Hi everyone,Not too long ago I bought the CLS 767 for fsx and I love it. However, I find that on takeoffs I have a difficult time on keeping the centerline of the runway. I usually keep my realistic settings between medium and hard, fly with real weather, and have autorudder on. Still, whenever there is any crosswind, my aircraft just veers off to the side unless I put a lot of pressure on my joystick. Time and again this leads to takeoffs that occur on an angle. Now I do realize that if I keep the realism settings on easy or fly in perfect weather, then problem solved, but I do like some realism. So, is there a recommendation for an ideal realism setting for the CLS 767? And on harder settings any tips on keeping the centerline? Thanks!

You are experiencing weathervaning: Cross-wind component turns your aircraft into the wind.To counteract weathervaning, you need to:

1. Apply downwind rudder, and
2. Aileron into the wind (downwind aileron is deflected downwards creating more drag while the upwind aileron is deflected upwards creating less drag, with both ailerons combined creating a net downwind yawing moment.)

The short of it is you need rudder pedals to properly take-off and land in a crosswind (and make sure your auto-rudder coordination in FSX is turned off.)Cheers,- jahman.

Thanks, I figured it was either take control of the rudder or fly on easier settings. Unfortunately, I don't have a hundred to drop on pedals now, but I did calibrate my fairly basic logitech attack 3 joystick to at least control the rudder. It works, not perfect, but i get the plane going without running of the runway. I will see what I can do about the ailerons. Again, thanks.

Unfortunately, I don't have a hundred to drop on pedals now

Of course expensive pedals would be nice, but a twisty joystick does help a lot already! Autorudder or pushbuttons aren't a useful solution at all.

Yeah, I don't think I am going to get pedals anytime soon. I play FSX on my 13 in macbook pro, and all I really need is basic controls. As for a twist, I actually do like my current logitech joystick. I had it for a couple of years, and it works great, though maybe in time I will upgrade to a twist one. RIght now, however, I am not sure if it's worth it. I have been reading a lot of forum threads on realism and the rudder, and it seems that the best solution for me is to keep the realism settings at medium and just stick to the autorudder. On my laptop, it's hard to get a good feel for the aircraft, beyond the basic visual senses; so I think the best compensation is to just drop down the realism settings. Like I said, I really only noticed this veering on the CLS 767. On the default jet aircraft (I don't fly most of the turboprops), which I know only model the basics, the rudder does not seem to affect anything and I takeoff and land pretty straight even if there is crosswind.

As for a twist, I actually do like my current logitech joystick. I had it for a couple of years, and it works great, though maybe in time I will upgrade to a twist one. RIght now, however, I am not sure if it's worth it. I have been reading a lot of forum threads on realism and the rudder, and it seems that the best solution for me is to keep the realism settings at medium and just stick to the autorudder.

99% of the higher quality add-ons need the realism set at full to fly realistic. It's not only the rudder that is concerned when reducing realism. Especially in a jet you never need the rudder except for taxi and crosswind operation. With the realism sliders not at the full right position plus autorudder you are the reducing the realism of the whole flying experience a lot.

99% of the higher quality add-ons need the realism set at full to fly realistic. It's not only the rudder that is concerned when reducing realism. Especially in a jet you never need the rudder except for taxi and crosswind operation. With the realism sliders not at the full right position plus autorudder you are the reducing the realism of the whole flying experience a lot.

Again, thanks for the advice. However, I think there is a lot of room for debate concerning the realism. The CLS 767 manual says nothing about these settings, but advises only to keep the indicated airpspeed checked, which I always do anyway. Everything else that I have read so far suggests that medium settings are a good compromise. As I understand, on hard, FSX tends to over compensate, especially for the turboprops. Certainly, I have much smoother takeoffs on medium than on hard, though on the default jets there was actually not that much difference. Anyway, the guys who wrote this book, "Microsoft Flight Simulator X for Real World Training," say that medium is actually more realistic than hard. I don't know if that's true or not, but if you consider that you are only relying on your visual senses and like me don't have the money to spend on expensive controls, then keeping the realism settings down seems like a good choice. It all comes down to personal preference I think. I am not a real pilot, and I am playing a sim; so I am not expecting something super realistic. Besides, I fly the CLS on autopilot the vast majority of the time. I manually control it on approaches and takeoffs only, so the flight dynamics of cruise flight don't really concern me. My original post was really about how to keep it steady when there is excessive wind and what settings to use given the limitations of my controls/hardware and still maintain some realism. From what I have read here and other places online, it seems that it's best for me to stick to medium and just fool around with the autorudder, though I will consider a different joystick once I get some cash. Any advice on that?

Again, thanks for the advice. However, I think there is a lot of room for debate concerning the realism. Anyway, the guys who wrote this book, "Microsoft Flight Simulator X for Real World Training," say that medium is actually more realistic than hard. I will consider a different joystick once I get some cash. Any advice on that?

That 'medium' setting might apply to some default planes but for sure not to high quality add ons. A good flight dynamics programmer easily corrects the FSX 'overcompensation' etc... in the air and cfg file.AFAIK The Thrustmaster T16000M is among the very best and precise joysticks.

Just a thought, make sure the yaw damper is off for take off and landing. You will have more control over the rudder that way. I find some of the models are very realistic in that respect.Lee

"I am not a real pilot, and I am playing a sim; so I am not expecting something super realistic. Besides, I fly the CLS on autopilot the vast majority of the time. I manually control it on approaches and takeoffs only, so the flight dynamics of cruise flight don't really concern me. My original post was really about how to keep it steady when there is excessive wind and what settings to use given the limitations of my controls/hardware and still maintain some realism

As you're not going to go with a hardware rudder, and you're pushing aside all of the advice from two of the very/most experienced guys (one of who is a commercial airline pilot) there's not much point in suggesting anything else, other than just set the wind straight down the runway. ..after all, "it's only a sim", so who cares about crosswind? Right?

That 'medium' setting might apply to some default planes but for sure not to high quality add ons. A good flight dynamics programmer easily corrects the FSX 'overcompensation' etc... in the air and cfg file.AFAIK The Thrustmaster T16000M is among the very best and precise joysticks.

Thanks, I will definitely look into that. My planned next upgrade is to get GEX, but I will invest in this as well. The CLS is an "flite" series; so maybe that's why they don't make a recommendation about the realism settings, but yeah I noticed from manuals on other payware addons that they recommend the hard settings. I will just fool around with it this weekend and see what fits my needs best. I am thinking of just controlling the rudder on takeoff when there is crosswind (e.g.: Newark airport all the time) and then switching back to the autorudder once airborne.

Just a thought, make sure the yaw damper is off for take off and landing. You will have more control over the rudder that way. I find some of the models are very realistic in that respect.Lee

Thanks, I totally forgot about the yaw damper, lol. I will make sure to turn it off; it's always on.

As you're not going to go with a hardware rudder, and you're pushing aside all of the advice from two of the very/most experienced guys (one of who is a commercial airline pilot) there's not much point in suggesting anything else, other than just set the wind straight down the runway. ..after all, "it's only a sim", so who cares about crosswind? Right?

As I said before, pedals are not in my budget now. The advice on here has been very helpful, and I'm looking forward to trying it all out over weekend, but as it stands, I'm stuck with the hardware that I have. That aside, the beauty of this SIM is that it caters to all tastes, from amateurs to certified pilots. As such, we all treat the program differently to fit our personal needs, meaning that some really get into the flight dynamics part while others just like to takeoff and enjoy the view. Either way, it's lots of fun and that's the whole point of it.