I hope someone can point me in the right direction.

 

On take-off and climb, the 737 slowly but surely turns to the left. I am not using weather.

 

The joystick is NOT the problem. It IS calibrated correctly. This problem ONLY happens with the TM737.

 

I've tried other planes and they all hold the heading, right up to cruise alt - this is with the AP off.

 

There must be some minor FD adjustment that needs to be made. It's definitely a FD problem.

 

Anyone have any ideas? Maybe you've also experienced this ?????

 

 

Thanks

Trevor

If it were an FD issue, I'd think that everyone should be seeing it.

 

Are there any game controllers or other input devices that could be seen and assigned to an axis by FS?

 

Regards

Hi Bob

 

Thanks for responding.

 

The answer to your question is "no".

 

I'm suggesting a FD problem because I don't have this problem with other planes. But I also agree with you - if it were then others would have it too !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

But maybe they have never tested a TO and climb with no weather and no AP. Most guys hit the AP as soon as possible.

 

Two things:

 

1) What other things should I be checking ?

 

2) Would you be prepared to test my FD files if I pm them to you? I have made changes to the FD.

 

I've also checked things in the .cfg file like an imbalance of fuel and fuel tank position, incorrect positioning of engines, contact points etc.

 

I'm stumped but possibly a second pair of eyes must see something I missed.

 

I would appreciate any further help.

 

Thanks Bob

 

Trevor

 

 

PS I hope you have not abandoned the panel project as we have not heard from you in a long while. Maybe you've been quietly going ahead !!!

Even with other 737 originals recently made available, I still stick to the TM plane and panel.

Bob

 

I disconnected and disabled the joystick and went back to the original TM FD files.

 

Problem is still there.

 

I used the keyboard to get the plane off the ground - still turns.

 

Please try from your side with no AP - just a straight manual TO and climb.

 

If you don't have this problem, please send me your FD files to try.

 

Thanks

Trevor

Bob

 

I disconnected and disabled the joystick and went back to the original TM FD files.

 

Problem is still there.

 

I used the keyboard to get the plane off the ground - still turns.

 

Please try from your side with no AP - just a straight manual TO and climb.

 

If you don't have this problem, please send me your FD files to try.

 

Thanks

Trevor

 

You already have my FD files--same as in the AVSIM download.

 

Is this a banking tendency, or is the heading drifting, or both?

 

Where do you have your P-factor and torque set in the FSX realism settings? If they're at 100% (unrealistic) pulling them back to 33-50% might help. I have mine set at ~50%.

Hi Bob

I have finally narrowed the problem down to the panel v1.4

I tested the TM 737 (model and FD) with another 737-200 panel and there was no heading change all the way up to 15 000 feet.

This confirmed that the problem was not a FD one.

I then changed the TM panel gauge from v1.4 back to v1.3 and re-tested.

 

This time I flew all the way up to 20 000 feet with NO change in the HDG.

 

Put v1.4 back and the plane starts banking/drifting very slowly to the left from about 1 500' to 2 000' AGL.

 

Please try this Bob. Folk don't notice this because they either correct it or engage the AP early.

Just take the plane up using only trim from the keyboard (no other control inputs) to about 20 000' and you will find that she does change HDG.

 

It appears to me that some change(s) you made in v1.4 are causing this.

I'd appreciate you looking into this one please.

 

Regards

Trevor

I have a bag of time in every version of this airplane from V1.26 to V1.40 and never noticed anything like this. However I do normally engage the autopilot anytime between the end of the flap retraction cycle and 10,000' depending on circumstances (as is usual basic RW SOP), so thought I'd try it out under the conditions mentioned above. I took off from CYYC (3500 ASL), trimmed the airplane for a normal climb on runway heading and it basically flew itself hands off through FL220 dead straight with no drift of any sort. The only time I even touched a control was to adjust pitch trim.

 

Maybe try reloading the airplane to get rid of whatever FD changes you've made and go back to the stock config as the issue doesn't exist in my sim.........

 

Rob Wilkinson

CYYC

I re-installed both FSUIPC and TM 1.30/1.31/1.32/ and 1.40

Re-calibrated the joystick using FSUIPC.

 

Problem is still there.

 

I find it very difficult to believe that I am the ONLY one in the whole FS community using TM to notice this - impossible!

 

Trevor

I guess strange things happen sometimes.......I actually have V1.40 installed on three different computers and none of them exhibit the behaviour you're describing..........

Hello Rob and Robert

 

strange things happen

- reminds me of "Toy Story".

 

Seriously, I have at looooooong last identified the problem - but the solution, I'm not too sure.

 

It's to do with the setting of fuel. I see on page four of this forum that at least two other people have been experincing this problem. When you set the fuel amounts in FS and then "return to the cockpit", the tanks start

filling again. Sometimes I have to do this 2 or 3 times before the values are accepted. Now here's the problem, I diligently enter equal amounts of fuel into the 2 wing tanks, but when I "return to the cockpit" they are not

equally filled. I never noticed this because one trusts and believes that the amounts you have entered will remain so.

 

During one of my climb-outs, when the plane began banking to the left, I paused the sim and checked the fuel tanks. The left had about 800 lbs more fuel than the right - or was it that the right had less than the left!!!

The extra 800 odd lbs of fuel is what was causing the plane to bank to the left. Why this happens I do not know.

 

I now pause the sim (as Bob suggested in this other fuel topic), then set up my fuel requirements, un-pause the sim, and that seems to have worked so far ( I'm still holding thumbs!!!!!!!!)

 

I can now climb, hands off, on runway hdg to any altitude.

 

There was another method suggested in the topic which I can't seem to follow about copying and pasting values. The PAUSE method appears to be working.

 

Why the plane wants to refill the fuel tanks everytime beats the ******* out of me!!!!

 

Now I can enjoy flying my favourite plane again!!

 

Trevor

Glad to hear you figured it out, Trevor! The Tinouse has never done that to me, but I have seen a transient issue with that before with a B722 in which, coincidentally enough, I was using a Richard Probst panel.

 

Whatever...as long as you've figured it out.

 

Keep the dirty side down!

 

Rob

Keep in mind also that a real-life quirk of the 737-200 that is modelled in this panel is that if there are less than 2000 lbs in the center tank during climb, the front standpipe in the center tank, which feeds the left side, will be uncovered by fuel due to the nose-up deck angle and the left main tank will then begin feeding the left engine while the right engine continues to receive fuel from the center tank because the right side is fed from the aft standpipe in the center tank. This will lead to a significant fuel imbalance if the center tanks are not switched off in the climb per the FM.

 

Also, if the APU is left running, it will continue to burn fuel (from the left side only).