flight stick jihad

[icepac]

A few things I have noticed about stick performance in a multitude of windows operating systems and stick manufacturers is an issue that needs to be resolved after every boot but many don't even notice it.........until they find the plane's controls being extra sensitive for the first few flights.

Boot system, go into game and either watch the graphical display of your stick movements in the advanced portion of "map controllers" dialog or just f3 out of a plane on the runway and zoom in until you can easily see the tail and "lons"..........or watch it in windows joystick properties dialog box (white box with + inside it).

Pull the stick around 50% and you will see the stick display or control surfaces go to 100% deflection on any axis you move the stick.

This issue shows up in windows joystick dialog properties box as well and will certainly affect any calibration attempt made before you've worked the stick either through gaming or in the manner I describe below.

Then you're stuck with an inaccurate calibration.

Solution......

You can go to windows stick properties if you want (the + sign in the white box)  but I just fire up the game and F3 out out of a plane on the runway and watch the control surfaces.

Pull the stick through all the axis slowly and "work the stick" many times near the extremes of all the axis until you see the surfaces behaving properly.

EX:   Pull stick all the way back,  let off slightly and pull to stops again.

After working it a bit this way, you should notice that it no longer goes full deflection at only 50% of the pull and is now accurately representing what you are doing with the stick...........but only on the end of the axis you have just worked.

Do the same at the extreme end of all stick, rudder, and throttle axis until they behave.

You won't see this issue if you've been moving the stick about considerably beforehand but it will surely affect the early minutes of your flight session if you're working from a fresh boot and might explain why your first few sorties on some days just don't feel right.

I would post a video of this but I am on cell phone connex with severely limited data plan.

[The Fugitive]

What kind of stick are you using? I have all CH gear and shutdown my computer every night and reboot the next day. I don't think I've had an issue for over a year with ANY of my controls. Maybe its a Win7 issue?

[icepac]

Every manufacturer except ch and all windows operating systems from win 98 to win7 on more than a few different  machines.

It is possible that "stick manager" programs furnished by some manufacturers prevents this but many people just plug the stick in and let windows manage it.

[Karnak]

My Thrustmaster HOTAS Cougar does not suffer from this since I put it through a powered USB hub.  Without the powered hub I would need to reload the configuration file and recalibrate the stick each time I turned the computer on.

[FLS]

Some sticks auto calibrate when you first move them to their limits after rebooting. Other sticks use a stored calibration file. It's important to know which kind you have.  The Cougar can be set to work either way.

[icepac]

I never lose calibration and haven't calibrated my stick in the last 3 tours.

It's plenty accurate but windows has an issue with sensitivity until it's pulled through a few times.

I know you guys are all special but this post is for the non-special guys.

[The Fugitive]

I think what we might be saying is that you might be special. I've never heard of this issue and so think that maybe your the one with a problem.  Just trying to help.

[FLS]

I never lose calibration and haven't calibrated my stick in the last 3 tours.

It's plenty accurate but windows has an issue with sensitivity until it's pulled through a few times.

I know you guys are all special but this post is for the non-special guys.

What you are describing is your stick auto calibrating in Windows the first time you move it to it's limits after booting up or rebooting.

[icepac]

It doesn't auto calibrate the first time it is moved to limits but rather takes many tries.

I've seen this on many different computers with many different joysticks and steering wheels.

Sure, through flying a few missions will eventually get your stick right but I figured I would try to be helpful for the people who experience this and my not even be aware it is happening.

[FLS]

I agree it's a good idea and it's easy enough to check to see if you need to.

I'm surprised you aren't setting the limits the first time you hit them.
Do you hold in place a few seconds? Are you using a powered hub?

[icepac]

I related this because I have been seeing this happen since at least 1999 on multiple machines with various operating systems, with and without powered hubs, and multiple manufacturers.