John Terrell; Question pertaining to the WBS Mustang

[OleBoy]

I finally took one of these infamous mustangs up for a ride yesterday, John. I'm very impressed at the LOD you put in to it all around. It's very very nice.
Instead of a test flight in FSX, I tested it in Prepar3d. It looked and functioned great! Or appeared to be.
I'm looking forward to more flights as soon as I learn what I'm doing incorrectly.

Minor I know, but the only issue I was having pertains to the ground handling. The steering acted as if it was not working.
It has a very wide steering radius to turn no matter how much throttle, brake or rudder input was applied.
Is this kind of response normal in Mustangs, or is this an FSX hindrance?

I'm thinking the tail-wheel is locked or? I looked all over inside the cockpit for a tail-wheel lock mechanism but didn't see one.
Is this adjustable so the steering can be easier and more effective?

[Ferry_vO]

Mustangs have a tail wheel locked coupled to the stick; pull back to lock, push forward to unlock. Takes a bit of getting used to, but it works pretty well.

[OleBoy]

Thanks Ferry.
Maybe I should read the manual.

[fsxar177]

Yes!

Another classic example of having to fly "by the book"

Best regards man, hang in there, it's warbirdsim!

Joseph

[kilo delta]

This was one of the reasons that John suggested "training" on Wozza's T-6 Texan first....it has the same tail wheel locking system requiring the stick be pushed forward to disengage.

[OleBoy]

The cat is out of the bag now. In form of sign placed on ones back that describes the ignoramus (me) 'kick me'. Which is why I don't buy, and/or fly planes that require reading manuals.

[Bomber_12th]

Oleboy, at least you're not alone, it still remains the most asked question I get. ; )

Interestingly enough, the Fw-190 had this same tail gear function, which is also modeled in a similar fashion with the excellent Classics Hangar Fw-190's.

On the real Mustangs and Texans, when you push the stick forward, the type of steering you get, and the effort it requires, is very, very close to how it is on the Warbirdsim Mustangs, as under this condition, the tail wheel is free-castoring, and is not directly controllable, requiring differential breaking and prop wash over the tail to get the aircraft's inertia going in one direction or another. But turning with the stick forward, allows you to turn in the tighest radius possible, since you can get the tail wheel to turn as much as you want using this method. Unfortunately, modeling the ground handling of a Mustang or T-6 correctly both with the stick forward and with the stick held back, is impossible with default FS code, as with both of these aircraft, when you hold the stick back, it actually doesn't lock the tail wheel, like a conventional tail wheel lock, instead it actually allows you to steer the aircraft with just the rudder pedals alone, but you only get 6-degrees of travel in either direction.

[OleBoy]

Thanks John. With the information you just shared I learned a lot. I don't need the manual now!
Kick the tires and light the fires!