Landing the F-18 and erratic nose gear steering

[Guest fael 097]

i totally understand you Bill, i see some people saying they dont have problems, and they gotta be kidding, because it is impossible to land the f-18 without sliding sideways. theres no way you can land it perfectly like any other jets, even if you turn your rudder controls off, or increase its null zone to max. it gotta be bugged or something.

[jmig 100]

Is there any way you can borrow someone's rudder pedals to try on your sim? Did you add the hall sensors? I have looked at doing that for my cockpit but, I have never found any that would work and that I could afford. Beta Innovators had some that worked with the Plasma card. But, he dropped MSFS support with FSX.

[Guest fsxmissionguy]

Fael,Afraid I'm gonna have to agree with those who are pointing at your input device. But rather than just tell you that I can't find a problem with the FSX F18's steering characteristics on landing, here's a video I made of it landing at Edwards AFB:http://youtube.com/watch?v=pFXH7X1d6YwI use the Saitek X52. Best joystick I've used.Cheers,Kevin

[sbclark 55]

Hi All,I'd like to address 3 individuals above specifically, but before I do, let me state something first.Basically, I have a high end joystick/throttle/rudder combination. The Cougar joystick and throttle combination is made by Thrust Master and has been modified by me by adding 3 Hall Sensors to the pitch and roll axis, plus the throttle axis. In addition, I have replaced the stock gimbals, with an Uber II Nxt mod that eliminates a lot of issues inherent in the original design. The rudder set, made by Simped, a company from Germany, is specifically designed for the Cougar and it comes with a built in Hall Sensor. So basically, I have a high-end device, with approximately $1,000 invested in it. Except for the FSX F-18, it works very well with two well know combat simulations (Falcon AF & IL-2 1946), plus all the aircraft in FS9 and FSX, with the one exception.1) fael 097 - you and I are in complete agreement. You have the same issue.2) fsxmissionguy - while you have not experienced issues with your Saitek X52, an excellent stick, I don't believe I have an issue with my input devices, given that it works for all aircraft in 4 very popular flight sims with the exception of the F-18. I just can't explain why.......which is the reason for posting my original message. It seems logical to me there is something fundamentally wrong with the F-18 flight/ground model because it behaves this way, unlike the other aircraft in FSX.3) jmiq - Since I don't have another set of pedals, and because my pedals work well with all other planes in all my sims, I see no reason to go further with other hardware as I'm very happy with my existing stick/throttle/rudder system.I will continue to look further into what tweaks that can be made. However, I do have one question, does the SDK that comes with the Deluxe version of FSX have a description of all the parameters in the aircrafts.CFG file as to what their definitions are?Thanks for you help,Bill

[Guest fsxmissionguy]

Bill,I understand your frustration. I've read through this thread a couple of times, and the reason that I posted the video was to demonstrate that with a pristine install of FSX SP2, using a joystick that is widely used, the problem you describe doesn't seem to be the result of a flawed model.If there was a flaw in the flight model causing this problem, it seems to me we'd see it over many installations, regardless of the combination of hardware.I don't recall this issue ever being raised during beta or usability testing. (Not saying that this is proof of anything, just passing along my experience during that process.)So, I realize that you're stumped on this one, but I think focusing on the aircraft model is going to end up being wasted effort.Just my opinion though.Cheers,Kevin

[ryanbatc 12,797]

I've noticed this too, it is easy to ground loop the F18 heheEven if you are taxing at 10 kts, and turn a sharp turn the whole plane just tilts one way, I don't think they do that. At least the F16's I watch almost daily in real life don't

[Guest fsxmissionguy]

Ryan,See the video here:http://youtube.com/watch?v=pFXH7X1d6YwI don't detect any abnormal body roll during these taxiing turns.PS: You must be wearing your big azz watch to counteract G forces on taxi turns. Do you have your big azz watch on?

[ryanbatc 12,797]

Yes here's mine....I think I added some landing gear corrections, based on an earlier post, so the thing sits realistically.But the default settings do the same thinghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/183653.jpg

[Guest fsxmissionguy]

Yep, just what I thought. Your big azz watch is on the wrong wrist. Try the other wrist.

[ryanbatc 12,797]

hah! I did watch your video too....the watch part was funny....but so true rofl!

[sbclark 55]

All,I also have a watch, but it is a cheap Casio, and is pretty light.....so maybe I need to get this heavier watch and make sure I put it on either the right or left hand to counter-balance the turn.....heh, heh.... Yes, I watched your video......and it landed straight as an arrow. Unfortunately, mine is all over the runway as I drop down to 100 knots airspeed. It is as if there is no rudder or nose gear control.I still have a hard time believing it is related to my stick/throttle/rudder combination, but rather could be due to FSX settings other than the input controls which I have already played with. But you never know, sometimes these issues are difficult to determine the root cause.What I would like to know, is there documentation provided by Microsoft developers, either in the SDK, or elsewhere, that describes how each parameter found in the aircraft.CFG file to see if I could tweak some items?Do you guys have any suggestions?Bill

[Guest crosherg]

These problems are related to the Realism Settings you run with.1) If you are playing at Low Realism Settings you will get this 360 degree spinning behaviour after a few seconds when you apply full brakes.2) If you are playing at High Realism Settings your plane will not exhibit this spinning problem. At worst she'll be a little twitchy (and if you're cack-handed with it, she'll tip - just like in the real world I guess).

[sbclark 55]

Guest_Crosherg, Since I haven't solved my nose gear steering problem for the Acceleration F-18 and the Super Bug, I finally gave it another try of fiddling with settings again to no avail. As a last resort, I researched the web again on this issue. Lo and behold, I came across an old message thread I started back in Jan 15, 2008. When I read thru it again, I noticed the last message was from you, and you recommended changing the realism settings. I believe, for whatever reason, I just didn't see your response, or I wasn't thinking clearly (happens occasionally). Well, I did make changes to the realism settings, and the problem is finally resolved.....now I can easily control the F-18 and other aircraft that were difficult, much more easily. I can't believe I've suffered this issue for so long. For whatever reason, I just never paid attention to the realism settings. What did it for me, was moving the "General" realism slider all the way max realistic. So here is my thanks, almost two years later! Bill Clark