Drunk Driving

[Habu1967]

Greetings to all,
I am a fairly proficient 737-300 driver preferring the Wilco version. However, my single biggest problem is that I taxi like a drunk man walking down the street. Is there (1) A good taxi speed guage I an can add to the 737-300 (2) General advice for taxiing smoothly, neither mowing the grass or running into buildings and other aircraft?

Thanks
Les

[azzaro]

Taxiing smoothly seems to be a combination of controller sensitivity and deadzones. Sudden acceleration and braking also cause trouble, especially with single props. And don't even get me started on taildraggers! If you could tell us what controller you are using for ground steering, someone may have specific tips. — Bob

[Habu1967]

Since I can't afford pedals I am using a Saitek X52 (Standard not the Pro)

Les

[f16jockey_2]

Is there (1) A good taxi speed guage I an can add to the 737-300

http://www.flightsim.com/file.php?cm...e=RCBGH-50.ZIP

http://www.flightsim.com/file.php?cm...e=RCBGH50a.ZIP

Wim

[mallcott]

Couple of simple tips:
1: Keep down elevator on when taxiing nosewheel types, up elevator for taildraggers. Even in the big jets this helps plant more weight into the steering nosewheel and gives improvement in steering reresponse
2:Think ahead of the aircraft. If you are in the 737 the nosewheel is almsot under your feet, but the actual pivot point is behind. So following the yellow line in turns is a matter of going past it before pulling it back. Slightly to the left for right hand turns, slightly to the right for left handers.
3: Use differential braking. You can set a couple of spare buttons up for left and right brakes independently on the combined braking button. That alone makes a massive difference as yuo can make minor corrections on the brakes, not the steering, and use the brakes to tighten turns in tight spots such as turning from the taxiway onto the runway.

Hope these help!

[Kapitan]

There are no "taxi speed gauges" that limit speed in real life. (in most planes)
A Taxi speed gauge in flightsim is like a "cheat" where you confess your inability to control the airplane speed while on the ground and need help from the computer.
Meaning in a real airplane you would cause an accident and be banned from airplanes forever.
Since its only a sim, why not take the chance to "learn" to taxi the proper way??
I see no point in simming if you start by cheating on taxi.

Its all so simple, depending on the plane, as other have said, each plane has its own response to throttles and acceleration, but start gently and slowly and as soon as you realize the airplane starts moving pull back the throttles. Taxi is supposed to be done at very low speed, not only for passenger comfort but to avoid hazards in busy airports. With some training you will get it fine in little time.

My advice is dont use the gauge speed. I never had. And its elegant to watch your plane either in spot view or from the cockpit moving slowly and gently all th way to the parking slot

Edit: I have to ask, what are your fps ? If your computer runs low in fps it will be very difficult to control taxi sometimes.

[Habu1967]

Thanks to all for the advice. I typically run about 12 fps at my favorite airports. I will try all the options and advice mentioned. I would agree that using a speed gauge would be "Cheating" but I am 67 and not sure if I want to spend my remaining years being "Real" in this repect or "Cheating".
Thanks to all,
Les

[InsyleM]

Sometimes if I have trouble
I noticed that auto coordnateion if on will make you turn if your joystick isnt straight. So sometimes I turn that off unless sometimes I WANT to turn that way.
It all depends on what im taxing, where im taxing it, and the wind and howfast im going.
Sometimes, Ill use the keyboard to steer on the taxiways. It seems to be far mor stable.
And I Cheat with tail draggers

[schick]

my advice is to do everything in SMALL increments.

Don't over-correct. You'll slowly get the hang of it.