Good day everyone, first post here. 

I've been lurking in the forums for a week or so now. New to the sim world and it would appear that I'm a gamer at the moment as opposed to a simmer.  Was always interested in flight simulators but under an impression that I couldn't handle them as I was never willing to invest time and effort into learning all the intricacies (I will always treat MSFS as a game foremost).  Having said that, I like how this new software is approachable to newbies and I'm not adverse to learning things.  (and yes, eye candy did the trick in selling the sim to me).

I don't know what I don't know, but please take a look at the attached screenshot.  These are default settings for weight and balance.  They can be found in world map menu by clicking on aircraft in top left screen corner.  This particular aircraft seems to be over-weighted and unbalanced.  Some others are set up in a similar way.  Doesn't flying with this setup affect how the plane handles?  Should I keep an eye out for these settings and adjust values to within limits manually?

I fly on Hard settings with only auto-mixture turned on (have no idea about that stuff).  I'm actually very surprised that I can handle most propeller aircraft with Hard accessibility settings. 

Was a blast being barely able to take off at C53 Lower Loon Creek, struggling to climb over mountains in an Extra 330LT (max altitude 10,000 ft).  Most exciting flight in the sim yet.

 

 

 

10 hours ago, ivng said:

Good day everyone, first post here. 

I've been lurking in the forums for a week or so now. New to the sim world and it would appear that I'm a gamer at the moment as opposed to a simmer.  Was always interested in flight simulators but under an impression that I couldn't handle them as I was never willing to invest time and effort into learning all the intricacies (I will always treat MSFS as a game foremost).  Having said that, I like how this new software is approachable to newbies and I'm not adverse to learning things.  (and yes, eye candy did the trick in selling the sim to me).

I don't know what I don't know, but please take a look at the attached screenshot.  These are default settings for weight and balance.  They can be found in world map menu by clicking on aircraft in top left screen corner.  This particular aircraft seems to be over-weighted and unbalanced.  Some others are set up in a similar way.  Doesn't flying with this setup affect how the plane handles?  Should I keep an eye out for these settings and adjust values to within limits manually?

I fly on Hard settings with only auto-mixture turned on (have no idea about that stuff).  I'm actually very surprised that I can handle most propeller aircraft with Hard accessibility settings. 

Was a blast being barely able to take off at C53 Lower Loon Creek, struggling to climb over mountains in an Extra 330LT (max altitude 10,000 ft).  Most exciting flight in the sim yet.

 

 

 

Well, as a real pilot (student), I can tell you: You should definitely always be within limits (both CG and weight wise) if you want to fly it  realistically.

And yes the aircraft handles differently depending on CG and weight. 
I guess MSFS always just puts 50% fuel and the pilot + front seat pax, which causes some aircrafts to be outside limits (and it would be like that in real life as well, when I fly with 2 people in front, none in the back, I put a sand bag in the back of the aircraft, to get the CG within limits, so adding a few lbs to “baggage” would be the trick, however since your overweight as well, removing the front pax would be the better choice)

Also auto-mixture:

The mixture controls the amount of fuel going to the engine, and thus the fuel/air ratio, so when you climb (because of thinner air) less oxygen enter the engine, and to keep the optimal fuel/air ratio, the mixture has to be leaned (reduced). Auto-mixture does this for you. If you want to do it yourself, then (when at altitude) lean the mixture until RPM or CHT (cylinder head temp) peaks (depending on the aircraft), and then add a little mixture back in (the exact procedure varies  from aircraft to aircraft, but this should work fine generally).

Hope it helps.

 

Edited August 20, 20205 yr by patrickbc

Thank you for the reply.  Explains a lot!