I like the new liveries and smoke system. Definitely difficult to keep straight on takeoff if the tail comes up at all. I don’t mind difficult, but I do wonder if my twist stick rudder makes it considerably harder to manage than it is for people with pedals. I always feel like this kind of stuff is harder than it’d be in real life anyway just because we can’t feel what’s happening the way we would in a real aircraft.
I’m finding now it’s much better in ‘go for it mode’ when you’re doing aggressive STOL takeoffs and landings. For that part it feels better than before. The last FM for the stage 2 before did feel like it took a little too long to get up for what it was. But I imagine some of the modeling to get that took away a little of the long roll or gentile rolling landing characteristics. The ‘runway manners’ aren’t the best, but these usually aren’t flown for traditional landings. Definitely not something you spend any period of time running on bumpy grounds on the mains. Does have that slightly too easy to bounce rather than bump along on the suspension, but it makes no sense as to why-kind of like the auto dolphin mode most amphibians have over 60KT on water. But some of that is the limited modeling of the ground in MSFS too. Sometimes you can put in every single exact data point in the model but the FS earth itself doesn’t exactly comply to that data.
The Stage 1 is a little better for matching what you’ll see in a typical normal spec kitfox video, push hard forward, pull back, up in about 6 or 7 seconds, stabilizes quickly holding right rudder. The stage 2 is more akin to the Savage Carbon, although can get up a little quicker(it feels properly lighter than the Carbon), not as gonzo brutal as the GGravel though. The comp is like a juiced Shock Ultra. The last stage 2 took a bit more runup on the ground and flying the new FM with the habits of the old has you bouncing all over because you should of been off and away already.
I used to fly it a lot and was able to pull off many short landings. Can’t do that anymore with this update. Whether it’s more accurate or not, it’s ruined for me and I won’t be jumping in it any time soon.
Show me a Trent Palmer video where we see the plane wobble so dramatically when sat idling. I don’t recall seeing one.
Yea the data which may be correct for the plane in a static environment doesn’t exactly translate the MSFS world.
The old model was more akin to the double ender. Where you build the model in numbers, then add a lot of love making it enjoyable to use in the sim world. It’s definitely wonky now, where you’re playing a new game-make the FM work instead of piloting an aircraft. I though the last build wobbled ridiculously too? It’s like it lost 8" of one of the blades silly. I spent another couple hours with it last night getting it to actually take off and land, but it’s not enjoyable. This is a cheap plane that can built in a garage, it shouldn’t be more difficult than a Spiftire.
I only had it for a little while before this update, I should see if I can open a ticket to be rid of it.
Seems this plane has become like marmite. Some hate it. Some love it. I have to say once I got a handle on her last night I was having an absolute blast! No problem taking off and landing straight. She needs a predictable amount of rudder each time - more crosswind, more rudder (and some aileron). Really for me it was all about being precise with the rudder. If you give it too much and then overcorrect it gets to be a huge handful. This plane rewards precision.
As @RagingWombat839 said, getting that tailwheel down first, or at least at the same time as the mains, is essential on landing. For me I found that I was misjudging height off the ground, which is why I was bouncing so much. You have to get way lower than you think, almost feels like your bum is on the floor. Probably easier in VR.
Quickly becoming my fav bush plane! It’s not forgiving, but very rewarding. Reminds me of the Spitfire in that regard.
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Do you use pedals? And how do you adjust the flaps on takeoff and landing? Thx.
Yes pedals. Though this plane is making me want better pedals. My cheap ones are not very smooth.
Take off I use one notch of flaps.
Landing I use full flaps.
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Thx,.
It took me 2 days, but I’m starting to understand the controls. Although with ruddler control it’s not very easy with joystick.
I’m bothered by a strange locking of the rear wheel in a certain direction… when landing… then the plane is uncontrollable… it takes him a while to right himself.
I was able to spend maybe two hours with the Freedom Fox on the weekend and had a similar experience. First takeoffs and landings were not pretty, but after some circuits I was gradually getting better. Had a lot of fun flying from Trent’s home (FFOX), taking off downhill and landing uphill.
With the old version, I had a lot of stalls close to the ground with one wing suddenly dropping. With the new FM, this did not happen even once.
Together with the WT G3X this is a really great upgrade in my opinion and will definitely be on my Top 10 list this month.
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It’s been a long while since I used stick twist rudder, but I can’t imagine it’s any less precise than my s**t pedals tbqh.
Can’t say I’ve had a problem with the rear wheel locking up. That’s an odd one.
Sometimes my rear wheel locks up in one direction when landing. the ffox is then uncontrollable. I have to wait a moment and then turn the rudller to other side. only then will it unlock. but I’m usually off the road at this time.
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This is done on Series X using only an Xbox controller.
I’ve also a video with the Savage Carbon on the channel, another taildragger tricky to land.
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Well done, thank you.
Nice landings! Can you do the same thing on a paved runway and record it? I am getting better on grass and dirt but can’t land on tarmac to save my life.
You’re welcome, my friend. I can share my xbox controller settings if you need help to configure your gamepad ( i’m assuming you’re using one, maybe i’m wrong ).
Do you have rudder pedals along with the Xbox controller?
Nope. Only Xbox Controller + Mouse.
Yes it does for sure. I remember how much easier the spitfire was after I switched to pedals from the twist stick.
Don’t get cheap pedals though. Yes they are probably still better than a twist stick but they are seriously limiting. I have the TFRP and they are awful, I’m quite certain they are the limiting factor for me, they are sticky, near impossible to control smoothly, and give noisy inputs. I can see it clearly in the A320 on the ECAM display when doing controls checks.
I have some good pedals on back order, just waiting for them to get stock in. I’m confident in the improvement I’ll get because it’s obvious how bad these ones are and I know how much of huge improvement I got from a decent quality stick over the TM Hotas one.
Yes it is much harder in the sim. The eyes are the slowest input sensor to the brain, if you are in the plane you will feel what is happening much more quickly, and with proper 3D vision you’ll know how high you are. In the sim we are left guessing most of the time and that makes it much harder to get on and off the ground smoothly.
Ironically I think those with a lot of experience IRL can often adapt to the sim easily as they have that visual expectation so they’ll know where the plane is and how it’s going to behave. I think it’s learner pilots that have it the hardest.
There is also a temptation learning in the sim to over use the instruments, and they are even slower too. Remember to look outside the window and pick something in the distance to judge your positioning.
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It is for this reason that I tend to have the opinion that developers in general should keep that in mind and potentially make it a bit easier on take off roll and landing to make up for that gap, as well as the wide range in peripherals - but I also understand that plenty of people wouldn’t want that. It’s gotta be a struggle as a developer to please people. To get a flight model as realistic as possible is still going to feel varying levels of inaccurate or overly difficult depending on those factors.
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