I definitely reccomend VKB's T-Rudder Mk. IV's. I've had them for about 3ish weeks now and I cannot believe how big of an improvement they are over my Old Thrustmaster TFRP rudder pedals. Please consider donating to my patreon page, all donations go right back into making more awesome DCS Content! www.patreon.com/Spudknocker
Planning on getting these for helos. They look absolutely perfect for such use case. No more using old racing car sim pedals with different strength, independent pedals.
Personally I don't mind it actually, with modern jets I usually bind a button for my brakes anyway and with Russian aircraft they dont need toe brakes. I was surprised how much I didn't miss them!
I have a button assigned on my Warthog stick for brakes. Don't like the feel of steering and trying to brake evenly at the same time..Just makes life a lot easier
I really like having toe brakes for a bit of differential braking help during take off roll if needed. Seems to work better than nose wheel steering at keeping me on center line at low speeds before there is rudder authority.
Those look like they'd be great for DCS Huey. I've got the Thrust Master TFRP pedals. They're not that great, probably o.k. for fixed wing, but really sticky for helicopters.
A bit of a necro, but I just ordered these. Thanks for the review, Spudknocker! Getting myself ready for Hind/Apache. Might as well fly jets the way they were intended instead of a twist stick while I wait. :D
@@Spudknocker More precise than the long way you can slide with other pedals? Oh well guess its subjective. But currently I fly more IRL than DCS and that habit may significantly extend my takeoff roll, hahaha
@@weltensegLA Would I want to fly a real airplane with these? Def not, LOL but for a flight sim peripheral they are pretty top notch just my humble opinion on em
Enjoyed the video, thank you for your time and efforts! I'm on my 4th day of using my VKB's... I was wondering if you've tried the hard spring setting? The pedals are whisper light under my feet and was hoping that going through all the work required to change the post position would be rewarding. Currently I find that I'm pulling the rudder one way or another because I don't have both feet perfectly balanced... also, it is fatiguing holding such an ultra-light position on the pedals at all times... Is it me or am I just a wuss? Thanks in advance for your reply!
@@johngisbourne7197 you don't understand, these pedals are the best in they market in terms of feasibility and simplicity if usage regardless they don't have the toe brakes. Other rudder who have also toe brakes are huge, heavy to be employed and occupy lot of space, plus they are uncomfortable ti be operated. Russian planes for examples don't have toe brakes and you can use the lever on the joystick as it is in real life
@@johngisbourne7197 no of course but if you're happy to spend 500 dollars on s toe brake rudder be my guest, For 200 you can get these vkb and bind the toe brakes to whatever they fuck you like
I wouldn't say shoes are required. I don't feel that way at least, I regularly just use socks, I just use my big toe/ball of my foot on the VERY edge of the pedal My biggest complaint is the lack of toe brakes, HOWEVER I got mine before anyone else that I'm aware of (just after they came out with the "blackbox mk1" which is the orange controller box that it plugs in to); There is virtual toe brakes however I haven't had much experience and the guidance for setting it up is terrible because russian translations are bad. I picked mine up for something like just over 100$ when they first launched them, thought I also combined mine with a Gladiator stick IIRC. I don't use the gladiator that much any more (I have a TM Warthog and Honeycomb Yoke/Throttle now as my primary flight controllers) I think they're the best budget rudders on the market, though I'm sure there's going to be other options coming out. I think these shine best in Helo operations. Flying Helo's is SOOO much better with these than anything else I've used, its far more intuitive for me to just use my toe to gently press down than "slide" my feet. like on other rudder systems.
Just bought two weeks ago...nice pedals and nice review. Can I ask if possible for You to share Your F-14 rudder axis settings (in DCS) and eventually others adjustments that You make in the T-Link software, because Your controls seem more precise and smooth compared to the one I use. Have You also a dead zone? Thx in advance. Bye.
They do look beautifully engineered and built... but: no toe brakes is kind of a deal-breaker for me. Plus I'm not sure about that heels-on-the-ground thing, but I guess that would probably be a matter of practice. Still.. no toe-brakes meant that I had to dish out an extra €140 or so to get me my MFG Crosswinds. Well, that and the fact that they've been out of stock at VKB EU for months now.
I just mapped a button press to each end of the axis and I've never needed them with any sim or module. The DCS 109 is a bit twitchy on landing, I don't know if it would be any better with toe brakes. Absolutely no need for them in any jet. But you bought great pedals so congrats.
Hey Spud, do you prefer the normal or heavy force setting on these? Just got them and am really impressed with the quality of build. Thanks for the review!
Little PSA - IF you are on the fence about buying these because they don't have toe brakes then don't buy them! Unless you have zero doubt that you will never want toe brakes then these are not for you because you will miss toe brakes!
Max Hammerum for modern jets its more than enough to have your brakes mapped to a button IMHO in Russian aircraft you don’t even need toe breaks as that’s just not how the braking system works
Spudknocker Right about most modern jets but for the F-18 for example you really want toe-brakes because that thing skids like crazy at over 20% percent brake until 60 knots
@@maxhammerum7705 Do not use keyboard binding for breaks (W) in HOTAS to do breaking, instead set a button as a modifier so you can bind the pedals axis to perform toe breaks as well! With the VKB MCG it is easy, as you can bind first of the axis range of the brake leveler to act as modifier, so just little squeezing the brake lever and now your pedals are toe breaks, instead rudder. And anyways performing a accurate and good movement, the toe breaks are not required, but breaking is. As you use the nose wheel steering anyways, not the breaks. When it comes to WW2 aircrafts, again the soviet kind has the stick brake lever. And Su-27S has the brakes on pedals like on western ones.
Mousie I tried a twist stick with a helicopter and I don’t really think it’s feasible it’s actually why I bought rudder pedals in the first place more than a year agi
Hello all /. @Spudknocker I know this is an old video but it still relevant today. I'm trying to get some assistance getting my VKB ultimate gunfighter and T-rudder mk4 pedals to be seen at the same time using one MK2 black box. I can only see one or the other when flashing. I've tried the VKB forums without any success. Thanks in advance. ~Mike
Biggest thing about VKB is they have very small "batches" and they are always sold out. Very frustrating and it makes me nervous about support and servicing. Not interested about ordering and hoping they might come in. When I want something I get it, I don't fret whether they might have it. If they are working from a small capital money source then they are afraid of failing. Doesn't give me any confidence about the company.
my vkb stick got to the us in 3 days, and they are pretty decent customer support wise...the worst customer support actually comes from thrustmaster. getting my stick repaired took 6 months and only happened after i had to threaten to sue to get them to fix there product after a faulty board failed 3 months after buying
Is VKB T-Link software brake emulation, in what you set a joystick (or throttle) button for press two virtual R and L axes simultaneous. In game assign this two virtual axes for right and left wheel brakes. Playing press the button, will brake both wheels equals, but if move rudder for R or L will brake just the wheel or this side.
Yes that is for sure, the video is slightly fictional in that regard, in the video I made up the fictional scenario that Iran had their F-14's re-engined with AL-31F's, the closest Russian Equivalent to the GE F-110. I just think that the Asia Minor camo looks really cool on the F-14 and I wanted to show off the very cool skin that Sadjad Vosoul created and posted to the ED Website. www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3304408/
