How to TRIM...... please

[Bifrost]

Hi all jockeys,

I have a hard time trimming my planes, that goes for the F/18 aswell as the F16, but surprisingly not the A10C. 

I have the TRIM hat on my HOTAS Warthog joystick assigned to the trim function, but the mentioned planes keep pitching up or rolling.

Besides being a noob, what am i doing wrong... or not doing. Is there anything in the general settings i should attend to?

I really love this game so any help would appreciated.

Greetings

A Dane.

 

 

 

[Paganus]

Maintain a constant speed, but the reality is it will never lock in like it's on rails, nor should it. 

Both aircraft you mention have advanced FCS functionality. Sometimes an occasional, small bump to the stick will help the control pitching. You need to fly within the normal flight envelope or the FCS will be reacting a lot.

Use autopilot when possible.

Good Luck!

 

 

[razo+r]

F-16, and F-18 probably too, tries to maintain 1G in level flight. If you then try to trim, you will tell the aircraft to constantly pitch in a direction. Normally, in cruise, you do not need to trim those aircraft, at least not in pitch.

The A-10 is different in that regard, as it doesn't do that.

 

But if the F-16 and F-18 constantly want to go somewhere you should check your joystick and maybe set some deadzones.

Edited November 29, 2022 by razo+r

[CBStu]

Realize one other thing. If you were to get to a perfectly straight and level flight at say 350, then increase speed to 400, the plane will climb. Drop to 300 and it will descend.

[Gasman6]

Greetings,

 

If your airplane controls feel too jerky, they are working as intended. You are supposed to use small, smooth corrections to make the airplane do what you want it to do. Using small, smooth corrections also limits pilot induced oscillations. Think of a car on the freeway that isn't going straight within its lane, perpetually ping-ponging between the lane markers. Overcorrection is especially easy to do in a simulator where you do not have the tangible feedback of G-forces, the winds acting on the airframe, or the buffeting of the wings in high-G maneuvers. Trim is also to be used lightly. Put the aircraft in the attitude you want, and gently add in trim until you do not have to make any corrective actions. It may help to hold backpressure on the stick and, as you trim it out, release the backpressure until the airplane is holding the desired attitude effortlessly.

 

It is also advisable to be aware of your power settings while you are doing this. If you are maintaining a constant power setting, you only have to trim once. If you move the throttle, without touching the stick, the airplane's pitch will increase or decrease correlative to throttle input, and you will have to trim it out again to compensate. A useful mnemonic for grasping this concept of cross control is "pitch for speed, power for altitude."