Virtual-Fly RUDDO+ Question

[danwood 2]

I'll be getting a Fulcrum Yoke in the next few months (hopefully) or whenever it becomes available, and I am currently in the market for some high-end rudder pedals to go with it.  My nearly 20 years old CH pedals are long overdue for a proper upgrade.  Despite the supply shortages at the moment, I am pleased to see so many excellent high quality options out there these days. Virtual-Fly, Redbird, MFG, VIRPIL, Slaw... Thrustmaster really stepped up their game with their TPR pedals - I was nearly sold on those as I like the idea of a more realistic heels-on-the-ground setup. 

Anyway, after watching every youtube video I could find on the subject, I believe the Virtual-Fly RUDDO Plus are the ones that would suit my needs/wants the best.   The price is a bit...well...yikes!!  But if they are as good as they say, I'm willing to make the investment.   I really only have one remaining concern, and that is the travel distance of the pedals.  To be honest, I'm not sure what a typical distance for full-deflection is supposed to be in a real aircraft (I'm guessing around 4-5 inches).  I'm sure it varies from aircraft to aircraft but I would like something that feels as realistic as possible for most GA offerings.   I have not seen any RUDDO reviews mentioning anything about this, so I'm hoping its a non-issue.  BUT, judging from pictures and videos, the RUDDO *looks* to be a bit on the short-side... Is this an unfounded concern?  Are there any RUDDO owners out there (or others in the know) willing to share some insight?

[oemlegoem 29]

Looks like the FlyHirundo Rudder Pedal might suit your needs: the pedal travel is 150mm between max rudder right and max rudder left, or 75mm from centre:
https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/560219-flyhirundo-rudder-pedal-introduction/?tab=comments#comment-4066585

Several units have now been in operation since beginning this year, and based on customer feedback, I will have an update middle to end of October. The customer feedback was very positive: the units are high quality, sturdy and precise. With one unit, there was a loose wire connection, and that will be taken care of in the design.
I will inform about the update later in October.

I intentionally did not have more first production units, because I wanted to avoid having problems in faraway places. But the first production behaved in an excellent way, and I added some fresh ideas in the update. 

regards
Jozef

Edited October 2, 2020 by oemlegoem

[FreeBird(Josh) 314]

I have the Ruddos and think there the best out there. The travel is about 4 inches in total so that is 2inches ether way from center. What makes these work well is that the pressure applied simulates what it feels like in a aircraft. You really feel like your using real pedals The brakes also work well with the load cells when applying. I think I even like the pedals more than the yoke and tq6. I give it 4stars losing one star as the price is high.  You wont regret getting them.

[oemlegoem 29]

3 minutes ago, FreeBird(Josh) said:

I have the Ruddos and think there the best out there. The travel is about 4 inches in total so that is 2inches ether way from center. What makes these work well is that the pressure applied simulates what it feels like in a aircraft. You really feel like your using real pedals The brakes also work well with the load cells when applying. I think I even like the pedals more than the yoke and tq6. I give it 4stars losing one star as the price is high.  You wont regret getting them.

Josh,

since you have the Ruddo, can you measure the travel? I think it is less than 4/2 inches.

[FreeBird(Josh) 314]

yea its more like 3/1.5    all i can say is the pressure is right.   I used both conventional pedals like Saitek and MFS crosswinds and they don't even compare in any way to the Ruddos.

[danwood 2]

Thanks for the info Josh.  Your assessment on the "feel" is consistent with many of the reviews I've watched... 3 inches sounds very short but I'm encouraged by the fact that nobody seems to complain about it.  

Jozef, your pedals look fantastic!  I will be keeping an eye out for your October update.

 

 

 

 

[regis9 3,999]

I replaced my MFG pedals with the Ruddo and couldn’t be happier.  The MFGs were very good, but the feel of the Ruddos is amazing.  Just make sure you have a way to secure them (and keep your chair still) because the load cell brakes take a good bit of force to apply.

[Ray Proudfoot 8,927]

@danwood, last year I visited a chap who used to fly 747s for a major airline. He had bought the Thrustmaster TPRs after demoing them at the Cosford show.

He said they are the closest thing to the real 747 pedals he has come across.

He has also ordered the Fulcrum, like me. Food for thought. I still have my CH pedals as they still work and I have prioritised a quality throttle quadrant ahead of pedals.

Priced around 800GBP I couldn’t spend that much. The high price is down to the exchange rate with GBP versus Euro. At just over half the price the TPRs seem a better deal and you can have your heels on the floor. How do you manage braking on the RUDDOs?

[danwood 2]

Just a quick follow up for anyone else on the fence regarding the RUDDO+ pedals since I'm now a proud owner and have had a chance to play around with them.

The pedal travel distance in each direction is exactly 3cm (6cm total) which is a bit disappointing.  The good news is that it has not bothered me a bit.  The amount of pressure required feels very realistic (think C172), and I am able to make very precise rudder corrections despite the short travel distance. It's night and day compared to my old CH pedals. 

The advice about making sure the pedals are properly secured is no-joke.  If you invest in these, you will have to get them mounted.  It's not an option - even though they are heavy, they will not stay in place on their own.  The toe brakes are VERY stiff (a bit too much) and the factory calibration seem to have been optimized for power lifters.  My first test flight ended in catastrophe as I was unable to bring my plane to a stop even with my legs pushing the breaks until my calf muscles ripped through my pants.  The best I could manage is about 60-70%... To fix this, I had to use Virtual-Fly's beta software (for MSFS) to bring the load cell range down to a useable level.

I wish I could have tried the Thrustmaster TPR's before making this purchase, but I have no regrets... I wager that the RUDDO's are better from a pure technical perspective, but the TPR's will probably provide a better value for most people. 

[regis9 3,999]

Glad to hear you’re enjoying them.

I actually avoided hard mounting them, (I need to be able to move them so I can put my sim racing pedals/rig in place).  I built a little platform with a backstop that is against the wall and then use a clamp to hold them down in the front.  Not the prettiest or most elegant solution, but it keeps them in place and I can move them when I need to.

I tried using the VF beta software to adjust the brakes but it seemed like whatever I set the sensitivity to, any brake application would apply full brakes...I haven’t figured that out yet.

[danwood 2]

I hear you, I wanted mine to be removable as well... drilling into the floor was not an option, so, I mounted them on a jig (I stole the idea from here: https://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?/forums/topic/146832-sharing-experience-a-simple-way-to-mount-ruddo-pedals/ )   

Here is how it turned out...

To make it slightly less of an eyesore, I used some fancier shelving brackets, painted the wooden parts, and then covered the base in adhesive carpeting as a final touch.  I also added some padding on the rear bracket so I don't damage the wall when pushing down on the brakes.  I'm quite pleased with how it turned out... The pedals are very secure, and the added carpeting also added a little extra comfort since I do most of my flying in my socks.  Oh, and I also had to get some locking casters for my chair to keep myself from rolling back.  Those straps that came with the pedals was just not up to the task.

[regis9 3,999]

Here's what mine looks like with and without the pedals.  The blue foam is insulation, I went to the hardware store looking for something the right size and found this, the foam is nice on my feet when the pedals aren't there.

For my chair I replaced the wheels with these:

Do you find the locking castors work well?  What I have keeps my chair well in place which is great, but it is hard to move around when I actually want it to move so perhaps I'll try a set of locking wheels.

[FreeBird(Josh) 314]

I took a plastic desk mat and drilled three holes for the front wheels to fall into. Works well and its really easy to move the chair out of the holes and move around. It creates just enough holding power when using the pedals and brakes. I secured the Ruddos to a sheet of 1/2 inch plywood under my desk painted black.

[AlainT 0]

I received this pedals a week ago.

the large black plate in front have no interest i turn it to 180° for having the larger surface toward the wall and place pieces of wood on it (between wall and pedal support) and for having non rotation when brakes are pressed.

Mainly I feel there is too more space between ground and pedals, i just place pieces of wood behind each pedal so my feet can rest on it. fore the brake i have just to press the top without too effort. In MSFS i adjust sensibilty- -50% sensibilty+ 85% neutral 80% for applying brake with no too long course of the top of feet.

i never had rudder before. After some trys i think this is not very useful, for wind trim rudder can be applied with  commands, and on ground the joystick can control the wheel nose and brakes.

(Excuse my english)

[AlainT 0]

also i have replaced the springs of brakes with 2 spings of rudder; so less force for break and less effort on the chair.. great comfort but even less is a bit too so i have ordered brake wheel for my chair.