Search the Community

DCS Version: Standalone v2.9.4.53627 NO MODS CLEAN F-16 Hello all. I have a new bug report that is a pretty big one that has gone unnoticed for quite some time but has become a big issue with the latest update. After dealing with a slight rolling left issue for the longest time within the aerobatic community, the new DCS update came out and was excited to try it. After doing some initial flying it was found that the F-16 has a TERRIBLE rolling left tendency when performing loops or even higher G level turns. It has made formation flying or even general BFM near impossible without putting almost half to full right stick input to correct when flying. So let's lay down some basics that have been tried to troubleshoot this issue. 1. All of this was performed with 3 different sticks to try to rule out any sort of sensor issues. 2. There was 4 different machines tested on to see if it was machine/software specific. All machines had 0 mods and have tried repair/reinstall 3. DCS curves/settings were looked at and configured with no changes to default settings. 4. Wind was turned off for all testing. With that cleared up, let's go over the parameters of the maneuvers performed in the test to help replicate the issue. LOOP PARAMETERS: - 410-430 kts calibrated entry speed - 87-89% RPM - 4G pull into the loop - Reduce the pull to "float" over the top at 0.8 to 1.0G - Back in with the pull to bring back to starting altitude MAX G TURN: - Level at 430-450 kts calibrated entry speed - Roll and Pull to max deflection while engaging afterburner - When speed starts decaying, release pull to hold 400kts With the parameters set. We can now go over what is actually happening with the aircraft. During the loop, the rolling left starts almost immediately but is very subtle. As the aircraft approaches around 70 degrees nose high and around 320 kts, the aircraft makes a hard left roll. I started the loop heading 180 magnetic and during this loop completely upside down I should see around heading 0 magnetic. Instead I saw a deviation of 23 degrees magnetic due to the left roll. Pulling through the back side my aircraft has rolled so much I am at 45 degrees AOB on the backside of the loop. This is unacceptable for flying formation in loops. Now onto the max g turn. This one is less aggressive but the left roll is still there. After a 360 degree turn, I ended up 15 degrees nose high from complete level and gained 1000 feet in altitude. Please note all of these test were done with no correction with any sort of right roll input. When right roll input was introduced. During the highest rate of roll, near full right roll command was needed. CONCLUSION After all testing was concluded it was time to look into the cause of the problem. Since this has been an issue since the F-16 first came out, I can assume it isn't related to any new updates that have been done previous except the latest update with the yaw rate boost. Here's what we know it isn't. Gun Weight. If it WAS the gun weight we would be seeing it at all regimes of flight since the weight is a constant and doesn't shift. There has been previous talk that the weight of the gun is the cause of this and nothing can be done but it has gotten worse since the last update. Here's what it could be. LEF schedule incorrect. If the LEF was deploying asymmetrically it could explain the exponential increase in drag on the left wing causing the bigger roll rates. It could also be the rudder trying to compensate for something. This would make more sense since the issue got worse with a rudder change in the latest update. Either way, I don't have access to the code to look at this so it is up to you ED, to find this issue. I have given all of the information I can on this. In future, I urge you ED to PLEASE do further testing with flight models before you hand them out. I understand you crowd source us to help bug report but this is something that is un-flyable and most of the aerobatic community can't update because of it. Thanks, Panic. Track has been attached for debugging. F-16 Rolling bug.trk