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FLIGHT SIMULATOR RUDDER PEDALS
A LOW-TECH SOLUTION TO A HIGH-TECH PROBLEM
by Rick Lee, Associate SysOp, CompuServe FSFORUM
First published in PC-Pilot, Volume 1, Number 1 -- Sept. 1989
Have you ever talked to licensed pilots about PC-based simulators?
They always complain about the lack of realistic controls. They are
right, of course. Keyboard control is terrible and one puny joystick
isn't much better. It may be a great intellectual exercise, but it's
far from a realistic flying experience. I flew Flight Simulator II on
the Atari ST for years, mainly using the keyboard yoke but also the
mouse when I needed analog control for complex procedures such as stunt
flying. After Flight Simulator version 3.0 came out for IBM
computers, I was
jealous of the great analog joysticks available for it, not to mention
the wheel-type Maxx Yoke. I wanted as much realism as I could get.
But even after I got my 286 clone with stunning VGA graphics and a
super-smooth CH Flightstick, there was still a gaping hole in that
hot-rod set-up..... rudder pedals.
When I learned that version 3.0 supported dual joysticks (meaning analog
control for the rudder also) it didn't take me long to start thinking of
ways to make a pedal device which would simply transfer the up-down
action of pedals to the side-to-side motion of a joystick. A more
sophisticated hacker might have made a pedal device from scratch which
contained the necessary potentiometers, but I like to keep things
simple, so I just incorporated a regular joystick into the apparatus.
Remember the favorite saying of mechanical engineers -- K.I.S.S. ...
Keep It Simple, Stupid.
After about an hour of browsing the local hardware store, a basic
design formed in my head. The materials I took home were:
2 - 8" Stanley door hinges
2 - 4" Stanley "L" brackets
6 - 1.5" Stanley "L" brackets
1 - 12"x18" piece of 3/4" plywood
2 - springs, 1.5" closed/3.5" stretched
1 - roll nylon twine
My plan started with a Suncom Tac-1 joystick mounted in the center of
the plywood, secured by the small L-brackets. The large hinges made
excellent pedals because they are heavy-duty and the human leg can
exert considerable force. To stop that force from tearing the joystick
handle off, I put wood screws into the wood under the pedals to act as
stops (easily adjustable by screwing in or out). The large L-brackets
served as guides for the nylon twine which connects the pedals to the
joystick handle. The twine is tied to the existing holes in the
toe-end of the hinges and attached to the joystick with a rubber band.
The springs (the kind with a loop at each end) attached to the top of
the large L-brackets and the toes of the pedals. I had to drill a
small hole near the top of the L-bracket for attaching the spring. I
intended to just attach it to the existing hole, but it rubbed against
the twine in that configuation. It became obvious after working the
mechanism a little that there would need to be some slack in the string
to allow the joystick to center itself.
It all seemed too easy... and so it was. I had not allowed for the fact
that the dual joystick arrangement put the throttle control on the
Y-axis (forward-backward) of the second joystick. I had planned on
simply ignoring that throttle and using the keyboard throttle, but I
couldn't ignore it for long. Whenever I moved the second joystick, the
throttle on that stick automatically asserted itself, cancelling the
keyboard input.
After much experimentation, I discovered that if I just kept the stick
pushed all the way forward, it would not interfere with the keybooard.
I designed a new linkage so that the Y-axis would always be pushed
forward. It wasn't difficult, I just opened the joystick case and
removed the small spring which causes the stick to center itself on
the Y-axis.
But after I had already gone to the trouble of fixing the linkage,
I realized that a better solution to the throttle problem was staring
me in the face. The throttle wheel in the FlightStick was sitting
there useless -- and it is exactly the same type of potentiometer that
I was spending so much time trying to defeat. Why not use it? All I
had to do was disconnect the wires to the Y-axis of joystick-B, extend
the wires up to the FlightStick, and solder them to the throttle pot.
And what do you know? It all works! I can't tell you how much more
realistic the simulation is now.
I've heard through the grapevine that commercially produced rudder
pedals will be coming on the market someday soon. That's something
to look forward to. But I have my pedals now -- and you can get yours
too. They're only a hardware store away.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
ADDENDUM 6/12/92 -- Here are some improvements suggested by Craig Allen
in the CompuServe Flight Simulations Forum (GO
FSFORUM).
--------------------------
Sb: AOTP Rudder Pedals
Fm: Craig Allen 71151,1640
To: Rick L./Assoc SysOp 76702,1707
Rick,
A looonng time ago I subscribed to a magazine/journal called "PC Pilot". The
bad news is that the publisher went out of business and I never got my money
back. 8-( The good news is that while perusing through the few issues I did
get (and can't bring myself to throw away!), I ran across an article by "Rick
Lee" in the SimClinic section, which described how to build rudder pedals for
Flight Simulator. Did you write that article? If so, THANKS! I have heard
that Maxx rudder pedals aren't very resilient, so I went to Home Depot this
weekend and purchased the hardware necessary to build my own by following the
instructions in the article. They work great! Hope it was you and if so,
thanks again! 8-)
Best wishes,
Craig
--------------------------------------
To: Craig Allen 71151,1640 (X)
Fm: Rick L./Assoc SysOp 76702,1707
Hehehe... far out! Yeah... that was me. That same article is available here in
Lib13/Hardware in PEDAL2.ARC. I ditched mine in favor of Maxx Pedals though.
The old ones worked ok but I like the Maxx Pedals a little bit better. The
home built ones required a little too much regular maintainance <smile>... but
I *DID* have rudder pedals before almost anyone in the country outside of
Wagner Microflight users. The Maxx Pedals only LOOK flimsy. You can actually
stand on them without damaging them. The main problem with them is that the
pedals are too close together and the travel of the pedals is too limited. I
hear that Scott Edmunds showed plans for some really cool home-built sliding
pedals at the Ithaca conference. I'm anxious to check out his plans... I hope
we can get them uploaded here. I will probably build a new set off of his
plans.
>>> Rick Lee <<< Associate SysOp
--------------------------------------
Fm: Craig Allen 71151,1640
To: Rick L./Assoc SysOp 76702,1707 (X)
Rick,
It's a small world! <g> I've improved on your design slightly by using steel
leader line (from a local bait shop) between the joystick and the door hinges,
two additional springs (located between the joystick and the left and right
L-brackets), and two 1" sections of a sipping straw, split lengthwise to
protect the line which is threaded through the eyelet of the 4" L-bracket
(hopefully reducing maintenance downtime from line snagging and breaking!) 8-)
I've been stomping on them all day and they seem to be holding up quite well.
The rudder pedal plans which Scott Edmund shared with everyone at the Ithaca
conference sound very interesting...I'll keep my eye out for more information!
Best wishes,
Craig
--------------------------------------
Fm: Rick L./Assoc SysOp 76702,1707
To: Craig Allen 71151,1640
Interesting... I don't really know what "steel leader line" is like. I
initially tried using the lightest aircraft cable that the hardware store had
but it was still way too coarse to use in my pedal design.
>>> Rick Lee <<< Associate SysOp
--------------------------------------
Fm: Craig Allen 71151,1640
To: Rick L./Assoc SysOp 76702,1707
Rick,
Steel leader line is nylon-coated braided steel wire which comes in various
diameters on a spool. I used the stuff years ago to make up my own rigs for
blue fishing off a concrete pier at the Patuxent Naval Air Station in
Maryland. I also used cylindrical steel "sleeves" to crimp the lines
together, which is easier than tying a lot of knots. My rudder pedals are
holding up very well, and I'm glad I held onto my old issues of PC Pilot! <g>
Best wishes,
Craig
--------------------------------------
Fm: Rick L./Assoc SysOp 76702,1707
To: Craig Allen 71151,1640
So how much did your home-built pedals cost?
>>> Rick Lee <<< Associate SysOp
---------------------------------------
Fm: Craig Allen 71151,1640
To: Rick L./Assoc SysOp 76702,1707 (X)
Rick,
Total cost (exluding the joystick and wood screws) was about $21. Here's a
complete rundown:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Four springs, 1 1/2" compressed............$2.84
Two 5" Corner brackets.....................$3.50
Six 2" L-brackets..........................$1.74
Two 8" Hinges..............................$6.14
One 3/4"x12"x24" Board.....................$1.99
One 30 ft. roll of 20 lb. Steelon/Nylon....$1.97
One pack of no. 4 sleeves..................$2.10
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL COST: $20.28 + tax
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The springs are attached as suggested by your article, but I added two extra
springs (one each on the left and right side between the js and the corner
brackets). These springs don't hinder normal movement, but if you happen to
stomp both pedals down simultaneously, they stretch to take the punishment...
looks something like this:
spring
\/
---\\\\\--|---/////---
| JS-> | | corner bracket
| |---| |
--- | | ---
Best wishes...Craig
Rick
Lee - Photographer
311 Washington St., W.
Charleston, WV 25302 USA
Voice: 304.343.8126
Fax: 304.342.5968
ricklee@rickleephoto.com
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