How to make pitch and yaw control less twitchy

Like many others I felt the pitch and yaw control in MSFS is way too twitchy. Here is how I fixed – or at least worked around – it:

1. Always remember to make a backup before you edit any file ;-).

2. The Flight Model is set to "Modern".

3. The Sensitivity in the Controls Settings is set to default 0. Lowering the sensitivity there does not solve the problem because it is just a slope. It only helps with small rudder / aileron deflections but makes it even worse with large deflections. So the pitch control will get even more twitchy during the flare and the yaw control will get even more twitchy during crosswind takeoffs and landings. So leave it at default 0.

4. Locate the flight_model.cfg file for each aircraft. You find it here (e.g. for the C152):

...\Official\OneStore\asobo-aircraft-c152\SimObjects\Airplanes\Asobo_C152

If an aircraft does not have its own flight_model.cfg file it falls back to the file in the generic folder, for example:

...\Official\OneStore\asobo-aircraft-generic-piston-singleengine\SimObjects\Airplanes\Asobo_Generic_Piston_SingleEngine

5. Change these lines in the flight_model.cfg file

elevator_effectiveness = 0.1

rudder_effectiveness = 0.1

Of course you can experiment with other values like 0.2 or 0.05 depending on your peripherals and personal preferences. You need to restart the sim after you edited the file.

Just make sure you still have enough elevator authority for the flare and enough rudder authority for crosswind takeoffs and landings.

This worked great for me, tested with several aircraft. The only adverse effect I noticed is that some aircraft need more nose up trim now than before.