Looking for decent Rudders, recommendations needed :)

[ZeeMan90]

Hey guys,

after getting the Warthog HOTAS I would like to complete my basic jet steering equipment with rudders in order to be no longer dependent on
<,> for left and <.> for right rudder controls on my keyboard. What can you recommend? I would like to get something decent which inherits all the
necessary features rudders must have as of today aswell as solid built-quality, reliable and precision controls.

Looking forward to your recommendations

Regards

[Guest]

Are you just flying BMS? Maybe some civvie flight sims as well? I think an el-cheapo Saitek Pro Flight rudder set would work just fine.

When flying helicopters or WWII aircraft that benefit from precision rudder input, then more expensive and accurate rudder pedals start to justify their cost, which can get really silly really quickly. Slaw and Simped rudders come to mind.

[ZeeMan90]

Hi Ice,

thank you for your advice. I will then go for the Saitek Pro Flight rudder set as I am only flying BMS at the moment.
Additionally I am learning DCS A-10C but I despise the way they setup the cockpit view.
You have to toggle LAlt+C to look around and toggle back to be able to click on Buttons and switches.
BMS’s hold RMB to look around is far superior and should be THE STANDARD in any sim.

The SLAW ones of course look and probably perform as nice but I guess I will be just fine with Saitek

[Guest]

If all you need the rudders for is on BMS, you can even skip on those for now. Go to SETUP -> CONTROLLERS -> ADVANCED and tick ENABLE ROLL-LINKED NWS

What this does is it ties your nose-wheel steering to your joystick’s left/right input allowing you to steer with the stick when on the ground.

BMS’s hold RMB to look around is far superior and should be THE STANDARD in any sim.

Instead of rudders, I would strongly suggest your next purchase would be a TrackIR. It will do WONDERS for your cockpit work and situational awareness.

[Habu_]

@ZeeMan90:

Hi Ice,

thank you for your advice. I will then go for the Saitek Pro Flight rudder set as I am only flying BMS at the moment.
Additionally I am learning DCS A-10C but I despise the way they setup the cockpit view.
You have to toggle LAlt+C to look around and toggle back to be able to click on Buttons and switches.
BMS’s hold RMB to look around is far superior and should be THE STANDARD in any sim.

The SLAW ones of course look and probably perform as nice but I guess I will be just fine with Saitek

If I were you I would invest in head tracking as a more useful device than rudders. A virtual pilot is adjusting view CONSTANTLY, whereas rudders are used primarily for takeoff and landing.

[Gladman]

MFG Crosswind are the best in my opinion. They are pricey but you’ll never buy another set in your lifetime. At least thats what I used to justify the purchase :).

http://mfg.simundza.com/products

[schnidrman]

Saitek pedals are pricey now that Logitech acquired Saitek. I believe it is due to lack of availability.

[Rybo]

Buy a set of MFG Crosswinds from Milan and never look back. On top of getting the best pedals currently produced (IMHO), you’ll have plenty of customization options, superb support from Milan himself, and you’ll be supporting his small business. Win-win.

[supanova]

MFG Crosswinds.

I don’t have a set myself, but I wish that when I was looking for pedals those had been available, and I would hope that someone would have given me the advice to avoid cheap pedals, and buy something that would last.

I have a set of CH Pro Pedals. I have had to take them apart and “fix” them numerous times. I’m hoping the last fix might take and the pedals won’t start to drift back to centre again.

The MFG’s, from all the user reviews I’ve seen, are so much better, and will last. And they will retain value.

[Guest]

Wow, that MFG sure is expensive! I’m sure the build quality justifies the price, but I’m not sure the usage in BMS justifies spending that much. If this were a WWI or WWII sim or if the OP was a rotorhead, then the constant rudder input would justify spending that much on something that can take a beating. FWIW, I bought a Saitek Pro Flight rudder 7 years ago and it’s still working now. Something snapped inside the left pedal so the spring no longer holds the pedal in the “off” position but this isn’t a problem as I rest my toes on the heel section of the pedals and thus “hold” it upright. Somebody was upgrading to the more expensive pedals and was selling his Saitek Combat rudder so I got that as a replacement.

[Stevie]

I managed to time it right and buy a set of Saitek Combat Pro pedals before they got acquired by Logitec and people started asking insane prices for them…really, really like them. I also have a set of CH pedals…got a toe pot busted on the right foot, haven’t tried to troubleshoot it because I prefer my Saiteks…and I like the feel of the Saiteks far better - the ability to dial in some resistance makes them feel far superior to the CH ones, IMO.

Recommended…IF you can find a set for a reasonable price.

[Guest]

When did Logi buy Saitek? Looking at prices now, wow…. £125 for a used set… maybe I can flog my old one for decent money! I remember going for Saiteks because the CH option was a tad more expensive. I guess that’s no longer the case. Luckily, I was able to get my Combat pedals for 100EUR but this was for the pedals and a CH throttle quadrant…

[Stevie]

…my CH throttle has a pot busted too…fortunately I have three Cougar TQS’s (and a Warthog) to back it up with.

[Habu_]

@-Ice:

Wow, that MFG sure is expensive! I’m sure the build quality justifies the price, but I’m not sure the usage in BMS justifies spending that much. If this were a WWI or WWII sim or if the OP was a rotorhead, then the constant rudder input would justify spending that much on something that can take a beating.

I was fully satisfied for many years flying BMS using TM pedals without toe brakes; but, when I decided to try flying some WWII era prop aircraft in DCS, I quickly ordered the MFG crosswinds. Good pedals really help when flying tail draggers. Not so essential for jet fighters, IMHO.

[AV8R]

Best and most expensive rudders ive owned…SLAW F16

https://m.facebook.com/slaw.device

He makes other versions now, but you could ask if he can still make a F16 set.

[Stevie]

As I recall he stopped making the F-16 specific pedal shapes, but the new “slatted” pedals still use the same mechanism…still a very nice set of pedals.

[schnidrman]

Just a heads up on the Saitek Combat Pedals.

I’ve had mine for a couple of years now and love the design (even though they are plastic), but last night I had to open her up for a second time to fix a broken wire to the rudder potentiometer. The white wire broke at the pot a couple of months ago and the green wire broke last night. Not a terribly hard fix, but they put hot glue over the solder joints on the pot to reduce wire flex at that point (doesn’t work obviously), so a little care needs to be taken while removing the glue.

The gauge of the wire is 20 or less, so when the last (black) wire breaks, I will probably retrofit the harness to a heavier gauge. My opinion is that the wiring is not robust enough to handle any kind of flex at all. I will also anchor the harness so it flexes in the middle, rather than flexing at the pot.

Other than that, I love them when they are working, which is most of the time. If they ever come back down to their previous pricing I would consider buying another set as long as they no longer say MadCatz on the bottom.

I have never had any luck w/ stuff that has MadCatz stamped on it.

BTW, the reason I chose the Saitek peadls over the CH pedals, was that the CH pedals were set too close to each other. I like the spread on the Saitek pedals better.

[Sandman]

@AV8R:

Best and most expensive rudders ive owned…SLAW F16

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y133/AV8R_/Sim%20Favs/D8EFBA16-3933-4AB5-8549-862B1E6F58FA_zpsw9bm3vnn.jpg

https://m.facebook.com/slaw.device

He makes other versions now, but you could ask if he can still make a F16 set.

I’ve owned this set now for 2 years, Operation is as smooth as glass, great feel, don’t have to constantly play with dead zones or open up to fix something. I owned a set of Saitek Pro Combat pedals and within a year I was looking for another option. Went to the Slaw Device and have been very happy since.

Anything can go wrong that’s just the hard truth but the quality and feel are so much better than the plastic pedals. If flight simming or simming in general is a passion and true hobby that you will pursue for years to come don’t go cheap on the rudder pedals even if you just use them to steer the plane on the taxiway and runways. If that’s all the use they will get then a good set will last you a simming lifetime.

[designamk1]

The VKB T-Rudder pedals are a great set of pedals.

https://flightsimcontrols.com/store/pedals/vkb-t-rudder-pedals-mk-iv/

For the price you can’t go wrong. The build quality is great and they feel amazing. They are full metal and use non contact sensors so no need to clean dirty pots all the time. A pot will always fail eventually

I had a set of Saitek Combat Pedals and the right toe brake stopped working after a few weeks.

The VKB pedals aren’t much more than the Saiteks but the build quality is a 100x better

These pedals should last forever

[Snake122]

For the foreseeable future I’ll be using the Saitek Combat Pro pedals. I so far have been lucky and haven’t needed to fix anything but won’t be surprised when I do. In general though it should be an easy fix. But I do wish I would have bought a spare set. I do that with any sim hardware that I decide is essential to my setup, hence why I have 3 X65s.

With all my real flight time I can’t stand heels on the pedal designs like MFG Crosswind (and most the other big name brand ones) and the Slaw Viper, while be a heels on the floor design, are still more than I want to spend on just pedals. The VKBs not having real brakes also turns me off.