MS Flight Simulator (FS2002) rudder/aileron/elevator position indicator

R

rnott

Old versions of MS flight simulator used to have an indicator for the
aileron, elevator and rudder positions, like so:

http://www.flightsimbooks.com/ffs/48-1.jpg

(all three positions could also be manipulated/dragged with the
mouse).

This handy little "multi-indicator" is absent in recent MS flight
simulators. I'm presently using FS2002 with aircraft model Cessna
172SP Skyhawk, and I can never see what the rudder position is.

I'm having real trouble in flight simulator maneuvering planes,
especially on the ground, as there is no way to see what the rudder
position is (same for aileron and elevator positions, though those are
not used during taxiyng). In the older FS, you could glance at the
little panel http://www.flightsimbooks.com/ffs/48-1.jpg and see the
rudder position.

Any idea/suggestions on
- how to monitor the rudder position in recent flight simulators, such
as FS2002?
- how to do a better job at taxiyng on the ground?

Thanks,
Wolfgang
CA
 
R

RobertVA

(snip)

Any idea/suggestions on
- how to monitor the rudder position in recent flight simulators, such
as FS2002?
- how to do a better job at taxiyng on the ground?

Thanks,
Wolfgang
CA
Click to expand...
For most simulator pilots the position of their rudder pedals or
joystick twist grip serves the purpose of keeping track of rudder
position. A lot of pilots using controls without these functions use the
auto-rudder feature of the simulator, although auto-rudder may not be
useful for crosswind landings or flying helicopters. Flying with the
numeric keypad or mouse is so awkward most people quickly give up on
them and spend a couple dozen dollars (US) on a joystick. Some spend
more and get various combinations of yoke, rudder pedals and even
throttle quadrants.

Between the version your screen shot came from and FS 2002 there were
some versions with a pop-up panel that showed aileron, elevator and
rudder position. I think the panel showed airspeed too. I think the
panel was dropped from the default aircraft because so many simulator
pilots were using yokes or joysticks though. I'm not certain, but I
THINK the gauge that panel is based on MIGHT be the minicontrols.gau
file in the gauges folder, although the Windows search function doesn't
show any of FS 2004's default planes using that gauge (I don't have FS
2002 installed on any computers right now to check it). You might find
someone more knowledgeable about adding and modifying control panels in
the "MSFS Aircraft and Panel Design" section of the
http://www.avsim.com/ forums.

I had a terrible tendency to over control early on. It's possible you
aren't giving your aircraft enough time to react to you control inputs
and applying too much rudder (or aileron if you are using auto rudder).
You might need to go into the control assignments and reduce the repeat
rate a bit too. If you are flying with the keypad don't forget about
using keypad 5 to center the ailerons (along with auto rudder) once you
reach the desired heading.

You might benefit from using differential wheel brakes (default
assignments are the F11 and F12 keys) to help steer on the ground,
especially for those tight taxiway turns. Again you might need to only
hold the key BRIEFLY to get the aircraft turning and use the other key
to straighten your path back out. Again, holding the key too long will
just result in your plane spinning around on the field. However some of
the older plane models didn't have wheel brakes AT ALL and have similar
characteristics in the simulator.
 
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