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Steering the Floater


Bert Pieke

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Hi, I love the Floater!

..but I'm having trouble steering her in the water.

The rudder seems to bite in at low taxiing speeds, but totally

in-effective at slightly higher speeds (just after landing).

So, I find myself heading for the shore after touch-down, unable to

correct my direction - but at really slow speeds I can almost turn on a dime..

Do I have to use differential throttles, or can I use the rudder?

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Water physics in FSX is not really good to say the least.

Even with A2A's Accufeel V2, that actually adds a lot of immersion also to float planes, physics aren't that good.

Asymmetrical thrust does not work so well in FSX, not just the Twin Otter. Especially on water it´s rather bad. As you can see on the float version, there are no water rudder and in real life steering is done by asymmetrical thrust. Therefore we decided to add "invisible" water rudders, otherwise steering would be very hard and far from realistic. We did this on the Catalina X too. Since water rudders in FSX also can be somewhat troublesome, they will be lowered and raised automatically when You are floating on water below 25 kts. When airspeed builds up past 25 kts, they are raised, otherwise they would be too effective.

This means that steering by rudder will work between 5-25 kts ground speed, since water rudders does not become effective before reaching appr. 5 kts. We find that this solution is the best solution to get low speed maneuverability and higher speed stability.t´s really a game of give and take sometimes with FSX.

A small hint is to use the GPS (now also with a 2D popup) to read Your groundspeed (lower left corner)

Finn

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Someone having issues with spray textures not showing while manoeuvring in/on the water (v1.04)

We use the default FSX [Effects] settings, which are the same as for the default Beaver.

Finn

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Same problem with the default Goose but without the elegant solution of the "invisible rudder".

I think if the invisible rudders don't give you enough control, then differential throttles and perhaps feathered and reversed props would be the way to go. I don't have a dual quadrant so my hands are literally tied in this respect.

Perhaps a RW floatplane pilot could chime in here.

Obie

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I agree with you on that one. All of our steering on water is done by assymetrical thrust meaning what ever direction you want to go in you would ether pull back on the left engine you would go in one direction and vise virsa. We use prop thurst as well for this. All the twotters on floats that i fly are the -100 on amphibeans, so there is a lot more drag even in the water. With the gear retracted and up. hope this helps a bit? Its late at night

Regards

Keith Talbot

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  • Aerosoft

Perhaps a RW floatplane pilot could chime in here.

Certainly not an expert but I did fly floaters a bit when I lived in Como. An aircraft on the water is almost impossible to control, certainly if there is some wind. Only when you got some speed do things become easier.

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OK, that makes sense... is there a way to add some water rudder between 25 and 50 knots?

As in, where can I adjust the 25 knots upwards a bit?

My main issue is when landing and finding myself drifting towards land.. 25 knots is a long time to wait

before taking action..

Or, can I use Ctrl-W to manually lower the rudder after landing?

Since water rudders in FSX also can be somewhat troublesome, they will be lowered and raised automatically when You are floating on water below 25 kts. When airspeed builds up past 25 kts, they are raised, otherwise they would be too effective.

This means that steering by rudder will work between 5-25 kts ground speed, since water rudders does not become effective before reaching appr. 5 kts. We find that this solution is the best solution to get low speed maneuverability and higher speed stability.t´s really a game of give and take sometimes with FSX.

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taken from Flight Global flight test:

I eased the right engine into reverse to move the aircraft's nose away from the dock. Reverse thrust was used on both engines to keep a taxi speed of 5-6kt. The yoke was held full forward for the taxi exercise as we sailed about the harbour. While many seaplanes have water rudders, the Twin Otter does not. Differential thrust worked quite well in guiding the seaplane around the harbour. As with other seaplanes, the Twin Otter had a strong tendency to weathervane into the wind - handy when lining up for take-off, but a nuisance at other times.

Full test here.

Obie

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OK, that makes sense... is there a way to add some water rudder between 25 and 50 knots?

As in, where can I adjust the 25 knots upwards a bit?

My main issue is when landing and finding myself drifting towards land.. 25 knots is a long time to wait

before taking action..

Or, can I use Ctrl-W to manually lower the rudder after landing?

The "invisible" water rudders are automatic. Using Ctrl+W will not work.

I don´t think You would like them to be effective above 25 kts, since the slightest rudder input could cause You to cardwheel - especially during landing.

I think it´s a matter of practising getting into the speedrange between 5-25 kts.

Finn

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The "invisible" water rudders are automatic. Using Ctrl+W will not work.

I don´t think You would like them to be effective above 25 kts, since the slightest rudder input could cause You to cardwheel - especially during landing.

I think it´s a matter of practising getting into the speedrange between 5-25 kts.

Finn

OK - I'll be more careful when coming in for a landing ^_^

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  • Deputy Sheriffs

My main issue is when landing and finding myself drifting towards land.. 25 knots is a long time to wait

before taking action..

I understand your feelings, but I must say that using a bit of reverse after touchdown brings down the speed quickly.

Maybe not a real life procedure, but it works very good.

Also, once below 25 knots, making turn (using the rudder) works very effective to brake speed.

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