How'd like your A-10C made?

[leafer]

Yeah, straight and level!

 

Seriously, how in the world do you trim it to fly straight and level? I've dug up several threads where some people said it was possible. One person said he trimmed it so well he thought he left it on autopilot. I use the Ctrl+trim keys, and I either creep up, down, left or right, and never could hit that sweet spot. It is especially agitating when I got a tgp hung on one wing and the plane wanted to roll there.

 

I'm getting a Logitech Extreme 3d soon, but I doubt flying with the keyboard has anything to do with this problem I've been having. Sure, the ap can fly the plane while I do my thing, but it'd be nice to know that if I wanted to I could trim it like the pro at will.

[cichlidfan]

Yeah, straight and level!

 

Seriously, how in the world do you trim it to fly straight and level? I've dug up several threads where some people said it was possible. One person said he trimmed it so well he thought he left it on autopilot. I use the Ctrl+trim keys, and I either creep up, down, left or right, and never could hit that sweet spot. It is especially agitating when I got a tgp hung on one wing and the plane wanted to roll there.

 

I'm getting a Logitech Extreme 3d soon, but I doubt flying with the keyboard has anything to do with this problem I've been having. Sure, the ap can fly the plane while I do my thing, but it'd be nice to know that if I wanted to I could trim it like the pro at will.

 

It is definately possible. Even before I got my Warthog, was using an X52Pro, I was able to trim level enough to get up and walk away. It did take some practice, and a really light touch, but if I can do it then I would say anyone should be able to.

 

Now if you are way out of balance it is harder but as long as all the parts are still attached it can be done.:D

[Zenra]

I have trouble sometimes trimming roll (using TM Warthog), particularly with an asymmetric load. Pitch trim is usually easier, though, if you use the throttle appropriately as well. That is, once the plane is pitch trimmed it will settle at a stable airspeed but may slowly gain or lose altitude, which can be checked with appropriate and slight throttle adjustments.

[Blizz003]

depends on your speed, i would venture.

you keep a constant speed with the trim set nice and voila! straight and level.

change your speed at all, however and it screws everything up. this is not the most symetrical aircraft.

I find myself constantly switching the trim around during missions. especially after dropping particularly large bombs. totally messes up the whole aerodynamic flow you had going...

 

I've also been able to trim the crap out of it so that I have (almost) straight and level flight with one engine missing. Mind you my nose is nowhere near straight and level but the flightpath would resemble a line...

[Torment]

I'd say it's possible too...pretty sure I've had it close enough that I thought the autopilot was on. But it can't stay there forever since you're burning fuel. If you can get it reeeealy close it's gonna help you for AR for sure. Me personally, I put in a bit of nose down trim for AR. It's probably more tiring having to maintain back pressure but I experience less bobbing up and down.

 

Maybe the RL trim hat is a little less sensitive and you're able to put in a little less deflection but for the purposes of this sim I don't think it's really designed for hands-off flying minus AP.

[molleh]

I've never been able to get a perfect trim going e.g. when lining up a CCRP release! It always banks slightly to one side and then the other even with the lightest tap of the trim key. I think it's realistic though, I would think wind and such would always be buffeting the aircraft and making slight changes to attitude.

[ralfidude]

Who needs a perfect trim for that.

 

Autopilot is there for that.

 

i trim the living crap out of my A-10 after each release so that it is nice and stable, but the plane will change itself as you lose fuel and increase speed as a result, which you will need to trim more to correct for it, not to mention the dynamic weather that might require you to trim for that too.

 

There is no real reason to try and make your aircraft too perefectly trimmed because of autopilot. Believe it or not, I fly only 40% of the time by myself, the rest is usually autopilot as I switch between different modes of autopilot like path, alt, or path/alt. It makes life so much easier where you can spend most of your time with your head in the pit and not worry about where your plane is baking or if your trim is set 100% right.

[Caspet]

like cichlidfan said, light touch, very light touch!

[Bushmanni]

According to the book "Warthog: Flying the A-10 in Gulf War" A-10 pilots joked about the trim mechanism that all you need to do to dodge AAA fire was to let go of the controls and let the plane fly itself.

[FreeFall]

According to the book "Warthog: Flying the A-10 in Gulf War" A-10 pilots joked about the trim mechanism that all you need to do to dodge AAA fire was to let go of the controls and let the plane fly itself.

 

And they didn't have the luxury of autopilot those days. LASTE was introduced later, right?

[Jona33]

Think so. It's also mentioned that they had to input data for bomb release into the plane while diving on the target. That must have been fun.

[leafer]

Well, as luck would have it, came d-day and i drew out my debit card to buy the joystick, they were sold out. lol Anyway, thank you all. I overlooked certain variables and am glad wind and fuel consumption effect cg as they should.

 

Cool info on the real thing as well. If it's a pain for them then I welcome the short-coming. :D

Edited December 10, 2011 by leafer

[Shein]

you think the A-10 is bad?

try trimming the KA-50, then we'll talk ;)

[Megagoth1702]

There is no way to trim the A-10 to fly level all the time. Depending on speed it will bank and roll all over the place at some point anyway. Just pick a speed, hold it, trim to that speed. And then use autopilot. Like ralfi said, properly using the autopilot really makes you more efficient with the weapons etc.

 

You still have to have the flying skills though, hehe. :)

[WildBillKelsoe]

medium rare please... :lol:

[Jona33]

medium rare please... :lol:

 

Coming right up. That'll be £8.95 please.

[wolfstriked]

I can trim pretty good with my keyboard but I wonder if A10 pilots really trim much anyway with autopilot installed.Its an instantaneous trim function that works better than trim.

 

And I have a question I think might be related to trim.When I do a ramp start the control stick slowly moves forward and backwards the whole time.Any idea why thats happening?Also,the APU gen starts flashing and sounding a warning after starting the first engine....is that normal?

[Lane]

When the core rpm of the 1st engine reach 50%, the warning on APU gen occur, at this moment you switch it to OFF. ( The APU Gen no more provide power to the aircraft, so you can switch it off, i believe this is the reason of the warning )

Edited December 11, 2011 by Lane

[hog_driver111th]

Trimming real world is done until the controls feel comfortable. Even still, as you burn fuel, you'll have to retrim some. I remember back when I had my piper arrow. Even though I had an autopilot (which I only used on long flights) I was constantly on the trim.

[wolfstriked]

When the core rpm of the 1st engine reach 50%, the warning on APU gen occur, at this moment you switch it to OFF. ( The APU Gen no more provide power to the aircraft, so you can switch it off, i believe this is the reason of the warning )

 

Thanks,never noticed it happening in the videos I watched.Any idea why the control stick moves back and forth repeatedly?

[MTFDarkEagle]

Thanks,never noticed it happening in the videos I watched.Any idea why the control stick moves back and forth repeatedly?

Wind/hydraulic pressure

[wolfstriked]

Wind/hydraulic pressure

 

I think it could be that I had a lot of axis controlling same functions.:joystick:

[MeerCaT]

I experience the same to-and-fro stick motion on the ground too.

I haven't noticed any such effect while in the air so I'll go with the ground wind effect theory.

Also, on the original topic: I second the motion about using autopilot for level flight.

For me, the trim is mostly useful for maintaining a constant bank for circling an area while setting up and targeting weapons.

Another point to note is that the trim mechanism appears to be analogue rather than digital.

By that I mean the inputs produced by a press of the trim hat are directly proportional to the length of time the button is held (even during a 'quick click'), rather than having some fixed minimum increment value you might expect form a 'digital' system.

[BlueRidgeDx]

Indeed, the trim is analog and is directly proportional to the duration of trim switch movement. There is no minimum amount of movement, per se.

[HiJack]

I made a trim guide for the X52 that uses shorter key press to trim. I guess the same can be done for other joysticks as well.

 

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=1349620#post1349620

 

(HJ)