Hi all,

I had purchased a while back a pair of the great MFG crosswinds, but for personal reasons never got around to using them in general.

I'm now resuming flight simming, and looking at the different options I would like to get feedback from those who know about the differences with the accesories and settings for different scenarios.

As those of you that know them know, the pedals come with 2 "CAM" pieces, (number 4 and 6) with different movement trajectories for more/less center detent and curves, and a third one (5) that can be purchased separately, and there is a brief description of the differences of all these on their website on a pdf (https://mfg-sim.com/download/CAM_Presentation.pdf)

You can also regulate the spring tension, and then I also saw they have a damper kit that has almost unanimous opinion that it's a great addon.

Lastly they added from when I purchase to now, several different footrests  (Mine have as it came back then, with the "original" 109's)

So, considering I want to try some GA/Airliners, as well as some combat stuff in DCS:

- What exactly does one want for each of those say 3 general scenarios in terms of detent, force, linear/curve, etc. and why/with what purpose?

- Do you change your settings each time you switch? (for those that like that variety like I'm looking for as well)

I guess I mainly want to find my answers to:

- Should I buy the damper kit? (I think this one will be majorly a yes). And also, when you use the damper do you disconnect the spring?

- Should I get the sold separately CAM 5 addon?

- Is it worth getting the "soft spring"? (not sure what the difference is in the soft spring vs loosening the one that came pre-installed.

- How should I setup the pedals (strong/soft spring, detent/no detent etc.) for each case? (and why, to have that knowledge of why we chose each setting for each case)

 

Thanks in advance!!

 

Edited September 28, 20223 yr by Mgard78

Buy the damper kit!

I bought CAM 5 but don't think I'm actually using it.

When using the original spring with the damper kit one can set the spring loose enough that it will not really return completely to cam center (unless the damper is set to VERY low damping)...so I would say it's a no on the "soft spring".

I think you'll find that the only way no centering detent would work would be on control load (force feedback) controls. Without a detent you'll find yourself constantly fishing for neutral, which of course doesn't happen IRL because of the aerodynamic load acting as a centering force.

2 hours ago, somiller said:

Buy the damper kit!

I bought CAM 5 but don't think I'm actually using it.

When using the original spring with the damper kit one can set the spring loose enough that it will not really return completely to cam center (unless the damper is set to VERY low damping)...so I would say it's a no on the "soft spring".

I think you'll find that the only way no centering detent would work would be on control load (force feedback) controls. Without a detent you'll find yourself constantly fishing for neutral, which of course doesn't happen IRL because of the aerodynamic load acting as a centering force.

Thanks for the reply! 

So, having 0 experience I don't really know if the centering detent is wanted/unwanted, but what about the comments on the CAMs that the don't say there is NO detent, but rather that the 6 CAM is pretty marked, whereas the 4 (and the 5) are more subtle. Which is preferred and why? (also, you mention you don't use 5, but which are you using, 4 or 6?).

 

The original pedals without addons had a great WOW factor for me. Not so for the extra pedals or damper kit.

After mounting the footrests that WOW effect had gone. They make the pedals much less comfortable to use, at least with an office chair. They probably will be better with a racing chair where you are sitting lower to the ground. It was bad enough for me to replace them within a day with the original footrests.

Everyone seems to love the damper kit but I don't really see what's so great. At anything more than its lowest friction setting, the pedals will stop returning to center position. Also, they require more force from your feet which means if you haven't fixed your pedals to the floor or against the wall it will move around. I have my MFG pedals screwed to a peace of MDF board and added some anti-slip rubber on the bottom to stop them from moving, which worked fine unless I use more than just a little bit of friction on the dampers.

The default MFG pedals, without any addons, are great though. Smooth and great for fine control of rudders and brakes.

As for the cams, The default cam works fine for me.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 28, 20223 yr by orchestra_nl
cams

A little late to the party here, but my 2cents, I think the stock MFGs are fantastic. I don't see the need to improve them, even if everyone were saying the damper was a significant improvement.

They're well-built, and strike a really good balance between realism (no centering) and "we're not actually generating wind over a rudder here so if you want to find center it's gonna need to have a centering spring!"

The centering force is just enough that they will return to center if you take your feet off the pedals, but not so much that they cause input issues like some controllers with overly tight springs.

I lack the patience to futz with controller configuration every time I swap airplanes, so I have the same pedal action whether I'm flying the MSFS Cessna 150 or the DCS F-18. Works just fine for me - there's only so much realism you can generate from hardware without spending insane amounts of money and setting up several different simpits.