Simviation Forums

Just got FSX and playing it for the first time...gosh....it's so hard to look around in the cockpits....will Track IR help me?

Most importantly, I have the CH PRO PEDALS and if I barely touch the darn things the planes sway to the side like crazy. Is this how realistic it is or are the pedals set up to be way too sensitive? I left everything at default, so not sure if I need to calibrate or something.

A lot of people here use them without any problem. Sounds like you need to recalibrate

I've always used the default settings (null and sensitivity), and it's been pretty good/realistic.

I think it's a personal "feel' thing, but yes..

Thanks Brett...

When I view the calibration screen for the pedals, the + is in the upper top left of the square. Is this correct?

I am starting off with the J3-cub and can't even take off with out ground looping because of the rudders! However, if I use the twist on the joystick instead of the pedals, I can take off perfectly and precisely. but when I try to use the pedals, I maybe go 20 feet before I flip over:)

Is it possibel to "turn off" the rudder/twist on the joystick? If so, how?

Yeah , that sounds right.. I'm away from my simming computer right now, so I can't double-check, but I'm pretty sure each pedal is on it's own axis... and the toe-brakes are seperate axii (is that a word?)

Next time I'm at my computer, I'll look into killing the stick's rudder.. It should be something that you can do, via the assignments screen..

And yes.. steering the tail-draggers while taxiing is tricky.. mix in a little toe-brake action to make it more controllable.

Taking off in the Goose is a chore. You have to hold the tail-wheen down, firmly, because if it gets off the ground before there's enough airspeed for the rudder to be effective.. the P-factor will take you right off the runway. I haven't flown the Cub much at all (long story), but since it's using the same tail-dragger algorithm as the Goose.. it might require some of the same technique.

I had the same problem when I first got my CH Pro yoke & rudder pedal system and I had an off-brand joystick. I couldn't control anything properly. I ended up just doing "taxiing exercises" with the Piper J 3 Cub, meaning, I would scroll to outside view of the aircraft and I would line up the view to where I could look right over the top of the aircraft to see where I was going. Then, I would just, taxi around the airport  :-? I probably practiced about 30 minutes everyday (barring any aggressive outbursts) for about two weeks. I got to the point that I could taxi a taildragger, but I couldn't taxi a tricycle aircraft like the Cessna 172. It just takes time and practice, just like anything else - nobody worth their salt ever started out as an expert. It sounds like this is your first time using any rudder pedals, so my friendly advice would be, to take your time, most of the time, your only using ounces of pressure on the pedals, meaning, the pedals don't actually move, you just "touch them" a little, and the plane will re-act. Same goes for thottle control, when you begin your taxi, you have to give it enough throttle to get enough air moving past the aircraft for the aircraft to move forward. Once you are moving forward (like you can make the plane taxi backwards on it's own ) Anyway, once you're moving, you actually have to throttle back a good bit because you can, but you probably don't want to taxi at 30-40 knots mostly because the it's hard to control the aircraft at that speed and, I imagine, the FAA would want to have a "little discussion" about your airmanship skills... And, in the case of the Piper Cub, in particular, that's kind of the "make it or break it" speed, meaning the tail will begin to come up, but might not have enough speed to actually come all the way up. If you try to hold that speed at a constant (which won't be long) the tailboom just bounces and rotates until it cartwheels, sumersaults or performs some other ungraceful looking gymnastics act. The other thing to beware of is, slamming the brakes. At a slow enough speed your prop will become half or maybe a quarter of the "X that marks the spot". If your going fast enough and, provided you slam the brakes equally as hard at the same time, you find yourself upside down, looking in the direction you just came from. So there you have it, about $1.50 worth of experience with a Piper Cub  :D  As my martial arts instructor would say "plactise, plactise, plactise"  Semper Fi, Dave

THanks...

Is it really this hard in real life? I can't imagine it would be....

I figured if I could master the Cub, I can probably handle most of the other tail draggers. Okay, time to try again...thanks.

Ok..

I am now a master at taildraggers:)

Took me a few hours before I got it nailed down. WOw, so much fun now. Thanks guys!

I have the same problem only the brakes are always on, unless I force them off by holding the bottom of the pedal down. Calibrated and all, any help?

Try widening the null-zones a little.. That should do it.

I have the same problem only the brakes are always on, unless I force them off by holding the bottom of the pedal down. Calibrated and all, any help?

I had this problem then read what another guy was doing to fix this....just put the ball of your feet on the heels of the pedals and the heels of your feet off the pedals and on the square/plane. Works great...hard to break that way...and if u need to, then just put your feet on the pedals the correct way.

hard to break that way...and if u need to, then just put your feet on the pedals the correct way.

That's how you do it for real.  Feet up on the pedals for taxiing... as soon as you start your takeoff roll, the heels go on the floor.. and stay there until after landing. If you have your heals on the pedals during landing, it's possible to have a little, inadvertent brake applied when the wheels touch (and that's not good)...  

Have noticed the same issue with my CH Pedals (FS 2002 & 2004. I don't have FSX yet).

Compared to real life (Well... C172 anyway) these are very unrealistic. I think the biggest issue is that the pedals have little to no feel to them.

In a C172 it's much much easier to taxi. Likewise inflight as others have mentioned, you only use a small portion of the available rudder. (You'd need to have strong muscles to use the rest).

I'd like to be able to limit the pedals to only be using around 25% of the available distance. (ie - sliding the right rudder all the way would tell the computer I'm only at 25%). This would grant greater control, and a more realistic effect IMO.

I don't think the null bit works. That only increases the range before the pedals take effect - and then it's more sensitive than normal.

I'd be interested to see if anyone's found a way to do this?

I noticed your first question went unanswered, so...

Definitely yes. TrackIR is great.