Hello:

When my plane is on the ground, I get full rudder control right and left ... but when it's up in the air, I get very little rudder.  As soon as I'm on the ground again, I get full rudder again.

This lack of full rudder in the air is making it impossible to do a slip in FSX.

Any ideas for help?

 

THanks!

You don't mention what aircraft(s) appear to have this problem.   If you're flying larger aircraft, make sure that Yaw Damper is off.

Chris

I have noticed this especially on the Airbus aircraft.  There are buttons on the upper control panel that you can disengage to give you full rudder deflection.

Limited rudder authority in flight is a good thing. (Unless there's an engine out situation.)

See here for the reason: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_587

Thanks for responding.  I'm getting this problem in the FSX Piper Cub.  The real Piper J3 Cub definitely doesn't have this feature.  The real cub has a solid cable connection from the pedals to the rudder, and it definitely doesn't change during flight.  Also, the top speed on the cub is about 100 or so, which definitely won't damage the rudder, like AA Flight 587.

I bought a real J3 Cub, and I'm using FSX to improve my skills before I actually fly tailwheel.

The problem with limited rudder action is that you can't do a slip maneuver, which is an important skill for any pilot to have.  And, of course, you'll need full rudder control on any plane to pull out of a spin stall.

It's extremely unrealistic to have such tiny rudder movement during flight.

So ... how can I get full rudder control during flight on the FSX Piper cub?

Thanks!

PS:  This problem exists in all of the other tailwheel planes in FSX.

What are you using for flight control(s)?  Joystick with twist rudder, Yoke and rudder pedals, Keyboard?

I just tried my J-3 Cub and I have full rudder control both on the ground and in the air.  In your FSX settings check to see if you have your settings on difficult rather than easy.  Check that autorudder is unchecked.  And in Controls, check to make sure rudder, ailerons, and elevator sliders are at least half way with the null zone for each a smidgen to the right.

Hi:  Thanks for your replies.  It was the "autorudder" that was creating the problem.  I unchecked that, and all is well.  Another plus is that the turn coordinator ball under the compass now works realistically as well.  This allows us to practice coordinated turns in the Cub, which has high levels of induced yaw during aileron-only turns, and requires significant rudder to compensate.  Most Cessnas require less rudder to stay in coordination.

I'm using a joystick for ailerons and elevator, a quadrant for thrust, and pedals for rudder.  I've duct-taped an extension stick on to the joystick to make it the same length as the real-life Cub stick.  The extension gives much finer control over the joystick.  It's literally an actual tree stick that I duct-taped to the joystick.  I can't use any of the joystick buttons now, but that's Ok, because a real piper doesn't have any buttons either.

I've set ailerons, rudder, and elevator to Maximum sensitivity, with the least possible null zone.  Still a little sluggish, but much better now.

Unfortunately, FSX still doesn't respond properly to a slip maneuver.  It is supposed to loose altitude fast, but doesn't lose altitude at all.  But at least now I can properly pull out of a spin stall.  If anyone knows how to get the slip maneuvers responding properly, please let me know.

Again ... thanks for all of your help.

According to real life pilots, I have heard that using FSX to practice real world flying will cause bad habits to form.  Be aware of that.  Glad to hear that it's working for you.

It won't cause bad habits if you are aware of the limitations. Like any tool, it can be used incorrectly. I use it all the time to practice procedures and flows when I am not flying and it definitely helps to keep me sharp.

It's no substitute for practicing actual takeoffs and landings nor basic maneuvers like steep turns, or stalls, simulated engine failures or emergency descents. It is great for practicing instrument scans, though that won't be happening in a J-3! 

Unfortunately, FSX does not model forward and side slips well. That is one limitation of the engine. In a J-3 I will usually slip in a curving base to final to maintain visibility of the runway, but in FSX this doesn't behave close to reality.

I do like the excessively squirrelly grind handing of the default J-3. It is much less forgiving than the real thing, but that's not a bad thing when practicing.

Given your desire to relate your sim experience with r/w flying, it may be a worthwhile investment to get the A2A Cub (and accusim add on if that is still sold separately?) - it was/is a significant improvement in flight dynamics over the default Cub.