Cessna 172 throttle/elevator issues

How does the Cessna behave if you remove all external controllers (i.e. do not connect)?

Cessna 172 Private Pilot Procedures

NORMAL TAKE-OFF & CLIMB

1. Flaps at 0 degrees.

2. Ailerons into the wind and elevator about ½” back from the gust lock hole.

3. Apply smooth full power, then check for at least 2300 RPMs and oil temperature and

pressure in the green.

4. Maintain runway alignment with rudder (mostly right).

5. Slowly decrease aileron deflection as the airplane accelerates.

6. At 55KIAS pull elevator back to pull nosewheel off the ground and place the top edge

of the cowling on the horizon.

7. Establish Wind Correction Angle to stay over the runway.

8. Keep the top of the cowling on the horizon and the wings level. Climb Speed 70-80

KIAS

LEVEL OFF

1. 20 feet before reaching desired altitude, reduce pitch to level attitude (increasing

forward yoke pressure).

2. Accelerate to 100KIAS keeping level attitude.

3. Reduce power to 2400 RPM (throttle back).

4. Trim.

5. Check Heading Indicator.

Perhaps you could look up, borrow (from a library or real pilots) or even buy real world training material. Cessnas do not have take off flaps. (From the Aerofly Tutorial page ‘Verify that flaps are at the desired takeoff position. We keep flaps up for this takeoff’). There is an argument for one stage if taking off from very soft ground but in the real world light aircraft take off clean.
(Watching ‘sim experts’ on YouTube only teaches you how not to do it. Unless they are also real world pilots they are in no position to teach anything. They often use take off flaps which only proves how awful their methods are).

If you want to take off at full power with some flap and the nose wants to dive you have not set the trim correctly before flight, the trim position might have been left from the previous landing perhaps with full flaps. Adjust the simulator trim wheel (with your controller’s normal centred position) in that climb with flaps for comfort and note the position of the simulator’s trim control. Set that trim for the next take off, straightforward.
The Cessna’s moving trim mark should be near or slightly above the > centre index for normal take offs.

The simulator’s trim feel as you accelerate once levelled off and holding a fixed height is correct. Increased airspeed will cause an increased downforce on the horizontal stabiliser making the plane want to climb. This happens at about the same time as reducing the throttle for level flight but the climbing tendency is caused by the airspeed increase.

Make sure that you hold a steady levelled off speed with fine adjustments to the aircraft pitch attitude. The fixed pitch propeller will drive the engine if the airspeed increases and retard the engine if the airspeed falls. Only a constant airspeed with a steady air load on the turning propeller blades will make the engine rpms and the power generated remain constant. With a fixed pitch propeller letting the airspeed drop will reduce the engine power output making things worse, hold a steady airspeed with small pitch changes. You will see that with airspeed returned to a target value by pitch movement, the rpms will also return to their target as will the power generated.

(In the real world pilots do not reduce throttle in the climb in a single engine plane unless they are cruise climbing on a long cross country trip. Gaining the most height possible increases the probability of a successful forced landing in the event of an engine failure after take off). Climb at full power and aim for a steady 75 knots. If you were climbing with say one stage of flap climb at 64 to 70 knots.
Every thousand or fifteen hundred feet of a cruise climb add throttle to maintain the target rpm as the air density reduces.

That check list’s cruise speed and power settings are a bit on the high side. Even with a 180 hp engine the sim’s 172 economic cruise might be 90 knots at 2250 to 2300 rpm.