How important is a pair of rudder pedals

[nazradu]

It's doable to fly helos with twist, but I would not like to do it.

If you are hooked by flight sims, rudder pedals are a very good investment. If you can afford some MFG Crosswind go for it. Due to heavy use I almost killed the cheaper Thrustmaster Flightpack pedals and after buying those MFGs I never look back.

On the T1600 from Thrustmaster the rocker on the throttle is a good alternative, but peddals are a Game changer.

@Hiob
how is your feedback for the damper? Worth those 50 bucks?

[Deran]

vor 21 Minuten schrieb AlphaOneSix:

 

If by "trim" you mean a spring centering force where the center can be moved to any point in the pedal axis, then all of them have it.

 

Okay thank you : ) I always wondered, but now I can tick the "Rudder trim" option in every Helicopter I own or am currently testing. (Owning: Ka-50 and UH-1H) (Currently testing: Mi-8 and Mi-24)

[Hiob]

7 minutes ago, nazradu said:

 

@Hiob
how is your feedback for the damper? Worth those 50 bucks?

It‘s a basic dampener, you get several of those for half the price on amazon.

The reason I went for the „original“ solution from MFG was the ease of installation. 

All fitting materials are supplied.

 

I‘d say it‘s no must buy if you are keeping the spring center (it doesn‘t hurt though),

but it‘s a definite plus if you are going without a spring for helos.

[Dezmond]

2 hours ago, AlphaOneSix said:

Many (most?) helicopters have tilted rotor systems, assuming that you are referring to a forward tilt of the rotor mast relative to the aircraft waterline, which is what the Mi-8 has.

 

On the Mi-8, the trimmer button on the cyclic removes the centering force for the cyclic and the pedals. The collective has it's own button for removing the friction force. The collective doesn't have centering springs. I don't know of any aircraft where the collective has a centering spring...they typically just have an adjustable friction force to hold them in place, and the friction force can usually be removed with a force trim release button.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by primitive, since what you described works on most helicopters, even very modern ones.

Mostly it means I only loaded up a helicopter in a flight sim for the first time a week ago, so this is all new and exciting to me

[IcedVenom]

On 4/14/2021 at 4:03 PM, foxonefoxtwo said:

Very tempted to get the Mi-8 with this sale going on.

Mi-8 is their best helicopter but until it gets multicrew I'll be flying Mi-24

[SaxonRaider]

I have a G29 Wheel, Pedals, shifter. for racing. Could I use those pedals for the rudder? Would it behave similar?

[Hiob]

57 minutes ago, SaxonRaider said:

I have a G29 Wheel, Pedals, shifter. for racing. Could I use those pedals for the rudder? Would it behave similar?

You need to try but I doubt it would work in a proper manner.

Main reason - Rudder is supposed to be one axis, whereas the two pedals of yours are two separate axis.

[AeriaGloria]

11 hours ago, SaxonRaider said:

I have a G29 Wheel, Pedals, shifter. for racing. Could I use those pedals for the rudder? Would it behave similar?

It will work. There should be a guide if you Google it to make it work, you have to bind both to one axis then play with saturation 

[Diesel_Thunder]

Pedals made a huge difference for me. My old HOTAS was a Saitek X-45, which did not feature a twist twist for rudder, but rather a rudder rocker on the back of the throttle handle. It was ok at best, and required a lot of finger precision due to the limited range of movement. I didn't fly the helos much, or the warbirds either for that reason. The pedals are awesome as you get a lot more range of movement and also gives your feet/legs something to do, similar to the real deal.

One more thing if I could offer, which has helped my sim helo flying a lot, is to use a joystick extension. The added range of movement adds so much precision and I find it much easier to hold a hover or even perform regular hand flying/basic maneuvers. I added an 8 inch extension to my TM Warthog, and it has certainly enhanced my sim experience.

[SaxonRaider]

On 1/2/2022 at 9:30 PM, Diesel_Thunder said:

Pedals made a huge difference for me. My old HOTAS was a Saitek X-45, which did not feature a twist twist for rudder, but rather a rudder rocker on the back of the throttle handle. It was ok at best, and required a lot of finger precision due to the limited range of movement. I didn't fly the helos much, or the warbirds either for that reason. The pedals are awesome as you get a lot more range of movement and also gives your feet/legs something to do, similar to the real deal.

One more thing if I could offer, which has helped my sim helo flying a lot, is to use a joystick extension. The added range of movement adds so much precision and I find it much easier to hold a hover or even perform regular hand flying/basic maneuvers. I added an 8 inch extension to my TM Warthog, and it has certainly enhanced my sim experience.

Thanks Guys above for answering my question.
Diesel I also have an X45 on top of my wardrobe in a box, on standby just in case :D, it actually still works great!, better quality than than the X52pro, but of course not as good features.

I will try using my G29 pedals then thanks, i think maybe i can merge the axis's together somehow. I will try it out soon.

Thanks Again!

[Ebphoto]

I’m sure rudder pedals would make a huge improvement! I use a Virpil Constellation stick with twist & it works pretty well. I also have the rudder trim selected in the options & that helps a lot! The twist isn’t the greatest way to fly but it does work. I don’t have the option to have rudder pedals since I fly laying down on the bed. Can’t sit due to back issues so the twist joystick is the only way I can fly! I think rudder pedals would be awesome and a huge improvement! Just my 2 cents worth! 

[Art-J]

On 1/7/2022 at 9:23 PM, SaxonRaider said:

I will try using my G29 pedals then thanks, i think maybe i can merge the axis's together somehow. I will try it out soon.

Thanks Again!

You can combine gas and brake easily just by ticking a box in Windows game controller properties and calibration app.

However...

DCS allows to use two separate physical axes for controlling one virtual function. Usually it's an annoying feature (problem of default duplicated assignments), but for racing wheel users it's very useful. Other sims force you to combine gas and brake pedal into one axis to be assigned to rudder (not great because of different stiffness and throw of these pedals in Logitech and Thrustmaster wheels) but in DCS you can assign gas and CLUTCH pedal to rudder and then cut their saturations to 50%, so that gas moves only right half of rudder axis while clutch moves only the left half. I used to do it for a long time with my G25 and T500 before buying proper rudder pedals later and it was a good workaround of a problem. Much better than any twist or rocker.

Edited January 16, 2022 by Art-J

[SaxonRaider]

On 1/16/2022 at 8:20 AM, Art-J said:

You can combine gas and brake easily just by ticking a box in Windows game controller properties and calibration app.

However...

DCS allows to use two separate physical axes for controlling one virtual function. Usually it's an annoying feature (problem of default duplicated assignments), but for racing wheel users it's very useful. Other sims force you to combine gas and brake pedal into one axis to be assigned to rudder (not great because of different stiffness and throw of these pedals in Logitech and Thrustmaster wheels) but in DCS you can assign gas and CLUTCH pedal to rudder and then cut their saturations to 50%, so that gas moves only right half of rudder axis while clutch moves only the left half. I used to do it for a long time with my G25 and T500 before buying proper rudder pedals later and it was a good workaround of a problem. Much better than any twist or rocker.

 

Fantastic thank you for taking time to describe this, I will give it a go!

[malcheus]

For helos the spring tension on racing pedals may be a bit high, and probably different between the left and right pedal. 

I have the VKB pedals, and they are very light to move, I can fly without rudder trim. With racing pedals I think you will get cramped feet/legs if you want to do that.

[Mistermann]

On 1/27/2022 at 5:27 AM, malcheus said:

I have the VKB pedals, and they are very light to move, I can fly without rudder trim.

I also have the VKB pedals.  They are great.  For me, I didn't want the overpriced, cheap plastic variety that my sasquatch feet would squash under my desk.  I was also not willing to spend a fortune on a metal accessory that had limited use in fixed wing flight.  Looking at you Thrustmaster TPR 

In anticipation of the Apache, I decided to acquire some decent pedals last Summer.

After considerable research, I chose the VKB pedals.  The value I got for my money was high.  Extremely high quality, metal from a known company.  I think I paid $215USD for them last year.  For me, the additional $$$ was more than worth it for me over the $160ish plastic trash that act as more of an entry level pedal.  I was very concerned about the longevity of and plastic pedal when combined with my inelegant size 13eens.  

When reading the "cons" on these pedals, they don't have toe brakes.  That wasn't a deal breaker for me at all.

Lastly, while I don't use the pedals a ton while in flight (Hornet and Viper), they come in quite handy when on the ground on the taxiway.