Rudder Pedals for Condor V2

[Cloud Mariner]

Which Rudder pedals would people recommend to use with Condor 2. Have read a few posts suggesting that some are better than others both in terms of performance, compatability, and value for money: Which seem most like glider pedals?

I haven't made the leap yet and would be interested to know what the community suggests. Thanks in advance!

[sisu1a]

Short of making your own (not actually that hard) robably T-Rudder pedals from VKB https://vkbcontrollers.com/?product=vkb-t-rudders-mk-iv



Komodo Simulation also makes anti torque pedals but those have no centering and cost a lot more. I'll be posting about the ones I made from ebay airplane parts and scrap metal here soon.

[Rotareneg]

They're not cheap, but the MFG Crosswind are supposed to be very good: http://mfg.simundza.com/products

Meanwhile I'm stuck with some terrible CH Pedals.

[Cloud Mariner]

Thank you sisu 1 a, and Rotreneg for your input. Knowing they are products used by Condor pilots is reassuring as many pedals out there seem to have features are not relevant to a glider. However for me they are expensive & I'd prefer to put that money into actual glider lessons or do well at an ebay auction (if pigs could fly/glide?)

- The DIY option is becoming more attractive as I learn more about the cost of off the peg pedals and the repeated comment that "it ain't that hard."

This whole Condor flight simulator thing is turning out to be quite the adventure!</t>

[Kessa]

I'm looking to get some Thrustmaster pedals as I've heard they're good. I did look at the Saitek ones but apparently they're not as robust (although on the flip side, some say the Thrusmaster pedals are too close together so can be a little uncomfy on certain areas of the anatomy after a while)

[sadatoni]

I've been using Saitek (Logitech) rudder pedals. Are they perfect? No, but they work for me.

[HornetSk]

My old pedals (primitive but still working:-) ) used was Joystick with one axis defect.


Now I am using Thrustmaster combo wit HAL sensors: https://kotaku.com/thrustmaster-t-16000 ... 1791334139

[sisu1a]

I remember your old pedals Hornet (perfect kinematics for SG38!) , and are part of what convinced me to make my own vs buying, especially since at the time VKB or Chinese knockoffs of them or Komodo simulation etc didn't exist and literally no one made proper sailplane/helicopter type pedals which pivot at the heel. Crosswinds, BaurBRD, etc are nice and all, but regular airplane pedals just don't feel like sailplane pedals. Mine are also made from a repurposed joystick... computer still says my Logitech Attack III is ready to use when I plug them in! :p

The pedals themselves were from an Aeronca Champ, picked up for like $30 or so on ebay. The pushrods were from a wrecked Sisu (Dale May's old ship), but are standard Heim joint/rod ends. The centering mechanism is extremely basic in my case, just a couple pull springs which came out of my Sisu along with the turnbuckles to adjust their tension. Centering is an area that can be a can of worms and there are no perfect solutions, but a lot of acceptable ones at varying difficulty levels, with my example being on the simple end. I may upgrade it to cam centering (much harder) later, which will likely have variable tension (harder yet!) based on airspeed but I digress and these work really well as is.

In this iteration none of the parts are exotic or expensive and substitutes can be found for any of them. The rest was just basically scrap metal and hardware, some basic layout/drilling and a bit of metal cutting. I just rebuilt them the other day to clean up some of the play that had developed. At first the main pivot was just a bolt going through the aluminum channel which was never smooth and got worse with age. Now there's a bronze bushing at that pivot and I also used a thrust bearing to allow me to tighten the bolt on that axis, creating compression on a plastic washer underneath which is slathered with a heavy damping grease called Nyogel 767a... no more play or backlash and suuuuuper smooth.

They metal assy is mounted on an MDF rail that allows ~4" fore/aft adjustment and they mount on my simpit. I'm putting together some albums of my sailplane simpit projects I'm working on and will make a more detailed post about the pedals and other business parts but here's a few pics of the pedals. I reused the pot from the joystick, which is turned by the head of the bolt holding the axis together but that will likely get swapped to a Hall sensor like I've been making for years (https://imgur.com/a/WkQtw).