Pics of My Rudder Pedals

[Warhog]

I finally got fed up with using crappy plastic rudder pedals. No precision, motion is rough and they are continually breaking. It is really unfortunate that the retail cost is so stupid considering what you actually get.

 

So what options do I have. Well there are some beautiful pedals on the market made by some very talented craftsman but their production capabilities are somewhat "limited"? And they do charge a premium for their wares but I suspect it is definitely worth the money from what I have seen and read. If this little project of mine turns out to be less than satisfactory, I will be looking seriously at buying a set from one of these talented people. However before I get to that point, I present my "almost" finished pedals of my own design. They are a little rough in appearance but they are fitted with bearings everywhere and a good quality (chinese :music_whistling:) damper for creating that smooth action I have been craving for so long. I intended that the pedal design reflect the same motion found in a real A10C. The standard low ride pedals that use a parallelogram for rudder movement just didn't work for me.

 

I didn't buy any aluminum for this project. It was all made from scrap I had in my shop. The goal was to make these pedals without having to do any large amount of milling. I tried to use what I had on hand so it actually became somewhat of a puzzle to make them by fitting what pieces I had to something that resembled what I wanted. Its a silly way to design and build something but it was fun and it saved me some time, effort and money. All and all, I was pleased with the end result. I think they will work very well once they are finished and finally installed in the cockpit.

 

This is what some determination can do when options for good rudder pedals are limited.

 

For your viewing pleasure...

 

IMG_0869 by John Wall, on Flickr

 

 

The toe breaks use A1302 hall sensors connected to a Pro Micro loaded with MMJOY. The axis is extremely smooth from tests I've done.

 

IMG_0873 by John Wall, on Flickr

 

IMG_0871 by John Wall, on Flickr

 

IMG_0872 by John Wall, on Flickr

 

 

The major axis for the rudder itself is to rely on the TLE 5011 sensor but I am having some issues with that sensor at the moment. I may have purchased fake IC's as every one I have tried generates no signal what so ever. But that's not an issue for this post.

 

IMG_0874 by John Wall, on Flickr

 

IMG_0875 by John Wall, on Flickr

 

As soon as I get the TLE 5011 issue resolved I'll post a video of these in action.

 

Thanks for looking. Hope you enjoyed them.

[JG14_Smil]

I really enjoy seeing home-built cockpits and controllers. Thanks for posting the pics!

[Cripple]

Nice work. :)

[romeokilo]

Outstanding!

 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[tintifaxl]

That looks awesome!

[Diode663]

Looks great. Is that a steering stabilizer you have on there?

[sniperwolfpk5]

Nice work :thumbup:. You can check mine link is in my signature

[Mike Powell]

Wow. I don't know if I'm more envious of the pedals, or of the fact that you have a shop which is provisioned with enough high quality "scrap" to build them. Well done, sir!

[Warhog]

Wow. I don't know if I'm more envious of the pedals, or of the fact that you have a shop which is provisioned with enough high quality "scrap" to build them. Well done, sir!

 

Thanks Mike and everyone else who posted. As to scrap, I always made it a habit to picked a few end cuts ( they were always very cheap) every time I went into Metal Supermarket to pick up my order. It's the same with electronic components. I needed 2 10uf caps so I ordered 50. Never know when you might need extras. If I needed 12" of 1/2" square aluminum I would order 24" just in case I screwed up my first try at whatever it was that I was making. Over the years I accumulated a rather good inventory of scrap, be it brass, aluminum or steel. When you have a metal shop this just tends to happen naturally.

 

@Diode663... yes indeed. That is a motorcycle steering damper. It was just the correct size for this use. It works well.

 

One more bit of info, there will be no Centre detent for these pedals. I expect that a real A10 has nothing of the sort. It will be interesting to fly without a detent. I have never done that before.

[Hansolo]

That is very sturdy alu setup, Warhog. Very nicely reuse of the pedals :thumbup: I think this is probably more like the A-10 pedals than anything else I have seem. I seem to recall that the pedals mechanism in the A-10 it top hinged as well although on the outside, I think.

 

EDIT found the picture

 

Looks very good Sir.

 

Cheers

Hans

Edited November 5, 2016 by Hansolo
Found picture

[MacFevre]

I've said it before on your Flickr page but have no qualms in saying it again. You sir, are a genius! To be curious, what's the stability like on your pedals? And in regards to this and other items in your photo feeds, I truly think you would do more than well if you ever wanted to hang up a shingle! Even as kits. I mean, your instruments alone make me salivate. I only wish I had your knowledge and equipment. But for now I suppose we can all simply look at your many wonderful photos. (And seriously, thank you for making them available to dream over and try in vain to replicate something even remotely similar.)

 

 

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[Warhog]

I've said it before on your Flickr page but have no qualms in saying it again. You sir, are a genius! To be curious, what's the stability like on your pedals? And in regards to this and other items in your photo feeds, I truly think you would do more than well if you ever wanted to hang up a shingle! Even as kits. I mean, your instruments alone make me salivate. I only wish I had your knowledge and equipment. But for now I suppose we can all simply look at your many wonderful photos. (And seriously, thank you for making them available pto dream over and try in vain to replicate something even remotely similar.)

 

 

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Wayne, thank you so much, you are too kind. I'm happy to be able to show my work to everyone and I hope it provides some inspiration to other builders.

 

I would also like to point out that the single most important factor allowing me to succeed has been my TAIG CNC mill. Because of its extreme accuracy and ease of use The TAIG mill has been responsible for the making of virtually every single part of my cockpit. So far I have not found another tool that comes even close to replacing it. If I had to choose just one tool for cockpit building, it would be the TAIG CNC mill.

 

With respect to your question as to how stable these pedals might be, I would say with some degree of confidence that they should be incredibly stable. They will be through bolted to a large 3/8" thick 18" x 24" aluminum slab with #1/4-20 cap screws. That base will then be through bolted onto the steel framework of the cockpit base again with 1/4-20 cap screws. The individual pieces of the pedals are made from a min of 1/2" thick aluminum plate with all holes being drilled and tapped for #10-32 cap screws. I would hesitate to think any part of this contraption could be bent or warped by human interaction alone. They are as sturdy and stable as the perverbial brick shithouse. :megalol:

Edited November 9, 2016 by Warhog

[weeb]

Fcuk me John. I know you were one for recycling..... but that's quite an exceptional job there bro. Love it.

[Warhog]

Fcuk me John. I know you were one for recycling..... but that's quite an exceptional job there bro. Love it.

 

Thanks Gordy but when you get to my age its called "Hoarding" not recycling:lol: Its what all old people do.:music_whistling: :smilewink:

[bnepethomas]

Awesome work as always John

 

Cheers

Peter

[Duckling]

Hi John. Really nice work on those pedals and the complete setup.

[agrasyuk]

looks good John, not wobbly by the looks of things. if you end up not scoring any slaw devices (not sure if those what you mentioned above) it will not be to shabby of a solution.

[javelina1]

Subscribing... this looks awesome!

[Warhog]

looks good John, not wobbly by the looks of things. if you end up not scoring any slaw devices (not sure if those what you mentioned above) it will not be to shabby of a solution.

 

Thanks guys.

 

@ Anton, I was seriously considering one of the Slaw pedals. After your comments I was pretty much convinced that they were the ones to buy, not to mention, they look really nice. But I'm a glutton for punishment :music_whistling: so I thought I would see if I could actually build my own pedals. I also had a preference for a pendulum type of design as found in the A10C. I was very happy with the end result. They have virtually no slop or play anywhere, the damper affords very precise movement and the range of motion in the toe brakes is better than I've had in any previous sets of pedals. My ultimate goal was pedals that were smooth as butter yet built like a brick shlt house. In that regard it was a complete success. My only regret is that I could have done a better job on how they look. :smilewink:

 

I'll have some more pics soon as I have finished the sensor placement, calibration and finishing touches.:thumbup:

[7rooper]

That is very sturdy alu setup, Warhog. Very nicely reuse of the pedals :thumbup: I think this is probably more like the A-10 pedals than anything else I have seem. I seem to recall that the pedals mechanism in the A-10 it top hinged as well although on the outside, I think.

 

EDIT found the picture

 

Looks very good Sir.

 

Cheers

Hans

 

Sorry to revive this thread but I'm building a realistic A-10C cockpit too and I'm interested in the pedals topic.

I can see from this photo that the pedals are pendular but they're not hinged in the middle! Instead, they have separate mechanisms and that makes me wonder if this allows dual input for the rudder movement giving asymmetrical rudder movement as the A-10C has two rudders...

 

Warhog, your pedals rock and I'd like to know how you improved them or if you finally gave up and bought the Slaw Vipers

[Deadman]

The pedals swing in the vertical plane and are linked if you push the right forward the left swing back.

[Sokol1_br]

This pedals work much like the new TPR, just the rudder bar swing in horizontal plane instead vertical of TPR.

[Icebeat]

Awesome work