Use the altitude hold autopilot, and only make corrections with the trim controls, immediately zeroing them after each. I.e., trim right, then trim left. This results in a slight rightward correction.
I'm flying the Falcon (I refuse to say Viper, now) right now, and it has an altitude hold... does it have a speed hold? If it does, I skipped that switch.
My shoulder hurts from being tense, but tonight, I heard "Clear contact." I then got sideways with some rudder action, so shot down the tanker and its escort. But I heard something other than "return pre contact."
if you have that much tension, that can't help. gotta try to keep loose. I recently got monstertech usa hotas mounts. same relative position as an F-16. Kinda going full nerd, but might be worth considering if you are hunching over your stick on your desk.
I think my setup works, but I feel like I'm fighting the stick. I added curves and dead zones and crap, and I think I'm going to remove them all. I have a pull out keyboard tray that is a drop mount, that lines up exactly with my chair. So I can put stick on the right of it, and throttle on the left, and use the arm rests of the chair to rest arms.
And I'll try it, but every time I trim the F-16, I get sideways quick, literally sideways, and can never recenter it. I'm still working throttle to keep speed, seems like the throttle is always moving.
You immediately balance it out, though. If you need to nudge right, you flick to the right and then immediately to the left. If that is sending you sideways, there is an input configuration error. You should avoid holding down your trim inputs. Do a timed flick or "pulse." This is typically what is happening and what you are trying to avoid: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilot-induced_oscillation If it begins to happen, you need to surrender that approach, back off, level out, and reapproach. Try to anticipate the amount of correction before it happens, rather than responding to it once it is apparent. In practical terms: flick right, then flick left immediately.
I've read ED forums on F-16 trim, and it seems it cannot be balanced, and the F-16 isn't supposed to fly like that--as in don't trim it.
I'll be watching, but I don't have the situational awareness to be competitive. I have a hard time visually spotting.
Yup. I think if you just show up in a Frogfoot, though, people will know you aren't there to be competitive.