Pedals and collective "really great" or "just nice" to have?

[Salter10]

Hello folks. I have no experience flying helicopters in DCS (I did fly large RC helicopters years ago! :). To date I flew the F18 using Virpil's stick and throttle, both of which I love. I did not miss pedals for fixed wing flying. Now that I'll be simming with the Apache, I can only imagine pedals would make a difference. I was wondering what all of you folks think about it. Are pedals gonna make a substantial enough difference for ease of maneuvering and are definitely worth getting? And separately, but related I guess - is a  dedicated collective "kinda nice to have" or "will be awesome to have"? 

Thanks in advance for any feedback. 

[Flamin_Squirrel]

Pedals are well worth it for helicopters. Get the best you feel comfortable paying for. You do generally get what you pay for.

I have a collective too, and I enjoy it, but consider it no where near as important - a throttle will work fine.

[Salter10]

3 minutes ago, Flamin_Squirrel said:

I have a collective too, and I enjoy it, but consider it no where near as important - a throttle will work fine.

Thanks for the feedback! Do you have the Virpil collective per chance? And what are the best pedals out there, would you say?

Edited March 18, 2022 by Salter10

[Flamin_Squirrel]

I do!

I had a pro-flight trainer collective, didn't rate it. The Vipril one is fantastic though.

[dburne]

2 minutes ago, Flamin_Squirrel said:

Pedals are well worth it for helicopters. Get the best you feel comfortable paying for. You do generally get what you pay for.

I have a collective too, and I enjoy it, but consider it no where near as important - a throttle will work fine.

 

Agreed - love my Crosswind Pedals for sure, pedals are a must for a helicopter.

Currently using my Virpil CM3 Throttle and it appears will work just fine for the Apache. Later on if I am sticking with the Apache I may consider a Virpil collective instead of a throttle, but that would be more of a little better immersion thing but fair amount of money for it. Certainly not a necessity. I got plenty of buttons on my CM3 throttle.

[Mistermann]

You know @Wags doesn't use any pedals, right?  He has an axis bound on his HOTAS for anti-torque.  He mentioned this in a video a few weeks ago, and I was floored!

Me, personally, absolutely love the VKB Pedals.  Sturdy, all metal and reasonably priced.  For me, I don't know how I'd fly a heli without pedals.

[idenwen]

For this one Pedals are a must have - i rarely say that for peripherals but i can't imagine flying it without some. And quality ones! Have cheap ones and really fight the device (and not the chopper) at times.

[Q3ark]

For me pedals were a game changer, they also are essential if you want to fly the old WW2 era warbirds. 

[leonsilver]

MFG Crosswind   I've been using it for four years - perfect

[Salter10]

Thanks everyone for your feedback! Ordered Virpil pedals (I admit I'm a bit of a Virpil fanboy) 

Edited March 19, 2022 by Salter10

[pedrodatguy]

i mapped my clutch and gas pedal from my racesim kit and ohh man- game changer... GAME CHANGER

[loiphin]

I got my first set of Virpil stuff on Friday, just after the 64's release. I have had my Warthog gear for 8 years now, and it's time to get something new. And man does it make a difference!

The Virpil rudder pedals are just amazing. So smooth and easy to move. Makes helis a pleasure to fly after my crappy plastic Saitek Combat rudder pedals.

Warbird base with the F16 TM stick. Also super easy to move with the default springs and so precise. It has made flying the AH-64D so much easier.

I am using the CM3 Throttle as collective, and flaps is bound to engine power (both). Works well for me

Not much use yet for the Control Panel 2, but I will figure something out

If you are on the fence about Virpil stuff, just do it. Trust me it's so worth it. If your Virpil gear serves you for 10-15 years, is the 1000 bucks you spend on it really that bad?

Edited March 19, 2022 by loiphin

[Niehorst]

A steering wheel in a car is "as nice to have" as some pedals in a chopper.

You can fly with a thrust lever. Since some time I own the VPC Rotor collective. I don't want to miss it anymore.

[hannibal]

Yes. 

An apache collective is great to have.

 

[lefty1117]

Unless they do something to dampen things for twist stick users, I'd say pedals are a must have to keep this thing under control at low speed and to pull off hover landings. I'm going to hold out for a couple more updates and features like the alt hold etc before I make a final decision ... don't want to have to buy more accessories if I can avoid it.

[pii]

On 3/18/2022 at 4:41 PM, Q3ark said:

For me pedals were a game changer, they also are essential if you want to fly the old WW2 era warbirds. 

Never used peddles for fixed wing in DCS but helos will greatly benifit from peddels. 

[frostycab]

Having flown GA planes for years in FSX I’m glad I have them. I couldn’t ever go back to flying with a twist grip stick. Everything going wonky every time I need to let go to use the mouse would drive me nuts. IMO they’re a must have for helicopter immersion. 

[frostycab]

On 3/19/2022 at 8:45 PM, loiphin said:

I got my first set of Virpil stuff on Friday, just after the 64's release. I have had my Warthog gear for 8 years now, and it's time to get something new. And man does it make a difference!

The Virpil rudder pedals are just amazing. So smooth and easy to move. Makes helis a pleasure to fly after my crappy plastic Saitek Combat rudder pedals.

Warbird base with the F16 TM stick. Also super easy to move with the default springs and so precise. It has made flying the AH-64D so much easier.

I am using the CM3 Throttle as collective, and flaps is bound to engine power (both). Works well for me

Not much use yet for the Control Panel 2, but I will figure something out

If you are on the fence about Virpil stuff, just do it. Trust me it's so worth it. If your Virpil gear serves you for 10-15 years, is the 1000 bucks you spend on it really that bad?

 

I agree. Got my first Virpil unit 2 days ago, a shiny new CM3 throttle. It takes some getting used to after 5 years of using a Warthog, but the extra buttons/hats/etc make it much more versatile for a variety of aircraft. I used to struggle to work out how best to bind things for some planes on the 'Hog. Still using the Warthog base and grip, though when money allows I'll probably make a Virpil base then next purchase.

As for pedals, I replaced my very old Saitek Pro Flight rudder pedals last year with a lovely Thrustmaster TPR Pendular system. It's so hard to describe the difference though. The pendular design feels so much nicer than the old "slide" action, and they're smooth as butter with customisation for resistance and ergonomics and a huge range of motion from stop to stop. Bloody expensive, but then I thought the same about my Warthog when I got it. Worth every penny though.

It'd be interesting to compare our bindings sometime!

[Q3ark]

16 hours ago, pii said:

Never used peddles for fixed wing in DCS but helos will greatly benifit from peddels. 

I’d say most of the modern jets you wouldn’t need pedals. Pedals deffo make the Tomcat more fun and I found they changed my spitfire game. 

[hannibal]

a collective is very nice to have. add tedac grips... even better!