Tail-draggers like the Cub planes steer much too well at low ground speeds while the tail wheel is up in the air. In real life they would be hard to control in this situation. That’s why it’s advised to keep the tail wheel on the ground (by pulling the yoke up) until higher speeds are attained when the rudder starts to have a steering effect. This is missing from the flight models of MSFS.
I’m probably wrong, but it seems to me that if the tail is up, then the elevators must have plenty of authority - therefore the rudder would also have authority.
No, the way the aircraft is balanced, it takes just a little bit of wind to lift the tail up, but a lot more for the rudder to have authority. That’s why the front or rear wheel also steers, otherwise you’d have no steering during taxiing.
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It’s actually not just the tail-draggers where the rear wheel steering has no effect, but the nose wheel on standard planes as well. On some planes the nose wheel doesn’t even turn, yet the plane steers on the ground as if it does. It would be highly desirable for the physics model to take into account the status of all moveable airplane parts including the nose or tail wheel.
While the flight model might indeed not be perfect, what you state is a generalisation that’s not correct for every plane. I’ve only flown Aeronca taildraggers and the rudder effect sets in very early. Might be the same with the Super Cub.
Sure I was generalizing, but in the game I specifically tested whether there’s any difference in steering ability with the tail wheel on the ground or up in the air. There is none. There should be a difference, wouldn’t you agree? I don’t think the status of the tail wheel is taken into account at all. Especially at low speeds and the tail up (pushing the yoke to keep the tail up) the steering ability is unrealistically great.
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