Point taken.
Do you use your rudder pedals every time you fly?
How are the thrustmaster peddles. I have CH peddles and they work ok but very sensitive. Fsuipc 7 helps with the curve adjustment but thought about replacing the CH which I have had for years
I got rudder pedals for the first time this year after over 20 years of simming. I am very glad that I did. Coordinated flight (rudder coordination) is subtle, but makes a big difference in some sims and aircraft. Combat flight sims in particular require a lot of rudder work. I used to look at the brake pedals to get that sensation of stopping, but now my whole body is part of the action. I would never go back to having my rudder on the stick. Good luck, and happy flying.
I’m not using rudder pedals. I only have the Thrustmaster TCA set, and since I only fly the Airbus, this is enough for me. I use the Twist Z axis for my rudder controls. So I don’t need pedals.
They are very good although I they are the first rudder I’ve had so is hard for me to compare. They are sensitive but I think this is the nature of the rudder in general. You only need very small inputs and the movement is very smooth and seems accurate enough. The quality is excellent, very heavy and would expect them to last a long time and not break.
I built up my sim setup kinda slowly, and rudder pedals were the last thing I added. I always use them now when I’m going for an actual flight (as opposed to just testing something for a few minutes), but 1) I don’t sim a whole lot at the moment (I’m a ST close to my checkride and don’t want to mess myself up by getting used to flight characteristics or a sight picture in the sim), and 2) I got high quality pedals (MFG Crosswinds), so they’re a more natural feel than the Thrustmasters (except presumably the TPM or whatever the expensive one is), CH, or Saiteks. The MFGs can be improved even more with a hydraulic damper instead of the default spring.
I was using twist rudder for a bit before I switched from a stick to the Honeycomb Alpha, but I’m not a huge fan of twist rudder. Feels unnatural and too easy to throw in a little rudder when you’re only trying to bank. Doesn’t help that my stick didn’t have a suction cup or anything, so it wasn’t very steady on my desk.
If one uses a yoke or a joystick without twist pedals are a must. I personally do better with pedals in MSFS, especially in the Corsair. In P3D the difference was neglectible.
Thanks. Fsuipc calibration works very well controlling the sensitivity. I found-3 works well for me but there is threads out there on calibration with fsuipc
You got a link please?
I had a complete setup with yoke, throtte quandrant and rudderpedals. Went back to joystick (logitech extreme 3D) which does its job well. Sensitivity is a bit less than some others, but still manage to do nice crosswind landings using the z axis.
I was thinking of buying the new honeycomb set (yoke and trottle quadrant) but I think i will just stick with a joystick and upgrade it soon to a bit more “pro” model. Not that my current one is bad, but a bit more sensitivity and eyecandy is nice, and it saves a lot of room here at the kitchen table,and thats positive for my wifes mood.
I had pedals in the early 2000’s and really didn’t find a need for them until I got into choppers. There was some huge value there.
Today I use the TCA stick. Good enough for me. Others may want more immersion.
I may buy pedals again once the choppers get released.
Do you mean the all-metal TPR rudder pedals(you said “TPA”…)? Yes you need to keep it if you want to be a serious simmer, because there are rudder pedals in the real aircraft and you have to use your feet to operate them when you have ones.
If the price is your concern, you should at least replace it with some cheap ones, but to be honest, you’ll likely be more disappointed with those antique plastic e-wastes (and in some cases, a ball-rub-ber)…maybe there are some DIY solutions out there, surely some RUS/eastern eur/chinese private builder’s solution are cheaper or/and better… Or maybe wait for the honeycomb Charlie for God know how long, again…though I expect it would be somewhere in between with the antiques and the TPR, since it’ll be most likely to continue the cheap and fragile potentiometer & plastic(except the pedal are told to be metal) philosophy. The authenticity of a GA-shaped throttle can bring you over the TCA throttle is little to nothing when comparing to that the Rudder pedals can bring you over a stick-twister IMO. Maybe try “use more rudder” as a real flight instructor would usually tell the students.
Oh, I believe there is a DIY modification of the TPR that adds a hydraulic damper to it that makes it feels more satisfying, maybe give it a try if you are good at DIY? I think is the next closer thing you can get to an real one other than an expansive and currently not well supported Force Feed Back solution.
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Well, sadly, that’s true, hopefully, for now. They may eventually got to the point where the needed aerodynamic effects are simulated, and you can better use the rudder pedals then. But if not, I guess you’d better ditch the game rather than the rudder pedals…lol
In MSFS I find myself taking my feet off them just after liftoff and putting them back just before landing. They are mainly useful on the ground, and for kicking out crab in a crosswind landing, and for that the twist stick would work just as well. If flight dynamics were more realistic pedals would be much more useful.
Exception being aerobatics and asymmetric flight. I find it very hard to precisely control three axes at once with a stick, too difficult to hold steady rudder with a twist stick while varying elevator or aileron inputs.
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For standard flying a twist stick is enough.
If you are flying combat flight sims or stunt aircraft, the rudder pedals are a must.
Landing in crosswind is also easier with pedals
I recently upgraded from Saitek pedasl to the Thrustmaster TPR pedals. The feel and responsiveness with hall effect sensors and the overall engineering and adjustment possiblities are first class. An absolute must when flying taildraggers, I find.
For airliners and some vanilla GA flying a twist grip and keyboard is probably enough to be honest.
However, if you fly any combat sims, especially dogfight/guns combat rather than BVR then pedals really make a difference, probably more of a difference than a throttle.
I fly IL-2 and DCS also so can not imagine being in a cockpit without pedals. I fly a bit on my laptop with a twist stick when I travel for work and it just doesn’t feel as fluid to me.
I am curious: what meneuver can be done with pedals that cannot be done with a twist stick?
I’m curious about that as well, because If I have to do a specific manoeuvre using the stick at the same time as applying rudder. I would have just done the same manoeuvre using the stick and twist it at the same time.
Like if you want nose up with right rudder… Then just pull the stick back while twisting to the right at the same time. If you want half the rudder, then twist it halfway.
It’s just about getting used to it that’s all. Of course it’s more realistic to have pedals since real life aircraft don’t have twist sticks. But even if you don’t have a pedal, you can still achieve the same goal using the sidestick twist, even though you’ll be doing them slightly differently.
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