Helicopter cyclic control issue

[sterlingbaydave]

I know this is an obsolete game version, however, it works well for me and I enjoy using this version of the game (4.5)
I do have one issue that has plagued me for quite some time with the helicopter models. I have noticed that no matter which helicopter model I choose, the cyclic control never returns to "center" or neutral after making an input. For instance, if I move the controls for forward flight and release the stick, the rotor disc never returns to a neutral position and the helicopter continues to nose over. If I make a lateral control input, the same situation occurs.

My questions are; Does this happen to anyone else? Is this just a condition of the game version? Do the newer versions have this same issue? Is there some setting in the game that would correct for this?
I am using the Interlink Elite controller with the game.

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[Ryan Douglas]

If I understand you correctly, you're saying when you release the stick and it centers, the heli doesn't just maintain its nose-down orientation (for example) but continues rotating further in that direction, as though you were still holding the original input. Is that correct?

Numerous factors could account for it not perfectly stopping rotation and perfectly holding that orientation, but it sounds like you are not a beginner pilot so have some understanding of what the heli should/shouldn't do, and it sounds like you're talking about something more drastic than that.

Before we go on, the first thing I would recommend is recalibrating your controller in RealFlight. There's a chance that will improve things, and it's easy to do.

I suspect, though, that your controller has developed some hysteresis. What that means is that after a given input, even after releasing it the value doesn't fully return to zero but instead retains some residual effect from the previous input. Give it right input and it will mostly return to center but still keep sending a tiny bit of right input. Give it left and it might do the same thing in that direction after releasing. This sort of thing can manifest in only some directions or in all, depending on how bad it is.

The InterLink Elite is an old device, and it can wear out in this way over time. Actually, I should clarify: This problem is not unique to the InterLink; it is a common issue with all kinds of input devices.

Here's how I would test it in your situation:

1. Fly normally until you observe the problem with the stick centered.
2. Without touching the stick again (this is important!), open the aircraft editor.
3. Select the Radio pane.
4. With the top-level "Software Radio" selected in the left pane, look at the "Transmitter CH 1" and "Transmitter CH 2" output values. Since you haven't touched the stick again (if you even bump it a little, start over), this should be showing you exactly what input values RealFlight was seeing from your controller when you saw the problem in flight. If your right stick is centering properly (I'm assuming mode 2 here), these values should be 0. If one or both of them are nonzero, that is probably the problem. And the farther from zero it is, the greater the problem will be in flight.

After observing that result, while you're in the editor you can experiment some more. Move the stick in different directions, letting it center in between, and see if the problem is worse along some axes than others. See if it happens all of the time or just some of the time. See how far from zero the values typically are.

If hysteresis is the issue, I'm not sure there's a good way to fix it. I think that unit is probably too old to send in for repair through Horizon Support, though you could inquire just in case. I think the remedy is a new controller, which also means new software.