Soreness after flights, and rudders

Does flying leave you sore if you haven't flown in a while or if you
are new to flying? I'm thinking of muscle fatigue from being in an
unusual position for long periods, and in particular I'm wondering if
keeping one's feet on rudder pedals for hours at a time leads to any
soreness afterwards. Or do you even keep your feet on the pedals all
the time? Since apparently most autopilots don't use the rudder, even
running on autopilot might not eliminate the need to have feet on the
rudder (?). And if pushing the pedals forward applies the brakes,
does this mean that you have to hold your foot back whenever it's
resting on the pedal? Does it hurt anything to apply the brakes in
flight?

--
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Mxsmanic wrote:
Does flying leave you sore if you haven't flown in a while or if you
are new to flying? I'm thinking of muscle fatigue from being in an
unusual position for long periods, and in particular I'm wondering if
keeping one's feet on rudder pedals for hours at a time leads to any
soreness afterwards. Or do you even keep your feet on the pedals all
the time? Since apparently most autopilots don't use the rudder, even
running on autopilot might not eliminate the need to have feet on the
rudder (?). And if pushing the pedals forward applies the brakes,
does this mean that you have to hold your foot back whenever it's
resting on the pedal? Does it hurt anything to apply the brakes in
flight?

Not much reason to touch the rudders in straight and level flight. My
plane has an interconnect too so the rudders happen automatically when
I use the ailerons (nearly all high performance planes do). Its not
much different than sitting in a car exept that you don't get the
fatigue of having to watch the road.
The rudder has nothing to do with the brakes. I wouldn't touch the
brakes while the gear is retracted. Probably ok, but I wouldn't mess
with it. The rudders are lighter when the gear is up anyway since you
aren't moving the nose wheel.

-Robert

Does flying leave you sore if you haven't flown in a while or if you
are new to flying? I'm thinking of muscle fatigue from being in an
unusual position for long periods, and in particular I'm wondering if
keeping one's feet on rudder pedals for hours at a time leads to any
soreness afterwards. Or do you even keep your feet on the pedals all
the time?

Nope. Most spam cans are stable in level flight, and -- since most
flight is level -- your feet can remain firmly planted on the floor.

The only time my feet are on the rudders is during take-offs, landings,
and maneuvers.

Since apparently most autopilots don't use the rudder, even
running on autopilot might not eliminate the need to have feet on the
rudder (?). And if pushing the pedals forward applies the brakes,
does this mean that you have to hold your foot back whenever it's
resting on the pedal? Does it hurt anything to apply the brakes in
flight?

One thing I've noticed with the CH pedals that we bought for the Kiwi
(our flight sim) -- it's too easy to fly around with the toe brakes on.
It's something to do with the angle they're mounted at, and -- even
with them permanently mounted in the Kiwi at a more accurate angle, it
still happens all the time.

Real aircraft rudders (that have toe brakes) don't work that way, so,
no, you don't have to hold your toes back whenever your feet are
resting on the pedals.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck writes:

Nope. Most spam cans are stable in level flight, and -- since most
flight is level -- your feet can remain firmly planted on the floor.

The only time my feet are on the rudders is during take-offs, landings,
and maneuvers.

Does placing your feet back on the pedals cause any movement in the
rudder, or is it more resistant to inadvertent movement than that?

One thing I've noticed with the CH pedals that we bought for the Kiwi
(our flight sim) -- it's too easy to fly around with the toe brakes on.

Yes, that seems to be a problem with sim pedals. You can set the dead
zone higher on the brakes to avoid actually having them applied, but
you might still be pressing forward on the pedals.

Real aircraft rudders (that have toe brakes) don't work that way, so,
no, you don't have to hold your toes back whenever your feet are
resting on the pedals.

So how do they work? You have to extend your foot (press the toes
forward) to apply the brakes, right? Which in turn implies that you
might have to deliberately hold the tip of your foot back in order to
avoid applying the brakes. I've always wondered about that.

--
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Does placing your feet back on the pedals cause any movement in the
rudder, or is it more resistant to inadvertent movement than that?

No, There is some resistance in them to avoid this.

One thing I've noticed with the CH pedals that we bought for the Kiwi
(our flight sim) -- it's too easy to fly around with the toe brakes on.

Yes, that seems to be a problem with sim pedals. You can set the dead
zone higher on the brakes to avoid actually having them applied, but
you might still be pressing forward on the pedals.

Keyword, SIM. No replicated product will really work how they do in the
real thing.


So how do they work? You have to extend your foot (press the toes
forward) to apply the brakes, right? Which in turn implies that you
might have to deliberately hold the tip of your foot back in order to
avoid applying the brakes. I've always wondered about that


You push the top of the rudder in order to use the brakes. but they
have a nice bit of resistance in them so u can push your whole foot to
move the rudder/nose wheel without applying the brakes. so u do not
need to hold the top of your foot off the rudder to aviod useing the
brakes.

VH-UNR writes:

Keyword, SIM. No replicated product will really work how they do in the
real thing.

Not surprising, since they don't work the same in any two aircraft,
either.

You push the top of the rudder in order to use the brakes. but they
have a nice bit of resistance in them so u can push your whole foot to
move the rudder/nose wheel without applying the brakes. so u do not
need to hold the top of your foot off the rudder to aviod useing the
brakes.

OK.

--
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Mxsmanic wrote:
So how do they work? You have to extend your foot (press the toes
forward) to apply the brakes, right? Which in turn implies that you
might have to deliberately hold the tip of your foot back in order to
avoid applying the brakes. I've always wondered about that.

Unless your feet are more than about 15" you can't reach the brakes
with your heals on the floor. When you need the brakes you simply slide
your feet up the peddle to hit the brake and then come back down.

I used to fly an Aeronca with a heal brake and a puck tailwheel. About
1/2 the landings required brake to stay aligned (since the puck has
such little friction with the ground), but the heal brake is basically
either on or off. You so straighten a landing out by "pumping" the heal
brake to avoid over braking. It was certainly better than the J-3
though. I always flew with slippers because that is the only way I
could wrap my feet around the top of the rudder to reach the brake. I
kept real shoes in the back in case I had to land somewhere.

-Robert

As Oral Roberts would say to a sinner, "Heel!, heel!"

Bob Gardner

"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
oups.com...

Mxsmanic wrote:
So how do they work? You have to extend your foot (press the toes
forward) to apply the brakes, right? Which in turn implies that you
might have to deliberately hold the tip of your foot back in order to
avoid applying the brakes. I've always wondered about that.

Unless your feet are more than about 15" you can't reach the brakes
with your heals on the floor. When you need the brakes you simply slide
your feet up the peddle to hit the brake and then come back down.

I used to fly an Aeronca with a heal brake and a puck tailwheel. About
1/2 the landings required brake to stay aligned (since the puck has
such little friction with the ground), but the heal brake is basically
either on or off. You so straighten a landing out by "pumping" the heal
brake to avoid over braking. It was certainly better than the J-3
though. I always flew with slippers because that is the only way I
could wrap my feet around the top of the rudder to reach the brake. I
kept real shoes in the back in case I had to land somewhere.

-Robert

Mxsmanic wrote:
Does flying leave you sore if you haven't flown in a while or if you
are new to flying? I'm thinking of muscle fatigue from being in an
unusual position for long periods, and in particular I'm wondering if
keeping one's feet on rudder pedals for hours at a time leads to any
soreness afterwards. Or do you even keep your feet on the pedals all
the time? Since apparently most autopilots don't use the rudder, even
running on autopilot might not eliminate the need to have feet on the
rudder (?). And if pushing the pedals forward applies the brakes,
does this mean that you have to hold your foot back whenever it's
resting on the pedal? Does it hurt anything to apply the brakes in
flight?

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

For a new pilot, while your on the ground yes, your claves can become
sore, because your whole foot is on the rudder peddle, thats if you
have toe brakes. once your ready to take off, as my instructor says,
part of your pre-takeoff checklist should inclue a saying, heels on
floor. The rudder becomes extremely responsive once you start you run
up and you should only be placing you balls of your feet on the pedel
to control them, still resting your heels on the floor. This is very
important during the takeoff roll as your really do not want to hit
them brakes. as the other guys said, if your ot having to balance a
turn or manouver then you can take you feet of the rudder.

VH-UNR wrote:
Mxsmanic wrote:
For a new pilot, while your on the ground yes, your claves can become
sore, because your whole foot is on the rudder peddle,

You probaby don't want to have your foot on the brake on the ground
unless you actually mean to use the brake. I teach my students to taxi
with their feet flat on the floor because they would otherwise always
drag the brakes during taxi. Most people seem to want to use brake to
control taxi speed rather than power, which is not a good habit.

-Robert, CFII