CH Products Pro Pedals

CH Products Pro Pedals**

Pro Pedals

**Manufactured By: CH Products

Retail Price: $89 **

Review Date:** 11-22-98

**Updated: 12-1-98

I have always wanted to setup a flight control system. I was fortunate enough to find a set of used CH Pro Pedals for a spectacular price. I was also lucky to receive them in their original packaging with all of the original documentation. I am not disappointed with the purchase; the Pro Pedals are very nice addition to my flight control system.

To test the pedals since they are not a stand-alone game controller I tried them with a number of configurations.

• CH Pro Pedals and Mad Catz Panther XL (using the Panther XL rudder control plug)
• CH Pro Pedals, CH Throttle and Thrustmaster Top Gun Joystick

Features -

• Large base
• Sliding action
• Heel/toe pivot
• Switch for car/plane mode
• Locking blocks to set pedals in pivot mode only (driving mode)

System Requirements-

IBM compatible computer, game port

Price -

The suggested price of $89 has been longstanding but many vendors have the Pro Pedals listed as low as $60.

Performance -

The Pro Pedals are the most comfortable pedals I have yet to try (except those of a real Cessna). The sliding action is much more realistic than the pivot mode of the controller and as used by most other pedals.

In Microsoft Flight Sim98 and Combat Sim the Pro Pedals were a real joy to use. Unlike many other pedals the angle of the pedals is comfortable. The base of the pedals is large allowing greater spacing between the pedals further increasing comfort.

Setup -

Depending on what you are using with the pedals you may need to configure the pedals differently. Using the Mad Catz Panther XL I simply plugged the pedals into the rudder port at the back of the Panther's base. I recalibrated the Panther XL using the rudder pedals. (Note: driving mode is not supported using the rudder pedal port).

Using the Thrustmaster Top Gun and the CH Throttle was a bit more complicated although not difficult to do. Despite the manuals instructions to the contrary (no details are given on using the rudder pedals with both a throttle and stick), I first plugged the CH Throttle into the game port and the keyboard pass-through. I then plugged the Pedals into the base of the Throttle. Finally I plugged the Thrustmaster Top Gun joystick into the joystick plug on the pedals.

I needed to find the right joystick setting under the Windows 98 control panel. I finally settled on the CH FlightStick Pro with the rudder pedal checkbox selected.

**Software -

**Basic software is provided for for the CH Pro Pedals but is not necessary for their use. A floppy disk is included that has calibration and test utilities that can either be run from DOS or a DOS box under Windows. Simply using the Windows Game Controller panel for setup and calibration is all that is necessary.

Documentation -

The 13 page manual will get most people up and running with the pedals although I would have liked to see suggestions for connecting the pedals to a stick and external throttle also. The manual was put together before Windows 95/98 and setup instructions are not included for these operating systems.

Overall Rating -

The CH Pro Pedals are a recommended product. Once configured, they are a great addition to your flying controller setup.