Hand flying

[JWPE]

I have a Saitek yoke and pedals so decide to Try to hand fly an entire flight today. Typical I turn autopilot on about 1000 ft AGL and off at minimums, so only hand fly take offs and landings. It was a mess http://peaware.pilotedge.net/flight.cfm?id=100135. I kept my heading but even trimmed up was +-500 ft.

I'm supplementing my instrument training with PE and had hoped to work on my instrument scanning in conjunction with ATC practice. With my consumer grade controls is that even really a possibility or should I practice scanning in my real plane and focus on procedures, ATC in PE.

Would love the input of real pilots who have used their home pcs and PE for their instrument training.

[tngarner]

Sounds like we have similar setups. Quick answer is yes with some practice. I find a real plane easer to trim than the sim. Force feedback and all. However just like in a real plane even when you trim out you have to keep the scan going and still adjust trim from time to time.

[JWPE]

I use FSUIPC and did some modification to increase the trim speed which helps a bit. Still hard to get right without the resistance. I think what I'll do is use autopilot, still do my scan and move controls as if I was flying in between procedural things.

[Keith Smith]

Can't comment on FSX/P3D, but with X-Plane, definitely doable. I do many of the MU-2, Baron and 737 flights with no A/P and the altitudes are within tolerances. That's with a $20 Saitek AV8R-01.

[stealthbob]

I have issues as well but keep working at it, getting much better...its more work but equally more fun.

For an example on the fact it can be done, and done well....this one comes to mind

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obZYJtr0J9M

[Pieces]

Hand flying with a Saitek yoke is harder than with a joystick, I've found. The spring is too strong at the center and the axis tends to bind a bit - all that combines to make small pitch corrections very hard. It is possible to do, but after flying with an X52 and now a much higher quality yoke the Saitek just isn't worth it.

[ridikamus]

Hand flying with a Saitek yoke is harder than with a joystick, I've found. The spring is too strong at the center and the axis tends to bind a bit - all that combines to make small pitch corrections very hard. It is possible to do, but after flying with an X52 and now a much higher quality yoke the Saitek just isn't worth it.

Reece, If you don't mind, which higher quality yoke did you go with? I've been looking at PFC's gear as well as the mythical Iris Dynamics yoke but have never seen either in person, so feedback from a satisfied user would be valuable. The issues you describe with the Saitek yoke are entirely accurate - I've hacked mine a bit to make it "better", but it still binds at the worst times.

[Pieces]

I'm one of the lucky few who got a mythical Iris Dynamics yoke. I got one of the very first wave that got out, and one of the very few that arrived functional. Most others were damaged in shipping. After that first wave, they redesigned some pieces and updated their shipping procedures. They were generous enough to take my yoke back and update the components and send it back to me. I just got it back and am now playing with it.

It doesn't have any of the binding/precision issues of a Saitek yoke (no springs). The software I use for FFB isn't fantastic though, so if anyone knows of an X-Plane plugin to do FFB I'd love to know about it. That said, it is awesome to feel the yoke come alive as you accelerate down the runway.

*EDIT* It is worth noting that you can no longer purchase a yoke from them. Only existing orders will be fulfilled. They couldn't get the manufacturing process cheap enough, so going forward they are licensing their actuator (which is awesome) instead of making their own products.

[ridikamus]

I'm one of the lucky few who got a mythical Iris Dynamics yoke.

I am jealous! By the time I discovered the yoke it wasn't available to order. Thanks for your insight!

*EDIT* It is worth noting that you can no longer purchase a yoke from them. Only existing orders will be fulfilled. They couldn't get the manufacturing process cheap enough, so going forward they are licensing their actuator (which is awesome) instead of making their own products.

Ahh, that explains a lot, and is unfortunate. Hopefully someone will license the Iris tech and build something awesome for us, but I'll probably end up purchasing something from PFC since the Iris option is so uncertain.

[JWPE]

Hand flying with a Saitek yoke is harder than with a joystick, I've found. The spring is too strong at the center and the axis tends to bind a bit - all that combines to make small pitch corrections very hard. It is possible to do, but after flying with an X52 and now a much higher quality yoke the Saitek just isn't worth it.

That explains my pitch issues. I'm sure with practice I could get really good at hand flying flights... however I have a feeling that would only make me a better virtual pilot and not really bleed over to real flying. I've seen first hand solid stick and rudder pilots have issues with my setup. I'll keep messing with it to see if I get any better.