Help switching to sliding rudder pedals...

[morfiend]

Krusty,

  way back when I got my peds I had trouble with correct rudder inputs when looking backwards! Ya I'm dislexic and that doesnt help but while you practice be sure to look "back" and use the peds to be sure you are inputting the correct rudder!

  Another thing,be sure not to wear shoes so you get a better feel until you are used to them.I try to use only my toes and keep my feet off the peds so I dont give unwanted inputs.


   YMMV.


   

[FLS]

I also don't have the time to fly an hour a day. I've only got a few in the past couple weeks.

Just 10 minutes a day of focused practice should see results without getting boring.

[Krusty]

Thanks, all. 

[darkzking]

Dueling Arena.

Do 1v1's for an hour or two every day in the DA for a week. Flying/maneuvering/etc. practice sounds nice, but leads to a false sense of security. Your responses in a dogfight are typically muscle-memory, whereas lazily practicing maneuvers is a completely different environment where you have time to think. Once you get into a dogfight, all of that "comfortable practice" goes out the window and you revert to muscle memory, especially when you only have a split-second for a shot.

Practice dogfighting 1v1 with them to the point you can start making your shots. Fast, repeatable, fights are the key.

[Ratsy]

Ummm...this is weird but your could try flying in your socks with your heels on the floor.  This in addition to the other fine recommendations you've gotten here.  When I was flying CH's, I scaled the pedals to take out some of the 'rudder bump' or 'lurch' that you've probably seen. You'll want finer control, though.  I'm not as coordinated as I used to be  so keeping only the toes on the bottom part of the pedals is what helped me.

 

[RedAgony]

I would say that not remembering what your feet are doing while flying could be pretty common.   While in flight school, it was a big problem for me at first and I'd stay out of trim almost constantly.  The best tip I got from one of my flight instructors was when you find yourself fighting the aircraft, take your feet off the pedals, fly with cyclic and collective, then look at the trim ball to see what it's doing, THEN, use pedals to make it right.

It still applies in AH,  I make it a point to keep my feet off the pedals unless I NEED to for snapshots.  If you constantly need to use the pedals, look at a different flying style.

[FLS]

I would say that not remembering what your feet are doing while flying could be pretty common.   While in flight school, it was a big problem for me at first and I'd stay out of trim almost constantly.  The best tip I got from one of my flight instructors was when you find yourself fighting the aircraft, take your feet off the pedals, fly with cyclic and collective, then look at the trim ball to see what it's doing, THEN, use pedals to make it right.

It still applies in AH,  I make it a point to keep my feet off the pedals unless I NEED to for snapshots.  If you constantly need to use the pedals, look at a different flying style.

Since adverse yaw is modeled there is benefit to adding rudder to your roll. I assume you're setting rudder trim with an auto mode before you put your feet on the floor.

[DmonSlyr]

I may need suggestions on how best to get "up to speed" (i.e. how best to practice) sliding rudder pedal use. For a long time I was on twisty stick, and got good at it. The transition to race-car-type "push down" rudder pedals was a little slow but I got really good with those too.

Now recently I've got CH Pro USB rudder pedals -- the kind that slide back and forth.

I'm not utterly hopeless, but I'm still very rough in my transition to these new pedals. I'm used to pedal pressing rather than sliding, and the sliding to stay "on the ball" and during shooting is still spotty.

I tend to over-compensate, or "lock" my feet in a certain position and forget to release or adjust as the ball shifts (and so on, and so forth).

So, please list suggestions, ideas, practice methods for learning how to use sliding rudder pedals.

It's just one of those things that takes time to get the feeling of. Like getting a new stick for example. Really in truely its just about mussle memory. You will be more capable with them after a month of using them. I hated the twisty stick so I learned the peddles at all cost. It really does help you not accidently fly sideways by twisiting your wrist naturally.

See I'm different redagony, the rudder is very important for more than just snap shots. It can help you clear people off your 6 with a nose down rudder kick, help you get the nose over in certain angle positions and is great to use in the scissors. I'd highly recommend learning to use the rudder more and it will allow you to set up better angles and positions during your ACM manuevers.

[Scca]

Ummm...this is weird but your could try flying in your socks with your heels on the floor.  This in addition to the other fine recommendations you've gotten here.  When I was flying CH's, I scaled the pedals to take out some of the 'rudder bump' or 'lurch' that you've probably seen. You'll want finer control, though.  I'm not as coordinated as I used to be  so keeping only the toes on the bottom part of the pedals is what helped me.

 

LOL, that's what I do.  I hook my toes over the bottom lip of the pedals, and push them with the balls of my feet. It's just painful enough to be a reminder that I am doing it.  I switch to the full foot for landing so I can use the brakes.

[Bino]

One thing I like to do is touch and goes. After I touch down I let the plane settle and decelerate below 90 mph or so. While raising the flaps before accelerating back to take off speed. Do all this without locking the tail wheel. F4U's and 109's are great for this exercise.

 
Sik

Try all the things pilots practice in RL: touch & go, side-slipping, crabbing, etc.   

(I've only used rudder pedals with all my computers.)