Why adjusting control sensitivity is not the answer

[robert young 2,897]

On 8/24/2020 at 12:03 AM, DRF30q said:

I note that so far there has been no response to this.

Discussion and analysis of the new simulator is currently of great interest to many people, myself included.  As has always been the case in the past with a newly released simulator, it appears that some aspects of the flight models for aircraft in the new sim do appear to have some issues.  My first impressions are that the current flight models for both the Cessna 172 and in particular the Cessna 152 have many aspects that are quite well done and do capture the feeling of the aircraft.  Obviously there are still aspects to the flight models that are still not quite right.

I respectfully request that people attempt to keep their criticisms and analysis objective, accurate, repeatable and without exaggeration.

Hi There,

Sorry I missed your original post on this. The 50 degrees I was referring to was about ground handling yaw and twitchy rudders. I agree the default aircraft do not show much authority in yaw once in the air, in fact it is the opposite to what they show on the ground. I don't agree with your assessment but it is not worth going there again, as this has been discussed endlessly and many posters have stated their case. 

I would agree that of all the defaults the C152 is a bit closer than almost all the other default aircraft in handling, but don't agree about the Cessna 172 (G1000 version).

Edited August 30, 2020 by robert young

[DRF30q 131]

Hi Robert,

Thanks, I appreciate your reply.  The C152 is pretty much the only aircraft that I have spent any time with in the sim so far.  I have spent a lot of time trying to fix up the obvious things that are wrong.  I am trying to get at least one aircraft in the sim that I will be reasonably satisfied with.  Then hopefully once the current sim weather/wind issues are resolved I can spend some time navigating around and exploring this amazing new sim world.

Overall, I think the C152 is pretty good compared to the other default aircraft but there are still many small issues and these are not just with the flight model.  So far I have been working on improvements to a few things including:

• The Oil Temperature/Pressure modelling and gauge display.  Now displays reasonable realistic values at different stages of flight etc. 
• The fuel tank gauges on the panel in the sim are for Long Range tanks whereas the sim currently models Short Range tank capacities.  I have modified the tank capacity in the sim to model Long Range tanks as it makes the sim aircraft much more suitable for exploring and flying longer legs which I hope to be able to do in the sim.
• The RPM tachometer gauge on the panel in the sim appears to be for an aircraft with a Lycoming O-235 with a slightly higher RPM limit of 2700RPM = 115HP (vs 2550RPM = 110HP modelled in the sim engine model).  (They probably just reused the C172 gauge but the 2700RPM limit is possible for a C152.) I have adjusted my sim engine model for the slightly higher HP version.  (I have flown the C152 with varying engine ratings in the real world.)
• Various engine and fuel consumption parameters modified in an attempt to match real world values.
• I have adjusted the stall speeds for the aircraft in accordance with published data, as the default aircraft flight model values were substantially below the correct values.
• Currently working on adjusting and flight testing to confirm that the modified sim aircraft will deliver close to the tabulated performance for climb and cruise at various relevant power settings etc.

Overall I am pretty happy with the result so far.  Having said that, it seems that there are still some things in the new sim that are not easy (or possible?) to model correctly at this point.  Immediate pitch up/down and realistic associated yaw effects etc associated with substantial power changes is one. Adjusting (reducing) the aileron effectiveness at low speeds (without compromising at higher speeds) is another of the things I don't have an answer for at the moment. 

If anyone has any suggestions for these.....

I suspect that some of the issues (and corrections) that I have found with the default C152 may also be immediately applicable to some of the other default aircraft in the sim as well.

Edited August 31, 2020 by DRF30q