Steer during Taxi

[Bryan K 0]

Hi,

I just completed the first tutorial for the 747. The first attempt had me veering left on takeoff, and I crashed. I then set rudder yaw (if I recall correctly) to two keyboard commands and was able to stay semi-centered for takeoff. Upon landing in KSFO, I could barely taxi in. Is there a key command to enable the tiller? I could not find such a command in the joystick assignments or perhaps I missed it. I do not own rudder pedals and am looking for an alternative way to steer on the ground. Any ideas? Thanks,

Bryan kraynack

[Nighthwk 566]

There is no filler function, as the nosewheel is bound to the rudder. Have you assigned keys to the rudder? If the rudder moves on the ground then the nosewheel should as well.

[kevinh 409]

I don't have pedals either, but even the cheapest joysticks offer twist rudder control. Using the keyboard for rudder (and therefore for steering on ground) is very inaccurate. It's very hard to judge how long to press the rudder key to get the desired result without over controlling. If that is your only option then try reducing sensitivity (which makes the rudder and tiller move more slowly). Also make sure you have a key assigned to centre all flight controls because centring the rudder with left/right key inputs is nearly impossible.

[Ephedrin 418]

you can also check autorudders in the reaslim settings to bound the rudders and so the nosewheel to the aileron axis... Though I see no sense in flying a complexe addon without a 4 axis (or at least 3) control to be honest... Invest in a cheap joystick, you should be good to go for 20-30 dollars and you are still better than without any rudder axis..

[Bryan K 0]

Thanks all. I use the Gladiator Pro as my joystick, I just haven't gotten the rudder pedals yet (http://store.x-plane.org/Gladiator-Pro-MK-II_p_666.html). I did assign the rudder axis to the keyboard, but as mentioned it is almost impossible to steer that way. The Joystick does twist, but I am not sure how to assign that in the game. I'll just get the pedals installed and use that moving forward, but in the meantime, I'll just load up on the runway. As a non-pilot, there is still plenty to figure out and play around with starting that way.

Thanks for the advice,

Bryan Kraynack

[Budbud 227]

Hi,

You didn't specify which sim you run and whether you have fsuipc installed?

[Christopher Low 5,353]

I see no problem using AutoRudder with a complex addon. Remember, we don't all want to be real world pilots.

[kevinh 409]

I wouldn’t use auto rudder if you have an axis available. It’s easy to assign the rudder to the joystick twist axis. Just select ‘new’ and twist the joystick. The software will pick it up.

You don’t have to over complicate things by using FSUIPC to calibrate the control axes. I see no point in “shaping” the control response as real controls are almost always linear. 

[downscc 1,327]

5 hours ago, Christopher Low said:

I see no problem using AutoRudder with a complex addon. Remember, we don't all want to be real world pilots.

Christopher, complex addons generally have yaw dampening included in the flight model, and autocoordination may defeat or corrupt that feature.  Also, all modern jets are flown without much rudder application except for landing and takeoff.  Doing a proper crosswind landing with the simulator platform tying to maintain coordinated controls is...., well, I cannot even imagine why I'd do that.  "We don't all want to be real world pilots".... so, you need to be mindful of that when you post here where most participants enjoy the realism and fidelity of PMDG products and are serious about being more than just playing an arcade game.

[Christopher Low 5,353]

You always seem to misunderstand me, Dan.

[Captain Kevin 586]

7 hours ago, Christopher Low said:

I see no problem using AutoRudder with a complex addon. Remember, we don't all want to be real world pilots.

You might not see a problem with using auto-rudder, but the problem is most complex add-ons were never designed with the use of auto-rudder in mind, and I have seen people run into unexpected issues when they tried to use it with auto-rudder.

[Christopher Low 5,353]

It was probably a poor choice of words on my part. I want simulation accuracy as much as the next guy (it is why I am flying the PMDG planes, and not cheaper alternatives), but I use a CH Flightstick Pro joystick as a controller, so adding AutoRudder to that is not much of a problem for me. However, I appreciate that many of you want to do it 100% "by the book", and I admire that. Please accept my apologies if I caused any offence.

[Budbud 227]

Hi Christopher, 

I personally don't mind that you use autorudder but keep in mind to deselect it if you experience strange behaviour. It is known not to go very well with complex addons as already warned by Dan and Kevin, and you can find some threads on the forum to illustrate the issues some users had with that.

[Christopher Low 5,353]

I guess my lack of problems could be because I fly in calm weather with clear skies at the moment. My current PC is not powerful enough to handle complex weather and lots of clouds at the detail levels that I require. Even when I do eventually upgrade to a new PC, I doubt that I will be flying in very windy conditions.....although I would love to be able to fly through realistic cloud formations.