Advise Needed To Control Rudder

[Guest Tarks]

Hi all,I am having an impossible time trying to control the aircraft via rudder while taxing. Up until now I have never played the game with any wind but feel it is time to take the game to the next level. Obviously with any wind the aircraft is being pushed around. I am using the Microsoft Sidewinder joystick. I have tried adjusting the sensitivity with no results. Does one require rudder pedals in order to control the aircraft?Thanks for any advise.

[Orlaam 306]

Having rudder pedals helps a lot, but it's still difficult sometimes. The ground handling in MSFS sucks so bad. Some models handle better than others though.

[mnmon 0]

Try decreasing the sensitivity in the Settings-Controls menu for the rudders. If it is a problem specific to a particular airplane, then you can modify the contact point which MIkegives the steering angle. Many are set way too high which gives uncontrollable steering on the ground.

[ronzie 21]

In the real world in a light aircraft while taxiing in a strong crosswind you would cross control. You would need pedals for that and I highly recommend their use. If you get them be sure to disable auto-rudder in FS. Look toward the final paragraphs in this post where I address these issues. I was a real GA pilot and immediately bought peds in addition to a stick (no room for a yoke and I had other issues) because I was aware of what separate rudder/nosewheel control from aileron control offers.If it is an issue of sensitivity and you get peds that come with software and that software will probably let you adjust sensitivity on a non-linear scale (look for an adjustable curve). This lets you have decreased sensitivity near the center of your rudder axis and increased sensitivity as you deflect it more so when steering near center you have greater control over fine steering but still have the ability to get full deflection if needed.If you do not wish to buy peds you can get a full (paid) version of FSUIPC here:http://www.schiratti.com/dowson.htmland follow the purchase instructions. This will offer control mapping that can offer the same non-linear sensitivity even if you use auto-rudder. I use CH peds and do not use their software but use a full FSUIPC for non-linear control sensitivity and other features.You can download FSUIPC at no charge and look through the documentation to see what it offers.Finally back to the ground cross wind issue if you have peds. At the slowest speeds you need to turn your ailerons into the cross wind component direction increasing the deflection as you get slower especially during taxi. You steer with peds as needed. Remember to adjust your ailerons as your aircraft takes on different directions with the taxiways. Also, if there is a headwind component push your nose down with forward yoke pressure. If there is a tailwind component you get a reverse action and pulling the yoke back increases nose pressure at slow speeds. Be careful as your taxi direction changes as a headwind component could become a tailwind component. Moving the yoke in the wrong elevator direction on a light aircraft could reduce pressure on a nose wheel even possibly lifting it causing nosewheel skidding. (Turning ailerons in the wrong direction can cause a wing to lift.)The technique described also works on takeoffs and landings. As an aircraft touches down and slows you increase aileron deflection into the crosswind direction while steering straight with the nosewheel pushing the yoke forward on ground contact into the headwind. Landing a tail-dragger is different and I'm not too familiar with that. Taking off you steer with the nosewheel and ailerons into the crosswind decreasing aileron deflection as you IAS increases which increases aileron effectiveness. Also, you might have to delay pulling the yoke back for lift-off so the nosewheel maintains a bit of pressure for steering assist although rudder effect does increase with speed. It is also important to note that rudder maintains steering effect sensitivity as speed slows over the effect of ailerons at slower speeds.Hope this helps.

[AlaskanFlyboy 7]

A lot of it has to do with the control limits of a twist grip joystick. It doesn't move very far in either direction, but it's controlling the rudders full range. Pedals help since a tiny push on the pedal isn't nearly as much movement as the tiny twist on your stick. I recommend pedals anyway as the toe brakes help and in some older taildraggers such as the DC-3, they're pretty much essential. As Ronzie said, there's some cross controlling going on in the real world, but I've yet to see the sim care about elevator and aileron positions. I've tested it. If you want to be as real as it gets, just remember on tricycle gear, it's "dive into and fly away".