MSFS 2020 default aircraft don’t feel realistic (trim/sensitivity issues vs FSX)

Mark — a few things in your description point to control/assist conflicts rather than “bad flight models”

What you’re describing (trim snapping back to 0, flaps moving on their own, “flipping around at warp speed”) is almost always one of these:

1. An assistance option is quietly fighting your inputs.
2. Duplicate bindings (yoke + gamepad + keyboard, etc.) are sending repeated trim/flap commands.
3. A controller axis is noisy/spiking, so the sim thinks you’re constantly commanding pitch/roll.
4. Real weather turbulence/gusts are being over-represented for your expectations, especially low-level around buildings/terrain — but the trim/flap “resetting” is more of a controls issue than weather.

Step-by-step checks (in order I’d do them)

1) Turn off the “help” that can override you
Go through the Assistance/Flight options and temporarily set them to the most “hands off” / realistic settings you can (anything that says auto-rudder, assisted takeoff/landing, aircraft stability, etc.). Even one of those can make trim feel like it won’t “stick.”

2) Check for duplicate trim/flap bindings
This is a big one if you’ve ever plugged in a controller “just to try it.”

1. In Controls, pick each device one-by-one (yoke, stick, throttle, pedals, keyboard, mouse, gamepad).
2. Search for “trim” and “flaps”.
3. Make sure you do NOT have trim up/down or trim axis mapped on more than one device unless you intended it.
4. Same for flaps: verify you don’t have both “flaps axis” and “flaps increment/decrement” mapped in a way that fights itself.

If flaps are “going back down” after you set them, that often happens when something is bound to “flaps axis” and the axis is not sitting exactly where you think it is (or it’s jittering).

3) Look for an actual trim AXIS bound (and remove it unless you really want it)
If you have a wheel mapped as a trim axis and it’s noisy, the trim will constantly drift back toward wherever that axis is sitting. For troubleshooting, I’d suggest:

1. Remove any “elevator trim axis” binding.
2. Use only trim up/down buttons (or hat) temporarily.

4) Confirm you’re not trimming “against” an active autopilot mode
On some aircraft, if the autopilot is on (or a level/altitude assist is on), it can mask what you think trim is doing. For a test flight:

1. Start cold & dark or on runway.
2. Leave autopilot OFF.
3. Hand-fly, then trim for hands-off.

5) Quick weather sanity test
Real-world Pittsburgh-area winter weather can be sporty, but for isolating the issue:

1. Do one circuit in clear skies / calm wind.
2. Then repeat in real weather.

If the aircraft is only “violent” in real weather, we can talk turbulence/gust modeling and how you’re set up (especially if you’re low and slow near obstacles).

“A real flying airplane name” in MSFS defaults
Before we blame the whole sim, I’d really like to get your trim/flap behavior stable first — because with trim resetting to 0 and flaps moving by themselves, any airplane will feel wrong. Once controls are sorted, the common trainers are usually the easiest place to judge basic stability/trim behavior.

A few targeted questions so I don’t guess

1. Which two aircraft were you flying when you saw the trim “reset to 0” and the flaps moving on their own?
2. What controller hardware are you using (yoke/stick/throttle/pedals), and is a gamepad connected at the same time?
3. Are you using an “elevator trim axis” binding, or just trim up/down buttons?
4. Any assists currently enabled (auto-rudder, AI piloting, stability, etc.)?
5. Does it happen in calm/clear weather too, or only in real weather?

Answer those and I’ll walk you through the exact control bindings to look for based on your hardware and the aircraft you’re flying.