Simviation Forums

I just purchased FS2004 and when I attempt to taxi the older model of aircraft I lose total control of the aircraft when moving down the taxiway.  The later models of aircraft do not do this.  Am I missing to do something to stop this problem or is anyone else having a similar experience.  Thanks for any Help.    

Older as in for, say, FS 2000, or older as in a plane from 1920?

If it's a taildragger you'll have to stay tight on the rudders and use differential brakes (F11 and F12) to keep it going straight.

if you have (or get) a joystick, be sure to hold the brake while turning the rudder (if possible, if not, move the stick to the desired direction)

yeah old taildraggers ave the 3rd wheel which basically is a place holder. has not control of it's own.

now if it's a tricycle gear aircraft (standard these days), then there may be something wrong.

Well, actually, the tailwheel is steerable in most taildraggers. The reason they're more 'squirrely' is the center of gravity is behind the main wheels, whereas on a tricycle plane it's between the mains and the nosewheel.

its a taildragger.
use the diferential brakes. f11 and f12.
that happend to me using the patty wagstaff stunt plane.
(when I was noob)

dont worry. weve all been there.

I got the four messages and I believe they will help my problem.  I could of been more specific and indicated that the problem was with the trail draggers.  In any event I will take the advice given and thank those who responded to my question.  

Look around some. There are files posted to make the taildraggers a lot more controlable by giving them steerable tail wheels. Still can't wiz around corners at 30 kts but they won't spin around and around at 2 kts either.

The main problem with tail draggers is that designers, in an attempt to be 'realistic' make the tail wheel castor through 360 deg.

This in fact is totally unrealistic for the sim which cannot handle it. Here's a snippet from the contact points section of a DC3 taken from my folder.

[contact_points]
point.0=1.000, -34.390, 0.000, -1.611, 1574.000, 0.000, 0.995, 90.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000
point.1=1.000, 2.630...etc

The 90 in red is the steering angle. Some designers make this figure 180 for tail draggers and the plane is virtually uncontrollable on the ground.

Even 90 is quite a big figure. If you set it to 60 or 70 the plane will still turn very well and will be nicely steerable.

Unfortunately many designers, even some quite big ones, have still not grasped that the MS Flight Simulator program engine is far from perfect. This applies to almost every parameter IMO. You can't plug in 'real life' numbers and get something that performs like the real thing. Maybe in X-Plane but not in this sim.

And I'm speaking as someone who has modded dozens and dozens of FDEs.

BTW

You can edit the aircraft.cfg file using a text editior such as Wordpad or Notepad.

As a bit of advice; if you're learning to taxi a taildragger; I strongly recommend practicing with the DC-3. It's big and stately in it's movements; it'll teach you the basics of taxiing taildraggers without killing you.

Under NO circumstances try taxiing the DeHavilland Comet until you've got taildragging down cold - that thing's a nightmare!
Great to fly; but murder on the ground.