F-18 problems? You decide

[Vindicator]

So first off let me just say that I am not a F-18 expert. I am hoping that maybe by a long shot someone here has flown one before.  But that is not important.  This is mainly about opinions.

What does everyone think of the flight model?
Has anyone noticed a problem with the rudder?
Does the plane seem a little loose for a fly by wire system?


First off, to me the rudder is totally off from how a real plane should handle.  I mean its not even close.  You can push the rudder right full, and the nose will jerk to the right. HOWEVER, if you keep the rudder full right, you will notice that if you look at the ground you are still heading almost straight ahead. You get it ??  The plane is facing right, but flying relatively straight ahead.

Example - I am trying to line my plane up with the runway, and want to use the rudder to push the nose slightly to the right to line up dead center on the runway.  If I apply the rudder to turn slightly to the right, everything looks nice and centered on the runway.  But the second I take my foot off the rudder, the nose of the plane drifts back left to where it started.  THAT SHOULD NOT HAPPEN!

I don't know how or why they let this happen, but it bugs me so much every time when flying this plane.  Its really a problem when trying to do stuff like Blue angels solo maneuvers.  -  When approaching the runway to perform an Inverted pass, the solo pilot will apply a slight amount of right rudder. Therefor off centering the plane to the right of the runway slightly.  This is done because when the pilot rolls the plane to the left to get inverted, the plane turns ever so slightly to the left.

So by applying right rudder at the start of the maneuver, the plane ends up dead center on the runway due to the left roll of the aircraft.

I know I know .. its a lot to take in.
So take your time, think about it, try it.  Tell me what you think.

Thanks for your time everyone!
Kevin

[Mobius]

It will always return slightly to the original flight path when you only use the rudder.

[Excalibur372]

Also,in real life all planes will go left just a tad. Unless you have the auto-rudder on, they will do that in FSX.

[Mobius]

Also,in real life all planes will go left just a tad. Unless you have the auto-rudder on, they will do that in FSX.

They shouldn't.  Aircraft are usually trimmed out for straight and level flight at all times.  They usually also come with semi-fixed trim tabs that are adjusted for each aircraft to keep them trimmed in level cruise.  If you look on the tail of a Cessna 172 (all that I've seen at least), there is a small metal plate that can be bent relatively easily (but not easily enough that they'll be bent in flight) so they can be adjusted to account for the turning tenancies of the aircraft in cruise.

You are right though, in FSX the best way to simulate fly-by-wire is to use the auto-rudder option - although, on non-FBW aircraft it's not really realistic, so it's up to you.

[Hagar]

Also,in real life all planes will go left just a tad. Unless you have the auto-rudder on, they will do that in FSX.

Shouldn't apply to jets. On props the torque effect will depend on the direction of rotation of the prop.