Tail wag in the FA-18C_Hornet_v16.1

I just downloaded and installed this aircraft. Flies great in FSX but tail wags in P3d. I have no issues with the Sludge F/A-18 in carrier landings in P3d and the issue is unique to this aircraft in this sim. Something is impacting its stability. It begins a rudder wag at slower speeds (under 170) and I lose all stability in roll. The rudder begins a back and forth rocking the aircraft on its horizontal plane, and the only way to stop it is to engage the autopilot which doesn't enhance carrier landings at all. Can anyone educate me on what I may have done to cause it? Is there some auto switch I need to disengage? It works fine in FSX. A setting in the P3d cfg file perhaps? Thanks.

 

I initially posted this in the FSX forum by mistake and got some good suggestions which I tried.Here's what I've tried so far. Recalibrated my controller(s). Tried two different controllers. Uninstalled, deleted all folders and reinstalled the aircraft. Uninstalled and on the reinstall checked the FSX box on a reinstall and installed it to P3d, uninstalled and reinstalled checking the P3d box. Right now I have the fresh, proper P3d version installed and still have the problem with only this aircraft. I can fly it in FSX and it's a great plane, but my P3d is currently a better simulator for my rig so would love to get it working here. Any ideas?

It may just be that the a/c is not fully compatible with P3D.

 

 

Vic

You can TRY changing one of the lines in the [Hornet FCS] contained in the BASE folder's abbreviated aircraft.cfg. Remember to always make a back up before you start!

Look in that section for the line:

 

Sideslip=75,75.01,10.0

 

Adjust it starting with the first number after the "=" sign. The 75. Change it to something like 74.5 . Try different values and see the effect during a flight.

If that's not effective, or as effective as you want, change the second number SLIGHTLY.

Like from 75.01 to 75.00. Or 75.02. Be very cautious with this setting.

 

These changes are what I had to do when the new Hornet_FCS.dll came out for the v15.6 and it had a pretty bad rudder wobble or waggle at higher airspeed. You may be seeing a mirror image sort of trouble, ie: at lower rather than higher airspeed...

 

For the ailerons, or Roll commands, the line is

 

Aileron=1.50,0,0

 

Again, adjust CAREFULLY! Try raising the first number slightly, say to 1.55 and see how it does. If you choose to adjust the second number, again adjust very carefully. Make it 0.01 and see what happens. It's worth a shot, anyway :)

 

I also had to make some changes to the .air file for the rudder waggle, but I think the [Hornet FCS] section of the aircraft.cfg is the really important one. No-one I am aware of ever experienced the roll authority problem, but I'll see what's in the forums I may have missed. I can show you what settings we adjusted in the .air file if you want, though.

 

I can ask in the FSDT forums also, if you so desire, or you are more than welcome to. They always welcome new folks and are very friendly people. Very helpful, too. Between Orion and Jimi (He's AD Navy!), they can normally solve most problems. Sometimes take a little while, as they both have real-world jobs that take precedence, obviously, but they will answer eventually, I promise.

 

Let us know how things go :)

Pat☺

Well, I tried tweaking the sideslip as suggested, Pat. Any variation brought back an "FCS Fail" warning on my HUD, which of course eliminated the tail wag but created some other not so welcomed flight dynamics. Unable to solve the tail wag, I never tried the Aileron settings for roll issues.

 

By the way, I set the path in the FSX.cfg and had my FSX go to the P3D Simobjects folder and fly the P3D install. Works great in FSX so I am guessing the issue rests in something in the "gauges" or "effects" folder and not in the Sim Objects/Airplanes part of the install. Or else it's in some setting I haven't yet imagined in P3D.

 

I am guessing next best step would be to run it by the FSDT forum. You have already invested a lot of time in this so I will sign up and run it past their forum and then drop back here and let you know the results. I too searched this forum pretty thoroughly and never found any posts about either. Seems unique to me. I can't get to it this weekend though so will try on Monday.

 

Thanks for the input, Pat. "I'll be Bach" to quote a once California Gov. :)

 

John

I don't think the plane has been tested in P3d much, if at all, so...

I hope we can get this squared away for you. I'm sure Orion or Jimi can get it. Friggen geniuses... :D

Pat☺

Be aware that the flight dynamics are different in P3D than they were in FSX. While the differences aren't gigantic, a friend who does a lot of flight dynamics modification tells me that it took a fair chunk of work to get aircraft imported from FSX to behave the same in P3D. I don't do much of that stuff, and don't even have that aircraft, so can't help much.

Thanks, Inuss!

I'll wager it's a portover problem with the Hornet_FCS.dll. It uses PID controllers, and the P3D FDE's may be too far away from the FSX ones to be able to port them over.

 

We will see what they say on the FSDT forus :) Thanks again for the input!

Pat☺