Rudder Pedals

[beefix 2]

My wife, bless her, gave me a Thrustmaster Cougar HOTAS joystick and throttle for Xmas. Super bit of kit but no rudder control! Can anyone recommend a set of rudder pedals that are compatable with this joystick.RgdsSteve H

[sargeski 16]

My wife, bless her, gave me a Thrustmaster Cougar HOTAS joystick and throttle for Xmas. Super bit of kit but no rudder control! Can anyone recommend a set of rudder pedals that are compatable with this joystick.RgdsSteve H

Steve,Any rudder pedals will do just fine. I would recommend either the Saitek Pro Pedals or the CH Pro Pedals. I own both sets and prefer the Saitek pedals over the CH pedals. Also do not be concerned about getting a set of pedals that plug into the Hotas Cougar with a d-sub connector, as its not required.

[beefix 2]

Steve,Any rudder pedals will do just fine. I would recommend either the Saitek Pro Pedals or the CH Pro Pedals. I own both sets and prefer the Saitek pedals over the CH pedals. Also do not be concerned about getting a set of pedals that plug into the Hotas Cougar with a d-sub connector, as its not required.

SargeskiThanks very much for the info.RgdsSteve H

[Guest Chairborne]

Hi, I've got the Saitek ProFlight rudder pedals as well. I've never used the CH pedals, so I can't give much of an objective opinion between the two, but I can tell you this much: If the CH pedals are anything like the Saitek pedals, the manufacturers of both need to do some serious reassessment of the designs.When I got my pedals, the angle of the pedals relative to my feet strongly suggested they need to be placed low. Doing this is very bad for the lower back, especially if you already have a bad back, because usage of the pedals as such requires the usage of back muscles that aren't used in the course of flying a real aircraft. I was coming away from my earlier sim experience with a very sore back that was even numb in places after only a few moments of flight. I stowed the pedals in the closet and reverted to autorudder in disgust.When I made my FS seat arrangement described in another subforum here, I strived to duplicate everything as much as possible: Yoke height to seat height, height of heels relative to seat height, everything. In the end I duplicated the dimensions of a single-engine Cessna cockpit arrangement and included the pedals in the formulation. The angle of the pedals in such an authentic arrangement prevents effective usage of the foot brakes without flexing your feet downwards like a world-class ballerina (Seriously), so I fly with 'heels on the floor' (in tradition with a general aviation adage used to prevent fish-tailing on take-offs and landings), using the forward parts of my feet to manipulate the lower edge of the pedals. It works well enough that it's far, far easier on my already-very-bad back and I use the left red button on my Saitek yoke for brakes.My conclusion is thus: It is my earnest opinion that Saitek and perhaps CH need to seriously consider including an elevated platform which can be secured to something to raise the pedals to a height which places no undue strain on anyone's back (or at least issue a suggestion to elevate the pedals), as well as modify the pedal angle to more accurately simulate that of the pedals one finds in Cessnas, Pipers, and so on. Simulation should be fun, not physically taxing, and if this many details go into the simulation experience, then perhaps this is one that needs to be addressed more seriously. In the meantime, I'm trying to fabricate some pedals which can bolt or clip onto the Saitek pedals which will more accurately duplicate the angle, feel and action of the real thing.