If you ask a glider or helicopter pilot they'll answer rudder pedals are essential.

But OFC it can be done with a twist stick, although it's not the same and your brain will be trained for the use of rudders on a not at all realístic way, I guess...

Edited April 27, 20251 yr by jcomm

1 hour ago, jcomm said:

If you ask a glider ot helicopter pilot they'll answer rudder pedals are a essential.

But OFC it can be done with a twist stick, although it's not the same and your brain will be trained for the use of rudders on a not at all realístic way, I guess...

Fixed wing pilot needs rudder pedals too, can't imagine flying without them.

I have them. Spent a fortune. Last thing I would spend money on.

If you are at that point, then find they are worth it. Necessary is a very strong word .

A good twist stick works just as well, unless you are flying helicopters.

Its the only time I would call them necessary.

 

 

6 minutes ago, Ron Lefebvre said:

I have them. Spent a fortune. Last thing I would spend money on.

If you are at that point, then find they are worth it. Necessary is a very strong word .

A good twist stick works just as well, unless you are flying helicopters.

Its the only time I would call them necessary.

 

 

Crosswind landings with a twist grip is not at all realistic in my opinion. 

3 minutes ago, Bobsk8 said:

Crosswind landings with a twist grip is not at all realistic in my opinion. 

Maybe not, but rudder pedals that are worth anything are very expensive.

 

On 11/27/2024 at 9:18 PM, Sethos said:

On 11/27/2024 at 9:10 PM, Bobsk8 said:

Flying with a twist stick, is horrible.

Only if you're an old man with no coordination. 

or only if you like realism. I remember my very first real flight lesson. I thought that should be boring, yet I was exited when my instructor said:"just follow the yellow taxi line!" and that was rudder only, no yoke. now I am old indeed, and using the rudder comes as 2nd nature. not required in a sim, but essential for coordinated turns in the air and during taxi (I am not talking about flybywire airliners etc but GeneralAviation) and the immersion, has nothing to do with young or old. and while we are at it, why not use the mouse instead? 😃

Edited April 27, 20251 yr by turbomax

Went years with a twist stick trying to be a tight you know what.   Changes everything once you get rudder pedals as far as crosswind landings go.  Trying to turn ailerons and twist opposite of the turn for rudder was a pain in the you know what for crosswind landings. 😮

                                      Happy Landings

 

 

 

Edited April 28, 20251 yr by jwhak

Since my feet are numb the rocker switch on my Thrustmaster throttle is a good substitute.

dd

16 hours ago, jwhak said:

Went years with a twist stick trying to be a tight you know what Changes everything once you get rudder pedals as far as crosswind landings go.  Trying to turn ailerons and twist opposite of the turn for rudder was a pain in the you know what for crosswind landings. 😮

                                      Happy Landings

 

 

 

you know what. Is that the same as rectum?

Asking for a friend.

25 minutes ago, Ron Attwood said:

you know what. Is that the same as rectum?

Asking for a friend.

Nah man its rudder pedals 😉

 

On 11/27/2024 at 11:53 AM, jlund said:

And when is it most critical in flight to use pedals?

When you don't have 3 hands 😉

17 hours ago, jwhak said:

Went years with a twist stick trying to be a tight you know what.... Trying to turn ailerons and twist opposite of the turn for rudder was a pain in the you know what for crosswind landings. 😮

                                      Happy Landings

That sounds tricky!  Since I don't want to take up room where my feet live I use an old Cessna trim wheel and it's manageable for x-wind landings as I can control my yoke with the right hand only so can use left hand for rudder which in my config is also controlling nose-wheel steering.  Pedals would be better though especially since I have nose-wheel steering also controlled w/ the trim wheel.

Just get rudder pedals by golly.

 

Had an old Saitek set die on me...  thought I might try to live without them, then my old Logitech joy stick also was just producing a horribly waffly signal, so I said, hmmm maybe I can use this x-box controller. Tried that for a few days, it drove me nuts, lol.  So, I've bought some TB pedals together with the TM Airbus set. Those Velocity pedals are the bomb man, SO much better than the Saitek ever was!! 

 

I thought the Saiteks were fairly horrible. And it's obnoxious that Logitech is selling the exact same set, just rebranded, with no improvements. I will never understand how a company that is so freaking good at making mice can be so bad at making game controllers (but, of course, the answer is "They're cheaping out.")

I would not agree with the idea that a twist stick is "just as good." And not just because it's not realistic to control the rudders from the stick -  I mean, if you're flying a civilian flight sim with a stick, there aren't a whole lot of aircraft where that will be realistic vs. a yoke.  But the problem is the control throw. The twist stick has a very limited stop-to-stop twisting range, and that means that every rudder input from 0% to 100% has to be crammed into that very short throw. By comparison a good set of rudder pedals gives you a much larger range of motion, which means you can be much more precise in your application of rudder input.

That's actually what really separates the good controllers of any kind from the mediocre. The Logitech yoke has a rather short turning arc and a very short pitch length. Higher end yokes have larger travel which leads to greater precision.

If you're autopiloting a 737 until you're almost on the runway, it doesn't matter. If you're trying to land Draco on a riverbank, it just might. If you're trying to conduct mid-air refueling in DCS? You'd better have a precise controller!