trevm wrote on Nov 20^th, 2012 at 1:09pm:

To answer your questions, I prefer to use the mouse yoke function until the autopilot takes over, and I usually set up the FMC at the gate before pushback.  Thanks for the tips!

So how do you throttle up at the start of the takeoff run? F3 or F4? Or is there a way to use the mouse for the throttle as well? It would be news to me if it does, but that's only because I hate using the mouse to control the plane because I always mess it up, the way it sounds like is happening to you when you say "the plane begins skidding all over the runway", that's what happens when I use the mouse. :(