Tuning guide

Build a stable aircraft profile from the outside in. Set the device's physical envelope first, establish the aircraft's primary control feel, add mechanical character, then bring in each operational cue with a repeatable flight test.

How the tuning layers fit together

Four layers shape the final result. Tune them in this order because an error in an outer layer changes every layer beneath it.

1. 1. Hardware physical envelope. Pitch, roll, and texture limits set the strongest output the device may receive. This is the safety boundary for live flight and isolated tests.
2. 2. Profile level. Master gain scales the complete profile together, preserving the balance between spring, sustained loads, vibrations, and one-shot cues.
3. 3. Aircraft model. Control system selects the basic relationship between the pilot, the controls, aerodynamic loading, and the aircraft.
4. 4. Individual cues. Forces, trim, stick feel, aircraft control feel, effect gains, and advanced controls refine specific sensations after the first three layers are stable.

Before you touch a slider

Secure the base, verify pitch and roll direction in Flight Check, set a conservative Hardware ceiling, and duplicate the closest built-in starter. Tune the copy with the same aircraft, loading, weather, and simulator condition each time.

1. Before changing an aircraft profile, verify physical pitch and roll direction. Correct reversed output once under Hardware instead of compensating in every profile.
2. Default ceilings reflect evidence and device class: 100% for legacy consumer SideWinder/Logitech sticks, 35% for known high-force MOZA/Brunner bases, and 20% for eligible unlisted joysticks. Begin at the assigned limit and lower it whenever the mounted device or pilot requires less force.
3. Load the closest built-in starter, duplicate it, and give the copy a name that includes the aircraft and hardware. Keep the starter unchanged as a known reference.
4. Choose one loading, weather preset, runway, and test route. Use the same simulator state for every comparison so the slider remains the only intentional variable.

Flight Check · Hardware → Calibration

Use one repeatable test loop

Use the same five-part loop for every group. It separates a real improvement from a different aircraft state or a momentary impression.

1. Observe the baseline. Fly the chosen condition once and describe the problem in plain terms: too heavy, too light, abrupt, delayed, noisy, missing, or tiring.
2. Change one control. Use a 2-5 percentage-point step for a gain, or one small step for a speed, curve, or onset control.
3. Repeat the same manoeuvre at the same speed and configuration. Avoid judging a cruise adjustment during a different approach or turbulence state.
4. Watch the matching Dashboard channel. Its activity shows whether the force model actually requested that cue during the test.
5. Keep, refine, or revert the change before touching another group. Write a short note when the result depends on a particular aircraft variant or hardware setup.

Stage 1 — Master gain

Confirm the Hardware physical-strength limit, then begin with the built-in profile's Master gain. Fly a normal circuit and treat Master gain as the whole-profile level. Individual cue balance comes later.

• When the spring, sustained loads, and effects all feel too strong, lower Master gain. The relative mix stays intact.
• When ordinary cues feel balanced but a strong pitch or roll input hits a hard wall, lower Max output force for the affected profile. Recheck both axes at high deflection.
• Continue when you can taxi and fly one circuit comfortably, the control retains usable travel, and smaller cues remain distinct.

Control system

Control system is a page-level card after Advanced controls. Manual, Hydraulic boosted, Fly-by-wire, and Rotorcraft select different force-model behavior and determine which groups are relevant.

• Manual Use for cable, pushrod, or other reversible controls. Airspeed and control deflection create direct aerodynamic loading, and trim relieves the held load.
• Hydraulic-boosted Use for powered controls with artificial feel or reduced hinge-force feedback. The model keeps centring while softening transmitted aerodynamic load.
• Fly-by-wire Use for an isolated side-stick with fixed artificial feel. The profile suppresses control-loading relationships and device cues that the real side-stick would never transmit.
• Rotorcraft Use for cyclic control. This activates cyclic damping, force-trim behavior, and rotorcraft-specific effects while removing fixed-wing assumptions.

Choose from the aircraft's real control architecture before judging strength. A slider adjustment cannot correct the force relationships produced by the wrong control system.

Forces

Stage 2 — Centring spring (Forces card)

Fly straight and level at cruise, release the control lightly, and observe one return to centre. Adjust Spring strength for a steady, confident return. Use Spring deadband only for centre chatter or excessive loose play. Use Low-speed spring floor to set ramp and taxi firmness, then recheck approach speed.

Stage 4 — Aerodynamic loading (Forces card)

Hold a small pitch input and a small roll input at approach, cruise, and a higher safe speed. Tune Elevator load and Aileron load independently. Use Overall aerodynamic load for their shared level, Cruise reference for where designed loading arrives, Airspeed curve for how sharply it builds, and Max output force for the steady-force ceiling.

Fixed-wing trim and stick feel

Stabilize at a constant speed, hold the required pitch pressure, and trim in the normal aircraft direction. Elevator strength controls how fully the held pressure relaxes and where the control settles. Use Aileron strength only on aircraft with roll trim. Check G-load gain in a smooth 2 G turn after spring and aerodynamic loading are settled.

Test one mechanic at a time

Aircraft control feel adds device-local mechanical character. On MOZA, first identify each response with the isolated tests under Hardware, then tune the live aircraft profile here. Add one coefficient at a time and test pitch and roll separately.

• Damping should resist faster movement more strongly without pulling the control toward centre. Start low. Raise one axis until overshoot settles, then stop before quick corrections feel delayed.
• Friction should create steady breakout and sliding resistance, largely independent of movement speed. Move slowly through full travel and several reversals. Reduce it when breakout feels sticky, uneven, or tiring.
• Inertia should oppose changes in movement, most noticeably when starting, stopping, or reversing direction. Use small values to add a sense of control mass. Reduce it when direction changes feel reluctant or disconnected.
• Progressive stop should rise only near the selected end of travel; it must not drive the control by itself. Set the onset near the real usable travel limit, then add enough strength to create a progressive wall without a kick.

Hardware owns the base envelope and isolated proof tests. Tuning owns the aircraft's pitch and roll damping, friction, inertia, progressive-stop onset and strength, and every aerodynamic or mechanical effect. Master gain then scales the complete armed profile.

See the MOZA family overview

Effect gains

Add operational cues only after primary control feel and passive mechanics are stable. Test each family in a flight condition that activates it, and watch the matching Dashboard channel while adjusting.

1. Ground: taxi at 10-20 kt on pavement, cross a rough surface, brake gently, create one deliberate hard stop, and complete a takeoff roll. Tune runway rumble, gear bumps, brake shudder, nosewheel shimmy, and ground acceleration so each event remains identifiable.
2. Slow flight: approach the stall progressively at a safe altitude. Set aerodynamic stall buffet first. Add stick shaker only for an aircraft that has a physical shaker, and verify that the cue begins at the aircraft's warning state.
3. Configuration: cycle the gear once and move through every flap detent. Separate the handle step, real surface movement, surface arrival, sustained buffet, and sustained drag. Each cue should occur at its own event and remain brief or continuous as designed.
4. Power: compare idle, a stabilized cruise setting, and takeoff power. Engine rumble should follow the running engines and power state. Propwash pitch belongs only on aircraft whose elevator feel changes with propeller slipstream.
5. Approach and landing: fly the full landing configuration, use spoilers where appropriate, pass through light turbulence, and complete a normal touchdown. Tune drag, buffet, turbulence, vertical-wind texture, and touchdown thump from their own recognizable moments.

Reduce any cue that competes with pitch and roll control. Repeated low-level information can stay subtle; urgent envelope warnings may be more prominent while remaining bounded and controllable.

Advanced

Advanced opens all available groups in one scroll and reveals specialist settings. Rate damping, Stick drop, and Autopilot follow each use zero-valued gains or authority as off.

• Rate damping responds to the aircraft's simulated pitch and roll rotation rates. Tune it in flight after abrupt control inputs. Raise the affected axis when aircraft motion leaves a repeatable wobble; reduce it when rotation feels artificially opposed.
• Stick drop models the forward weight of an unloaded mechanical elevator at very low airspeed. Tune it while parked and during the takeoff roll, then set Fade airspeed where airflow should carry the elevator.
• Autopilot follow provides a small tactile cue toward the autopilot command. Authority is hard-capped at 8%. Keep it near zero on stock MSFS because physical movement can be read as pilot input. Full back-drive requires a virtual-device or HID-filter setup that owns the simulator axis.
• Watchdog fade. Telemetry-watchdog timing no longer appears in Tuning. Stale timeout and fade live under Settings → Advanced; the defaults are normally best, and changes still mark the active profile unsaved.

Rotorcraft tuning

Rotorcraft uses a separate tuning path centred on cyclic motion and force trim. Complete these steps before adding the individual rotor-state effects.

1. Choose the closest helicopter starter and set Control system to Rotorcraft.
2. Assign the FTR, trim-release, or beep-trim controls required by the aircraft under Hardware - Helicopter.
3. Tune cyclic damping for controlled motion, then tune force-trim hold at hover and in forward flight.
4. Add ETL shudder, VRS buffet, two-per-rev vibration, retreating-blade-stall buffet, skid scrape, and rotor rumble one flight condition at a time.

Feel the rotor state through distinct flight cues

Symptom-to-control map

Use the narrowest control that matches the symptom. This preserves the parts of the profile that already work.

• Everything is too strong or too weak: adjust Master gain, then repeat the complete circuit.
• Only steady pitch or roll loading is wrong: adjust Elevator load or Aileron load. Use Max output force when the problem appears only near high deflection.
• The control chatters, snaps, or oscillates around centre: disarm, verify mounting and polarity, lower the Hardware ceiling, then inspect Spring strength, deadband, damping, friction, inertia, and the last changed value.
• Loading arrives too early, too late, or grows at the wrong rate: adjust Cruise reference first, then refine Airspeed curve and Centre firmness versus speed.
• A cue is missing: check its Dashboard channel during the activating condition. Confirm simulator evidence, aircraft applicability, group gain, and device capability before raising strength.
• The control feels sticky, slow, or excessively heavy during movement: use the isolated Hardware test, then reduce friction, damping, or inertia one at a time on the affected axis.
• Trim fails to relieve held pressure: verify the aircraft uses fixed-wing trim, confirm elevator or aileron authority is above zero, and watch the trim telemetry before changing aerodynamic load.
• Autopilot follow causes control motion or hunting: set Authority to zero immediately. Reintroduce a tiny cue only after the simulator input path is understood.

Save and iterate

Save the profile only after one unchanged version passes all five conditions in the same session.

1. Ground: stationary, taxi, turns, braking, and takeoff roll remain stable with clear, bounded surface cues.
2. Takeoff and climb: control loading builds smoothly, low-speed behavior fades at the intended point, and full travel remains usable.
3. Cruise and manoeuvring: centring, pitch and roll balance, trim relief, positive-G feel, and recovery from quick inputs are predictable.
4. Approach: lower-speed forces remain controlled, flap and gear cues occur at the correct events, and no effect masks precise control.
5. Landing and rollout: touchdown, braking, reverse, runway texture, and the return to taxi remain distinct and stable.

Save after a stable A/B result, use a name that identifies the aircraft and hardware context, and keep the previous working version until the new profile has survived taxi, cruise, manoeuvring, approach, and landing.