FSX-MS A2A Piper Comanche 250

[KingGhidorah 209]

I've read about that slider being referred to as the "mystery slider" because nobody knows what the heck it does. My understanding is that it dulls the sensitivity at HIGH SPEED, but not low speeds. So the issue of being overly pitch sensitive in the speed regime of the flare doesn't seem to be affected by the slider. I don't have the new Comanche, but I'm assuming it probably works the same way on this plane.

 

I hate having to have calibration curves to simulate the control throw of what is virtually a linear control. Among other things, part of why I hate it is because it amounts to me having to make a different interpretation of how the plane should "feel", of a plane I've never flown before, instead of being able to rely, with confidence, on the well-researched developers' interpretation of that feel. However, flying Helis in DCS has softened me up to the concept a little, just due to the different leverage you get on a real control and the amount of precision that results. Maybe users employing just a tiny little flattening curve on the pitch axis would go a long way to alleviate the complaints of this airplane (and others) being too porpoisey during the flare maneuver.

[Gregg_Seipp 573]

Hi Scott, yes it's a P3D thing ... you need to have two different particle FX one for FSX and one for P3D unfortunately. Also same for prop animation.

 

I'll keep at it with Commanche, but as you can see from my video, my landings are pretty bad ... any tips?

 

That was one of the most beautiful sim videos that I've ever seen.  Separately, I love that little shudder when you landed...well done A2A. 

 

 

 

It's not just the Comanche, all the A2A planes do this to me. I use a MS FFB2 joystick - have been since 2002.

 

I got the C182 recently and was all over the place on the landing.  Maybe I've gotten lazy or not used to little planes any more.  I did fly the C182 years ago and thought it was very easy to land.  Similar on final to the 172 though more like a minivan with it's gentle turns...easing back power over the approach lights to float over the runway and it settled beautifully.  I was this way and that, up and down, with the A2A version so I put it aside until I could spend more time with it.  If I can get an hour or two on the sim, I'll give it another shot today.

[tttocs 301]

 

 

...but for those guys that use a switch on their yoke, why don't they allow the rate to be configured?

 

If you have FSUIPC, it's easy to calibrate "electric" trim on a per-airplane basis.  I've done this to good effect on my A2A planes.  In a section discussing offset increment/decrement, there's an elevator trim specific example:

 

The elevator trim is a signed WORD at offset x0BC0. For this sort of information you'd need the Programmer's Guide in the
FSUIPC4 SDK. Its range is –16383 (full trim down) to 16383 (full trim up). So, when programming your button/levers:
1. Select the "Offset SWord Increment" control to program the nose up trim.
2. Enter x0BC0, or just xBC0 into the offset edit box.
3. Enter 256/16383 in the parameter box. The 256 is the increment and 16383 is the limit. This will give 128 steps between –
16383 and +16383 inclusive (32768 / 256 = 128). If you want a faster, coarser trim adjustment specify a larger increment, and
of course vice versa for a slower, finer adjustment.
4. You'll probably want it repeating whilst held, so check that too (but never set repeat for rotary switches which can be left in
an ‘on’ position, nor latching switches).
5. Do the same for the decrement, with a parameter of 256/–16383 (–16383 being the lower limit). Note that the decrement is
still positive—you can only provide positive numbers for this part. It is the definition of increment or decrement which
controls the addition or subtraction.

 

Scott

[Scott - A2A 164]

I'll keep at it with Commanche, but as you can see from my video, my landings are pretty bad ... any tips?

 

Rob I watched the video.  I can say, two days and maybe 100 people, we didn't see any landings with that much over control so something is up here.  First, check your CONTROLLER AXIS SENSITIVITIES in the OPTIONS, and make sure they are FULL RIGHT, and null zone is FULL LEFT.  It is counter intuitive, but making the controls less sensitive actually puts a delay in there, that just messes everything up - no help to anyone.

 

I have a feeling the above is the issue.  If not, remember a landing flare is nothing more than flying level just a foot or so above the ground.  Practice flying down the runway, at 65 mph full flaps, gear down (if heavy, add 5-10 mph).  Just do that and get a feel.  It's very hard to not over control aircraft on flare.  Just keep it level and let the speed bleed off and just SLOWLY pull the yoke back if needed.

 

Lastly, if none of the above gets you where you want, I will guess you don't use a CH yoke?  I'm not a CH marketer, but the yoke is just SO important to get a good flare.  This is also true in real planes.  My old Warrior's yoke tended to stick, and when it did, it was impossible to make a nice landing.  I kept silicone in the baggage, and after spraying the yoke shaft, it was so nice.

 

Scott.

[flapsdown 45]

To be honest, I am never really quite sure what to make of A2A aircraft, as I always find things about the flight models that seem intuitively wrong - and this business with low speed control sensitivity, porpoising and floating on landings are a prime examples, and why the 172 has moved on elsewhere, the 182 gets flown only occasionally, and initially the 250 frustrated the crap out of me.

 

I have adapted to both the 182 and now the 250 on landing by having to end the approaches at as low an airspeed as possible, which of course requires a more nose up attitude that basically entirely substitutes for doing any kind of flare at all - so in a sense, I am just flying right down on to the runway - this results in very nice, almost perfect "3-point" touch downs which eliminates all the aforementioned oddities, but its a very, very delicate balance, and in its own way feels just as "wrong", as it seems like I am always just having to learn to land the "A2A way", as opposed to what the flight physics for a particular plane would seem to dictate...

 

...then again, it is equally as possible that my flying and/or control setup just plain stink when used in conjunction with A2A aircraft

[CFIJose 5,485]

Rob, the key to good landings is a stabilized approach.

 

I find that my a2a planes are a little sensitive in pitch. You need to adjust the sensitivity in CP.

[Poppet 710]

 

 

...then again, it is equally as possible that my flying and/or control setup just plain stink when used in conjunction with A2A aircraft

 

More then likely.

[KingGhidorah 209]

One of these days I'm almost sure I'm going to get banned from Avsim for overplaying my staunch opposition to developers reliance on aircraft specific user calibration curves to create the aircraft feel! It seems that it used to be developers created their aircraft feel with the assumption of the user just plugging in their controller, accepting the default calibration, and going from there. Now with planes like Real Air, and A2A, it seems like you need to retune the controls for every plane these days!

 

So, Scott - A2A, by recommending Controller Axis Sensitivity full right, you are saying that in order to get the correct aircraft handling feel, as you, a real Comanche pilot, interprets it, you essentially need a massive S curve of the axis, correct? I think that's essentially what happens when you move those sliders full right, as opposed to leaving the slider at the default dead center, which I understand is pure linear. Is my understanding of how those calibrations work in FSX direct-mapping correct?

[flapsdown 45]

More then likely.

 

Which is why I put it out there as a possibility, but then again, I never experience any of these problems with my RealAir, PMDG, SibWings, Majestic or QualityWings  aircraft - just sayin'...

[Scott - A2A 164]

Just do your own tests and see exactly what that sensitivity slider does.  If it was sensitivity, that would be great, but it's not, its a delay.   Who wants a delay between the controls and the control surfaces?  When you move this slider left, you will forever be behind the plane, forever seeking it.

 

This slider is a bad thing for every plane, not just A2A.

 

Scott.

[Rimshot 1,186]

...then again, it is equally as possible that my flying and/or control setup just plain stink when used in conjunction with A2A aircraft

 

Yes. That  I don't recognize anything in the landing behaviour you and others describe. I think Scott is absolutely right in assuming there is something wrong in the controller setup of anyone experiencing these problems. All my A2A aircraft land beautifully... Then again, I'm an excellent pilot 

[Bert Pieke 7,595]

Every plane that A2A releases, I always read somebody with the complaint about the trim being too slow. I have one of those saitek trim wheels, so I'm able to spin the wheel as fast or as slow as I want and calibrate it to my liking, but for those guys that use a switch on their yoke, why don't they allow the rate to be configured?

 

On the Cherokee and C182, the following setting (in the aircraft.cfg file) improved the trim speed,

when I use the rocker switch on my CH Yoke 

 

elevator_trim_limit     = 19.50000                 //Degrees, was  100

[KingGhidorah 209]

So, if one starts using individualized FSUIPC profiles for the main control axes (as I'm sure many do already) instead of just mapping my main flight controls in FSX, what kind of curve or lack thereof, do you guys recommend? Like I said, every developer seems to have a different interpretation of how the controls should be these days, and it would be nice to know A2A's Comanche-specific take on this (for FSUIPC) in order to replicate the feel as you developer guys intended it to be.

 

FSUIPC for the main controls becomes mandatory really, otherwise we would be retuning the yoke/joystick every time we fly a different plane. For example, Real Air has a recommendation to keep those sensitivity sliders at 1/3, while A2A is saying full right.

[jcomm 6,064]

King,

 

for an axis in FSX, full right means linear.

[KingGhidorah 209]

You absolutely, positively sure about that, José?

 

If you're right, it means that I've been using those hated despised S curves for years now, because I've always kept those slider in the center, where FSX defaults them to :()