VR Flight World

I think you will agree with me when I tell you that flying a flight simulator is an amazing experience and can be a great tool for people getting their pilots licence, however are you missing out on a very important element… the rudder pedals.

The problem is that most people who fly flight sims rarely get the most out of their sims. Especially those who want the most realistic flight or those who are actually using the flight sim to help them on their flight training journey. It wasn’t until I started flying the real Cessna 172 that I realized what I was missing.

In this post, I am going to show you many reasons why you need to invest in a set of rudder pedals for you’re flight simulator setup. I would put this as a high priority. If you have a joystick of some type, then this might be your next purchase or upgrade to your setup.

Top Reasons you Need Rudder Pedals

Below I am going to list out the top reasons that Rudder Pedals are necessary for your flight simulator. Now, if you can’t afford rudder pedals, you can always get creative. At one point my rudder pedals actually consisted of two racing pedals from a Playstation 2 racing wheel with gas and brake. This was a Logitech racing wheel which worked very well with the PC.

You may be able to find something like this on Ebay for fairly cheap if you look around. I don’t necessarily recommend this if you can afford to get proper pedals.

The proper pedals do work slightly different and will give you a better experience. The real rudder pedals will also have built in braking when you push on the toes.

If you’re interested in the Rudder Pedals that I use, I will attach the link below. The link is an affiliate link, and I really do appreciate it if you use it, as I do receive a small commission from any purchase you make after clicking on my link. This just helps me to keep putting out great content for you. It doesn’t cost you anything and won’t effect your purchase in anyway.

Here is the link to the best rudder pedals I have found up to this point (2018).

Logitech G Pro Flight Rudder Pedals

1. Rudder Pedals Create Good Habits

If you ever plan to fly in a real plane, then having rudder pedals is a must. Without rudder pedals you are forced to let X-Plane or you’re flight sim of choice control the pedals for you.

In the air is one thing, however if you are learning to fly, the first thing you will notice is that you don’t drive a plane like a car. When you Taxi, you use you’re feet to steer.  You’re hands have enough jobs to do without having to worry about steering the aircraft.

When you turn the yoke in a real aircraft it actually moves the ailerons and not the rudder pedal, which can be useful for taxiing with any wind.

2. Gives you a Realistic Feeling on Take-off

When you takeoff with a small aircraft you will really notice that it pulls you to the left. This is actually many different factors including the P-factor. If you’re interested in why an airplane pulls to the left, throw p-factor into a Google search and you should find some great information.

If you have been flying a flight simulator up to this point without rudder pedals, you will notice that you are turning you’re yoke to the right in order to compensate for this, however this is not the proper way to correct and would not work in a real plane.

When you start to feel that left turning tendency you should be compensating for this with your rudder. I find that  you can easily get sloppy with Flight Sim takeoffs. You’re plane might end up zigging and zagging across the runway. With the rudder pedal you can easily correct this. With a little practice, you will soon look like a pro.

3. Forward Slip / Side Slip…Impossible?

So here is one that you can’t even do without rudder pedals.

The side slip and forward slip are two very important flight manoeuvres that have two different but important jobs. Each of these requires that you manipulate the yoke and rudder pedals together.

A forward slip is where the pilot uses rudder to change the direction the nose of the aircraft is facing, while banking the wing into the wind. This creates the ability to lose altitude quickly without gaining a ton of airspeed. If you ever come in to high for that landing, this would be the perfect technique. This would also be a great technique for that runway with an obstacle you have to clear before losing your altitude.

The Side slip is where the pilot banks the wing and prevents the plane from changing direction by compensating with the rudder pedal. For example the pilot would bank the wing while keeping the nose of the aircraft pointed towards the runway when coming in for a landing (keeping the same heading as the runway). You would use this in order to move the plane sideways, which would help for lining up to the runway.

The other really important use for the side slip is do a cross wind landing. In real life it will be rare when you don’t have some type of cross wind, so I believe this is a very vital skill that you could easily practice with rudder pedals.

4. Coordinating the Turns

When making banks in an aircraft, everything needs to work together to fly properly. Now, you can technically make a turn by cranking on the yoke, however without the rudder pedals you will not be in coordinated flight when you first enter that bank, or when you exit the bank. In general you need to add more left rudder pedal when you make a bank to the left and vice versa when making a bank to the right.

Coordinated flight is important, as it minimizes the risk of entering a spin and just makes for a more comfortable ride for your passengers. It also has a few other benefits that are beyond the topic of this post.

So in general coordinated flight is a good thing, especially if you plan to fly a real plane. This would be one you would use all the time when learning to fly. Every turn.

5. The Rudder is More Important When Going Slow

Lastly, when going slow the rudder pedal is very important, as the ailerons will actually become sloppier but you will be able to maintain better control with your rudder pedals. This is important for landings as usually in a landing you are going at a fairly slow speed, especially just before touching down.

Another place that the rudder is very important is during a stall. This again goes back to the fact that rudders are more effective then the ailerons during slow flight. When you are about to enter a stall, the aileron becomes very sloppy and the rudder pedals are your best defence from entering a spin.

Which brings me to my last point. If you don’t have rudder control, then recovering from a spin is going to be extremely difficult, as this is one of the very important steps in getting out of a spin.

Conclusion

There are so many reasons that you need to get rudder pedals. It is really a very important piece of the flight sim puzzle. Flying a plane without rudder pedals just doesn’t seem worth it. As I said above, if you can’t afford it, try my DIY setup with the Playstation 2 driving wheel, or even better, get yourself an amazing set of rudder pedals like the ones I use,  Logitech G Pro Flight Rudder Pedals .  This is also the Rudder Pedals that I currently have hooked up to my flight sim. (again it is an affiliate link but it doesn’t affect your purchase or price in anyway if you use the link, it just supports me with a small advertising fee. I really appreciate it if you use my link for your purchase, however you can always just search for Rudder Pedals on Amazon if you prefer. Either way I am just happy to help get you flying with great equipment).

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