Rudder Pedal Expectations

[JHzlwd]

Colleagues,

 

I'd welcome commentary/experiences on the following:

 

I have been flying Black Shark for a couple of years and become quite expert in any situation at handling the unit with Saitek Pro X52. A few days ago I decided to take another step toward authenticity and purchased the Saitek Pro Combat Rudder Pedals. Like every Saitek product I have used before this installed easily and works exactly as advertised. Very nice.

 

Initially I found myself flying almost like a novice again. There was even some crash-and-burn. There is daily improvement but decoupling one's hand from the twist-stick and replacing those actions with foot movement represents a significant learning curve for now. I have some concern that the foot/leg mechanism is inherently far less precise than the hand at performing any delicate task.

 

Will I be able, ultimately, to obtain the same precise control as I had with the twist stick? From any of you who have gone this route before me I would be interested in your findings. If I am likely to end up with a less precise reaction than formerly I'll be tempted to stick with the twist (while using the foot operated controls for something else) and avoid telling the purists ;-)

[Cruiser18]

I went through the exact same as you. I had been running my Black Shark with an X52 for a long time using just the joystick twist, and finally I decided to buy the Saitek Pro Combat Rudder Pedals.

 

Getting your body to adjust to something new from what has already become a reflex is a massive undertaking. I found myself having massive problems trying to teach my legs that they now where in control of the rudder.

 

After a good number of hours, you will slowly get adjusted to it though, and now I dont even think about it when I use my pedals to turn. Best thing I can recommend is first of all: Remove the rudder from the joystick twist. Force yourself to use the pedals. Second: Put a good number of hours into the free flight instant action. Fly low in a town with big building and twist and turn in and out between the buildings.

 

Do this for a while and your body will start adjusting to this new way of controlling the chopper. Before you know it, you will be able to make small fine adjustments with the rudder without thinking about it, and using your legs to adjust the rudder sure beats the twist when having to limp your damaged chopper home and having to hold the rudder at an angle for almost 30 minutes. :P

[Tetra]

Same situation and upgrade path also. It does take a while to adjust, the muscle memory built from using the twist for rudder and having both feet kept firmly placed unmoving on the floor will take time to un-learn.

 

For a good few days after switching to pedals I found myself instinctively still trying to twist the joystick every time I wanted to feed in rudder and to begin with my legs would even inadvertently wildly overcompensate on the pedals, occasionally even pushing in the wrong direction or adding in tons of rudder when I only wanted a touch lol.

 

However this passed after a few more days of flying and it is now at the stage where I would NEVER consider flying without pedals, the amount of control vs a twist joystick is just night and day in comparison. I would suggest do not go back to the twist but instead just keep flying with the pedals every session until your muscle memory re-learns how to fly with them, you will not regret it, even if you end up flying badly for a few sessions until you get used to it.

[outlawal2]

Just like I told another forum member that was asking about rudder / anti-torque pedals.. Be sure that you turn the friction off so you can better "feel" the helicopter. You will be much happier with the pedals once they are freed up... (If they aren't already) Most folks torque the friction down and that makes it very difficult to control when using for a chopper..

[JHzlwd]

Thanks for the great replies and advice. I feel encouraged now to persist. There has been a lot of improvement but this will evidently take significantly more time. I had learned through experience to turn down the axis friction but was cheating by leaving the twist-stick engaged. High time to go "cold turkey" with that.

[atsmith6]

Hey

 

I went through exactly the same with exactly the same hardware. Took some time to adjust but now it's second nature I have WAY more control with the pedals than I ever had with the stick.

 

Practice and you'll see :)

 

Hope that helps.

[JG14_Smil]

Torque that friction down and unchain your rudder axis to really enjoy BS.

[Fishbreath]

I do find myself in complete disagreement with the unchain-rudder-axis crowd—none of my other controls take on the new center position when I trim, and I have to return them to center; why should the rudder be different? Without a force-feedback stick, at least, I'm resigned to flying with the controls position indicator on, and the headache of having one control axis behave differently from the other two is more of a headache than just having a look at the rudder indicator to see where the pedals actually are. Mileage may vary, of course, but that's how I feel.

[lxvanwyk]

Torque that friction down and unchain your rudder axis to really enjoy BS.

 

Unchain?

[PeterP]

Unchain?

:)

Well, some believe that it's 'common sense' to know what to do when he talks about 'unchain rudders'...

 

 

This for the software:

 

>>> How to unchain the rudder from trim - solution

 

and this for your hardware:

 

>>> How To: Remove centre detend from Saitek Pro Flight Rudder

 

...makes you a happier BlackShark pilot.

 

And here comes my "standard Ka-50 newbie reply" :

>>> http://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=1619851&postcount=14

Edited June 21, 2013 by PeterP

[JHzlwd]

Just to update my progress as the original poster ...

 

It took a few days and some cursing but I am a hummingbird once again. The pedals are great. This is, indeed, the way to go. All the great advice was a big help. It's surprisingly difficult to exchange one reflex for another.

 

I am trimming with the pedals "chained". This adds an additional complexity and not having a problem with it but it is more work. I will try the unchained method and see what happens.

[Devrim]

I don't use "unchainned pedals" either. I'm OK with ability to trim cyclic with centered rudder position.

 

JHzlwd; I've just remembered my fears about exactly same thing. Don't think and just make exercises. Just make free flight everyday. Although it seems that it's not possible to learn, you'll see, in time you'll re-program your reflexes again and use pedals perfectly.

 

Lock twist feature of your X52 cyclic and make all combat returns and maneuvers, everyday. :) Good luck.