Stick Axis fine tuning (BFM pro advice needed)

[Jakey-Poo]

Thought process:  This plane is twitchy as a Spitty.  How do you tame a spit without a stick extension or ridiculous curves?  Turn down the Y-saturation on your axis.

The question is: Are there times when you actually need full deflection on your Y-axis?  I'm still new enough at the Tomcat and have never flown it online, so I'd like input from some of the pros on here.  I know the concept of sacrificing input to your control surfaces is almost sacrilege, but if those 20 or 30 (Saturation levels) are mostly unused or ineffective, and the sacrifice gives you greater control of your necessary range of motion, it seems like a good trade.

Just a question, and all input is greatly appreciated.  Please don't sacrifice me to the BFM Gods for my ignorance.

Edited August 16, 2021 by Jakey-Poo

[Callsign JoNay]

Don't decrease the saturation. Instead, learn to fly more gooder. 

[Spurts]

fly with your fingers, then use your wrist when your fingers are fully flexed/extended, then use your elbow last.

[captain_dalan]

21 hours ago, Jakey-Poo said:

...

The question is: Are there times when you actually need full deflection on your Y-axis?  I'm still new enough at the Tomcat and have never flown it online, so I'd like input from some of the pros on here.  I know the concept of sacrificing input to your control surfaces is almost sacrilege, but if those 20 or 30 (Saturation levels) are mostly unused or ineffective, and the sacrifice gives you greater control of your necessary range of motion, it seems like a good trade.

...

 

At the start you won't need the extremes. Against AI's in BFM you won't need the extremes - they never bleed. When will you need the extremes? From the the top of my head:
-when avoiding the ground;
-when wanting to bleed some energy at 400-450 knots;
-when doing scissors in BFM;
-when doing 1  circle BFM (mostly against human players online);
-when going 1 circle with intent to transition into rolling scissors or high Yo-Yo at 90 or 180;
-when doing aerobatics or max performance demos;

So, if you stick to BVR intercepts and mud moving, you are most likely never ever to need the extremes. Is it still a good idea to flatten them out? IMO no. You will develop similar bad habits you do when you fly FBW airplanes with restrictive FCC's. That is, it will make you ham-fisted stick yanker. In the long run, that isn't a good thing. But i can understand if muscle control is an issue. Not all have fine motorics and steady hands to fly without stick extensions. Have you measured your sticks throw in all the axis? 

[Jakey-Poo]

4 hours ago, captain_dalan said:

At the start you won't need the extremes. Against AI's in BFM you won't need the extremes - they never bleed. When will you need the extremes? From the the top of my head:
-when avoiding the ground;
-when wanting to bleed some energy at 400-450 knots;
-when doing scissors in BFM;
-when doing 1  circle BFM (mostly against human players online);
-when going 1 circle with intent to transition into rolling scissors or high Yo-Yo at 90 or 180;
-when doing aerobatics or max performance demos;

Thanks!  This is exactly what I was looking for.  Coming from warbirds I've never had a problem (except the spit) with fine control of my stick, but the A/A refueling in the Tomcat was really getting to me - which led to the question.  Looks like I just need to practice, practice, practice.

 

EDIT: 

I also just rebuilt my hotas setup to be able to use more stick deflection.  Initially my stick was just mounted to a piece of wood supported by a single shelf bracket, and I had already broken it several times with the torque required for high stick deflection.  Just rebuilt it tonight so it was strong enough to support more weight during stick movement (mostly X-axis, but stronger all around).  Thanks again for the input.

Edited August 17, 2021 by Jakey-Poo
More info

[captain_dalan]

13 hours ago, Jakey-Poo said:

... Looks like I just need to practice, practice, practice.

 

 

 

The correct solution to 90% of DCS induced problems
 

13 hours ago, Jakey-Poo said:

Thanks again for the input.

 

Always a pleasure! 

[draconus]

I pull full aft on shore landing rollout.