MFG Crosswind F-16 combat pedals

[rel4y]

 

 

After taking quite some time off on this project, it is time for a reboot. (wow that was in 2018  https://forums.eagle.ru/topic/188571-tm-cougar-sealed-magnetoresistive-hall-sensor-kits/?do=findComment&comment=3680810 ) This time a good friend of mine (trace) has joined forces with me and we have significantly improved the design structurally as well as the workflow. Since I was too lazy to 3D print these, now he is in charge of that.

 

The pedals are plastic 3D printed, shaped to original F-16 specs and have two different settings for width adjustments of around 25mm (~1 in) difference. Print time is a ridiculous 22h per pedal. Each pedal has 4 high quality Ruthex metal inserts which are molten into the 3D print and can take quite a lot of force (over 2000N pullout). Furthermore, there is no wear after several screw cylces, so you can trial your favorite foot distance with good conscience. The surrounding structure of the inserts is significantly reinforced, so that torsion forces can be absorbed. Summarized, it should be rigid as hell!

 

We have made one golden set of pedals just to show off, the production units are silver like the real deal.

 

 

 

Here are some low quality pics my prototype version from 2018 installed on the Crosswinds. On the first pic it looks like the wider width setting was used, second pic shows the smaller width setting.

 

They are printed of a filament which is a sort of chimera between PLA and PETG. They have pretty thick perimeters & top/ bottom layers and (I believe) ~30% infill. However, the internals are reinforced along internal force paths with an interesting method based on FEM. I borrowed the idea from this youtuber: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0YsC53mFvY

 

Please check out the videos demonstrating the strength of our construction below: click me

 

Trace is doing the serial production, but printing will be on demand. The pedals are 50€ and shipping is about 20€ tracked internationally (depending on your country). Please send trace a PM if you are interested in a set!

Edited January 10, 2021 by rel4y
added info

[Sydy]

Looking cool!

Any price tag in mind already?

Congrats.

[trace]

Good morning Sydy, 

thanks a lot. Beeing honest we had hard nights to get to this point, but it was it worth.

Nice to read you like it. Thanks again.

If we do following prints for interested guys we still need to keep in mind the print time of 44hrs per pair and further manual Processing to achieve the outstanding rigidity and keeping the shown quality. We use a special filament which is not easy to use, but gives a nice metal like finish.

Think it won't be that much. just to cover the print.

 

 

 

Best regards trace

 

Nice city and Aircraft in your profile

 

 

Edited November 20, 2023 by trace

[X-31_VECTOR]

I would potentially be very interested int he production model, but I'm wondering if you've had a chance to put your early models through any sort of long-term testing. I tested an early prototype of a similar design by another forum member, and while they held up great for the first few weeks, repeated cycles especially using the toe brakes eventually caused cracking.  (I believe he has since added a reinforcing metal plate). 

 

Great work, and thanks for sharing it!

[X-31_VECTOR]

Nice! I look forward to the production units going on sale. 

[pchRage]

Following this thread! 

[98abaile]

What are they printed out of? Are they solid or do they have infill? What sort of price range are you considering?

[rel4y]

On 12/28/2020 at 9:41 PM, 98abaile said:

What are they printed out of? Are they solid or do they have infill? What sort of price range are you considering?

 

They are printed of a filament which is a sort of chimera between PLA and PETG. They have pretty thick perimeters & top/ bottom layers and (I believe) ~30% infill. However, the internals are reinforced along internal force paths with an interesting method based on FEM. I borrowed the idea from this youtuber: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0YsC53mFvY

 

Trace is ready for serial production, but printing will be on demand as he said above. The pedals are 50€ and shipping is about 20€ tracked internationally (depending on your country).

 

Edited December 30, 2020 by rel4y

[Bailey]

This looks sweet! I'm looking forward to seeing it on some setups. And thank you for pointing me to the Load dependent Infill placement video. I found those settings in Fusion360 about a week ago and never got past the "oooh, pretty colors" phase

[rel4y]

On 1/2/2021 at 1:06 PM, Bailey said:

This looks sweet! I'm looking forward to seeing it on some setups. And thank you for pointing me to the Load dependent Infill placement video. I found those settings in Fusion360 about a week ago and never got past the "oooh, pretty colors" phase

 

Haha, its an awesome technique isnt it?! I used in a different way than shown in the video so it only replaces infill and doesnt disturb the outer perimeters/ layers. But that video is where I got the idea from.

[rel4y]

Thanks for all the interest in our F-16 pedals. The next project is geared towards the WWII crowd. Enthusiasts will easily recognize which warbird they are modeled after!

 

The footrests are modeled after the original blueprints, have the same top notch screw inserts as the F-16 prints and even sport the letters & logo. Of course the internal structure is again reinforced based on FEM simulation and should be able to stand up to mindnumbing abuse (eg trace hanging on them ). Interestingly, these pedals are much larger than the F-16 ones and therefore take even longer to print, 27h geez.. The prototype prints are already underway and should be finished tonight. I am quite excited for the results.

 

Currently, this is just a work in progress and still subject to change.

 

 

 

Edited January 6, 2021 by rel4y

[golani79]

Looking good - is there also a video showing the process of installing the pedals?

[trace]

NOW I finished the needed left side pedals to get the pair ready to rumble.......

 

Edited November 20, 2023 by trace

[[DBS]TH0R]

Can't wait. #makeitso 

[Big10]

Hello, I was seriously considering the Virpil pedals until i came across this. Do you have a picture of the ANA pedals bolted up to the Crosswinds?

[trace]

@BIG10 at the moment I am hard at work, so I havent got the time to do some other things. I print those in my spare time and its not my major Job and non profit.

We want to bring our hobby with rigid long lasting addons further ahead. Therefore we spend lots of time developing, testing and printing.

So I ask you for patience for the pictures you are requesting.

Thank you and

Best regards trace

Edited November 20, 2023 by trace

[dburne]

Ok so now my interest is starting to be perked...

Anxious to hear from folks that have received some of these new pedals for the Crosswinds.

[bnepethomas]

Hi Guys - mine landed last week - set them up over the weekend - they are a nice setup.  Soon to be added to the Hornet pit.

 

Cheers

 

peter

[chaos]

I got them a few days ago and only managed to install them last night. Well packaged and they feel extremely solid. The fit was snug and installing them is as simple as inserting the 2 bolts/side. Extremely well engineered pedals if you ask me. The only nitpick I could find was the slightly rough finish on the curved parts of the pedal. This is obviously 3D printed and is simply unavoidable because of the process. If you want it to look like the milled part of the real F-16 you should break out a box of sanding paper. Again, this is nitpicking and as far as I'm concerned a non-issue.

 

I expect these parts to last a lot longer than the MFG crosswind rudder assembly they're bolted on. A solid buy!

Edited January 17, 2021 by chaos
added pics

[trace]

Hello Chaos,

thank you very much for the nice pictures and your positive review.

As you already mentioned it due to the support structure the roughness on the backside is unavoidable.

 

Thanks again and if you have any further questions or constructable feedback send me a PM or post it.

Best regards trace

Edited November 20, 2023 by trace

[rel4y]

On 1/17/2021 at 12:05 PM, chaos said:

I got them a few days ago and only managed to install them last night. Well packaged and they feel extremely solid. The fit was snug and installing them is as simple as inserting the 2 bolts/side. Extremely well engineered pedals if you ask me. The only nitpick I could find was the slightly rough finish on the curved parts of the pedal. This is obviously 3D printed and is simply unavoidable because of the process. If you want it to look like the milled part of the real F-16 you should break out a box of sanding paper. Again, this is nitpicking and as far as I'm concerned a non-issue.

[...]

I expect these parts to last a lot longer than the MFG crosswind rudder assembly they're bolted on. A solid buy!

 

Thank you for the kind words and your awesome pictures! Are you happy with how far back you can angle the pedals? I set the neutral point back by 12° to give desktop users a bit more options. Now when breaking they can be angled down to only 20° off from flat and in a pit you can still angle them like in a real F-16. Enjoy your new F-16 footrests and thanks again!

[chaos]

I am sitting behind a desk on simple chair. The angle at which the pedals sit is perfect for me. I have the MFG rudder assembly set at the lowest setting (20deg.) so there's plenty of room to angle them upwards if I ever need it to. The ball of my foot hits the bottom of the pedal exactly where it needs to (my shoe size is US size 9/ EU size 43). It does require a fair amount of travel on the top end to brake but this is an issue with the rudder assembly itself. In real aircraft the travel is possibly as little as half the amount that is required on the MFG pedals. Again, not a pedal issue as such.

 

One more thing... I did notice that the bolt threads a little bit too easily into the threaded bushing of the pedals. There's a little play. I would've liked to see a tighter fit there. However, after fastening the pedals, everything is secure. 

 

P.S. I have version 1.0 of the MFG pedals (s/n 45)

Edited January 19, 2021 by chaos

[rel4y]

8 hours ago, chaos said:

I am sitting behind a desk on simple chair. The angle at which the pedals sit is perfect for me. I have the MFG rudder assembly set at the lowest setting (20deg.) so there's plenty of room to angle them upwards if I ever need it to. The ball of my foot hits the bottom of the pedal exactly where it needs to (my shoe size is US size 9/ EU size 43). It does require a fair amount of travel on the top end to brake but this is an issue with the rudder assembly itself. In real aircraft the travel is possibly as little as half the amount that is required on the MFG pedals. Again, not a pedal issue as such.

 

One more thing... I did notice that the bolt threads a little bit too easily into the threaded bushing of the pedals. There's a little play. I would've liked to see a tighter fit there. However, after fastening the pedals, everything is secure. 

 

P.S. I have version 1.0 of the MFG pedals (s/n 45)

 

 

Ok, cool! That sounds like the angles are good! The real F-16 pedals are force actuated and barely move at all while braking, only a few mm.

 

From looking at your pictures it seems your screws may be not fully screwed in. The screws should actually be flat with the bottom of the attachment T-part. Then again, I dont have the V1 pedals, so the hole may not be as deep on these. Did you use the supplied M6 screws or the original ones? The original ones will be a bit longer than the supplied ones. But if everything is tight and snuggly then better leave it as is. This is how the screws on my pedals look:

 

 

Edited January 20, 2021 by rel4y

[Sydy]

On 12/21/2020 at 6:44 AM, trace said:

Good morning Sydy, 

thanks a lot. Beeing honest we had hard nights to get to this point, but it was it worth.

Nice to read you like it. Thanks again.

If we do following prints for interested guys we still need to keep in mind the print time of 44hrs per pair and further manual Processing to achieve the outstanding rigidity and keeping the shown quality. We use a special filament which is not easy to use, but gives a nice metal like finish.

Think it won't be that much more or maybe equal.

 

If you want it, send a PM and we are answering quick.

 

Best regards trace

 

Nice city and Aircraft in your profile

 

 

 

Tks Trace, I will PM you.

[Revvin]

Could you please give me a measurement for the total width of the pedals? I'm using a Sim-Labs P1-X cockpit for racing and flight sims and have my racing pedals hard mounted with a set of CH pedals sat on the floor. I'd like to upgrade to something like the Virpil or MFG Crosswinds but I know the Virpil pedals are too wide, the width I have is about 500mm