nose wheel steering

[Guest elzinga]

I just bought the queen of skies a few days ago. And on the first flight i saw that while i taxied to the runway and i made a turn the nose wheel did not move.This is strange i can go left and right but the nose wheel is not moving

[Guest jgreth123]

Robert S. Randazzo wrote:(FWIW: This is one of my personal pet annoyances with the airplane- drives me completely batty...)I'll break this into a couple of pieces:-> "Nosewheel Doesn't Turn": When the aircraft is stationary, you should not be able to turn the nose gear steering mechanism. On most transport category aircraft, the hydraulic steering actuators cannot exert enough force to rotate the nose wheel carriage without a small amount of forward motion. (this is not true in ALL cases and at all weights, but is generally true on most fleet types...) We try very hard NOT to rotate the carriage until achieving some forward motion as it is very hard on the entire mechanism and tires. We modeled this on the -400... Get a SLIGHT forward roll going and the wheels will turn.-> "Nosewheel appears to slide across the ground": We have had numerous discussions with our friends up in Redmond regarding the ground contact model. We love those guys- but the ground contact model in FS9 is a horrible handicap in our efforts to model the airplane's ground handling. In the FS world, there is excessive friction resistance to forward roll, and almost no resistance to lateral skid.The example that I like to use because it is illustrative: Picture taxiing the airplane around in a world where the taxiways are covered with about 6" peanut butter (or marmelade if that suits your taste!)In order to move the airplane forward, more thrust is needed than you would require in the real world. However, when you turn the tiller, the nose gear loses it's lateral "grip" and rather than steering, it has a tendency to slide.We have found that the larger the airplane is (ie: the further the point of turn friction is from the center of rotation of the airplane) the more likely you are to "lose grip." We have also found that the greater the angle of deflection of the nose gear, the great the likelihood that you will lose grip.There are a couple of ways we can fix this- but they all have trade offs that negatively impact other areas of the sim:1) We can increase the friction component of the nose gear, which will cause the airplane to steer perfectly on the ground, but have the side effect of requiring SIGNIFICANT thrust to keep the airplane moving at taxi speeds. (our tests resulted in nearly 7500lbs of fuel burn in excess of real world fuel burn on SHORT taxi-outs....)2) We can limit the nose gear travel as a ratio of speed to ensure that it never appears to slide across the ground, but this would have the undesireable effect of making the airplane understeer BADLY at speeds that would be considered normal taxi speeds....In the end, we look for balance, because that is how the game is played with addon development. Sometimes we wind up sacrificing in areas that are important to some users in order to keep things working correctly in other areas of the sim. The ground steering model on this airplane was kicked back to Vangelis so many times by me, that it took a few MONTHS longer than it should have before he could finally educate me on what the limitations were....So yes- there are times when even we don't get what we want.Anyway- hope that helps you guys understand what/why/how. If you have other questions that are similar- don't hesitate to post them in our forum. The more we can help you guys understand the sim, the more enjoyment I think you can get from it!---------------------------------------------------------------------Read the whole thread herehttp://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...=4&topic_page=3

[kmanning 12]

Hi all,This was posted about a month ago:>What do you have your nosewheel steering assigned to. Note I said nosewheel steering, not the rudders. They are two seperate controls just like in the real aircraft.I didn't kow that the PMDG 747-400 was modeled with a separate nosewheel steering and the rudder. I cannot find anywhere in the manual or in the menu where I can assign these controls to my joystick or keyboard. I haven't found any posts that explains this. If this is modeled in the PMDG 747-400, how do I assign and separate the nosewheel steering from the rudders? I've already checked all the posts on this topic.Ken.

[markadeane 272]

Yeah what's this about separate NWS? Anyone got this running?

[Guest capntom]

In the real plane the nose steering is controlled through a 7 degree arc either side of neutral by the rudder pedals, much greater steering angle is available through the tillers on either side of the cockpit. Given the size of the plane the nose gear is fairly lightly loaded. It is indeed possible to 'steer' the nose gear while stationary. Caution has to be excersized with hydraulics pressurized not to cause damage to ground equipment or personel.The rudder surfaces can be checked for movement by holding the tiller stationary while the rudder pedals are moved, this will prevent (hopefully) movement of the nose gear.Tom

[vscimone 16]

You may find that the nosewheel doesnt turn when using aileron inputs with autorudder set to "off". This is often the case when using a flight yoke to taxi, rather than rudder pedals or keyboard commands for rudder.Try using instead key commands for the rudder, or, turn on autorudder under AIRCRAFT>REALISMBest,Vin ScimonePMDGwww.precisionmanuals.comhttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/devteam.jpg

[kmanning 12]

>I didn't kow that the PMDG 747-400 was modeled with a separate nosewheel steering and the rudder. I cannot find anywhere in the manual or in the menu where I can assign these controls to my joystick or keyboard. I haven't found any posts that explains this. If this is modeled in the PMDG 747-400, how do I assign and separate the nosewheel steering from the rudders? I've already checked all the posts on this topic.HiI still haven't heard if this is modeled in the PMDG 747-400 and about how to do it or assign it.Ken.

[markadeane 272]

>>Hi>I still haven't heard if this is modeled in the PMDG 747-400>and about how to do it or assign it.>>Ken.Ditto. Anyone care to shed some light on how this is set up in FS? Would be an awesome feature to take advantage of.

[macpac22 0]

i use the CH flight yoke and they way i set it up is that originally the lever beside the throttle on my yoke controls the rudder. I went into settings->realism and turned on autorudder. now when i turn my flight yoke left and right it turns the nose wheel without moving the rudder. if you go into VC mode and zoom back you can see the brown lever in the cockpit (to the left under the window) move, this is the tiller i think.

[Guest A32X]

Hi,Is it possible to control the rudder with rudder pedals and assign the tiller to a separate axis?That would be a really fantastic enhancement and perhaps I could now do a rudder check without having to stop? ;-)Thanks,Paul

[kmanning 12]

>Hi,>>Is it possible to control the rudder with rudder pedals and>assign the tiller to a separate axis?>>That would be a really fantastic enhancement and perhaps I>could now do a rudder check without having to stop? ;-)>>Thanks,>PaulYes, you're correct. Real 747 pilots usually check the rudders while taxing to the departing runway. They can move the rudder peddles and still keep the airplane going staight. When I use the joystick and twist the handle to check the rudder, the airplane will turn. I think it's done by using the tiller to keep the nosewheel from turning while depressing the rudder peddels. But I do know real 747 pilots can check the rudders while taxing to the active runway and still keep the nosewheel staight. Otherwise, the airplane would turn when they depress one of the rudder peddles. Would a real 747 pilot confirm us on this?Ken.

[markadeane 272]

OK guys, having established that this is real world functionality, can someone actually say IF this is possible to assign separately in the PMDG744 and if so HOW? So far I've only seen one person say they've done it and the PMDG guys haven't commented. So I'm increasingly doubtful it CAN be done.Thanks!

[kmanning 12]

>OK guys, having established that this is real world>functionality, can someone actually say IF this is possible to>assign separately in the PMDG744 and if so HOW? >>So far I've only seen one person say they've done it and the>PMDG guys haven't commented. So I'm increasingly doubtful it>CAN be done.>>Thanks!I think you're right. No one has still confirmed if this is modeled in the PMDG 747-400. I really don't think the tiller is functional in the PMDG 747-400, at least I haven't been able to use it. But as far as how they do it, rememember that I said "I think this is how they do it", not "this is how they do it." I haven't yet been told by a real 747-400 pilot. If I remember correctly, the tiller is not used above 25 knots. Ken.