Constantly Trimming Rudder Tabs?

[Stevecat]

First time poster here!  I scanned a few pages back for this topic and saw nothing, so I hope I'm not already beating a dead horse.   It just seems like keeping this plane straight, smooth and coordinated in turns is a constant dance on the rudder trim tab.  I always seem to be skidding. Are you all experiencing the same thing?  Is there a method that works best for you that I'm missing?  I am very curious to know because it makes this plane really hard to enjoy.  And there is no power setting that seems to make it more manageable either.   I'm a long time IL-2 player but got DCS a year ago to try out the 109K4.  I kind of ditched the whole game because the K4 has no rudder trim, and it was a constant battle to keep it coordinated - the engine just seemed OP vs. the flight model.  So probably I'm just a DCS noob and this heavy engine torque thing in Warbirds is just how life is gonna be.   Or, maybe this is a bug that just needs tweaking?  Anyway aside from that I really love the F4U on DCS and am looking forward to some of the other fine tuning improvements.  Thanks everyone.

[Saxman]

Welcome to flying a piston-engine Warbird.

You're going to be using your rudder a lot, especially with the Corsair. It's a big engine with a lot of torque. And it's got a big rudder to compensate. So watch the slip indicator (it's right on the gunsight so you can watch both it and your sights at the same time) make sure you're using coordinated turns during maneuvers.

[DrDetroit]

Yes, the constant rudder trim is a pain in the butt, until you assign rudder trim to a button on your hotas . Then it’s not too bad constantly trimming the rudder.

I noticed that trimming the rudder to dead center alleviates the aileron trimming as well. If I’m rolling to the right, I’ll check my rudder is centered first. Once rudder is trimmed, then I’ll move to aileron trimming. 
 

[Stevecat]

Thanks Dr.  Yeah I have my tabs bound to the left and right buttons on either side of my hat on the stick (Thrustmaster T16000).  That way it's just an easy thumb click, albeit a constant one.  And thanks Sax, I'm so used to looking at the ball in the panel I never thought to look on the sight!  Funny, I never saw Pappy Boyington fighting the torque so much on Ba Ba Black Sheep.  They all made it look so easy....

[Saxman]

47 minutes ago, DrDetroit said:

until you assign rudder trim to a button on your hotas

It's even better if you can assign it an axis. I've got a trim box with rudder, aileron, and elevator trim wheels and it changed my life.

[GTFreeFlyer]

58 minutes ago, Saxman said:

It's even better if you can assign it an axis. I've got a trim box with rudder, aileron, and elevator trim wheels and it changed my life.

I’ve been looking for a trim box.  Can you share what you have?

… and to the OP, yeah, constant trimming is required in warbirds.  Set your throttle and RPM and try to leave it there and fly the same airspeed when cruising around.  Of course, maneuvering, evading, etc, will required you to do drastic things and then you’ll have to pay attention to sideslip.  Any change to airspeed, RPM, manifold, or aircraft weight (yes you are constantly burning fuel), will require new trim settings. 

[Saxman]

I bought this one. Though it looks like they may be out of stock.

[Stevecat]

wow thats actually pretty cool.

[=475FG= Dawger]

In the real world, constant trim is the reality. However, unless you are going to be steady state for a bit, its better to just hold the control pressure instead of adjusting trim during maneuvering flight. The only exception is the elevator axis, as the control forces can vary greatly and sometimes you will need to trim during maneuvering flight.

So, hold the rudder pressure required unless you are in steady state climb, cruise or descent. 

It sounds like the Corsair is actually moving away from the "flies like a jet" Warbird standard we have endured for decades.

[carbolicus]

Absolutely agree with the above post.  Rudder trim should be used judiciously; much better to get used to using your feet a lot when you fly a high-powered prop aircraft.

When flying a relatively high-powered single in a bush-flying environment, I never used rudder trim at all.  The central position was about right for cruising and it was no labour to apply a bit of foot pressure on climbs and descents, although admittedly we never flew higher than 10,000 feet.

We’d also quite often be using short-ish airstrips which were sometimes wet/soft, so you’d need to approach at a slower than normal speed, which meant you were on the back side of the drag curve and hence speed-unstable.  This in turn meant that you’d frequently be making large power adjustments to keep both the speed right and on the glide path - and that meant rapid and significant rudder inputs, especially in hot and gusty conditions.  So it was important that the rudder trim was central.

It’s also easy to get way out of whack with trim when you also have aileron trim - there was a case in WW2 of a Halifax bomber declared ‘rogue’ by its inexperienced pilot because it wouldn’t fly straight.  The station commander was suspicious, saw that the pilot had full rudder trim one way and full aileron the other, wound them both back to neutral and found the aeroplane flew perfectly.

[Stevecat]

@Saxman I put the aileron trim on the axis like you suggested and that makes the plane so much easier to fly!!  Thank you!

[Qcumber]

On 7/9/2025 at 6:32 PM, Saxman said:

It's even better if you can assign it an axis. I've got a trim box with rudder, aileron, and elevator trim wheels and it changed my life.

Where did you get the trim box? 

[Saxman]

26 minutes ago, Qcumber said:

Where did you get the trim box? 

 

23 hours ago, Saxman said:

I bought this one. Though it looks like they may be out of stock.

 

[Qcumber]

1 hour ago, Saxman said:

 

 

That looks good. It says three in stock for me. £84. I'm tempted.