MFG 3d printed combat pedals

Hi guys.

 

I prototyped these 3d printed combat pedals for MFG Crosswinds. I have tested them myself for strength, hardness, functionality and ease of manufacturing. They pass.

 

Height adjustable +/- 26 mm or 1 inch

Designs are for F-16, F-14, F-18 and P-51. Colors Black, Grey, Boeing White and WWII green. (the only difference is the cutouts in the pedals, F-18 has holes, F-14 & F-16 have squares, WWII has no holes)

 

 

I've sent them out to the 3-4 people that own MFG's in my country for further testing. But I would like at least 20 people to confirm they're ok and are worth making.

 

I'm in Croatia, so if you'd be willing test them out for the price of shipping. Let me know. They use existing bolts so it's a fairly light and small package.

Edited June 7, 2020 by hegykc

What material are you printing them out of?

Hi hegykc. I assume the toe brakes still work with these pedals, correct?

 

If you're willing to ship to the U.S., I'm willing to pay the shipping to try them out. Please PM me to let me know how you'd like to proceed. Thanks!

Interested to try these! I don't see why toe brakes wouldn't work with these.

Also very interested. Send me a PM if you’d like me to test them.

I'm interested (personally i like the first ones...:) )

PM for contact info.

Edited June 9, 2020 by Lange_666

I'm going to order a set of pedals in a couple of days, so happy to test a set for you if you could squeeze them in to the same box?

All the test pedals are being shipped tomorrow.

 

I have used different settings in manufacturing each set. If yours brake apart, you can report it and I will cross that particular setup as non-working, and re-send you a new sample on my dime.

 

Try out both high and low positions, and also all angles so we can figure out if any modifications are needed to the design.

Thank you....looking fwd to receiving them.

Same here...:thumbup:

Thanks for the update, ready to start testing.

Combat Pedals should start arriving this week to those from EU countries.

 

 

 

These combat pedals shoud be angled quite vertically. If you have your MFGs on the floor, not attached to anything, then the brake spring strength might be too high, so you'll have to replace the old brake spring adjusters, with the ones you got in the package along with the Combat Pedals.

 

 

 

Milan from MFG has a video on how to remove the pedal mounts easily, then you should proceed to remove the brake spring adjusters, and replace them with the new ones with 2x extra holes for even weaker brake spring strength:

 

 

To remove the nuts from the old brake spring adjusters use a trick:

 

Edited June 22, 2020 by hegykc

I have the 13%+ heavier springs on the MFG (bought one of those in a batch where the heavier springs were mounted by default). For my taste these are way to stiff. Talked to Milan about it that if i should have known that it was a rudder with such heavy toebrake springs i would bought the lighter springs along with it (i didn't backorder these because the shipment price is 3 times of that of the springs... there are limits in a ripp-off).

I also find the the footrests of the MFG way to big (and i have size 47 shoes)

 

Just curious what these spring brake adjusters will bring together with these toebrakes.

I didn't bother doing spring force simulation, but according to my foot the new adjuster can get the spring force down by 50% maybe. And I could even add 1-2 more holes for even less spring strength.

 

So definitely install them and let me know how much they help.

 

I don't use them personally, because I like everything to feel heavy-duty and realistic. Don't know if you've ever pressed the brakes on a 1970's car, but you might be shocked at how much force you need to apply to stop the vehicle. That's why I made the Damper Mod for even heavier pedal movement feel too.

Don't know if you've ever pressed the brakes on a 1970's car, but you might be shocked at how much force you need to apply to stop the vehicle.

LOL, i did.

 

 

But i'm not sitting in a car nor in airplane but at a regular desk. And i'm not looking for a "real" setup because i have to do with what i have. I'm looking for something that works. The force needed to push the MFG toebrakes rolls my chair back. And since i'm quite tall, my knees hit the underside of the desk when using the MFG (partly due to the design of the desk). If i put the MFG pedals to vertical, it's uncomfortable, if i put them more flat, i need to squeeze my toes over the edges to push them down. Played the around with the position of the feetrest's but i can't find a setup which i'm even 70% satisfied with. Yours might solve that problem.

Edited June 23, 2020 by Lange_666

Yeah absolutely.

 

That's why I made the new adjusters, you're not the only one with the problem. Not everyone has the luxury to bolt the rudder pedals down to the floor, and the heavy spring not only rolls the office chair but also lifts the rudder pedals off the floor.

 

Doesn't matter how realistic I want it in my simpit, when there are people who must fly in their office room, or their living room. Gotta have something for everyone.

I That's why I made the Damper Mod for even heavier pedal movement feel too.

 

Would you mind sharing the info on your Damper Mod, damper info new hardware required if any.

very much looking forward to trying out new pedal foot rests

Look what the postman brought this morning:

 

 

Build quality is good, a bit rough but since these are trails, no need to look real close. Just the last hole of the spring adjuster worries me a bit, regarding the stiff springs, i'm not 100% sure it will last (red arrow).

Unluky me got an MFG with the tough pedals springs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

They ment to be used in the most upright angle position, where you can put your heals on the floor and then operate the toebrakes. Unfortunately even with the rests at the lowest position and my heals on the floor, i could barely reach the top of the pedals which means extra force to overcome the (stiff) spring force. The problem is not these footrests but the location of the pedals axis on the MFG. They sit way to high for my taste. This high pedals axe location was made with the original (large) pedals in mind but even with these custom mades, the problem is still there (for me at least).

PS: First test went with the foot rests like in the above photo, second test with the foot rests at a lower position.

 

Time to play around a bit with the setup and angles...

Edited June 26, 2020 by Lange_666

Thanks for the write up!

 

Take a look at the orientation of the new spring adjusters in the render above. The whole you point in your image is not even supposed to be used (although I will move it away from the wall in the new design).

 

You should put the spring into the FIRST hole (closest to you when they're installed, those 2 lonely extra holes are the ones I added for weakest spring force).

 

Regarding the rough finish. I first tuned and tuned the settings until they were super smooth. And then my foot kept slipping and I had to design some ridges. But then I thought why, just reverse the settings and save time on printing and have them naturally rough so your feet don't slip.

 

Also, you are not suppose to reach both the floor AND top of the pedals. In normal flight your toes should be on the bottom part of the foot rest and only put them on top when you use the brakes. You don't brake with heels on the floor, you have to raise your feet and put them on top of the pedals. Like this:

 

Edited June 26, 2020 by hegykc

Take a look at the orientation of the new spring adjusters in the render above. The hole you point in your image is not even supposed to be used (although I will move it away from the wall in the new design).

I don't use that one, i used the lowest of 2 you added to get a less stiffer spring reaction. So it's not a big problem for me.

 

You should put the spring into the FIRST hole (closest to you when they're installed, those 2 lonely extra holes are the ones I added for weakest spring force).

See quote above, i'm using the lowest extra one for less stiffer spring tension.

 

Regarding the rough finish. I first tuned and tuned the settings until they were super smooth. And then my foot kept slipping and I had to design some ridges. But then I thought why, just reverse the settings and save time on printing and have them naturally rough so your feet don't slip.

Should have made myself more clear that i ment the springadjusters (the left on the picture), not the entire set. In fact, i like the roughed up pedals.:thumbup:

 

Also, you are not suppose to reach both the floor AND top of the pedals. In normal flight your toes should be on the bottom part of the foot rest and only put them on top when you use the brakes.

Yeah but then that's real plane setup, my long legs and desk setup prevent me from lifting my feet to much (knees hitting underside of desk stronghold (<-- don't know how it's really called) to reach the top of the toebrakes. And if i do, my chair will roll backwarts. So it's a bit of hit and miss (my setup, desk + MFG's i mean, not your pedals).

Got it.

 

Interesting, now let's see how many need them to be lower and I'll see what can be done about it. The lower the foot rests go, the higher the force needed for braking due to shorter lever. Might have to add an actual weaker spring with the set, we'll see.

The lower the foot rests go, the higher the force needed for braking due to shorter lever.

Yup, and at my current setup that's the biggest problem which can only be solved (on my current setup) with less stiffer springs. I was already looking (a bit) for lesser stiff springs but didn't find a solution yet.

I can add more holes on the new adjusters there is space for 1 or 2 more actually. But I have the early white pedals and when I use even the first hole on these adjusters, I keep pressing brakes when I try to use rudders because the spring on my white pedals gets too weak. So that's why I didn't add more holes for even weaker spring setup.

 

But I didn't take into account that the new pedals have a stronger spring. I'll start adding more holes to the adjusters right away.

Not all of them:

 

From the MFG website:

 

Rev.1 (soft) was fitted on pedals S/N :

0001-3730

4000-4264

8543-8799

8830-8899

10000 - current

rev.2 (harder + 13%) was fitted on pedals S/N < 10000 not included in list above