Any others that like to fly float planes? I’ve just noticed something new. It is impossible to steer any of the float planes on the water. The most turn I can get is about 1/8 of a turn and then they go straight no matter what I do. I tried with water rudders up and down, no difference. When I start a flight in the water the plane makes a 90° turn to face the shore and won’t turn back. I know this was not like this before. Is this an issue with the last update?
I don’t think this is an issue with the last update that just updated sceneries and nothing else.
I just did a test with the C172 float and I can make 360 turns if wind is not too strong.
Which planes are you using ?, have you tried with low wind speed ? have you empty your community folder ?
Nevertheless in some conditions there are some issues with steering on the water. Here are the 3 bug reports:
I have updated the title to reflect the issue and added corresponding tag.
Landing gear down?
C172, Pilatus, Icon and CubCrafters all have the issue.
I renamed the Community Folder and no change. Tried several locations and terrain with no change. Landing gear was up, water rudders were down. I tried with Zero wind and it was a bit better but still not as responsive as it should be. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/vfQ2-PNH42Y
I’ve been flying them all lately including the beaver, goose, nx, Wilga, and shock ultra too with no issues(within the bounds of MSFS). Are the rudders turning? You should be able to get a very responsive quick turn with full deflection and respectable burp of throttle. The latest update reset all the settings, make sure some rudder assist isn’t turned on.
When using the outside view the rudders are fully deflecting but the planes don’t respond well. Initially they turn slightly but then quickly go back straight and refuse to turn.
If they go back straight it is indicating like a binding conflict. On my planes they stay at the same angle than the rudder.
Go to your controls/assigned and type rudder, go through each and every thing and delete any bindings for any perhiprials you are not using including keyboard and mouse. Those will force creation of new profiles. My keyboard/Xbox controller/mose have zero flight controls assigned to them.
Check assists and make sure none are turned in for anything remotely involving the rudder.
I can assure you all those planes you listed currently work fine. Unless your expectations or techniques are flawed? I’ve been flying some of them in rough seas and storms lately.
Already done. The only thing connected to rudder is the axis on my joystick. It worked fine before but lately it just weather vanes into the wind.
I’m having this same issue. Tried various speeds, gear up and down, doesn’t matter. It always gets pushed back into facing the wind and no amount of steering will change it. Even when running downwind at full throttle and 40 knots, it is like a rope is dragging the nose back around.
Hi,
I have tested 4 of the default aircraft at Bedwell Harbor Seaplane Base (CAB3) Rwy 31W with two wind conditions. The objective was to rotate the aircraft by 360 degrees while taxiing.
| Aircraft | East @ 1 Knot | East @ 10 Knots |
|---|---|---|
| Cub Crafters Floats | OK | Requires full rudder & ailerons. |
| Icon A5 | OK | Requires full rudder & ailerons. Manually engage the rudder (rudder is not down when spawned) |
| Pilatus P6 Floats | OK | Requires full rudder & ailerons |
| Cessna 172 Floats | OK | Requires full rudder & ailerons. Manually engage the rudder (rudder is not down when spawned) |
Comments:
- All aircraft are controllable with the rudder (Ctrl-W to engage when required).
- With no wind, a small rudder deflection combined with a touch of throttle enables a complete 360 turn.
- With a 10-knot wind, all aircraft will weathervane. Turning is trickier, but doable. My lack of experience controlling the aircraft in such conditions was the biggest drawback. Judicious use of the throttle to maintain a slow but positive forward momentum is necessary to counteract weathervaning. A quick reduction of the throttle can assist in turning the aircraft when the wind is perpendicular to the aircraft, particularly with the Pilatus P6.
Partial Specs & settings:
Build: SU15B v1.37.16.0
3rd-Party Addons: None, Community Addons: None
MSFS Version: MS-Store, Standard
Peripherals: Logitech Extreme 3D Pro, Xbox 360 USB Controller
SmotheryVase in a 10 knot wind it is almost impossible to turn more than 90° without almost full throttle on most aircraft. I see you are on SU15b so maybe it’s better than the current version. Hopefully it is.
Here is a link to a video I did a while back. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/vfQ2-PNH42Y
Hi @Bayoutalker
Yup, it is not easy at all! I could only manage this in an open bay with lots of space. The purpose of the test was only to see if rudder control in the sim was not functioning. If I was trying to conduct a real flight in a 10-knot wind, I don’t think I’d be able to precisely control an aircraft in an enclosed space such as a small harbor. Trying to taxi to/from the dock to/from the takeoff /landing area would be a challenge indeed!
The bad news is this didn’t get any better in 2024. I just tried the Icon A5 and it will only turn a few degrees in either direction.
Has there been any Asobo acknowledgement of this topic? The issues with float plane hydrodynamics have been raised an upvoted a great deal across multiple bug reports and threads; however, it seems the issue is unacknowledged.
I have the same problem in the Albatross. If I need to make a quick turn I have to lower the landing gear to do it. 
Asobo did address the reversed water rudder. To my knowledge they have not made or promised to make any improvements to hydro-dynamics.
@DestructZero915 There are some improvements for this coming in the next Albatross update once SU3 goes public, but lowering the gear in the water will no longer do anything except slow you down a little, as the long standing “all water everywhere is 2 feet deep” bug finally has a workaround. Many thanks to Asobo for that one. That fix will now allow for proper launching and beaching, without all the current jankiness. It has to be implemented on a per-aircraft basis though.
For most twin engine seaplanes, and the Albatross in particular, tight turns on water are meant to be done with differential thrust, and so they don’t have or need any water rudders. If you put one engine in full reverse and the other at about 30-40% forward throttle, you should be able to spin on the spot in most reasonable wind conditions without any trouble.
I agree though that the weathervaning effect is too strong in the sim. The root issue there is that the water physics do not currently take into account the enormous rotational drag of floats or hulls. Hopefully that will improve in the future.
Anyway, hope that helps!
Cheers.
MGouge425 has done several realism mods for different aircraft. By my request he has worked on the float version of the C172 for this issue and it seems to work much better.
https://flightsim.to/file/43049/asobo-c172sp-as1000-realism-mod