I recently tried both these aircraft again and find they exhibit the same problems I had on two previous computers - they require the stick pulled all the way back just to maintain level flight, even with full throttle.  Can't get either above about 1000ft, and easing up pressure on the stick the slightest amount puts them into a dive.  This can't be correct.

jgf wrote on Nov 1^st, 2010 at 10:34pm:


Stupid question, but have you made sure the trim isn't set to push the nose down?

I'll go check them out on my computer, but I don't remember having a problem with the Jenny

Same here, no issues at all, and the Jenny was one of my favorite planes in FS9.
It has to be the trim.

jgf, if you haven't yet done it, it would be a good idea to read the Flight Notes on both these aeroplanes in the Learning Centre.

The key issue is that all those early aeroplanes were ridiculously under-powered by today's standards. This meant that they flew very slowly, and could only climb at what, by any sort of modern standards, was an 'imperceptible' rate.

The net result is that the Vimy, for instance (the one I know best) only had a cruising speed of 60mph, and could only climb at a rate of 1,000 feet per HOUR........ The Jenny didn't perform much better. And both aeroplanes appear to have been accurately modelled in FS......

What's more, even though 'trim' appears in the key-list, neither model, as far as I know, has trim control. The reason again appears to be 'accurate modelling' - the 'trim tab' had not been invented when these aeroplanes were designed!

I once had the idea of trying to re-enact the first trans-Atlantic flight (Alcock and Brown in a Vimy in 1919). I didn't manage to complete it because flying the thing was just TOO difficult and time-consuming - it left me with huge respect for Captain John Alcock, who hand-flew the thing on instruments, in ice and fog, for over 16 hours....... 

http://www.aviation-history.com/airmen/alcock.htm

Best advice is, 'concentrate on maintaining speed.' Because of the lack of a trim control, you'll find that the nose ALWAYS has a tendency to drop - but this is much accentuated if the speed drops below 60 mph., and if you try to climb too steeply the aeroplane will eventually stall.

If you keep the speed above 60, the amount of back-pressure required is minimised, and you can achieve a climb - albeit at a 'glacial' rate. Tricks that I evolved, and recommend, are firstly to keep the airspeed at or above 60 at all times; and secondly to put the mouse pointer on the altimeter so that you get a constant 'readout' of the rate of climb. You will find that you have to keep slight but constant back-pressure on the stick to climb at all; and that, at anything but a very slow rate of climb (literally anything above a few feet at a time) the speed will start dropping below the vital 60 mph.

Just gave the Jenny a quick try and much the same thing seems to apply to that historical type as well!

Hope some or all of that helps!

Check the loading and center of gravity.  As light as these airplanes are, a few pounds toward the nose will make them extremely nose heavy.

You're not alone. I haven't tried the Vimy but found the Jenny almost impossible to control. I find it difficult to believe that this is realistic.

Stick is checked frequently as it's swapped out with my wheel/pedals often (FS9 doesn't mind, but some of the racing sims become thoroughly confused by the plethora of axes and buttons available, so I only have one controller connected at a time).

Don't mind editing the cfg, but I'm type that wonders why it's necessary for me and not for so many others (especially since this problem has existed for me on three different systems, three different joysticks, and four OSs).

Thanks Hagar, the tip in that article did the trick for the Jenny.  A two hour flight cruising at 5500ft, throttled back, I could even go get a cup of tea and return;  though she meanders off course with monotonous regularity (perhaps that's realistic, in real life I've never flown anything but off the handle or into a rage).

Nav, have made changes to the Vimy but not had time to try it yet.

elite marksman wrote on Nov 5^th, 2010 at 1:00am:


The Jenny will slowly drift, about 15deg/min;  I barely tap the joystick and it will drift the same amount in the other direction.  My flight path looks like a snake swimming.  Since this was a test flight I had clear weather, no wind, and no torque effects (the latter usually disabled since it seems FS9 insists on applying it to every aircraft).

Great, jgf, glad it helped.