Optica Control Problems!

I recently purchased the Optica from the Marketplace...I cannot get the darn thing off the ground...Has anyone else had similar control problems with this plane? Thanks!

It is one of the hardest planes to fly--margin between take off speed and climb and stall is very small so all speeds will be around 60-75 but it will get off climb and get around the countryside and land OK. If the real one is like that I would not be too inclined to fly it however. So full power and a positive lift and be careful with the trim. It does actually fly but it feels like you are flying a beluga whale.

I recently purchased the Optica from the Marketplace...I cannot get the darn thing off the ground...Has anyone else had similar control problems with this plane? Thanks!

ps--I did fly Republic Seabees a few times in the real world, and we used to joke about stats, take off 60, climb 60, stall 60 and land if you can manage it. It was a fun plane but did have those narrow margins.

there could be something off after SU7 but I don't know what. I just flew the Orbx Optica yesterday and it was just fine for me but my friend with the exact same plane was having similar problems as you and couldn't take off. He tried starting airborne and said it was spinning out of control. Might be a control mapping issue? Need to reset your sensitivity? My friend was too annoyed to troubleshoot (he's almost ready to quit MSFS with all the trouble it's been giving him) but if you manage to get it sorted please post what you did!

What take off and cruise speeds were you getting??

I let it roll to 70 before pulling back on the stick. Trim seemed way down by default also, found notching it next to the "R" on the label worked well. Cruising at ~9,000' (we are over Yellowstone so just 1-2k AGL) I got up to ~110kts but heading in a diff direction later on I couldn't push past 80kts in level flight. So maybe wind - this thing is easily blown around I have learned from previous flights. It can also just take a long time to really build up speed in level flight after climbing and loves to nose up so staying level and building speed can mean lots of attention to the VS indicator and constant trim application. Anyways like I said, I had no trouble flying it and even got a super slick buttery landing that barely registered on Landing Inspector Edited November 28, 2021 by Gaiiden

@Galiden, good comments and interesting, of course you are talking Ground Speed (wind effect) versus airspeed and that is the problem with this model that the airspeed is barely over 80kts hardly above take-off speed. The stats on the real plane are as follows Performance

 

Maximum speed: 213 km/h (132 mph, 115 kn)

Cruise speed: 130 km/h (81 mph, 70 kn) (loiter speed, 40% power)

Stall speed: 108 km/h (67 mph, 58 kn) outboard flaps up

Never exceed speed: 259 km/h (161 mph, 140 kn)

Range: 1,056 km (656 mi, 570 nmi) at 130 km/h (81 mph; 70 kn) (45-minute reserves)

Endurance: 8 h (at loiter speed)

Service ceiling: 4,275 m (14,026 ft)

Rate of climb: 4.1 m/s (810 ft/min)

 

Considering it was powered with a Lycoming O-540 it has a most interesting performance, my own Male 235 had a range of stall in the 40 knot range to cruise at 140Knots on the same engine. So this weird plane was built to fly a long time very slow and that partly explains why the cruise speed is barely above the stall speed which is why it is really quite hard to fly in Flightsim. So Grover2005 you are right but it can be flown.

Regards--John

there might also be a power issue - at sea level you still cant redline the rpms