ARE RUDDER PEDALS FOR ME?

[andersel]

I am a left leg, below the knee, amputee (long time ago, long boring story) and I wear a prosthesis (a good one, but not ultra high-tech). I just want some input about using rudder peddles with this thing attached to my leg. I’ve been getting along with the auto rudder checked in FS9 (my preferred sim poison for now), but lately I’m flying mostly tail draggers and find that I want the real thing. Anybody out there have any experience with this? If it’s a do-able thing I need to start budgeting for (at least what I consider to be) a major purchase. Thanks all! LA

[stansdds]

I would hazard a guess that since your amputation is below the knee you should be able to use rudder pedals. In my sim experience, they have become a necessity, right up there with Track IR.

[FengZ]

The rudder is a major control surface for real-world flying, so it's essential to have pedals if your FS realism settings are on High.

In FS, the amount of torque, forces, etc. is not exactly modeled too well in most planes. However, some such as RealAir, Carenado, etc. does a very good job at simulating the need for rudder input.

anyways, save up...they are worth it!

Oh, does your FS office have hardwood or carpet floors? For me, i have very slick and waxed hard-floors, so the pedals tend to slide around at first. Had to glue some rubber rings on the bottom to give it more friction...

-feng

[mrogers]

I don't think you would have a problem using your prothesis on rudder pedals. If you look back through history, you'll find examples of amputee and even double amputee pilots, some above the knees eg. Douglas Bader a double amputee who flew spitfires in WW2. I have a set of CH pro rudder pedals and they work far better than twisting the joystick which I used to do. The pedals are mounted on a flat board which has small rubber pads underneath to stick to a bare floor, but do sit well on a carpet as well. It would slide on the carpet only if you jammed the pedals hard up and kept pushing. They are not cheap but not too expensive to buy so, yes it would be smart to save up a bit for them if you can. And its also worth the pennies too.

[cheezyflier]

I don't think you would have a problem using your prothesis on rudder pedals. If you look back through history, you'll find examples of amputee and even double amputee pilots, some above the knees eg. Douglas Bader a double amputee who flew spitfires in WW2. I have a set of CH pro rudder pedals and they work far better than twisting the joystick which I used to do. The pedals are mounted on a flat board which has small rubber pads underneath to stick to a bare floor, but do sit well on a carpet as well. It would slide on the carpet only if you jammed the pedals hard up and kept pushing. They are not cheap but not too expensive to buy so, yes it would be smart to save up a bit for them if you can. And its also worth the pennies too.


dude! that guy was one totally insane, bad-@ss man! 22 enemy kills, and when he was finally shot down and captured, still managed to raise hell as a pow, and also briefly escaped.
they shoulda nicknamed that guy "the badger"

[andersel]

Thanks for all the good tips. I guess the hard part, Savinging the dough, starts now. I really thought I had kicked the ebay habit (Robert B. Parker novels) but there's always another day!. LA

[gigabyte]

One point I do not see mentioned here is toe brakes, I am not sure if all rudder pedals use them but my Saitek Rudder tilts on each pedal for the Toe Brake, I am not sure that would be easy to use with a prostetic? I in no way want to dampen or put anyone off of the Rudder Pedal idea, I think they are great but keep that in mind - for Saitek anyway.

[stansdds]

CH Products ProPedals also simulate toe brakes by tilted the foot pedals.

[mariereid]

I put a 2x12 board between the wall and my pedals. The pedals stay put. I need a carpet under my chair, otherwise I'm sliding all over the place.:salute:

[peter12213]

I use saitek rudder pedals and couldn't do without them, I cant imagine being an amputee would really affect you I mean Douglas Bader was a double amputee and he was a Spitfire and Hurricaine ace during WW2, nothing stopped him flying and flying well!