After nearly three months, my long-waited new gear has finally arrived on the eve of Halloween.
This is my fifth of its kind and my first of its brand. I am so excited of its coming at last.
Have a guess before you click here to find out what it is.
Yes, it is the Thrustmaster TPR Pendular Rudder.
Actually I haven’t had a rudder for nearly three months. I sold my Virtual Fly Ruddo Rudder not long after I placed my order for this new one. In about time, I sold my MFG Crosswind Pedals as well, since I seldom used it — probably less than two months all together in two and a half years.
Then I was told the shipping was delayed, twice.
A bit bold to make the change? Yes, may be.
But the Virtual Fly Ruddo isn’t quite fit to my set up as I mainly fly small aircraft. And the MFG Crosswind…hm…it’s okay. Perhaps it is not my cup of tea.
To have a replacement for the two rudders I sold without considering the inexpensive plastic models, there isn’t much choice.
In terms of price, the TPR Rudder is about half of the Virtual Fly Ruddo. In terms of weight, it is almost a third lighter, but no doubt it’s still sturdy and heavy as it is made of metal in general.
Will spend some times assembling it later today, and will spend more time over the weekend and the week after using it on P3D, X-Plane and surely the MSFS.
I am eager to find out how this new comer will perform compared to its predecessors.
Will there be a review after? Probably not as there are many already and it is not a new product, after all. But will see.
A bit nervous though excited. Hope that it won’t let me down.
FS Times 
I’m looking for replacements for my Saitek pedals. The Thrustmaster are too tall for me so I’m looking at the MFG, what didn’t you like about them and did you consider the Slaw Device pedals.
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What should I say…I think it’s the way how the pedals moves — they are not simply moving forward and backward like your Saitek one but thru a slightly curved paths because the pedals are mounted and move around a center point in the middle of the rudder, the Slaw Device is using similar construction.
Also, it is a bit light in weight and very easy to move when using, unless you have it nailed on the floor or on something else to secure it.
In addition, the spring forces are odd to me (my personal preference).
Lastly, if you think the TPM is too tall for you, be care the MFG is quick big on four sides and needs a lot of clearance in the front and back especially when moving.
The TPM is the one needing the least front and back clearances from all the rudders I used so far.
Tom
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Its a radical mod for new pedals in warranty Tom, but got got familiar with the procedure for getting spares from TM France if needed, and thought, in for a penny, in for a pound … I cant claim credit for this mod Tom, seen it done on a few forums, tried a few dampers and it took a while to get one that did not run out of reach/travel as the pedals moved, you may come across some guys mod where they have longer or shorter dampers and even done it diagonally, it does not matter, so long as the damper travel exceeds the pedals travel, also had to wait a bit for correct nuts bolts bushes ETC as I wanted no slack in the pedal and damper mechanism and thankfully that wait paid off, love these pedals now, have done a further simple centring mod at back with strong elastic bands believe it or not.
This is for my style though, you will find what to do for yours Tom I’m sure.
While I’m posting Tom, thought I’d mention, with all this exciting new PC hardware out just now, are you thinking of upgrading too?
Like what I’m seeing from AMD for CPU and GPU, bought an MSI X570 Tomahawk motherboard, a tight ram 64 GB Kit, new AOI water cooler etc, planning to buy a new AMD 5950X CPU if I can get one or 5900X, also AMD have an exciting new range of GPU’s now that are apparently as good as Nvidia’s latest offering, want to grab an AMD 6900XT 16 GB, current Nvidia gen is good, but mega priced and you cant buy them, waiting list into next year here … Yikes :)
Anyway, hope all is well with you and family Tom, stay safe.
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Hi Colin,
I really wish that I live close to you so I can ask you for help…haha.
Yes, I’ve been thinking about getting a new PC with 10900K CPU and 3080 GPU but tied up with many family issues. Maybe next year. There will be more choices then.
The AMD CPU and GPU are tempting. I used AMD GPU before. It’s good but many things were a bit different from others using nVidia, making it a little hard to find relevant reference.
Probably won’t consider them to save some troubles.
Best to you and family too. Stay Safe.
Tom
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Hi Tom
Have owned these pedals for quite some time now and after a bit of work and modification, absolutely love them. Like you Tom have owned many rudder pedals over the years inc the MFG Crosswinds V2 … not my style, but gave them a fair go, sold them to a fellow flight enthusiast in mainland Europe who is delighted with them and by pure coincidence have two sets of my older Saitek rudder pedals for sale on Ebay right now.
Really do enjoy these TM TPRs Tom, but they depending on your needs need a mod or two, out of the box they are a bit flighty … for want of a better word, way over sensitive around the important neutral centre point.
Bought these on practically day one, £450 or something, but had to have them, lived with them for a while, then became aware of guys fitting Motorcycle steering dampers to them and the benefits of doing that.
There are other more subtle mods Tom but I chose this route, the Motorcycle steering damper route, it works perfectly but might/will lose your warranty if you do this.
https://imgur.com/Vktze2e
https://imgur.com/esU6lCX
https://imgur.com/29NRfQV
https://imgur.com/GpRbks2
https://imgur.com/XPgns2U
https://imgur.com/loOqU7G
https://imgur.com/GSlErNI
https://imgur.com/lzVKkI0
https://imgur.com/hy5FLtV
What a difference it makes to the pedals though, best mod I ever did.
Enjoy Tom
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Thanks very much, Colin, and glad to hear that it could be better after certain settings.
Not sure about the mod things but will look thru the links you posted after I set it up.
Thanks again and have a nice weekend.
Tom
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Gone thru the pictures you sent. Wow.
I most likely won’t go that far. ;)
Tom
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