It may sound like a strange question,but i must tell you that i have always found this awnser to be maby YES!I have enjoyed this hobby for years and I know that there is an underlying major flaw in the Microsoft programming software that causes this, but even with all the addons like Rudder pedals,trottles,& Yoke,it's still a challange.I try to taxi out to the active runway in the cokpit view while keeping to the recommended speeds & trying to stick to the taxi centrelines,but with the major problems of SKATING,OVERSTEER/UNDERSTEER,OVERTROTTLE/UNDERTROTTLE,BRAKING/TROTTLING UP etc.it is a fulltime job getting everything right,never mind setting up all the other things one has to do while taxing out to the active runway.I really do wish that someday someone will come up with software to try to tackle this flaw.Mabie i am in the minoroty here but i had to get it out there.

Interesting question. I also never liked taxiing. The problem in FSX is, I believe, that gear doesn't "stick" on the ground. I don't know what happens in real world if you come in to fast, you probably skid, but skidding in FSX is just too much in my opinion.

I love taxiing out the PMDG 747X, I have it down to an art form, even sharp turns I can accomplish now. Toe brakes are your friend

Interesting question. I also never liked taxiing. The problem in FSX is, I believe, that gear doesn't "stick" on the ground. I don't know what happens in real world if you come in to fast, you probably skid, but skidding in FSX is just too much in my opinion.

the "reset all" option under control surfaces has helped me out bigtime.I'll just stear the corner and once I get in line with the taxiway i just press 5 and it will go straight ahead

the "reset all" option under control surfaces has helped me out bigtime.I'll just stear the corner and once I get in line with the taxiway i just press 5 and it will go straight ahead

Bad idea reseting control surfaces, for many!!! Especially if you, like many others out there, have custom controls set up over FSUIPC, like I do, for each aircraft or type a profile.Resetting surfaces brings nothing to taxiing. Only brings everything to default, which is also too crappy.Uhm, what should 5 do?!Squishy, I'm talking here realistic addons 747/MD11 etc, which have the best taxiing out there, but still tend to skid a lot. Even at low speeds.

I have no problems taxiing the pmdg 747 with keys.I've assigned rudders to numpad 1 and 3.In fsx rudder is also bound to the nosewheel.I just steer using 1/3 and press 5 to go straight ahead.I have nothing assigned in fsuipc

I have no problems taxiing the pmdg 747 with keys.I've assigned rudders to numpad 1 and 3.In fsx rudder is also bound to the nosewheel.I just steer using 1/3 and press 5 to go straight ahead.I have nothing assigned in fsuipc

Squishy, I think flying or taxiing aircraft with KEYS is not anyone is really interested in - especially not the high quality PMDG 747 addon. Do we have a keyboard for taxiing in real 747? Besides, a poster actually wrote he has rudder pedals etc. So, let's just get real (or closely).I also noticed you have fairly little posts, but your login is from 2007. Either you are lacking experience or just aren't as enthusiastic as some here. I only suggest you learn some things.

I love taxiing out the PMDG 747X, I have it down to an art form, even sharp turns I can accomplish now. Toe brakes are your friend

Yes, I also do like it better than many other addons! But don't you feel it skids at times, also when doing slow turns, just look closely at the front gear!

Squishy, I think flying or taxiing aircraft with KEYS is not anyone is really interested in - especially not the high quality PMDG 747 addon. Do we have a keyboard for taxiing in real 747? Besides, a poster actually wrote he has rudder pedals etc. So, let's just get real (or closely).I also noticed you have fairly little posts, but your login is from 2007. Either you are lacking experience or just aren't as enthusiastic as some here. I only suggest you learn some things.

I use mouse yoke for flying, and it's good enough for me (my controller broke). If I don't goo too fast the pmdg 747 will follow it's path and doesnt skip. I don't see why that would be different with rudder pedals? The a2a stratocruiser is pretty hard to taxi, but that's only because they actually have seperate controls for the nose wheel and it simulates understeer.I know you're avsim guru but just because i dont spend all my life on the forums doesn't mean i'm not a FS enthusiast :(

Squishy,This 'advice' you give: 'use the "reset all" option under control surfaces..' labels you as moron. If you are serious (enthusiastic?) about giving advice then you should KNOW what you are talking about before you post. THAT IS VERY BAD AND MALICIOUS ADVICE. Got it?We are not going to throw away our joysticks (or disable our custom assignments) and join your keyboard and mouse 'club'. Your assignment of 1 & 3 for rudder points to how a mis-informed person will corrupt a perfectly good program and is due to you not reading up on assignments. The keypad '0/INS' and 'Enter' key are already 'bound' to the rudder which is what you use to stir (on the ground or in the air). Forget about the nose wheel assignment (unless you have FSUIPC). The '1 & 3' are already reserved for the aerlions! So keep your 'modifed' key assignments to yourself.In FSX I use the 737 panel for several 'hard to taxi' aircraft (including a Dash 8 am working on). What I do is use AP AutoThrottle (Speed) feature. I dial in 15 kts and I can taxi all over the airport with no 'overspeed'. I let the auto throttle do the 'work' (you can see it in throttle 'window'). The aircraft cfg autopilot section did not include autothrottle lines-I added them. Just an idea if you are adept at working with cfg file. I am sure you can do this with all other panels IF it has AT icon, and SPEED knob to dial in number. Cheers.CBNapamule From the mod:The moron comment along with general rudeness gets you a two day suspension. We don't allow rude behaviour like that to other simmers.

Actually, num1 is reserved for elevator trim. I change the trims in the VC myself and dont use the need the numpad 1 and 3.Where did I say all you guys have to use my assignments? I'm just saying that maybe the problems is not with FSX because I can taxi just fine, even without the reset button

Napamule already said what needed to be said, though a bit in harsh words. I would put it simple mildly: to give advice, you first have to know what the correct advice is.Taxiing with keys is for nobody an option.Anyway, I can say I'm helping myself the same way as probably many other pilots in the real world, that be with the rudder pedals and asymetrical toe brakes + separate throttle controls for each engine. My pedals broke, unfortunately, but right now I get myself a 6 lever throttle, simulating up to 4 throttles. And I can say, it helps a LOT in turns with the 747. A bit asymetrical thrust in the turn and your aircraft is gonna dance. I can only imagine that with the toe brakes it would even work better.I think the reason we are getting such skids are that we don't have everything a pilot in RW has.

Based on my experience, one has to pay as much attention to taxiing as one does to flying. One has to stay ahead of the plane to taxi well.For the light planes, like the Cessna 172 or Carenado Mooney, you can get stable taxiing by keeping speeds at about 15 knots and using the pedals lightly. It is not even necessary to use too much rudder when the prop torque is kept low. In the case of the PMDG 747-400, I use throttle to maintain about 15 kts. For control, I use my pedals to make very slight adjustments, while staying ahead of the plane all the time. I go into curves using the same slight rudder motion but at times have to reduce speed a bit before entering the turns, with slight back throttling. To turn at the end of the runway I reduce the speed to less than 10kts and use the pedals to effect the turn. If the runway is not wide enough, I just use some differential braking, using at times a bit more throttle to keep the speed up. I agree with other pilots; we should use rudders and yokes to make flying realistic. I have been active in this hobby since 1983, taxiing and flying many planes using the keyboard. While it does create a strong awareness of the need to stay ahead of the plane, it is frustrating. Using a good set of pedals and throttle allows us to gain a high level of proficiency.

There's a lot of things that go in to taxing. Airplanes are meant to be flown, not driven, and are just not at home on the ground. A good number of difficulties I believe can be boiled down to two points.First, taxing too fast. General guidelines I've seen have been <20 kts GS on a straight away and <10 kts GS for 90 degree turns. Following these speeds help quite a bit, although for very large aircraft like the 744, it seems like a guideline of <8 kts GS for the turns might even be better. Second, not fully understanding where your landing gear are in regards to your eye points. The 744 is a great example with it's nose landing gear some 10-15 feet behind the cockpit seats. "You" have already passed your turn by the time even your nose gear gets there. Add on top of this that your main landing gear are the ones you're really trying to track center with (in other words, your nose gear should even pass the turn by a little). My advice here is to set yourself up for an ideal turn in external view, pause, and then return to the cockpit and get some references. Is the taxi line near your second window pain, just above some button or knob, etc? Then use that in the future. Real pilots in training even get these hints about where things should line up while taxing to help them out.

...Toe brakes are your friend

They can be, but in order to preserve brakes your goal is usually to not use brakes...even for slowing down. Of course, use them if you have to, but using just the nose steering and thrust to accelerate/decelerate prolongs brake life and makes the financial types of an airline happy. Of course, there are some famous airplanes like the B-17 without a steerable tail wheel that relied entirely on differential braking and assymetric thrust to get the job doen...so certainly something to know how to use.

There's a lot of things that go in to taxing. Airplanes are meant to be flown, not driven, and are just not at home on the ground. A good number of difficulties I believe can be boiled down to two points.First, taxing too fast. General guidelines I've seen have been <20 kts GS on a straight away and <10 kts GS for 90 degree turns. Following these speeds help quite a bit, although for very large aircraft like the 744, it seems like a guideline of <8 kts GS for the turns might even be better. Second, not fully understanding where your landing gear are in regards to your eye points. The 744 is a great example with it's nose landing gear some 10-15 feet behind the cockpit seats. "You" have already passed your turn by the time even your nose gear gets there. Add on top of this that your main landing gear are the ones you're really trying to track center with (in other words, your nose gear should even pass the turn by a little). My advice here is to set yourself up for an ideal turn in external view, pause, and then return to the cockpit and get some references. Is the taxi line near your second window pain, just above some button or knob, etc? Then use that in the future. Real pilots in training even get these hints about where things should line up while taxing to help them out.They can be, but in order to preserve brakes your goal is usually to not use brakes...even for slowing down. Of course, use them if you have to, but using just the nose steering and thrust to accelerate/decelerate prolongs brake life and makes the financial types of an airline happy. Of course, there are some famous airplanes like the B-17 without a steerable tail wheel that relied entirely on differential braking and assymetric thrust to get the job doen...so certainly something to know how to use.

If you have FSUIPC installed, assign your rudder via that and delete the rudder assignment in FSX. When this is done you have the option to assign an axis to the tiller using FSUIPC. I have the tiller assigned to an axis on a spare saitek throttle quadrant and the landing gear assigned to one of the other axis. This for me adds a bit more realism. FSUIPC allows you to steer the aircraft with less effect the faster the ground speed is. At about 50 knots (I think) the steering effect from the tiller is not effective and rudder imput steers the aircraft. This speed can be altered using the FSUIPC interface.Hope this helps.Andrew Dixon

Squishy,Thanks for your comments on flying and taxiing (sp?). Although most here fly with yoke and rudder I'm pretty sure we all started with the keyboard. In the very early days with my Apple IIc and the Sublogic flight simulator, that's all I had. Just want you to know I don't think you're much different than the majority of the rest of us. Thanks for sharing your solution to a problem.