It's not you mate, it's DarkBASIC.
DB has long since suffered from a programming connundrum called 'Gimbal Lock'. Ask DBS about it and they'll tell you that you need to learn and understand how 3D mathematics work - that is what I was told anyway back on the yellow forums. Read any paper on 3D mathematics and they'll talk about Gimbal Lock and how easy a mistake it is to make, and noteabely, how to avoid it.
All is not lost though as although I have not tried it myself I gather update 5 fixes the Gimbal Lock in the free flight commands. It would be nice for rotate object to work all along local axii too, but I guess we cannot ask for too much when there is a lot for Lee and Mike to do still.
Hmmm, I could have just said get update 5 instead of typing all this couldn't I. Well there you have it, I love the sound of my own text.
Pneumatic Dryll