DC-3 Development Update 1: We start with crawling – Controlling the aircraft on the ground.

[ilias.tselios]

We are going to start, from this Development Update and on, to present the aircraft part by part, but first I would like to give you an insight of what we are working on to achieve.

Our target is, within the limits set by a few factors like hardware availability, X-Plane limitations, etc, to provide you an experience as close to the real aircraft as possible. This, down the road will start to make sense, so let’s go!

First topic I will address is how the DC-3 is controlled on the ground, and how we are simulating this behavior. As you might know the DC-3 is a BIG taildragger! That means that you do not control the tail wheel, except of the action of locking or unlocking it.

The control is achieved with 2 methods and/or combinations of those. The first is using “differential throttling”, which means that you use more throttle on the engine that is on the outside side of the turn and less throttle on the inside side.

The second method, involves the brakes. Applying brake, for example, on the left wheel, you will make the aircraft to start turning to the left, and vice versa. All this have the effect, with the tail wheel unlock, the tail wheel will turn and make the aircraft to keep turning, until you apply opposite action, either throttle or brakes! Keep in mind that all move must be planned ahead. You won’t get instant reaction from the aircraft to your inputs, and especially avoid to apply to much brakes! The aircraft has the tendency to roll forward around the center of the front wheel, and if you gain enough momentum, the nose will tip forward and down, and might bury it in the ground! Take caution!

This is how DC-3 will be controlled in X-Plane, so If you have dual throttle controls and pedals, “driving” the DC-3 on the ground is straight forward. But many flight simmers, they don’t have complex or multiple axis hardware. For those guys, we have added a couple option to help them controlled the aircraft on the ground.

In the new GUI for the DC-3, in OPTIONS tab, are 2 selection for you to enable. Differential throttling and differential braking. When enable one (or both), will take your rudder input and translate it to differential throttling or braking. The more you "turn" the rudder, the more differential output (throttle or braking) will be applied. Also we have added 4 levels of sensitivity for each option so you can adjust the output to what feels better for you.

NOTE: The overall dynamics remain the same. The feeling of the aircraft does not change, or faked. We are not making the aircraft easy to taxi! If you turn too hard, the aircraft will have the tendency to rotate fast around the inside front wheel, and will require a lot of counter action to stop! If you use braking to turn and you have very low speed, the aircraft might turn slightly, but will stop! To have a successful taxi, you must go slow, make your turn smooth, and plan ahead your moves!

This effect is operating in low speeds, up to 40 knots. Then is disable not to interfere with throttles or brakes when you are taking off, and during flight. Here's a screenshot of the options. As always, keep in mind, what you see is not final...at all!