Taildragger Dragons!

[JLCGull]

I have a heck of a time keeping any taildraggers with any amount of HP on the runway during take off. It seems no amount of rudder will overcome the torque effect, even at partial throttle. What is the trick? And is FS pretty accurate in this characteristic, or is it a bit over done?

Thanks

JLCGull.

[beaky]

Another common problem with taildraggers in FS is "weathervaning"- the tendency of the plane to point into the wind.
It can be really bad with a left crosswind ...  :o

It's probably overdone (torque, p-factor and weathervaning)... I get better results with smoother application of throttle, not to mention starting your roll with full forward stick to get the tail flying ASAP (which should give you more rudder authority).

[ashaman]

FS overdoes it all a little. Trick is in not putting the realism sliders all on the right (the level of difficulty becomes paradoxically unrealistic). For the best, most realistic results better keep 'em all a notch away from the rightmost position.

[Nav]

Make sure the tailwheel or skid is locked for takeoff and landings. There's usually a lever on the throttle pedestal for that, otherwise the key combination is 'Shift + G.' Same combination to unlock for turning when taxiing.

And as others have said, don't apply full power until the tail is up. You don't have to wait for the aeroplane to decide to lift its tail, a little forward pressure on the stick will lift it quite early in your takeoff run - from memory, even the Dakota will happily start to lift its tail at any speed over about 40 knots. Once the tail's up, you should have a lot more control and can control any drift even at full power.

[beaky]

Make sure the tailwheel or skid is locked for takeoff and landings. There's usually a lever on the throttle pedestal for that, otherwise the key combination is 'Shift + G.' Same combination to unlock for turning when taxiing.

And as others have said, don't apply full power until the tail is up. You don't have to wait for the aeroplane to decide to lift its tail, a little forward pressure on the stick will lift it quite early in your takeoff run - from memory, even the Dakota will happily start to lift its tail at any speed over about 40 knots. Once the tail's up, you should have a lot more control and can control any drift even at full power.

Good advice, but except for some high-powered fighters, very few taildraggers will get their tail up without full power- before you run out of runway, that is.