Jump to content

Controls for CFS3?


CFS3Fan2015

Recommended Posts

I haven't fooled with real flight sims in years (Comanche Gold is pretty arcade-ish), but recently picked up CFS3 on a whim.

 

My joystick is a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro. No rudder pedals (yet).

 

So far, I'm not thrilled with this joystick in CFS3. The main problems are that it's pretty awkward to twist the stick for rudder coordination in truns, and trimming is pretty clumsy and difficult. Partly because I've flown real aircraft before, which of course had rudder pedals and an elevator trim wheel (or switch, in the case of the T-37), and you could actually feel flight control forces to get trim juuuust right. Something entirely missing from my CFS3 experience, so far.

 

I also once had a joystick (CH Flightstick) with trim wheels. It was sprung to be self-centering, which as we know most (all?) aircraft controls aren't, but it was much easier to trim off flight forces. Also, I had a sense of where in its range trim was set - an indicator that seems to be absent in CFS3, although it would be present in some way in most real aircraft.

 

It wouldn't hurt to have actual levers/wheels for prop pitch and fuel mixture, as well.

 

Any recommendations? I'm not looking to spend $1000 on a fully "realistic" set of controls (which would only approximate many warbirds anyway), but I'd like something better.

 

If you have any advice on setting up the cockpit view I could use that too. I find that in most aircraft, I can only have a choice between seeing too little of the instruments with the default heads-up view, or seeing instrument panel and not much else by e.g. pressing backward on the POV hat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Go to the file library, search only file section "CFS3 Misc." for file named "cfs3wide.zip".

 

This file invokes a wider cockpit view that you are looking for. It must be installed in each individual airplane, but works very well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks.

 

I'm considering a stick with force feedback. I assume they vary in how well it's implemented. I'll have to do some research.

 

Meanwhile, I found a solution to one of my problems: pressing Z, which brings up a few lines of text that tell you how the various trim axes are set.

 

Am I missing something? It appears there's no visible indication of trim state in the cockpits, or at least I haven't spotted one. Didn't WW2 aircraft have trim wheels, or at least indicators showing you trim position? Maybe it was omitted for clarity on the (at the time) limited screens when CFS3 was new.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have never owned a force feedback stick, but I believe they have become rare. Trim you will have to do by feel. Go to Options, select control surfaces, and you will see the keyboard options for trim using the numpad - quite easy to use. With the Saitek X52 Pro you can program these to the stick buttons if you wish. Good settings for control sensitivity are also important.

 

CFS3 is not a complicated simulator. I will have to go to my DCS World and take a look at the P51 and FW190 panels to see if they have trim indicators - DCS planes have very authentic cockpits.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...