Hi, not too experienced on this game, just level 12. I played some Free Flight tonight with the Carbon Cub, had no issues, that thing takes off in its sleep, hard to get it not to take off, that bugger wants to get off the ground.

 

Then I tried some light cargo missions with the C46 and the Maule, for a couple of hours, and I couldn't get either one to take off properly. I could steer them ok at low speed to get them into proper taxi and takeoff positions, but the faster I went on takeoff the planes veered sharply to the right, no matter what I did. Every time. I switched jobs, airports, went back and forth from Logitech Extreme 3D Pro to mouse and keyboard. Didn't matter. It was impossible to take off.

 

I exited Flight, and then put Flight back on. I went to Free Flight, chose some random airport to take off from, same thing again. So I gave up. Got to get to bed, work comes early for me in the morning. I'm beta testing a couple of WWII-ish era combat flying games (War Thunder and World of Warplanes) and also play Birds of Steel on the X-Box. But sometimes I don't feel like being messed with, shot out of the sky, on nights like that I just want to fly in peace and serenity over two states I've never been two but would love to visit, and Flight fits that bill. Never had a problem till tonight. I even yelled the F word a couple of times, scared my dog, he ran off to another room. That is not peace and serenity.

 

Is this a bug, or did I hit a wrong button that's causing all my planes to suddenly do this, or something else?

Quick question....when you say veered sharply, do you mean yawed right...if so, is it possible that you had a reasonably strong cross wind blowing from right to left? That would push your rudder to the left, forcing your plane to turn right as it gains speed, prior to lifting off the runway.

Maybe go out of your way in free flight to choose the calmest weather system, keep an eye on your wind speed/direction and see if it still happens.

I found that it's really difficult to take off in a 19 knot crosswind. One thing you can do is hold the brakes (if you have rudder control) or hold the differential brake that would keep your plane straight. Don't worry, the plane will still take off, it just corrects nicely for a crosswind. Holding aileron into the wind also helps a bit.

 

Hook

To takeoff at such crosswind components you need a good deal of cross-controls: full aileron into the wind, back stick if a taildragger, and rudder downwind.

 

Relief carefully just before getting airborne.

All good advice. I've also found that if you don't give the a/c full throttle it doesn't veer as much. I normally use about 75% throttle in the Maule and it helps quite a bit. As for the C46 that might work too. I don't know as I don't have it.

 

Let us know how you make out.

Just to check, try clear weather and no winds. The C-46 will run true down the runway with full power and 2 notches of flaps without touching anything. You will even see the tail come up on it's own. Just pull it off, retract the gear and milk up the flaps. keep the nose down and watch the air speed.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I will try to use it this morning after breakfast. Had a full work day yesterday, and watched my Pitt Panthers blow that game against Notre Dame in the evening. Feeling slightly hungover. Speaking of which, is anyone planning to see that new Denzel Washington movie Flight? I want to go see it, probably Friday on my day off.

 

On the mission there was a strong crosswind, 44 mph. I've landed a plane in winds that strong, but it wasn't pretty. When I went into Free Flight, it was 16 mph, but still causing me fits. I need to go get some biscuits and gravy, and a huge plate of bacon, then I'll fire up Flight and use all your tips.

Blame it on realism then

I'm surprised Luis Feliz Tirado hasn't responded to this. As he explains here https://news.microsoftflight.com/blogs/news/archive/2012/10/05/community-guest-blog-the-winds-in-flight-by-luisft.aspx, the Maule’s Maximum Demonstrated Crosswind Component is right on the panel on a placard:

Maule M7-260C Orion - 12 kts (14 mph)

The airport I did the job from was Barking Sands on Kauai. I finally did get the c46 airborne, but it wasn't pretty, I was all over the place. I still had the green checkmark on the cargo though. Halfway to Oahu, I hit some 68 mph winds, and the aircraft pitched up and down, I tried my best to minimize this, buy the a-hole dude riding along yelled at me, and I got the yellow question mark. I thought I made a decent landing, but the cargo change to a red x. No points for secure cargo. I guess I should stick to easier jobs until my skill improves. I did make it to Level 13.

I suggest that until you're comfortable with the C-46, that you change the weather theme to something a bit more docile like "clear", "fair", or "low and threatening". With these, the winds are more manageable.

I sounds to me like you've got the hardest weather to fly in selected.

You know, I was thinking that weather was tied to the jobs. In Free Flight I have it set to Dynamic, or Varied, or whatever that setting is. I will switch it before my next job.

here is your answer.... "Propeller Torque and P-Factor"

 

http://wiki.flightgear.org/Understanding_Propeller_Torque_and_P-Factor

the faster I went on takeoff the planes veered sharply to the right, no matter what I did.

 

here is your answer.... "Propeller Torque and P-Factor"

 

Those cause the planes in Flight to veer to the left.

 

Hook

I had no issues tonight taking off on jobs after I mellowed out the weather. I did upset some passengers however, when I started falling asleep during the flight, and the aircraft took a dive. Guess that was from too much beer and vodka when watching football. At least the Steelers won, YEAH!!!!!