Thanks for the detailed explanation! The aircraft geometry is way more complicated than I thought. I guess that’s why complex simulations are more important nowadays in aircraft development.
I recently got a new TM rudder and found it pretty hard to use. I’ll take the advice and reduce sensitivity
I use some Turtle Beach Velocity 1 pedals - they are very smooth and precise, but using the developer tools in the SDK and other handy tools like the free Input Viewer from flightsim.to, I could see that on some aircraft as little as 2-3% of the rudder axis range was having big inputs in the SIM. A recipe for twitchiness.
I cross checked with other devices and dialing down the reactivity helped in all cases.
MSFS does not simulate slipping to a crosswind landing accurately or well, it just doesn’t if the crosswind component is at all significant to safe flight. And I have rudder pedals and training/experience IRL, so folks don’t get your hopes up too much; if your crosswind landing goes awry, it’s probably on the sim, not your crosswind landing technique.
I guess that also depends on aircraft type and 3rd party developers? For some STOL planes I might need full rudder control, but tube liners don’t need that sensitive inputs. Yes, I noticed a lot of wobbling even kicking very little rudder.
Yes, it does vary by aircraft, so I do have profiles for both generic classes, but for some specific types too where their flight model requires it.
And MSFS response to correct slip inputs is NOT REWARDING no matter what one is flying, C172 up to 737, all miserable and counter intuitive. We do the best we can but flight planning for runway aligned prevailing winds is far more rewarding than slipping to a crosswind landing if one intends to have fun simming, rather than pointless frustration fighting the airplane, IMO.
I’d agree that there are big big deficiencies in the Asobo modelling of crosswind forces , particularly when the wheels are in contact with the ground.
But if you have a well modeled aircraft then slips and good crosswind landings up to and beyond maximum demonstrated crosswind velocity are certainly possible.
So it’s a product of the quality of the aircraft, good controller calibration and pilot skill.
Possible, but not fun nor realistic, in my hundreds of hours of experience. I love flying in MSFS, but this is a BIG weak point.
100% It’s my biggest gripe about the SIM. With the lack of realistic wx hazards the second.
So much a gripe I started a thread tracking all the aircraft that had the new variables implemented to help counter the awful weathervane effect.
And so much so I learned the SDK and now code my own flight model improvements, both for personal and commercial use.
But I enjoy my xwind landings in the Kodiak well enough, but I do look forward to the day when we get properly smooth roll outs.
Cool beans! For folks new to all this, including setting up and trimming out their yokes or rudder pedals, I would hope that they do so in a manner that lets them make smooth, coordinated turns both on the ground and in the air. The sim is deficient in slips, so it makes no sense to tune hardware to attempt to compensate for that at the expense of facilitating what the sim, and sim pilots CAN learn to do well, which is most maneuvers other than slips or xwinds.
I think so - the rudder axis hypersensitivity issue is separate and impacts taxiing and level-turns in flight too.
One good clue that your pedals are too sensitive is to use LittleNavMap or similar and look at your aircraft trail when taxiing . If it resembles a saw tooth then your pedals are too sensitive.
(or you need to stop looking at your phone and pay more attention!)
@Nikita - those were general comments for all - not you!
From what I’ve heard, there’s almost no rudder input needed to make a standard turn in the sim. The slip indicator would only move a little bit away from center (in the Skyhawk for example). How much should they be in real life?
Most modern aircraft are engineered to make aileron turns with minimal rudder input in most normal flight circumstances. This may not be the case with vintage aircraft, but I have no experience with those at all. MSFS has an auto rudder option which I leave off to have full authority over rudder inputs, but you are correct: Most modern aircraft modeled need little rudder input to make good turns once airborne, in my experience.
Yes, some have a Yaw Damper to achieve this. Others like the Pilatus PC-6 and 12 have a mechanical linkage between the aileron and rudder to coordinate the turn. Others have asymmetric aileron movement.
@Zwen0416 : The degree of ‘Adverse yaw’ (that movement of the slip indicator) varies by aircraft both IRL and the SIM. It’s absence in some aircraft has also been the subject of much discussion and some aircraft model it better than others.
Bottom line is, you don’t need much - especially if your pedals are at 100% reactivity with straight curves.
I flew the real Piper Archer and the Carenado Archer back to back, and you did indeed need a lot more rudder to stay coordinated in the real plane. That might have just been on Carenado in that particular instance, but I also found that the Asobo Cessnas were quite weak when doing forward slips. The rudder was twitchy, I didn’t need as much opposite aileron, and the increase in rate of descent seemed low. Perhaps this has been improved with the CFD and other aerodynamic updates. It would be great to see an updated presentation on the state of this in the sim.
I can confirm that it has been improved with CFD…but much more so in high wing aircraft I think?
I’d love to hear about people’s experiences attempting slips with low wing prop aircraft. Do you need any aileron at all to counter the secondary rolling effect of the rudder?
The JF Turbo Arrows needs quite a lot of aileron input in a slip, and I can descend at 2500 fpm easily. Wonder if that’s accurate?
I fly GA aircraft mostly, and I use aileron inputs in my slipping. There’s a bit of disorientation at first, like you are losing control, and it seems to require a lot more rudder to balance out. It’s not a smooth transition, in other words. Still, once you get into it, it’s a lot of fun making it work. Try it in normal flight conditions and in extreme weather conditions. It gets the heart beating, for sure.
100% agree… The flight model “Can” be tweaked to give “Reasonable” side slips & forward slips ONCE ESTABLISHED – but its the transition in and out of them that still is far from realistic.