is turned off along with any other assistance features outside of ATC com.

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Put a passenger next to you, it helps.

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I don’t fly the GA’s very often, almost always the big guys.
I didn’t realize that . Thanks.

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Cool idea, maybe even change passenger weights to compensate for the drift.

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My weight balance is 170/170.

It seems to me it’s a matter of it I try to make a small course adjustment vs. harder movements. It’s probably my piloting skills.

But it’s not always 100%. I suppose there is some realism here. :slight_smile:

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It’s not uncommon for a controller to send a bogus micro signal when it returns to center.
If this is the case, putting in an extremity deadzone can help.

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I’ll boost it a little more then. I gave the rudders a larger deadzone bump than I did the ailerons.

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Not the normal deadzone, but the extremity deadzone.

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Got it, I didn’t change the extremity. I’ll see what that does.

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In my experience, it’s really just a matter of finding the right cruise speed.

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