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SeligSIM Assignment 2

15 points

Nathan Tyler Rose

Last edited 29 days ago by Hunter Hall.

Overview

This assignment focuses on centerline discipline while taxing the aircraft under different wind conditions. The objective is to understand the aircraft controls in a grounded state.

Tasks

Simulator Setup

Aircraft Selection

In SeligSIM, select Single Pilot > Freestyle.

For this exercise, select the Alpha 40, Scaled 60-size, 72-in Span (7-lb) aircraft. This is a trainer aircraft with forgiving controls and, importantly, tricycle gear (for taxi training).

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SeligSIM: Aircraft selection.

SeligSIM: Aircraft selection.

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Open the

flight manual⁠

for the aircraft and record the following:

What does the right stick control?

Ailerons and Elevator

What does the left stick control?

Rudder and Throttle

Transmitter Settings

Broken link⁠

, you connected and set up the Orqa FPV transmitter to work with your SeligSIM installation. You should not need to reattach this transmitter; however, it is recommended that you recalibrate, as you may not be using the same transmitter as before.

From the main menu in SeligSIM, open the transmitter selection window.

Select Calibrate and perform the calibration by following the on-screen prompts.

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SeligSIM transmitter calibration.

SeligSIM transmitter calibration.

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Environmental Settings

Flying Site: Frasca Airport

Sun/Sky: Whiskey Uniform

Wind: Steady Winds: 0 mph at startup

Flight View Settings

Enter the simulator by clicking the “Fly” button and the aircraft will appear situated on the runway.

Review the

Widgets and Tools section⁠

of the user manual and set the following to replicate the screenshot below. These must be in the view of your screen recording.

Enable transmitter view

Enable HUD

Enable Compass

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SeligSIM simulator overlay screens.

SeligSIM simulator overlay screens.

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Controls Check

Recall from the SeligSIM training videos the importance of performing a control check prior to flying any aircraft. Check the controls and answer the questions inline.

After setting up the simulator above, flight “Fly” to enter the simulator.

Check ailerons:

Which stick and motion is used?

Right stick, left and right motion.

Explain how the ailerons move to make the aircraft maneuver.

One aileron will rise, while the other descends.

Check elevator:

Which stick and motion is used?

Right stick, up and down motion

Explain how the elevator moves to make the aircraft maneuver.

Rudder will go up and down in order to get more or less air to rise or fall, moving the aircraft vertically up or down.

Check rudder:

Which stick and motion is used?

Left stick, right and left motion.

What else is controlled with the rudder input?

The nose wheel.

About what axis does the rudder control the aircraft?

The x-axis?

Check throttle:

The throttle should initially be pinned (held with your thumb) to 0%.

In real flight, we would complete additional checklist steps prior to a power check, but not for this exercise.

Announce that you will be starting the propellers by yelling (as appropriate) CLEAR PROP, then briefly apply a small percentage of throttle to verify that the propeller spins up. This will be a required step when launching the believers, so get comfortable with it early.

Aerodynamics Exploration

In this assignment, it is important that the aircraft does not fly since this is strictly ground maneuvering. Using the simulator, test the following.

Methodically test the take off speed of the aircraft using ONLY the left slick (i.e. no elevator inputs) and answer the following:

At what speed does the aircraft takeoff in zero wind conditions (include units)?

Approximately 27mph with no elevator input.

At approximately what throttle percentage does the aircraft takeoff in zero wind conditions?

I’d say about 45-50%.

Zero Wind Taxi

The wind setting should be already be set from

Environmental Settings⁠

to 0 mph.

Taxi Training

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Loading video: Screen Recording 2026-02-02 183459.mp4...

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With the take-off speed in mind, you will perform centerline control using only the rudder and throttle, starting out at a very low speed, working up to a fast taxi speed just below the take-off speed. Use the video above as a reference (note that your video should include the HUD).

Recording Required

As a heads up, you will need to use the built in screen recorder (Snipping Tool) to record your full screen once you are happy with your centerline performance.

Use only the left stick to taxi the aircraft back and forth along the centerline towards the east and west. Gradually increase your speed while maintaining centerline disipline until you achieve a fast taxi similar to the video above.

As you complete this task answer the following:

How do your control inputs change as the aircraft reaches the edge of your vision limits (the few seconds before you turn around)?

I decelerate pretty significantly to make turns. I’m also a lot more touchy with the controls because I’m uncertain about what my exact straight-line path is.

Describe your control inputs required to maintain centerline for the following scenarios using cardinal direction to describe the aircraft’s position. For example, if you are standing directly behind the aircraft that is heading north, left rudder moves the aircraft west, right rudder moves the aircraft east.

The aircraft is facing away from you and taxing to the east.

....I don’t understand this. If it’s taxing to the east and the runway faces east, then you could use either left or right rudder to adjust as necessary. Same with the question below, just reversed due to orientation.

The aircraft is facing you and taxing to the east.

Once you are happy with your centerline discipline, record your screen and perform at least one out and back in both directions.

Crosswind Taxi

It’s considerable rare to fly in zero or runway aligned wind conditions, so it’s important to train for a crosswind and learn the control inputs to counter the forces.

Setting Wind

From the Main menu, open the Wind Selection menu and set the winds to Steady Winds: 6 mph from South according to the screenshot below.

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SeligSIM Wind Selection

SeligSIM Wind Selection

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Taxi Training

Recording Required

As a heads up, you will need to use the built in screen recorder (Snipping Tool) to record your full screen once you are happy with your centerline performance.

Enter the flight simulator and perform the following scenarios and answer the corresponding questions.

Perform one out and back taxi using only the rudder

Use cardinal directions to describe one taxi scenario (i.e. taxing away from me toward the east) and the rudder inputs to maintain centerline. How does this differ from the zero wind scenario?

Taxing away to the east, I had to use left rudder throughout to fight the wind. Upon turning around, I had to use right rudder. I had to maintain input on the rudder control throughout the entirety of taxing in order to stay straight.

Why is the rudder input different?

...because of the wind if I had to guess. Also I noticed it was a lot harder to find the balance between throttle and the rudder at higher speeds.

With the aircraft facing away from you and taxing to the east, answer the following:

In addition to the rudder, what other control (and direction) could you use to maintain stability and prevent the

starboard⁠

wing from lifting? Consider your total wind. You may refer to Chapter 2 of the

Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C)⁠

There isn’t an example in the manual I found that was directly for crosswinds (we’re going directly east and the wind is coming from the south). But the manual notes that if the wind is coming from the fwd starboard direction, probably up aileron on the starboard wing and neutral elevator would be best practice.

Once you are happy with your centerline discipline, record your screen and perform at least one out and back in both directions.

Headwind Taxi

Recording Required

As a heads up, you will need to use the built in screen recorder (Snipping Tool) to record your full screen once you are happy with your centerline performance.

Use the steps above to set a headwind and perform the taxi sequence then answer the questions below:

What wind speed and direction did you choose?

First, I tried 50mph from the South. It didn’t go well, so I resorted to 6mph steady from the east.

What did you notice about the throttle input?

I had to increase throttle input heading east, but the turnaround was difficult to maintain speed due to the fact that as I’m turning, the wind is now a crosswind.

Can you achieve the same perceived ground speed as you did in the

Zero Wind Taxi⁠

? If not, what happened?

No. The aircraft will takeoff sooner due to the headwind.

Once you are happy with your centerline disipline, record your screen and perform at least one out and back in both directions.

Deliverables

Upload a completed copy of this document (as a PDF) to brightspace by the due date listed in the

Broken link⁠

See

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to add this page to your own doc.

See

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to create a PDF of your doc for submission.

Upload three required screen recordings to Brightspace.

Environmental Settings

Flight View Settings

Controls Check

Aerodynamics Exploration

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