How to Fly (Better)
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Thread: How to Fly (Better)

  1. #1

    Icon21 How to Fly (Better)

    While my ability to fly and mod CFS3 remains a bit limited these days, I thought I'd try something different and start a series of posts aimed at helping people learn to fly and manage their aircraft better and more realistically. By way of personal background, I am a professional pilot and aircraft mechanic (or engineer, to use the more globally prevalent term) in real life. I certainly don't claim to be anything exceptional in those categories, and sadly, I have no warbird experience, but I thought it might be helpful to share some of the experience I do have here. I'm of the opinion that the more realistically you try to fly, using real world techniques, the more fun, rewarding, and even easier experience you will have. But that can be an intimidating road to start down, so I hope to provide some tools that will make it an easier and less intimidating goal to tackle. And even if you have no interest in it and prefer to keep it very casual, I think there may still be some material you will find worthwhile.

    I think I will aim for a roughly weekly post, focusing on a small, bite sized skill or technique. Eventually, some of these may build on each other. I know there is a wide range of skill levels represented here, so I'm sure some may find it a bit basic, but all are welcome to comment, contribute, ask questions, or suggest topics. Sound like fun?

  2. #2
    Go for it, laddie!
    Tom
    __________________________________________________ ___________________________________________
    Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Proverbs 4:7



  3. #3
    What he said!
    John
    (DR/ MAW/ ETO/ PTO Textures)

    Keep it coming!

  4. #4
    Yes!!

    ACC Member, ETO and PTO contributor & librarian

  5. #5
    I think this is a long time coming, too many, like myself first came to CFS as blood thirsty warriors with no real flight experience other than MS FS. Realizing that piston powered aircraft cannot fly like a rocket ship, buying rudder pedals etc, using realism to make it more accurate is a big challenge. Never crossed my mind to do touch and go's or stalls to figure things out. Your input will serve us all well!

  6. #6
    SOH-CM-2023 Deathwind's Avatar
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    Can we send the cfs2 AI pilots to school here.

  7. #7
    SOH-CM-2023 mongoose's Avatar
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    Yea Dan! IIRC most serious flight sims expect one to do a bit more than CFS3 does, with the exception of your ac. Of course my remark is a bit hypocritical, as I seldom fly in CFS3 for fun these days; just checking Ted and Co's great work or my missions. Your daytime single engine fighter aircraft are a whole new level though.

    Cato said "Carthaginem esse delendam"
    I say "Carthago iam diu deleta,sed enim Bellum Alium adhuc aedificandum est"

  8. #8
    Cool, glad there seems to be some interest. The first post is being written. This one might end up being split into two parts, in the interest of keeping things bite sized both for learning's sake and for me in writing it.

    James, you are right about CFS3 not being as demanding as more modern sims. My goal with the planes I have worked on was to change this to keep things more interesting and enjoyable for me and anyone else who wanted a more realistic experience. CFS3, in fact, steps up to the challenge rather well.

    But that said, at least initially, I will be focusing the posts on things that apply to all of our aircraft in CFS3. Eventually, I may get into some things that are a little more detailed and thus not applicable to every CFS3 model. I will probably reference the SJ Spitfire Mk.V fairly frequently, because some of the extra animations allow you to experiment with what I'm talking about and see results visually, whereas most CFS3 aircraft may be able to be handled in the same way, but lack anything visual going on to show you.

  9. #9
    SOH-CM-2024 Pat Pattle's Avatar
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    That's a brilliant idea Dan! Yes please, sign me up!
    CFS3 Battle of Britain Website: https://cfs3bob.wixsite.com/cfs3-bob
    CFS3 ACC Member & ETO Expansion Group

  10. #10
    Every help I can get to finally learn to understand CFS3 is more than welcome! I have it for years, sometimes force myself to fly it, and it still ends in disappointment.

    hertzie.

  11. #11
    This is an interesting thread.I wait to see where it goes being a pilot myself.

    In another thread some time ago I spoke of flying several vintage WWII aircraft over the last 25 years.I now have a replica Fokker Dr1 since 2022,It's so much fun to fly.

    Hiede

  12. #12
    A replica DR.I, so cool! Are you running it with a rotary, or a modern substitute? Either way, I'm sure it's a blast. I'd give at least one kidney to fly a warbird, maybe both!

  13. #13
    SOH-CM-2023 mongoose's Avatar
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    Are you going to make the posts part of a sticky? That's really where they should be.

    Cato said "Carthaginem esse delendam"
    I say "Carthago iam diu deleta,sed enim Bellum Alium adhuc aedificandum est"

  14. #14
    I'm going to keep everything in this thread. Whether that thread gets stickied - up to admin.

  15. #15
    Ok, got the first one written. But before I post it, I'd like to point out a couple of things.

    1. I'm keeping things pretty simplified in the main posts. This will hopefully keep it accessible, and more directly applicable to CFS3. I'm not getting much into aerodynamics for example, and there are plenty of great resources available online that do it better justice than I can anyway. If discussion gets more complex, great; but I want to start things at a simple level so the most people can engage with it.

    2. With the previous point in mind, and with the knowledge that stupidity is nearly as plentiful as hydrogen in our universe, please don't take this stuff and decide you can go fly a real airplane on your own. Stranger and dumber things have been done, and this is the internet. Just sayin'.

  16. #16

    How to Fly (Better) Entry #1 - Straight and Level (part 1)

    OK, I said it would start basic, and what could be more basic than flying straight and level? Also, this is COMBAT Flight Simulator, doesn't straight and level get you killed? Why bother? Well, it's pretty useful if you ever want to do something other than dogfight, but even if that's literally all you do, knowing how to do this well will give you better control of your plane while maneuvering. Now, most of us can probably fly a more or less straight and level line. But how hard do you have to focus to do it? Can you do it without thinking? Without looking? If you can't, are you really always in control of the airplane, or only when you're thinking about it? If you can, you will find that your mind is much more free to focus on figuring out where that runway is, or that target you were supposed to bomb, or what's for lunch. Thankfully it isn't as hard as it sounds. We have trim tabs.


    Trim Tabs


    Trim tabs are small control surfaces built into the main control surfaces which help the pilot move that control surface. For example, an elevator trim tab is positioned on the trailing edge of the elevator and functions as the "elevator's elevator". Just like when the elevator is deflected upwards, the aircraft's tail is pushed downwards (and the nose upwards), when the elevator trim tab is deflected upwards, the trailing edge of the elevator is deflected downwards. Unlike the main control surfaces, which tend to return to a neutral position when the pilot lets go of the controls, the trim tabs stay in the position they are set. This allows the pilot to use the trim tabs to apply a constant pressure on the controls in the desired direction without having to physically hold them there. The trim tab is holding the control in place aerodynamically. In CFS3, by default all the aircraft have all three types of trim available to them, elevator, rudder, and aileron. In reality, elevator trim was universal by WWII, but many aircraft lacked either aileron trim or rudder trim, or both. You will find in the SJ Spitfires, I have removed the aileron trim, and in the Fw 190, I have removed both aileron and rudder trim. If you want to see an example of a trim tab moving and deflecting a control surface in flight, try the SJ Spitfire MK.V and look carefully at the elevator, and elevator trim tab while you adjust the elevator trim.


    Using Trim

    To use trim, you are going to want to map your trim controls in game to convenient keys or buttons, since you are going to start using them a lot. Prioritize elevator trim as it is the most used, followed by rudder trim, and finally aileron trim. The goal will be to adjust your trim tabs such that your airplane is flying straight and level without you touching your joystick or rudder. Later we are going to talk about flying without referencing gauges, but for now, use your gauges to verify this: wings level, vertical speed indicator showing zero, compass not moving, altimeter not moving, and the ball centered on your slip indicator. Depending on your aircraft, it may not be possible to get the wings level and the compass not moving simultaneously. In which case you may need to chose just one of those and get the other as close as you can. You will probably start with bigger adjustments. Start with elevator and get it close to right, then do the same for rudder and then aileron trims if you have them. Then start fine tuning each in turn until those gauges rock solid. Be patient. Give it your full attention as much as you can until it's behaving. It will take some time for the plane to settle in. As a flight instructor once told me early on, babysit it. It is worth the investment of focus on the front end to be able to start thinking ahead and planning your next move, knowing the plane is flying itself, instead of constantly having to react to whatever the plane started doing when your focus was elsewhere for two seconds. Once that is done, you can monitor the gauges and make tiny corrections as needed as you fly.

    In the next part, we will talk about the things that influence trim, which will help you predict what your aircraft is going to do next, and act proactively. But for now, try your best to use the trim controls to get your plane flying straight and level hands-free.

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by gecko View Post
    A replica DR.I, so cool! Are you running it with a rotary, or a modern substitute? Either way, I'm sure it's a blast. I'd give at least one kidney to fly a warbird, maybe both!
    A VW conversion is being put in the Dr1 now and should ready to fly soon.

    Other vintage planes I've flown over the years,

    P-38,P-47,P-51 and F4u.

    Hiede

  18. #18
    That's an impressive list! I'll bet your Dr.I is a bit more forgiving to fly without a spinning rotary up front.

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by gecko View Post
    That's an impressive list! I'll bet your Dr.I is a bit more forgiving to fly without a spinning rotary up front.
    Actually it was a rotary engine.The cruise was was 64 mph with the original one.with the new VW conversion in will be a little faster.

    Hiede

  20. #20

    How to Fly (Better) Entry #2 - Straight and Level (part 2)

    Understanding and Predicting Trim Changes

    One important thing to remember about trim tabs is that they are applying aerodynamic forces to your control surfaces to hold them in a particular place. This means that when the aerodynamic forces acting on your aircraft change, the forces applied by the trim tabs change as well, and suddenly, you are no longer trimmed for straight and level flight. Fortunately, these can be anticipated by the pilot. The primary factors are airspeed, engine power, and angle of attack. Other secondary factors are flap position and landing gear position. In addition, features unique to the type of aircraft you are flying such as dive brakes, spoilers, oil cooler flaps, or radiator flaps, may also have an effect on trim. For instance, opening the radiator shutter on early Spitfires up to the Mk.VI, causes a tendancy to roll to the left. Aircraft weight also has an effect, as you will notice when you drop 2,000lbs of bombs all at once. I won't get into all the aerodynamic reasons for all of this here, I just don't feel like typing that much! But let's look at how to predict some of these things and how to use them to our advantage. When you trim your aircraft to fly straight and level hands free, you are trimming it for the specific configuration of all of those factors you are in at that moment, at the airspeed you are currently flying at.

    Airspeed changes are the most foundational of the factors listed above. Suppose you are trimmed for straight and level flight, and your airspeed decreases. The nose of your aircraft will tend to drop and you will start to descend. The reverse is true if airspeed increases. The pilot, if trying to hold the nose level, will have to pull or push increasingly hard on the controls to do so. The control forces required can actually easily exceed the pilot's strength to maintain even on fairly small aircraft. Elevator trim is used to relieve the pressure. So, you retrim your elevator for the new airspeed, and adjust ailerons and rudder trim as well as required. Now you are back to hands free straight and level.

    In most aircraft, engine power is going to have an effect on trim. In the vast majority of cases, increased power will cause the nose to go up, and decreased power will cause it to drop. This couples nicely with the effect of airspeed on trim, so both the increased engine power and the resulting increase in airspeed will be working together. This keeps things nice and predictable. An exception to this rule in CFS3 is Ted's PBY. Because the engines are mounted so far above the fuselage, they exert leverage on the aircraft such that increased power will initially cause the nose to pitch down. However, as the increased power causes airspeed to increase, the increased airspeed will eventually overpower this effect and the nose will start to rise once more. The reverse of course being true with reducing power. Try the PBY and compare it to another plane and you will indeed see this happening in CFS3 (nice FM work, Ted.)

    On propeller driven aircraft, aerodynamic effects caused by the rotation of the propeller will have an effect on rudder and aileron trim as well. The more power your engine is producing, the stronger the effect. Clockwise turning engines (as viewed from the pilot's seat) will pull to the left. Counterclockwise turning engines will pull to the right. Counteract this with your rudder and then trim out the pressure. You are aiming to center the ball of the slip indicator, or in British aircraft, it is the top arrow of the turn and slip indicator that you want to center. If you have counter rotating propellers, like in a P-38, the effects from one engine cancel out the effects of the other engine, provided they are running at the same power settings.

    Angle of attack (an aerodynamic term referring to the angle between the wing and the oncoming wind), will tend to exaggerate the effects of engine torque in trim. The higher the angle of attack (such as in a climb) the stronger the effect.

    All of the other factors are related to the effect of flaps, landing gear, various cooling flaps, etc have on your aircraft when their position is changed. The effect they have will be unique to that aircraft type, so you will need to learn them for whatever aircraft you are flying.

    Why Understanding Trim Will Help

    The point here is to be aware of the different things that are going to affect your trim. Being aware of these factors allows you to anticipate the change and reminds you to be ready to divert some focus to trimming your aircraft any time there is a change to one of them. Stability and, especially, predictability are the basis for everything else you will do with an airplane. You want to be able to fly with stability, and if you are not, whether intentionally not not, you want to know how to return to that state. Crucially, you want to be able to do this without thinking too hard about it, because other things on your mission are going to be demanding your attention.

    You might object to putting this kind of effort into stability and predictability, on the basis that in a combat environment, those things might aid your enemy considerably in his attempts to kill you. This is true. However, if your aircraft is predictable to you, and you know how to return easily to a stable state, you are now in full control of your aircraft, which gives you what you need to be as unpredictable as possible to your enemy.

    Now, since you probably want to be able to do something other than fly straight and level, in the next section we're going to start putting all of this together into a coherent method of flying that you can take with you into any airplane in CFS3. Meanwhile, pick an aircraft to get familiar with over the course of the next entries. It will be helpful as you try different techniques, to try them on the same aircraft. You will get to know what to expect from that particular aircraft and thus be able to apply the techniques consistently. Try flying the aircraft and pay attention to how changes in airspeed, flap setting, landing gear configuration, etc affect the trim on this aircraft.

  21. #21

    How to Fly (Better) Entry #3 Climbs, Descents, and Level Fli

    ​Time for a Flight

    So now you've hopefully had a chance to get familiar with an aircraft. Now we're going to try a quick flight from takeoff to landing. For this flight, I don't care where you go or if you actually land or how you handle the engine. We'll get to those things eventually. Here's the plan:

    -Take off
    -Climb
    -Level off and get trimmed out
    -Descend
    -Level off and get trimmed out
    -Return to base
    -A few miles out, start your descent for landing
    -Land at base

    Now let's talk thought each phase of this flight.


    Takeoff

    You are at full power, landing gear are down, and you might have used some flaps. At full power starting from zero you are going to be accelerating, which will cause the nose to rise. Retracting landing gear and flaps will likely have the same effect, as well as reducing drag and thus aiding acceleration. To prevent the nose from going way high, you have probably unconsciously started to push the stick forward. So reduce the amount of pressure you have to put on the stick by applying some nose down elevator. You can allow the plane to keep climbing, but just use the trim to control it. The main thing at this point is to make sure that you are not climbing so steeply that your airspeed is decreasing. Now get your rudder and aileron trim sorted out to get the wings level and center the ball on the slip indicator.


    Climb

    You should already be climbing. You should be wings level, working to keep the ball centered, and the nose should be at a steady angle with airspeed either steady or still increasing. If you have trimmed well, all of this is happening without you touching the stick and rudder, or if you are, only the slightest corrections. Take note of what your airspeed is, what your vertical speed is, and how high your nose is above the horizon. Write these things down or remember them for later. Note that this data is only relevant if you are flying stable hands free.

    Now, since we generally don't conduct steady climbs at full power, reduce power a little. I don't care how detailed you get if you adjust the prop as well or not or how much you reduce it. You can measure your reduction on the gauges in the cockpit, or just on the HUD readout. But decide what setting you will reduce to, and intentionally go to that setting. Remember it for later.

    Now, without touching the stick or elevator trim, watch what happens. Your nose may drop a little with the power reduction, and then you will see airspeed start to drop, and as that happens, the nose will drop too. The power reduction has probably had an effect on aileron and rudder trim, so see to that to keep the wings level and ball centered, but leave elevator trim alone for now. As the nose continues to drop, you will eventually get to the point where airspeed stops decreasing, and the nose stops dropping. Speed will slowly start to build and you will see the nose start to rise again. Left on its own, the nose will gently bob up and down, with each one becoming more gentle than the last until the nose is basically stationary. It is worth noting that if you made a big power reduction, the swings will start larger and faster than if you had made a small one, but it will still stabilize eventually, but if it was too big of a reduction, you might not be climbing anymore.

    Now that you are stable, climbing hands free, look at your airspeed and your vertical speed and compare them to what you saw before you reduced power. You should see that your vertical speed is lower, meaning you aren't climbing as fast, your nose will be somewhat less high above the horizon, but your airspeed should be very close to what it was before.


    Level Flight

    Now let's level out. Since we already know that engine power changes our rate of climb or descent, but our airspeed will settle out at the same speed, we can simply reduce power carefully until our vertical speed is zero. Once again, leave elevator and elevator trim alone, and adjust your engine power until your vertical speed reads zero. Don't forget to adjust your aileron and rudder trim. (Hopefully you are remembering to do this every time and are forming that habit, so from here on out I'm going to assume you are doing this every time you change what you are doing in the airplane and not mention it.) Note that we are just demonstrating a principle here and that this is not how you should level out from a climb normally. Once stabilized, you should now be level and at the same airspeed as before.


    Acceleration

    So, if engine power is controlling our climb rate, but not making us any faster (once we're restabilized) how do we accelerate in level flight? Well, go ahead and increase throttle, but this time, as you accelerate, don't allow the nose to rise. Apply some nose down elevator to keep it level and then use elevator trim to reduce how much you have to hold the stick forward until you can completely let go and the aircraft remain in level flight. Now we should be level, stable, and flying faster than we were before. Note that this result required us to use engine power AND elevator/elevator trim.


    Decent

    Time to try a descent. Based on what we've tried already, you should be able to tell that a small power reduction is going to result in a gentle descent and that returning power to it's previous setting will result in level flight, so let's try something new. This time, we will leave engine power alone and see what happens when you only adjust trim. So, apply a bit of nose down elevator trim until the nose pitches down slightly. Immediately we see airspeed start to increase and our vertical speed indicator is showing a descent. Now leave the elevator trim alone and watch the results. The airspeed increases, and as it does, the rate of descent decreases. It might even turn into a climb temporarily, but eventually it should settle out with you in a descent at a somewhat higher airspeed, but your descent rate will be much less than when you first applied the nose down trim at the lower airspeed. If you are flying a particularly heavy and/or underpowered aircraft, you may actually find that you have maintained level flight at a higher airspeed just by applying some nose down elevator trim. At a previous job, I encountered this regularly carrying tourists over the Grand Canyon on hot summer days. The performance of a Cessna 207 at those temperatures and at that altitude is rather pitiful, even with a turbocharged engine, and flying technique could make a huge difference in what the airplane would give you.


    Level Flight

    Anyways, let's stop the descent the same way you started it, by applying some elevator trim in the opposite direction. If you are flying the SJ Spitfire for these flights, you may have noticed the handy elevator trim indicator on the instrument panel. If you paid attention to where it was last time you were flying level, you can go back to that same setting and expect to once again be flying more or less level. Alternatively, you can use the Z key info readout and see your elevator trim setting there.

    Fly home and land. I'm not going to talk about landing procedure and technique now, but see if you can apply some of what you have learned on this flight to your landing. Hopefully, you'll find yourself having an easier time of it.


    Important Principles

    Here are the key principles to remember from this flight.

    1. Power is not about forward speed so much as it is about vertical speed. Adjusting power on its own will only make you climb or descend. It can certainly allow you to go faster or slower, but ONLY when used alongside appropriate adjustments of elevator, or elevator trim. So when you adjust engine power, stop expecting an airspeed change and start expecting an altitude change instead. If what you want is an airspeed change, remember you will have to use elevator trim too.

    2. Elevator trim changes both forward speed and vertical speed. However, it makes a less effective control of vertical speed in normal maneuvers because vertical speed is so dependant on engine power (note, this is not as applicable in combat maneuvers). It has its most immediate effect on airspeed.

    3. The aircraft flies predictability! For most people, it is mainly a matter of learning to expect the right things. If you're like I was in the beginning, you assume throttle is about airspeed and the elevator makes you go up and down. When you find out the reverse is true, you start thinking and flying differently, and you find you can fly with greater precision with much less effort.

    4. What is predictable is measurable. This is why we have instruments. You can set a power setting for your engine, and a trim setting for your elevator, and know that the combination will result in a specific airspeed and a specific vertical speed.

    5. What is understood, can be predicted. What is predicted can be measured. What is measured can be mastered. Taking all of the other points together, you can go to known settings for what you want to do, be that a climb or decent at a certain airspeed and/or vertical speed, or level flight at any speed within your aircraft's performance envelope, and it will just happen. You don't have to manhandle the plane to make it do what you want (and if you try, you'll be disappointed.) You just have to tell it what you want in language it understands. The airplane doesn't "speak" airspeed and vertical speed, but it certainly understands engine power and elevator input. Know the settings you want, and the airplane will reliably give you the results you want. This is also how the airplane tells you when something is wrong. If you give it the same inputs you always have, and are getting a different result, you know you have a problem to diagnose.

  22. #22
    So, I've put three of these out and I'm curious how it's being received. Are they helpful? Do they make sense? Are there questions about any of it? Do you wake up early every morning in hopes that this will be the day the next entry is finally posted? Ok, maybe not. There doesn't necessarily have to be discussion on any of the entries if nobody wants to, but if it isn't being helpful and I'm talking to an empty room, I'll find something else to do on my lunch breaks. If it's worthwhile, I'm perfectly happy to keep going.

  23. #23
    SOH-CM-2023 mongoose's Avatar
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    Well I am paying attention and, at the end I hope to put them all together as a document for the knowledge base. Good info fro those hoping to fly more realistically. Frankly, I wonder how much my trimming issues are due to my X56 input 'wiggles' and even keyboard feed, or if it has to do with the CFS3 model. Even with 2-4 engine aircraft, which I mainly use, I have rudder trim problems, always it seems to veer starboard. Could be my setup??

    Cato said "Carthaginem esse delendam"
    I say "Carthago iam diu deleta,sed enim Bellum Alium adhuc aedificandum est"

  24. #24
    I had an X52 and eventually replaced it after the sensors got too jittery. I think that's a weakness with the Saitek sticks. I went with a Logitech 3D Pro which was much smoother, but I still kept my X52 throttle. A good joystick definitely helps trimming! It simply isn't possible to do it well if your sensors are jumpy.

    The gold standard would be to use a higher end joystick with a Halls sensor, which are contactless and don't wear out.

    A very light touch with the trim is helpful too. In a real aircraft, my adjustments to trim when I'm fine tuning (on an aircraft with manual trim) are nearly imperceptible. Electric trim on aircraft has about the same precision as you can achieve in CFS3, which is certainly good enough, but not quite as perfect as what a manual system can do.

    I suspect your veering to starboard issue is something with your setup. It could be a calibration thing, or if your joystick or rudder has been around for a while, the sensors might be wearing out. I doubt it's an issue with CFS3.

  25. #25
    Well I'm taking it all in Dan, always interesting hearing a real pilots take on things!
    John
    (DR/ MAW/ ETO/ PTO Textures)

    Keep it coming!

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