Rudder Pedals for Formation Training?

I am finishing up the construction of an RV 8. I really want to learn formation flying, understanding the the first requirement is that I have excellent control of my aircraft.

I read somewhere about formation clinics and the requirement for full dual controls. I assume this is to have an instructor pilot with you initially for safety. The question is, do I need to install rear rudder pedals. I have already installed a rear throttle control and the stick is part of the basic construction. The RV 8 rear rudder pedal system seems pretty rinkydink and I didn't want to put it in. I had thought that the only time it would be really useful is landing the aircraft from the back seat--a situation that seems unlikely to happen. If rear rudder pedals are a requirement to get formation training, I may need to rethink this.

So, do I need rear rudder pedals?

Regards,

Michael Wynn
RV 8 Finishing
San Ramon, CA

The rear 8 rudder pedal are completely 'rinkidink' your right.
You wont need them unless you show up in a clinic format with no previous training.

What would be the most likely course for you is to hook up with a local group to train you and this can be done without rear rudder pedals, at their discretion of course.

They are required in a clinic format usually, due to the rapid training and learning curve format. You will get much more out of an instructor in the back if he has all the controls to demonstrate the proper technique.

If you're hooking up with a group of people you know reasonably well, and one of *them* has dual controls, maybe an option would be to swap planes for a flight or two. Or if there are more than two of you around, maybe you can ride with someone else and use their dual controls for your first flights.

When you're starting out you should be flying in a two-plane formation only, and in that case I think if your instructor only had pitch and roll for an "emergency exit" that might be just fine. It is difficult to demonstrate position changes with rudder if you don't have them though, so you'll need to learn that part in another plane.

That being said... I've seen some very slick rear rudder pedal setups in the tandem RV's. With the rudder cable running down the side of the fuselage, it's open to a number of options for adding a control to it. I recall one had interior panels that hid the cables, but had a slot in the panel with a horizontal shaft sticking out of it, and a brace that ran back ahead of the pedal into the shaft. All you could see was the pedal, which was triangular and looked like a doorstop laying on its side. I seem to recall the owner telling me there was a channel inside the panel that the pedal ran along, but I have no idea what the setup was. It looked really clean. Maybe someone else here has photos of a similar arrangement.

Rudder Pedals

Thanks, guys.

I think I will pass on the pedals and see if I can get the initial training locally.

Regards,

Michael Wynn
RV 8 Finishing
San Ramon, CA