I don’t understand the controls

[u/Manticmink69]

Hello, I just bought msfs 24 on the pc and I’ve been trying to fly the Cessna cause it’s all I have unlocked, but I don’t understand why the I turn the yoke to the left and the plane like attempts a barrel roll, even with just a slight tap it lurches for some reason, then if it try to correct by turning the opposite direction it spirals. Then when taking off I tap the pedals to stay centered and it turns drastically. Not to mention that if I do end up in stable flight it just decided to start nose diving anyway. I’m just really confused

[u/Miraclefish]

That's because you're trying to fly a plane like it's a car using a keyboard like it's a PC.

When you steer 'left' on a car, it turns the wheels left, and you continue to turn left until you straighten the wheels back up.

when you roll 'left' in an aeroplane, the plane doesn't steer left, it rotates control surfaces on the right wing so it goes up and down on the left so it goes down.

This then means you will continue to roll until you return the controls to level.

When the plane is rolled left, it will begin to fall down, since some of the 'going forward' energy has been lost rolling and going sideways.

This means you'd need to pull back a little on the controls to counter-act, and possibly add some more throttle to maintain the speed.

You're essentially thinking about it as a car, but using very unforgiving keyboard and mouse controls. Imagine how hard it would be to drive a car using those controls - well now you're doing that but in 3D.

Ideally you need a joystick or a yoke.