Author Topic: Default Maule steering and Nor-Cal Amphibian Maule problems  (Read 3826 times)

spud

  • Misty Moorings Team
  • Hero Member
  • *
  • Posts: 3,082
Tired of trying to taxi the default FSX Maule in tight places only to find it will not turn sharply enough? Did you download the Nor-Cal Maule Amphibian and are tired of it acting like a Saturn 5 rocket when you lower the flaps or diving into the dirt when you raise the flaps?

Fly it with autopilot off do you notice how it will drift to the left slowly.
Well I got tire of bitchin' about it and finally fixed all these little annoyances.

First the default Maule steering is a simple matter of adjusting one figure in the aircraft.cfg file.
open the cfg file in Notepad scroll down to the [Contact Points] section

[contact_points]
point.0 = 1, -15.7, 0.00, -2.42, 1500, 0, 0.36, 40.0, 0.3, 2.5, 0.7, 0.0, 0.0, 0
point.1 = 1, 0.00, -3.90, -4.35, 2500, 1, 0.67, 0.0, 0.3, 2.5, 0.7, 0.0, 0.0, 2
point.2 = 1, 0.00, 3.90, -4.35, 2500, 2, 0.67, 0.0, 0.3, 2.5, 0.7, 0.0, 0.0, 3
point.3 = 2, -1.00, -16.3, 2.15, 1600, 0, 0.00, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 5,
point.4 = 2, -1.00, 16.3, 2.15, 1600, 0, 0.00, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 6,
point.5 = 2, 5.40, 0.0, -2.80, 1600, 0, 0.00, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 4,
point.6 = 2,-17.00, 0.0, 4.50, 1600, 0, 0.00, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 7,

max_number_of_points = 21

Change the point.0 as shown in bold. It reads 15.0, originally just change it to 40.0, when you click the X in the upper right corner of Notepad to close it will tell you the text has been changed do you want to save the changes, say yes, let it save and then go taxiing around free as a bird.

If you have the Nor-Cal Amphibian Maule.  You can fix its two problems with ease.

For the flap climbing/diving using Notepad again open the Maule_Nor-Cal folder and rename the Maule.air file to Maule.air.ORG this will deactivate that .air file but allows you to reinstate it if you wish by renaming it back to Maule.air.
Once you have the .air file renamed then COPY do not move, the .air file from the default Maule_M7_260C into the Maule Nor-Cal folder. I also renamed the copied file from Maule_M7_260C.air to simply Maule.air.

While your at you can add a co-pilot to the airplane to balance the weight and stop the slow left drift. Do this by opening the aircraft.cfg file with Notepad and find the weight and balance section.
Add the weight of a co-pilot to the station_load.1= parameter as shown in bold.

[WEIGHT_AND_BALANCE]
max_gross_weight=2750
empty_weight=1860.000000

reference_datum_position=0.000, 0.000, 0.000
empty_weight_CG_position=0.000, 0.000, 0.000

max_number_of_stations=50
station_load.0="170.00, 0.40,-0.70,-0.50,Pilot"//Weight (lbs), longitudinal, lateral, vertical positions from datum (feet)
station_load.1="170.00, 0.40, 0.70,-0.50,CoPilot"//Weight (lbs), longitudinal, lateral, vertical positions from datum (feet)

Remember to back up any file you alter in case you do it wrong you can revert back and try again.

 8)
Later,

Spud