Alternative to Van's rudder pedals
 

Hi All,

I've got a call into Paul at Control Approach to see if he's anywhere closer to releasing a new RV10 rudder pedal system. Given that I'm almost to that step in the plans, I'm not very hopeful.

Has anyone heard of any alternatives on the horizon? I know the Van's pedals are perfectly serviceable (albeit mildly ugly - putting me in mind of a Caterpillar tractor and not the sleek, sexy beast I'm trying to build...)

Any ray of hope out there??

Thanks!

Hi Eric. My problem with the stock pedals are not the looks, but how hard it is to stay off the brakes when using them. You just sit so high that the geometry is wrong for your feet. I have trouble rotating my ankles up far enough to keep my toes of the brakes. I installed some pedal extensions that improve the situation a lot, but I wish they were even larger.

I considered moving the pedals back towards me a bit, but I like to sit close enough to the panel to reach all of the breakers and controls, and the seat belts somewhat restrict that.

~Marc

This what I installed on my 10 and they work just fine:

http://www.jdair.com/rudder-pedal-ex...-7-rv-9-rv-10/

" but how hard it is to stay off the brakes when using them"

Here is where the builder needs to sit in position in the airframe at the same position as flight, and see how the pedals and the brakes match the angle of your leg/foot.

You're building the airplane.... you need to plan this out when you set up the pedals and brakes, or you will be adding extenders later.

Looking at many pictures of rudder pedals installed, the ones (very few) with the top of the brake pedals tilted quite a bit toward the firewall, and the rudder bars NOT set vertical, but tilted toward the pilot is the proper set.

Those are the ones I use too, but I would like them to be even larger to get my foot at the proper angle. The problem is, you sit so high above the pedals that it's difficult to rotate your foot up enough to stay off the brakes. I tend to use a trick I learned years ago when flying a Great Lakes biplane with heal brakes: I move my foot down and use my toes on the bottom of the rudder pedals. I would love to change to a different pedal that corrects the foot angle so it's more natural.

regards

-Marc

This is true for all the RV's. Many builders simply drill the pedals so they are vertical and that is a mistake. They need to be canted forward so that when sitting in the plane your feet are not pressing forward when at rest. They need to be drilled so you have to point your toes to activate the brakes.

It's not a case of a different pedal, It's in the setup..... look here... http://www.vansairforce.com/communit...97&postcount=4

i just ordered my fuse kit and I'm really not wanting to install the factory pedals. I really like the control approach ones. But my most recent inquiry to Paul a few months ago didn't really give me much hope that he was going to build them again.

Well knowing what I know now, that would be the preferred option- if I had built my plane. Unfortunately someone else made the choice so now it's up to me to change it. When I get caught up on all the other things I want to do I'll tackle the rudder/brake pedal problem. I have a few ideas....

~Marc

Marc, there two ways you can tilt the brake pedal that is installed and too vertical....

1. You can file the bottom master cyl. bolt hole down to tilt the pedal forward. The bottom of the hole takes all of the applied pressure.

2. You can link the top master cyl. connection up. Looks like a chain link and lifts the top of the cyl arm up a given amount and causes the pedal to tilt forward. The link bolts to the weldment and the cyl bolts to the top of the link.

After that, if you still need more, you could then add the spacer to the rudder bar. Some have used split heater hose.... even two layers held on with hose clamps.. to see what the results would be.

The nice thing about experimental is you can make your RV PERFECT.