Helicopter Anti Torque Pedals

[durangoflyer]

I am working on my XP10 flight controls to make them more realistic for helicopter flight. I have been looking at pedals (using the twist motion on the joystick for now) and have made several observations about what is available out there.

Ch Pro Pedals: I used to own these years ago on FLY!, but never tried helicopters. The fact that your whole foot has to sit on each pedal kind of bothers me. These are cheap and last a long time. I found a mod video that might make these an affordable way to go.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxWtyIQ1Wn4

Saitek Pro Pedals: Never tried these, but they look like the same design as the CH ones where your feet have to sit on the platforms.

Saitek Pro Combat Pedals: These are my top pick as they let you rest your heels on the platform and I think would feel the best for helicopter flight. They also seem very beefy and have metal parts. The new Cessna branded ones with black plastic seem to be similar. These are upwards of $175 US or more and are more than I want to spend.

Anything else I have seen was way out of my price range

[Swashbuckler]

I'm using the Saitek Pro Combat Pedals and find them really smooth, plenty robust for my great hooves. I must say that these are the only pedals I have used I can't compare to others.

[durangoflyer]

Thanks for your input. Not many people flying helicopters and even fewer that are setting up more realistic controls for them, so it is good to hear from you.

I recently purchased a racing wheel and foot pedals for Dirt3 and saw the plugin that allows you to use racing pedals as yaw (fools X-plane into mapping them from brakes to yaw) and it works very well. I did a practice session last night and it sure beats twisting the joystick. I like the fact I can rest my heels on the deck of the pedals, but they are not realistic in that you can press both pedals at the same time. When you press one pedal on the Combat Pedals, does the other one come back towards you by force like a real helicopter?

[Swashbuckler]

Yep...central pivot fulcrum...1 goes forward, the other comes back.

[Hueyman]

Hello dudes !

I'm fly helicopters 90% of the time in X-Plane, mainly Dreamfoil's R-22 and Jet Ranger, then some other stuffs, the MD902, BK 117, Mil MI-8, Hughes 500 D..

I love the R-22 and Jet Ranger, I'm impatient to see a high quality Huey or R-44 ( Maybe Conex would be more open to the R-44, as it is a training heli also ).

For controls, I had the so pupular saitek X52. Then, one year ago I invested in a very high quality HOTAS, the Thrustmaster Warthog. It's main features are :

- Reproduction of the real sticks and throttle of the A-10 US Bomber

- Sticks, buttons, switchs, base.. in Metal, very heavy

- Perfect quality for everything, aviation quality switches, 2 or 3 ways, constant pression etc..

- Very high axes resolution of 12 bits, 65536 X 65536 values

So, even if it was designed for a fixed wing ACFT, the joystick handle is very similar to today's military helo, black, metal, with some hats for trims, a trigger etc..

Even if the throttle doesn't look a collective sticks, it allow very precise and fine adjustements, and the grey lever allow for engine power to be controlled ( for example, you start a turbine heli with GOV Off and full idle power, then slowly increase the power with that lever and finally, when normal OPS RPM is reached, switch on the GOV/Fadec )

I plan to buy this mod, that allow a longer stick for more precision around a small area ( as it increase the travel range due to the larger moment )

For pedals, I also got the Pro Combat Pedals from Saitek.

I love the differencial brakes, but not best for helis, we should have ours heels constantly on the ground, pushing with the fore feet. Thats impossible in the PFC Pedals, yo have to move your whole leg, while move back the other..

http://www.mikesflightdeck.com/mfdb/mfdb_images/pedal_set.jpg

Regards,

Valentin

[Swashbuckler]

Man...I would love to have the Flight Link Helicopter setup or their Cyclic as a stand alone...but way to rich for me (at the moment) and the postage to Aust. is horrendous.

[Hueyman]

Yes but, you don't absolutely need that to be true. Setup I've stated above are really correct !

The thing I miss the most is the long shaft stick and Helicopter type Pedals..