Does the default 172 pull hard left at takeoff IRL?

[crow357]

I was just wondering. I thought I'd follow some of the flight lessons and the 1st time I took off in the 172, I thought there was something wrong. I had to really fight with the airplane to keep it on the runway heading. I normally fly twins or jets. It just seemed a tad extreme.

[LOT_Pilot]

I'm not sure how much it is pulling to the left, but yes, right rudder is required on takeoff and for a certain period of time after departure so that you stay on the centerline. It's like that because the prop is like a wing. One edge moves faster than the other, hence the aircraft pulling left on takeoff.

[DWPhan]

Yea, right rudder is needed at takeoff and whenever you're at a high angle of attack and RPM setting (such as stalls/slow flight) to combat left turning tendencies such as P-Factor (caused by the downward moving blade having a greater 'bite' at the air then the upward moving blade which pulls the plane left), Slip stream (the wash from the prop travels around the fuselage and eventually hits the left side of the tail which causes the plane to swing to the left), Torque (the rotation of the prop turns the plane to the left), and Gyroscopic Precession (rotating bodies in which an applied force is manifested 90 degrees later in the direction of rotation from where the force was applied.) These left turning tendancies require you to put in some right rudder.

[gjoyce]

Hi there,, you might want to try this ....get fs9 up and running-press ALT. click aircraft-click realism settings- here set the p factor to the left set the torque to the left and then set the general to center or to the left, you can play with the settings to see how it works for you ,,if all sliders are to the left that is default and it should stay right down the center line,,Regards Jerry

[ladamson]

In addition to the other replies, using rudder pedals or a twist grip can be quite different. While my pedals are great at default settings, I find my twist grip to be too sensitive.

But even a 172 will wipe out the left runway lights sooner than not, if left un-attended.

[crow357]

Ok, well, I was just wondering. I like to fly with full realism. I find that I have to use almost all of my ailerons and/or a bunch of rudder to keep the plane from turning left real bad. I would love to take a real flight to see what it's like. My grandfather had a single engine Navion and I don't ever remember him fighting to keep the airplane headed in the right direction at takeoff. Maybe it's just a FS thing and my setup. Thanks for the replies guys.

[ladamson]

>Ok, well, I was just wondering. I like to fly with full
>realism. I find that I have to use almost all of my
>ailerons and/or a bunch of rudder to keep the plane from
>turning left real bad. I would love to take a real flight
>to see what it's like. My grandfather had a single engine
>Navion and I don't ever remember him fighting to keep the
>airplane headed in the right direction at takeoff. Maybe
>it's just a FS thing and my setup. Thanks for the replies
>guys.

Check your setup from spot view & look for the position of the rudder and ailerons. You shouldn't need any aileron for the 172 in no wind conditions. Right rudder (and not a whole lot) would be required for the takeoff roll & climb.