Simulator software

On 5/25/2004 2:23 PM Ted shuffled out of his cave and grunted these great (and sometimes not so great) words of knowledge:

FMS is a free D/L. Graphics are decent, but not great. There is a huge selection of planes for free D/L also.

FWIW - I have the regular version of G2 and think it is excellent. It is VERY customizable. You can program in wind, build your own flying site if you want and make your take offs, flying and landing as realistic as you want.

I too, have the NexStar with the Real Flight simulator. I'm wondering if the other Real Flight add-ons is compatible with the interface that came with NexStar. Has anyone else tried this? Thanks all.

Ted, just wondering if this is true of take offs - as a lousy skilled learner I have found to my surprise that take offs with tail draggers in G2 are much easier than with the trike trainers. Is this the case in real life too?

David

Ted Campanelli wrote:

On 5/25/2004 11:38 PM Ted shuffled out of his cave and grunted these great (and sometimes not so great) words of knowledge:

I have very little problem in real life with taildraggers. Make sure you have G2 set to the realistic setting.

You do need to follow a couple of simple rules though when actually flying the real plane.

1. Make sure you have some toe-in on the wheels.
2. Make sure the tailwheel is aligned with the rudder.
3. Feed the power in gradually, not all at once.
4. Depending on the plane, you may need to hold a LITTLE up elevator on the take off run. The majority of the taildraggers, especially warbirds, need this to keep from nosing over. As the tail lifts off the ground, ease off the elevator and be ready to feed in some right rudder. Let the plane build up some speed and apply a little up elevator and you should be flying.

The first couple of times actually flying a taildragger do require some coordination until you get the hang of it. Contrary to what some people will tell you, do not give it full power. That is a good way to ground loop.

When landing a tri gear you tend to start your flair higher up. With a taildragger fly the plane to about 3" from the ground, then as you throttle back apply a LITTLE up elevator AND HOLD IT. You do not want the plane to climb, what you want the plane to do is bleed off speed. The plane should settle in to a 3 point landing.

Also, with a taildragger, don't make the tailwheel too sensitive. This will make you fishtail all the way down the runway. Move your tailwheel connection closer to the rudder hingepoint to make it less sensitive. I don't think that the ground handling in G2 is very realistic, even with the realism cranked all the way up. In real life, nose gear planes are much easier to control than taildraggers.

John VB