by Tango_Romeo » Tue Jan 18, 2011 5:36 pm
Taildragger Taxi Problem
ISSUE: My taildragger aircraft is almost uncontrolable when taxiing. It wants to spin in circles when I try to make the slightest turn.
ANSWER: Some taildraggers have a steerable tailwheel locked to the rudder, while others have a free-wheeling tailwheel. Your aircraft is one of those, and there are no 'swivel limits' on the tailwheel. You can fix that in the Aircraft.CFG file in the [Contact Points] section. Locate the tailwheel entry (usually point.0) and then look at the 8th number after the = sign in that entry. This is the swivel angle limit in degrees. You'll probably find it set to something like 180, so change it to 45 and then check the difference in the taxi characteristics...you might even like 90.
[contact_points]
//0 Class
//1 Longitudinal Position (feet)
//2 Lateral Position (feet)
//3 Vertical Position (feet)
//4 Impact Damage Threshold (Feet Per Minute)
//5 Brake Map (0=None, 1=Left, 2=Right)
//6 Wheel Radius (feet)
//7 Steer Angle (degrees)
//8 Static Compression (feet) (0 if rigid)
//9 Max/Static Compression Ratio
//10 Damping Ratio (0=Undamped, 1=Critically Damped)
//11 Extension Time (seconds)
//12 Retraction Time (seconds)
//13 Sound Type
//14 Airspeed limit for retraction (KIAS)
//15 Airspeed that gear gets damage at (KIAS)
point.0=1.0,-18.083333,0.0,-2.0,1574.803200,0.0,0.562288,[glow=yellow,2,300]43.000[/glow],0.143323,2.50,1.220060,3.00,3.00,0.0,0.0,0.0 // roulette de queue
point.1=1.0,0.666667,-3.916667,-6.3,2165.354400,1.00,0.562288,0.0,0.635312,2.50,0.1,7.50,7.50,2.00,0.0,165 // roue gauche
point.2=1.0,0.666667,3.916667,-6.3,2165.354400,2.00,0.562288,0.0,0.635312,2.50,0.709411,6.00,6.00,3.00,0.0,165 // roue droite
point.3=2.00,0.0,-18.0,-0.23,1181.1024,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,5.00,0.0,0.0 // aile gauche
point.4=2.00,0.0,18.0,-0.23,1181.1024,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,6.0,0.0,0.0 //aile droite
point.5=2.00,-20.25,0.0,-2,1181.1024,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,9.00,0.0,0.0 //queue
point.6=2.00,2.416667,0.0,-2.1,1181.1024,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,4.00,0.0,0.0 // ventre
static_pitch=10.38 // inclinaison
static_cg_height=6.20 // hauteur