Impressions from a real-world High Performance Taildragger pilot.

[Sternjaeger]

Makes me wonder what sort of runway contamination is modeled, as in ice slicker than frozen snot on a doorknob.

 

You could try fanning the rudder a bit during takeoff or landing- some think it keeps the pilot from letting the yaw go divergent.

 

yeah, it's not the first time I hear this, although I wonder if there's any truth in that?

[Rigsby]

FSX is nothing what pretends to be then? I can land planes on FSX all day and night and that is suppose to be as close as you can get to real flight. Now we have pilots in here saying BOS is virtually spot on and nine times out of ten I crash land.

[HagarTheHorrible]

FSX is nothing what pretends to be then? I can land planes on FSX all day and night and that is suppose to be as close as you can get to real flight. Now we have pilots in here saying BOS is virtually spot on and nine times out of ten I crash land.

 

 

I wonder if it has something to do with aircraft trajectory.  The Lagg seems to sink quite a bit, so despite pointing the nose in the usual direction, I think a lot of people are being caught out by the fact that the aircraft still has residual motion and weight.  I think I got this notion from one of the Dev blogs, when they had a fun day in the Yak 52's (?), they expressed surprise, if I remember correctly, at how much the aircraft would slide around a corner, due to residual direction of travel trying to catch up with were you wanted it to go.

Edited November 23, 2013 by HagarTheHorrible

[II./JG27_Rich]

I'm printing Jered's post out and showing it to my non flier friends

Edited November 23, 2013 by II./JG27_Rich

[Dooga]

Makes me wonder what sort of runway contamination is modeled, as in ice slicker than frozen snot on a doorknob.

 

You could try fanning the rudder a bit during takeoff or friction- some think it keeps the pilot from letting the yaw go divergent.

Again: when the tail wheel is swivelling freely, as it was for those first four days, then runway friction doesn't matter - you'll have no directional guidance for the tail whatsoever. You could brake ok on the runway, and the main wheels had enough grip in turns.

 

On the second note: yes that actually works very well! Fluttering the rudder around neutral a bit, continually, keeps the plane from breaking out in one direction. That's a tip I was given by my tailwheel instructor in the Super Cub, and it works in this sim too! I was delighted when I found that out.

[Dooga]

FSX is nothing what pretends to be then? I can land planes on FSX all day and night and that is suppose to be as close as you can get to real flight. Now we have pilots in here saying BOS is virtually spot on and nine times out of ten I crash land.

FSX is as close as you can get to real flight? Who said that, Microsoft? ;-)

 

FSX is very good for certain things like practicing procedures, flight planning, general around-the-world sightseeing (with good scenery addons), enjoying all kinds of airplanes and scenarios, etc. But the actual flight models vary from 'quite good in normal attitudes' with high-end add-on planes to 'don't even mention it' for things like spins, taildragger groundhandling or helicopters. All the serious plane addons substitute their own FM DLLs into FSX, in my understanding.

[Quax]

 I can land planes on FSX all day and night and that is suppose to be as close as you can get to real flight. 

 

Dooga is right. You can use FSX for sightseeing (i used it myself to prepare an Alp Crossing with a good Swiss addon). You can use it to learn the instruments and cockpit layouts and procedures.

But if it comes to "flying" it has nothing to do with a simulator - nothing at all. And no addon can overcome the limitations of a ca. 18 years old FM.