Hi All,

Merry Christmas!

I have been thinking about replacing my terrible Saitek rudder pedals for a while and got some money for Christmas so I have been looking at the Crosswinds (V3). Would. Love to hear from any of you that have them and what your experience has been. I only use MSFS2020 these days but also still have X-Plane 11 installed. 
I did also consider the Thrustmaster TPR’s but they’re a lot more expensive. 
 

Regards

Richard 

What i like about MFG pedals is that those are not made of plastic as most of flying stuff. Pedals are done with CNC cut solid and sturdy material. Whole construction is solid, heavy and well done. The only one negative is that i have to calibrate my pedals quite often as they tend to loose calibration info - but maybe it is just my pedals - old and used. All in all - go for those and forget plastic stuff.

2 hours ago, RJC68 said:

Love to hear from any of you that have them and what your experience has been.

I recommend them.  My experience has been quite positive.  I came off a set of Saitek Pro Cessna pedals, which did perform ok for me.  I however like and prefer the feel and solid build of the Crosswind 3's.  There are a number of adjustment and alignment settings and or options, which really allowed me to set them up to my liking.

I added the accessory width adjustment kit as I needed to narrow the CW3's down from the standard width as I have limited space under my desk. That kit can be used to either narrow or widen the pedals stance.  I also wanted a steeper angle for the foot-pedals themselves.  I was able to achieve both.  I also added dampening to my CW3's.  MFG has a dampening kit but when I ordered my CW3's that dampening kit was backordered for a period of months.  During that delay I found the necessary components from Amazon. The dampener itself is by the way a common motorcycle steering dampener.  The CW3's do not need the extra cam/block that is shown as part of the kit.  It is for previous models of CW's.

I recommend you do closely judge any accessories you are interested in and include them with your pedals order.  Shipping costs are steep from I believe it is Croatia.  Ordering all attachments/accessories you feel you might need or want would be best done at the time you order the pedals as you will greatly optimize shipping costs versus ordering them later.  I ordered the width adjustment kit, springs with different tension, and a CAM5 cam along with my CW3's just in case I felt I would want them later.  I have not found a need to use the stiffer springs or the CAM5.

I have also added height to the heel stops on my pedals, needed because of the steeper angle I have in use.  That was simple to do by sourcing some hollow M5 spacers and longer M5 bolts from Amazon.  If you or any other members here would like information of the Amazon items I ordered I can supply a list.

Thank You Gents,

Appreciate your thoughts. They definitely look pretty solid and well built. It looks like it would be around $680 CDN with everything I want. I just saw that Walmart have the Thrustmaster TPR's for $649. Hmmmm decisions decisions lol

I think the MFG rudder peddles are great and I haven't regretted the purchase for a minute.

I'd add to the above comments that you'll need to consider where and how you deploy these. You'll need to devise a some means to hold them in place: either pressed against a wall or screwed into the floor; as the bottom surface is flat and smooth.

I have a arrangement of particle board and 2x4's that works with my desk setup.

Highly recommended.

1 minute ago, RichieFly said:

I think the MFG rudder peddles are great and I haven't regretted the purchase for a minute.

I'd add to the above comments that you'll need to consider where and how you deploy these. You'll need to devise a some means to hold them in place: either pressed against a wall or screwed into the floor; as the bottom surface is flat and smooth.

I have a arrangement of particle board and 2x4's that works with my desk setup.

Highly recommended.

My current Saitek pedals are up against a wall, I just used a piece of wood I had laying about to bring them back around 4 inches 

58 minutes ago, RJC68 said:

Thank You Gents,

Appreciate your thoughts. They definitely look pretty solid and well built. It looks like it would be around $680 CDN with everything I want. I just saw that Walmart have the Thrustmaster TPR's for $649. Hmmmm decisions decisions lol

Make sure you get the damper kit too, it makes a big difference.

1 minute ago, MarkDH said:

Make sure you get the damper kit too, it makes a big difference.

Hey Mark,

Greetings from an ExPat !

Yes I was considering the damper kit, I watched your video. My dilema now is that the TPR's I found are not that much more

Regards

Richard

1 hour ago, RJC68 said:

My current Saitek pedals are up against a wall, I just used a piece of wood I had laying about to bring them back around 4 inches 

That will work for these as well.  CW3's do come with spacer arms if you need them and they are adjustable in length.  The center of the spacer arms sit about 1 inch above the floor.  A 2X4 would work well.  My desk sits away from the wall a bit so I use a 20 inch wide 2X4 mounted to the front edge of a 20 inch wide by 10 inch deep sheet of particle board.  That slides up against the wall and creates a dam to hold the pedals.  I have not needed to screw them down so they can be moved or removed for vacuuming or cleaning the area.

Edited December 26, 20214 yr by fppilot

12 minutes ago, fppilot said:

That will work for these as well.  CW3's do come with spacer arms if you need them and they are adjustable in length.  The center of the spacer arms sit about 1 inch above the floor.  A 2X4 would work well.  My desk sits away from the wall a bit so I use a 20 inch wide 2X4 mounted to the front edge of a 20 inch wide by 10 inch deep sheet of particle board.  That slides up against the wall and creates a dam to hold the pedals.  I have not needed to screw them down so they can be moved or removed for vacuuming or cleaning the area.

I am now negotiating with a guy selling a 2 month old pair of V3's with damper & combat pedals, trying to get him below $600 CDN lol My backup is the TPR's which I found for $733 incl tax

Just now, RJC68 said:

I am now negotiating with a guy selling a 2 month old pair of V3's with damper & combat pedals, trying to get him below $600 CDN lol My backup is the TPR's which I found for $733 incl tax

Does he have the standard pedals (foot plates) as well as the combat pedals?

1 minute ago, fppilot said:

Does he have the standard pedals (foot plates) as well as the combat pedals?

Yes looks like the black Cessna style as well as the combat pedals

Just now, RJC68 said:

Yes looks like the black Cessna style as well as the combat pedals

So for comparison load up a cart at the MFG site and get to the stage where shipping cost is revealed.  That will tell the story on value.  When I ordered my CW3's back at the end of June I was charged just under $50 USD for shipping and $18 USD in taxes.

11 minutes ago, fppilot said:

So for comparison load up a cart at the MFG site and get to the stage where shipping cost is revealed.  That will tell the story on value.  When I ordered my CW3's back at the end of June I was charged just under $50 USD for shipping and $18 USD in taxes.

He actually sent me a copy of the invoice, he paid $693 which including shipping and the tax due of $96

So far we're at $600 but like I said for $133 more I can get the TPR's

Wow this is a hard decision lol

7 minutes ago, RJC68 said:

Wow this is a hard decision lol

Vastly different styles.  Are you just more tuned to Cessna-like pedals?