pitch or elevator axis

[tofu 0]

New to flight sims and brand new to OFF (as of today)... so be gentle.

 

It appears that my pitch or "elevator" axis is not centered. I have to push the stick down to maintain level flight. Any ideas?

 

Thanks!

[lxsapper 0]

New to flight sims and brand new to OFF (as of today)... so be gentle.

 

It appears that my pitch or "elevator" axis is not centered. I have to push the stick down to maintain level flight. Any ideas?

 

Thanks!

 

 

Don't have OFF but what you are describing is normal aircraft behavior, if you throtle back you should be able to get a force equilibrium, where you'll maintain level flight, of course this is only usefull for something like cruising. What you would do is use your elevator trim, but I'm not sure those WWI planes had them. If that's the case just keep pushing on the joystick :).

 

Anyway just to further clear that up, the trim, is usually a wheel that controls a sort of control surface of the control surface. By deflecting this small surface on your elevator (or other control surfaces) upwards or downwards in leaser or greater degree, the air flow is going to force your elevator to a certain position, much like the elevator does to the entire plane, Efectivelly doing your corrective push/pulling for you. Of course that's only good for a certain speed/altitude combination and as you manover your airplane will soon be "out of trim" again. In any case it's usefull to keep your plane trimed even when manovering about not just cruising, because it's just so much easier to fly (shoting in particular improves a ton), rudder trim is particulary useful as it helps you not to fly in applying constant pedal preasure just to keep your plane from flying sideways (major speed killer). Just watch the Ball (I do belive most those WWI planes had inclinometers) is it permanetly off centered even in level flight positive G load? Not good. Need to compensate the ruder trim is the way to go.

 

But after all this explanation again I'm not sure those WWI planes had trims so.... like I said before PUSH ;)

[Check Six 2]

tofu,

 

Let me guess? UMM......Sopwith Triplane!

 

Am I right??

 

There are trim controls for aircraft in OFF. Correctly mentioned here is that MOST if not all aircraft in WW1 were not able to be trimmed in flight. When you landed, you spoke to your aircraft mechanic, and he tightened this and loosened that, and voila! she flies straight and level. Over time, and after combat manoeuvring, the wires stretch, or are even shot away, and so have to be replaced and re-adjusted. Some think of it as "cheating" to trim your aircraft in flight for this very reason, but it has been mentioned in some threads that you assume you had spoken to your AM after your last flight, and he got it right. So sure...trim it up just after take-off if it makes you feel better or more comfortable.

 

Why did I mention the tripe???

 

Oh. They climb like monkeys full of amphetamines, and I have the devil of a time trying to get one to fly straight and level. It's a choice of aircraft that has made it difficult. I think a lot of the other aircraft in OFF will fly straight and level after a little bit of trimming, but the tripes??? NAH!

[Condor44 0]

I suspect what you are experiencing is normal. All of the planes I have flown in OFF will nose up and climb without forward pressure on the stick even though my stick is calibrated. I assume you have calibrated your stick using the software supplied with it. You certainly should if you havn't. As has been mentioned, you can use elevator trim. My stick has trim wheels so I have an axis for elevator trim. I believe the keyboard can be used but I'm not familiar with that method.

 

What stick are you using?

[tofu 0]

Thanks for everyone's reply. Looks like it is normal behavior, and I guess that makes sense for these planes. I will try and mess with the trim at the beginning of the flight.

 

Condor44, I am using the Saitek AV8R V2 for Xbox/windows. Unfortunately, there are no Saitek drivers or software to calibrate... you have to use the Vista default drivers. This works ok, but some buttons simply will not work. not ideal at all. I am thinking about purchasing a different flight stick.

 

I am having a great time though. I am playing both OFF and RoF. Both are a lot of fun. Only problem is I only have a few hours a week to play :) oh well.

 

Thanks again all!

[+Polovski 460]

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