Introduction
Hello everyone. First of all, I know this has been requested before, but I feel that I can do this feature request in more depth, including examples of what the user interface (UI) could look like, and I have had moderator permission to do so.
The Problem
It’s happened to everyone: you execute a perfect crosswind landing, with superb rudder correction. As you gently lower the nose gear, you keep control of the rudder, ensuring you keep the aircraft on the centreline. Suddenly, your plane jolts in the direction you had the rudder in when your nose gear touches the ground. You swerve off the centreline, perhaps strike the wing, or maybe even spin out.
This happened because currently in Infinite Flight, the rudder control also steers the nose gear. On the ground, nose gear steering has a much greater effect than the rudder. In fact, with the exception of light aircraft, the rudder has very little to no effect unless traveling fast enough. This is why the rudder in Infinite Flight has such a small effect when the nose gear is off the ground but magnifies the effect as soon as it touches the ground.
The Solution
This feature would entail two separate systems for the rudder and tiller. For those who don’t know, the tiller is what directly controls the nose gear steering. This would mean that when that nose gear touches the ground, you would be using the rudder, and the nose gear will only move as much as it is naturally turned by the force of the rudder, so the plane will continue to require the same amount of force to turn. When it comes to exiting the runway and taxiing, you will switch to tiller control for greater turning ability.
UI Examples
Now, I understand that to properly form an opinion on this feature, you need to be able to visualize how you would use it and how it would work. To help you with this, I have been a very nice person and taken the time out of my day to make these UI examples:
UI Example 1
For this UI setup, the “NAV” button has been moved to the left, and the right hand column of the interface has been shifted up, to make room for a brand new “STEER” button. When this is clicked, you can select which type of steering you want the slider to control. I think it would be a nice touch if the text on the slider changed between “RUD” and “TIL”, depending on which one is selected.
UI Example 2
Similar to the previous one, this has the function of selecting either steering mode when pressing a button. However, the difference being that this time, the slider also becomes a button, coming up with the selection options when tapped, rather than being pressed, held and moved. This eliminates the need to shuffle around preexisting buttons to make room for a new one.
UI Example 3
This is a completely different concept to before. This would allow both to be used at the same time, for whatever reason you might want to do that. The whole interface has been moved up to make room for another slider. It means that you would not have to go through the procedure of switching between the two, and would have quick and easy access to each one.
UI Example 4
The final example is like the last one, in that both can be used at the same time, and no switching is required. This time though, the tiller is on the left, underneath the throttle which has been which moved up to fit it in. This would perhaps prevent you from misplacing your finger and accidentally using the wrong one. However, its proximity to the throttle might be awkward to use whilst taxiing.
Finally, as well as voting for this feature, please vote for which UI example you think would be easiest to use, so that if the development team do consider it, they know which UI everyone would find the best to interact with.
- UI Example 1
- UI Example 2
- UI Example 3
- UI Example 4
0 voters