Fixes

Since uploading the aircraft users have kindly passed on problems they have noticed with the aircraft. I have listed the problems below and the appropriate fix.

Fix No.1 - Brakes

The Tiger Moth did not have any brakes (Canadian aircraft did but they also had tailwheels) so ground steering could be a bit tricky. Near buildings and other aircraft it was usual to have two wingmen to assist the aircraft's steering by holding back a wingtip to increase turning radius. There is no way of modelling this in FS but for users who become exasperated at the wide turning circle of the aircraft it is possible to enable brakes on the aircraft.

The brakes would be permanently active but they would simulate wingmen assisted taxying quite well. To be true to the real aircraft it would be correct not to use the brakes for take off and landing..

Open the aircraft.cfg file and scroll down to the [Contact_Points] section. It should read:

[contact_points]
//           FORE  LEFT   UP  ROD   BRAKE WH RA STANG 
point.0=3, -16.0,  0.0, -1.7, 1180.0, 0, 0.115, 31.0, |
point.1=1,  1.5,  -2.5, -5.2, 1574.0, 1, 0.765,  0.0, |
point.2=1,  1.5,   2.5, -5.2, 1574.0, 2, 0.765,  0.0, | etc..
point.3=2, -1.5, -14.6, -1.0,  787.0, 0, 0.000,  0.0, |
point.4=2, -1.5,  14.6, -1.0,  787.0, 0, 0.000,  0.0, | 
point.5=2,  6.0,   0.0, -2.5,  787.0, 0, 0.000,  0.0, | 
static_pitch=11.5000
static_cg_height=4.4827

For points 1 and 2 just change the value that follows 1574.00 from 0 to 1 or 2 as highlighted in red above. That sets the brake mapping.

You also need to add the following section for enabling the brake function.

[brakes]
toe_brakes_scale=1.0
parking_brake=1

User Feedback

Floatplane stuck?

Some pilots have commented that the seaplane is reluctant to start moving on water. I agree with that.

This is caused by the excessive ground friction setting in FS2002 which makes ALL aircraft reluctant to move from a standing start. You know the problem - add lots of power to start taxying and then immediately throttle back to keep the taxi speed to sensible figures!

The Tiger Moth seaplane was underpowered in real life and my flight dynamics are accurate. The aircraft does not have quite enough power to get rolling some times - but she is fine once you get under way.

I have found that pointing into wind helps a lot. Also, applying throttle at the correct point as the aircraft rises and falls on the "swell" is worth trying. If you apply power as the aircraft begins to rise, so that full power is reached just as the aircraft crests a swell it will often start to move. Not always though..

If you find the fiddling above tedious and just want the aircraft to move every time you apply throttle there is an easy solution. Open the aircraft.cfg file and increase the Thrust Scalar value to 1.2. This will give more power for take off but the excess thrust will make the flight performance elsewhere slightly unrealistic. Use only if you have to.

Floatplane - Slew operation

In the floatplane model users are finding that it will not sit on the water when you exit slew but will fly off instead.

Reason? - The wave swell effect is too severe for the tiny floats of the Tiger and when I input the correct contact points they were permanently under water. I had to raise the float's contact point values a couple of inches to improve matters. Unfortunately this causes the "automatically airborne" syndrome. When you come out of Slew FS says "I'm airborne" and immediately pours on power and away you go.

The trick here is that when you Slew to a new position hit the A key to lower the aircraft onto the water "tile". It will look slightly submerged but ignore this. When you come out of slew the aircraft will adjust itself and sit properly on the surface without wishing to scoot off.