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Guest ekkaihla

iFly747 ground steering

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Hi all,I'm having some difficulty ground steering the iFly 747-400. Anything above 30kts and it's impossible to change direction using my rudder.I have a USB CH Pro Throttle, Pedals and Yoke calibrated via FSUIPC. I don't use the supplied panel as I have Project Magenta Boeing Glass Cockpit. Don't think any of this is a factor.My other aircraft is a PMDG737-700 and I'm wondering if I just need to adapt to the larger aircraft but it can't be right that I can't steer during the take-off roll.I'm no expert on aircraft design but comparing the entries in the AIRCRAFT.CFG the Rudder_Trim_Effectiveness entry for both aircraft is 1.000 so that seems okay.However, the iFly CFG has a GROUND_REACTION section with a single entry MAX-STEERING_ANGLE=70. Could that be responsible and if so how could I change it to improve ground steering?Thanks for any help.


Ray (Cheshire, England).
System: P3D v5.3HF2, Intel i9-13900K, MSI 4090 GAMING X TRIO 24G, Crucial T700 4Tb M.2 SSD, Asus ROG Maximus Z790 Hero, 32Gb Corsair Vengeance DDR5 6000Mhz RAM, Win 11 Pro 64-bit, BenQ PD3200U 32” UHD monitor, Fulcrum One yoke.
Cheadle Hulme Weather

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Guest Ron Freimuth

>Hi all,>>I'm having some difficulty ground steering the iFly 747-400.>Anything above 30kts and it's impossible to change direction>using my rudder.>>>I'm no expert on aircraft design but comparing the entries in>the AIRCRAFT.CFG the Rudder_Trim_Effectiveness entry for both>aircraft is 1.000 so that seems okay.>>However, the iFly CFG has a GROUND_REACTION section with a>single entry MAX-STEERING_ANGLE=70. Could that be responsible>and if so how could I change it to improve ground steering? Way too high. Try 30 (degrees). The iFly747 has a complex panel, FMS, etc. Unfortunately the AIR file was done with FSEdit, then modified a bit. Ron

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Hi Ron,Many thanks for your help. It's a bit late here to try another flight but I've made the change you suggested and will try it out tomorrow.I don't use their FMS or panel but I have to admire their effort and skill for a freeware project.Cheers,


Ray (Cheshire, England).
System: P3D v5.3HF2, Intel i9-13900K, MSI 4090 GAMING X TRIO 24G, Crucial T700 4Tb M.2 SSD, Asus ROG Maximus Z790 Hero, 32Gb Corsair Vengeance DDR5 6000Mhz RAM, Win 11 Pro 64-bit, BenQ PD3200U 32” UHD monitor, Fulcrum One yoke.
Cheadle Hulme Weather

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Hi again Ron,I made the change but it appears to have made no difference. If you have that aircraft could you suggest something else that might make it a bit more responsive to changes of rudder please? It's such a nice aircraft to fly it seems a shame that ground steering is making life difficult.I suppose an email to the developers is in order but I thought I'd try here first.Failing that can anyone suggest a better freeware model?Cheers,


Ray (Cheshire, England).
System: P3D v5.3HF2, Intel i9-13900K, MSI 4090 GAMING X TRIO 24G, Crucial T700 4Tb M.2 SSD, Asus ROG Maximus Z790 Hero, 32Gb Corsair Vengeance DDR5 6000Mhz RAM, Win 11 Pro 64-bit, BenQ PD3200U 32” UHD monitor, Fulcrum One yoke.
Cheadle Hulme Weather

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Guest Ron Freimuth

>Hi again Ron,>>I made the change but it appears to have made no difference.>If you have that aircraft could you suggest something else>that might make it a bit more responsive to changes of rudder>please? It's such a nice aircraft to fly it seems a shame that>ground steering is making life difficult. You might try the steering angles in the MS 747-400 aircraft.cfg: . Steering point.0 = 1, -25.0, 0.0, -17.5, 1000.0, 0, 2.0, 70.0, 0.5, 3.5,..point.1 = 1, -114.0, -18.0, -21.3, 2000.0, 1, 2.0, 13.0, 3.0, 2.5,..point.2 = 1, -114.0, 18.0, -21.3, 2000.0, 2, 2.0, 13.0, 3.0, 2.5,... Only, set that '70.0' a lot lower. Note the MG also turn. The iFly FD settings are a mess. Based in FSEdit. There is no LG drag. I think the CG is way off, that would also mess up ground steering. Likely there will be improved files after it's been out a while. Ron

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Hi Ron,I made the changes you suggested adding the above section to the iFly747 aircraft.cfg. I changed the value of 70 in the point.0 line to 30.Ground steering is much improved and I can also steer during the t/o roll. Just one question. What do you mean by "the MG also turn"? Main gear perhaps?Thanks very much :-)


Ray (Cheshire, England).
System: P3D v5.3HF2, Intel i9-13900K, MSI 4090 GAMING X TRIO 24G, Crucial T700 4Tb M.2 SSD, Asus ROG Maximus Z790 Hero, 32Gb Corsair Vengeance DDR5 6000Mhz RAM, Win 11 Pro 64-bit, BenQ PD3200U 32” UHD monitor, Fulcrum One yoke.
Cheadle Hulme Weather

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Guest Ron Freimuth

>Hi Ron,>>I made the changes you suggested adding the above section to>the iFly747 aircraft.cfg. I changed the value of 70 in the>point.0 line to 30. That other line with '70' in it was for an older version of FS. The 'contact points' take precidence. I never set over 35 deg, even though one can't turn tightly, real Jet Transports only steer by +/- 5 deg or so though the rudder pedals. I use F11/F12 if necessary to steer more sharply on the ground.>Ground steering is much improved and I can also steer during>the t/o roll. Just one question. What do you mean by "the MG>also turn"? Main gear perhaps? Yes. However, with the NG dropped to 30 deg, the 13 degree steering for the MG might better be reduced in proportion. Regardless, I use the MS 747 MG settings, but with the NG reduced and it appears fine. Ron

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>I never set over 35 deg, even though one can't turn tightly, real >Jet Transports only steer by +/- 5 deg or so though the rudder >pedals.It seems weird to me that Ray cannot steer the a/c at t/o roll with NG contact points' turn section of 70. Shouldn't be the other way, the nose to swing abruptly as sharp rudder pedal is applied?In my 757 I use 65 (max nose steer angle), but I programmed a steer tiller that commands the nose that wide, and limit rudder action to +/- 6 deg. At low speeds, I can do tight turns using the tiller (like in the real a/c) but at speeds of more than 50-60 KIAS, I have good rudder control (like the real a/c also) Tom

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Guest Ron Freimuth

>>I never set over 35 deg, even though one can't turn tightly,>real >Jet Transports only steer by +/- 5 deg or so though the>rudder >pedals.>>It seems weird to me that Ray cannot steer the a/c at t/o roll>with NG contact points' turn section of 70. Shouldn't be the>other way, the nose to swing abruptly as sharp rudder pedal is>applied? The nose wheel may be skidding. FS does a pretty good job modeling LG and tire contact. Other than for too much rolling friction, and a tendency to jitter in light AC. I checked the iFly aircraft.cfg file and TO CG appeared to be just a bit ahead of the Main Gear. Which is appropriate. Though, the payloads might move it outside a good range. If the Nose strut compresses some and it's not hard to rotate for TO the LG is probably fairly close.>In my 757 I use 65 (max nose steer angle), but I programmed a>steer tiller that commands the nose that wide, and limit>rudder action to +/- 6 deg. At low speeds, I can do tight>turns using the tiller (like in the real a/c) but at speeds of>more than 50-60 KIAS, I have good rudder control (like the>real a/c also) >Tom Ah, yes. Sounds like an advance in realistic steering. I sure had trouble steering a Level C sim with the big knob used for steering before the rudder got effective. I guess the NG didn't steer from the rudder pedals. I ended up using the toe brakes but still ended up with the Left wheels hitting the runway lamps. I just got another DirectX JS dll from Doug, I have my YD working pretty good now. By using independent Rudder control I can yaw an AC, but still get Yaw Damping. Main thing is to tweak it to be similar to the YD's in real AC. Currently, I automatically turn the YD off on the ground, and automatically enable it in the air. That way I can steer normally. However, it might work nicely to limit NG steering if turned on for the TO Roll. Since the NG is coupled to the rudder in FS. Ron

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Hi Ron,I must admit a lot of what you've written has gone over my head. I don't dabble with cfg files preferring to leave it to the experts like yourself :-)I'm sure further tweaks to this excellent aircraft will be made in the weeks and months to come. For now though I have overcome the steering problem and look forward to lots of flights.Thanks once again.


Ray (Cheshire, England).
System: P3D v5.3HF2, Intel i9-13900K, MSI 4090 GAMING X TRIO 24G, Crucial T700 4Tb M.2 SSD, Asus ROG Maximus Z790 Hero, 32Gb Corsair Vengeance DDR5 6000Mhz RAM, Win 11 Pro 64-bit, BenQ PD3200U 32” UHD monitor, Fulcrum One yoke.
Cheadle Hulme Weather

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Tom,I wonder if having the Yaw Damper on could have been the reason? I have it on from pushback to parking. I'm happy with the way things are now thanks to Ron.Cheers,


Ray (Cheshire, England).
System: P3D v5.3HF2, Intel i9-13900K, MSI 4090 GAMING X TRIO 24G, Crucial T700 4Tb M.2 SSD, Asus ROG Maximus Z790 Hero, 32Gb Corsair Vengeance DDR5 6000Mhz RAM, Win 11 Pro 64-bit, BenQ PD3200U 32” UHD monitor, Fulcrum One yoke.
Cheadle Hulme Weather

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Guest Ron Freimuth

>Hi Ron,>>I must admit a lot of what you've written has gone over my>head. I don't dabble with cfg files preferring to leave it to>the experts like yourself :-) I have a bigger problem. Don't know how to use an FMS. ;) I'll have to try to get something out of the manual. Ron

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Hi Ron,Sounds like you and I could do with meeting up for info-exchange ;-) Just a pity that Texas and England aren't closer :-(The good news is that once you've learnt one FMS they pretty much follow the same principle.Cheers,


Ray (Cheshire, England).
System: P3D v5.3HF2, Intel i9-13900K, MSI 4090 GAMING X TRIO 24G, Crucial T700 4Tb M.2 SSD, Asus ROG Maximus Z790 Hero, 32Gb Corsair Vengeance DDR5 6000Mhz RAM, Win 11 Pro 64-bit, BenQ PD3200U 32” UHD monitor, Fulcrum One yoke.
Cheadle Hulme Weather

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>Tom,>>I wonder if having the Yaw Damper on could have been the>reason? I have it on from pushback to parking. I'm happy with>the way things are now thanks to Ron.>>Cheers,Ray, I think YD must be off on the ground and only enabled when (A:SimOnGround) is 0. It should improve the steering for sure.Tom

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Guest saudi_777

Guys,In a nutshell, how can one improve the ground steering ability of the iFly 747-400, with regards to any Aircraft.cfg tweaks, FS9 setting changes or any certain things to do in the iFly 747-400 panel itself while using it in FS9???? :-hmmmAlso, has anyone managed to successfully merge this panel with the POSKY 747-400 GE engined model????Cheers,

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