X-Plane 11 Flight Issues

[jwilliamson 0]

This will probably be a newbie question to most in this forum but gonna ask. I've posted in another forum and either due to inactivity or what not it hasn't been answered. I am currently starting with X-Plane 11, and I'm running on Windows 10. I have the X-52 Pro stick and throttle no peddles. I have two major issues going on. I've semi corrected one. The first is the sever pulling to the left or right when attempting to take off with the single prop planes. (I recalibrated the controller in game. IE I paused and did it that way.) The second issue that I'm having is usually with the larger planes. I know that there is the constant nose up because needing lift. The problem is the climbing never really stops. if I take my hand off the stick it always starts to climb again. I never can really take my hands off the stick if I want to look around the cockpit or look out the windows or mess with the different interface screens. Is this something that can be dealt with in the options of the game or is it game design?

No, not a pilot in real life just playing on the computer, but really like idea of moving people around in the game, and such. Thanks in advance for replies.

 

James

[dvlourie 19]

j,

Welcome to the world of flying. While it's not real world flying, XP11 is the closest you can get and still stay on the ground. I have been flying a simulator for a long long time and XP is really the first to get the physics right. I am a real world pilot and "left pulling" in GA prop planes is a real factor. The torque of the prop is the first reason. The second is called, "P-Factor". P-Factor, also called 'asymmetric propeller loading', happens when the downward moving prop blade is taking a bigger 'bite' of air than the upward moving blade. Third is called Gyroscopic Precession and lastly we deal with Spiraling Slipstream. Here's a great link for understanding what it all means.

http://www.boldmethod.com/learn-to-fly/aerodynamics/4-left-turning-tendencies/

I would suggest when you can afford to, get a set of pedals. It will make you a much better pilot and if you find yourself flying GA planes a lot, the left-pulling tendencies will always be there.

I don't fly the airliners a lot, but I imagine your problem with the stick is that the plane is not "trimmed" properly. All planes no matter the size, all fly basically the same.

 

[himmelhorse 1,276]

James,

This sounds like a trim issue. 

Did you assign a key or joystick button to the elevator trim assignment?

Most aircraft need almost constant trimming if flown manually.  You can avoid this by selecting the autopilot after setting the altitude

Seehow that goes if you have not already tried it

Cheers

Tony

[Murmur 3,941]

9 hours ago, jwilliamson said:

I have the X-52 Pro stick and throttle no peddles. I have two major issues going on. I've semi corrected one. The first is the sever pulling to the left or right when attempting to take off with the single prop planes. (I recalibrated the controller in game. IE I paused and did it that way.) The second issue that I'm having is usually with the larger planes. I know that there is the constant nose up because needing lift. The problem is the climbing never really stops.

Good day James.

Regarding the first issue: you have to use the rudder on takeoff to compensate for the left turning tendency. If you have no rudder pedals, you can assign the rudder controls ("yaw") to the twist axis of your x52.

Regarding the second issue: every aircraft needs to be trimmed for a specific angle of attack (and indirectly for a specific airspeed) for every phase of flight. So you have to assign two of the joystick buttons to the "pitch trim up" and "pitch trim down" command. After e.g. takeoff, keep your plane at its specific climb speed (for example, 80 or 90 KIAS for a C172) and then use the pitch trim buttons until no more joystick deflection is needed. You will have to change your trim settings every time you need to change airspeed or power settings, e.g. when going from climb to cruise.

[jwilliamson 0]

Alright I'll see if I can start practicing this when I get off work. Thanks for the input.

[jwilliamson 0]

Again thanks for all the answers will attempt to practice some of this when I get off work tonight. Played many space flight games I.E. Elite Dangerous...but wanted to figure out real flight or the simulation there of so I imagine this will be pretty cool when I get the controls and "feel" down. My next hurdle will be the navi systems to work on a small flight.

[mjrhealth 820]

Steering on ground is always going to be difficult til laminar fix the ground handling issue, lets see what pans out in 11.1.

[theskyisthelimit 48]

39 minutes ago, mjrhealth said:

Steering on ground is always going to be difficult til laminar fix the ground handling issue, lets see what pans out in 11.1.

I agree.. hopefully they will address this.  This has been talked about before.. mixed bag of some saying no way a plane should turn so sharply on applying throttle in real life, others saying not so much.. on my system it will spin like a top to the left even at say 60% throttle.. only way to smoothly pull out is very very slow throttle then apply smooth rudder to counter (i guess as in real life).  It also moves out of the gate with throttle at minimum (some seem to think this is normal/just apply parking or regular toe brakes).. i'm referencing the c172 here.  I think at full throttle i see the nose up issue.. but i think that is normal.. get to cruise throttle and it mitigates.. you can then apply the trim to get her perfectly level.

[theskyisthelimit 48]

I wanted to add that the pull to the left even in 11.1b4 still exists.  From other threads and discussions, its not realistic.  I also compared the full throttle take off of single engine craft on two other sims (p3d and even aerofly).. the torque/pfactor, pull is not nearly as strong.. more of a slight left pull gradually as you go down the runway, requiring a bit of right rudder (normal).

In the case of XP11, every single engine plane wants to circle on full throttle, which is a bit insane and makes take offs a tricky affair.

At least in p3d you can tweak some parameters.. maybe someone knows of a way to tweak them a bit to make this more tolerable/comparable.. or maybe its just bad ground handling.. (this is all with zero wind)?

[theskyisthelimit 48]

Rather than cross post.. here is a link to a post in another thread where i included a clip showing the huge difference with XP11's turn to the left on the ground.

[CVEP 13]

Well, the video doesn't prove which one is more realistic. You can't fly a plane without rudder pedals. I have a pilot license and automatically add right rudder on take off and have no problem ever in x-plane. It's hard to say which is more realistic as we can't feel the force on the rudder, but you automatically do what you have to do to keep the plane going in the right direction, like riding a bike.

[theskyisthelimit 48]

30 minutes ago, CVEP said:

Well, the video doesn't prove which one is more realistic. You can't fly a plane without rudder pedals. I have a pilot license and automatically add right rudder on take off and have no problem ever in x-plane. It's hard to say which is more realistic as we can't feel the force on the rudder, but you automatically do what you have to do to keep the plane going in the right direction, like riding a bike.

True and it would be hard to showcase a non rudder test in real life for obvious reasons :)  However, i think most tend to think the degree of slamming of the right rudder (or maybe very very tiny throttle increases at takeoff) make xp11 seem very tough on take offs compared to other sims at least, real life unsure.. been way to long since the few lessons i had to recall.. but i wanted to say it was more like a feathering of the right pedal to keep center, not this extreme pull/counter thats needed.

[CVEP 13]

I tried to replicate that cessna video in X-plane and now the torque and p-factor seem to be way too mild. If I let go of the rudder right after I take off, the airplane sort of keeps going in the same direction, with a slight left tendancy. Maybe they got it right all along and just needed to fix the ground friction.

[jcomm 5,910]

Actually, all prop aircraft with a CW rotating prop now exhibit a right rolling tendency, even at high power settings.

I have filled a bug report, and it was recorded as:  ref # XPD-8408

[theskyisthelimit 48]

1 hour ago, CVEP said:

I tried to replicate that cessna video in X-plane and now the torque and p-factor seem to be way too mild. If I let go of the rudder right after I take off, the airplane sort of keeps going in the same direction, with a slight left tendancy. Maybe they got it right all along and just needed to fix the ground friction.

What did you do to change the torque and p-factor?