cleaveland customer service / "suregrip" rudder pedals

[flyvans.com]

i just want to give a big round of applause to cleaveland tool's customer service...

i approached them a few months ago, wheter they could come up with a group buy for their "suregrip" deluxe rudder pedals, as they were priced at $199 a pair and double that for the passenger side as well.
yet in my opinion, depending on the geometry of your feet and seating position, these are an absolute must have as the default Van's pedals will make you ride the brakes or have you end up with a painful muscle cramp.
http://www.cleavelandtoolstore.com/p...mber=RVSGPEDAL

so the response was, that they will look into it, try to come up with a permanent price reduction rather than a group buy and keep me posted...

time went by and i had to order, yet at the high price.
now 2 weeks or so later they reduced the price to $169 a pair and i got updated by email that they had now found a solution. i replied that i had just ordered recently.
cleaveland then offered me, as the originator of the request, to credit the difference to the new price!
wow, that's definitely something that cannot be expected and really makes you feel valued as a customer :-)

regards, bernie

[ao.frog]

Hi.

These brakepedals look great.

What do you guys with flying RV's say? Is dragging the brakes a problem while taxing with Vans brake pedals?
If so, maybe I'll go through the trouble of installing these...

[alcladrv]

Van's stock setup works fine, however basic it is. I've got nearly 300 hrs. in the last 3 years on my -7A with no brake issues. Still using original pads.

I hope this doesn't sound harsh, but dragging a brake is only an issue when you're not paying attention to what you're doing.

[Chappyd]

Wow, on looks alone I'm impressed. While I'm building a plane in the basement, it is important to me that the finished product look like a "finished" or "factory" built. I know that looking better will not really be better, but in the mind of my spouse it will make a difference in the comfort level as a passenger.

[vlittle]

Yes, it is a problem.

There are things you can do during assembly to mitigate: tip the pedal forward prior to drilling for the brake cylinder piston attach; cutout any floor boards/insulation to let your heel rest on the bottom skin are a couple of things.

I slipped 3 layers of hose around the rudder pedal itself. Helps a lot, but still not perfect. Perhaps combined with the other two 'fixes' it would be fine.

V

[Mel]

Not a problem on my -6, or any other RV I've flown. And I've flown a lot of them.!

[flyvans.com]

to each his own...

i for one don't like compromises when ergonomy is concerned.
and to me, stepping on the weldment left and right of the pedals is such a compromise, especially for an -A version.
the following thread has some good reports:
http://www.vansairforce.com/communit...ad.php?t=22871

first, let me say we're not flying yet. but we did a lot of trial sitting in various seating / rudder pedal positions and angles. and we also had a fellow builder that is taller and has much larger feet come to very different solutions/conclusions so your mileage may very much vary. what fit him didn't fit us and vice versa. also tried the idea with the various hoses around the weldment, but that didn't add enough thickness.
we have the classicaero interior including floor carpet, which adds quite a bit of thickness and has a big effect on foot/pedal geometry.

dominik (the tall guy) sits in the plane without booster cushion and his knees angled towards the panel. the seatback is in the rearmost hinge and has no spacer to the f705 bulkhead. the pedals a bit more aft and when he actuates the rudder, his whole foot moves fore and aft.

our seating position is much flatter, seatback in the rearmost hinge, no spacer to the f705 bulkhead, but with the booster cushion in the seatpan and the rudder weldment close to the firewall (with the suregrip pedals). the knee basically lies flat on the seat and the leg is straight. this way the feet can sit on the carpet like in a car and the rudder is actuacted simply by moving the foot-tips. for braking, simply move up the feet a few inches. very comfortable. but this only works so nicely with the aftermarket or custom pedals, we've tried to make it happen with the already constructed van's pedals but couldn't.

our 20cts,

regards, bernie