FlightSim.Com How To: Adjust your sensitivities in FS2000!

How To Set Sensitivities in FS2000 for Maximum Realism

By FlightSim.Com Staff

After six months of tweaking and adjusting the sensitivities in FS2000 to the level that I think gives the most realistic feedback, I am here to release this "secret" to you. It's really no secret at all, but everyone who's a longtime simmer knows the agony you must go through in setting up your controls just the right way. My agony occurs whenever I have to reinstall FS2000 for any reason. Luckily, that's not too often now. I have often wanted to do an article on the proper control sensitivities in FS and now seemed like the right time. I have not found any reason to keep on tinkering with them, and so have finally reached a level that I continue to use for all airplanes. That's right, the settings I have, satisfy all aircraft from Cessnas to 747-400s. Once your control sensitivities are in place, the individual aircraft's flight model should do the rest for what you are experiencing!

If you like my settings, you might want to print this out. I am going to. I am tired of trying to mimic the graphic on a piece of paper, only to have to keep fiddling to get it almost right. With FS2000, every tick mark counts for a change, so now I have a very precise setting.

Now, I use the Precision Flight Controls Cirrus airline style yoke for all my flying, but feel these settings are good enough to use on any control setup. For the most part, by default, FS is far too sensitive. I am sure everyone knows that by now. This setting gives you just enough pitching moment to do a rotation and flare in a big jetliner and most stalls in the smaller GA aircraft. I find this the best feel for all airplanes. Full control movements will be needed for most rapid flight maneuvers.

I used to fly more sensitive. But my recent stint in a Boeing 737-400 Level D simulator proved to me flying big jets is a fairly good workout for the arms and hands. Large aircraft respond to input, but a slight delay is noticed as well as the physical "uuummpphhh" needed to get each move of the yoke. It is indeed a heavy feel, flying an airliner, and one I have finally tried to get close to in FS2000.

The entire settings you see should work great on any quality flight model. What is heavy but responsive on an airliner ought to be more sensitive on a Cessna - but not overly so. Bad flight modeling contains overly sensitive rudder input, steering, pitch, roll capability etc. If using my settings in your favorite aircraft still cause rapid movements of either pitch or bank axis, then I believe the flight model is to blame. If you cannot taxi or perform a takeoff run without going all over the place, the flight model is wrong.

After using my sensitivities, if you feel they are too sluggish, you may be reacting to the experience you've had flying too sensitively. I used to fly really much more sensitive than I do now. But combined with real world experience and research, you definitely want to really dampen things out. In the real 737 simulator, I was surprised how much travel is needed by the yoke to make a change in aircraft attitude.

I hope you enjoy these settings, and will not find the need to keep on fiddling around, wasting valuable flying time!

Read Peter's Cirrus Jet Yoke Review

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