Slaw Device Pedals, The rudder never felt so good.

[Maico]

My fellow pilots,

  A few days ago I took delivery of my first piece of custom made flight simulator gear. After some correspondence with Slaw Device's front man, he quickly delivered them to New York City and from there my family sent them to me in Qatar. There was some waiting time. They had some traveling to do but the packaging done by this cottage fabricator is of very good quality. Even the pedals were zip tied so as to not have them bounce around inside the box. So they arrived nice and safe within an ample box and in a plastic bag. Right away you notice... HEAVY METAL lurks within.  

https://www.google.com/search?q=Slaw+Device+109&biw=993&bih=505&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAmoVChMIxK35uvyHxwIV7AjbCh3s2gjh

  I am glad I get my mail at work. The pedals will be covered in dust and hidden where no one will see them but me.  However the day I received them they sat on my desk. EVERYONE Who came to my desk made comments with a wide open mouth and eyes popping. They pick em up and "Wow, these are heavy and niiice!" I just nod in pride. Then comes the inevitable question.... How much? I remind them that at my age I no longer go out. Defend myself with "This is cheaper than racing motorcycles!" I say, and then I move a pedal and again they drool and stare. Ha ha ha!!! Better Yet! Muahahaha! They really are that breathtaking. My gamer buddy next door even said, I got to get into flying man. I think, "yeah, yeah, yeah".
  So how good are they? They will remind you of the HOTAS Warthog. Here is a device I have had a love/hate relationship with. The feel, the precision, the reality of programing jets as they are supposed to be. Ahhh... Then there is the broken switches, reliability and the jumping through hoops to get service. However, Thrusmaster is no cottage fabricator. Slaw Device is. The Owner spoke to me personally on email. He addressed my concerns and questions. He gave me that "This is my product and I stand behind it" feeling. When I call Thurstmaster I get, "So, tell me again, why are we sending you parts?" "Why should we fix this for you?" as if the person I am talking to has 0 interest in my "Man Child" toys. It really is frustrating and the gimbal... That stupid piece of plastic gimbal! I am hard pressed to find plastic on the pedals. Very hard pressed.
Because we Americans talk too much, we think the Northern Europeans are cold, quiet and reserved. I asked why there was no provision for the pedals to be attached to a base. Why Slaw Device had not seen fit to provide us with four holes to mount these to a wood base? why, Why WHY!? This quiet man did not reply to this.

He was probably thinking:
"The plastic pedals you speak of, they slide all over and you look silly doing dance? Yes? You chase pedals all over floor, while I-16 treats you like football, YES?... Well, I am Polish, I don't dance"
Seriously, this is no plastic toy or silly pedal. This is to your Saitek what Godzilla is to your garden Lizard." The Base is a chunk of metal with witch you could kill a horse. The other metal bits add to the heft. Under the base are(wait for it...) Non slip rubber pads...EVERYWHERE. Only the two housings for the brake potentiometer are covered in a plastic that looks very professional. Pedals have 3 width options. Adjustment for making pedals more upright or more vertical is provided by an adjustment behind the pedals. 3 positions are provided for brake spring positions. This allows for more or less brake tension. And an extra Cam was included to lessen centering.   There is a LOT of adjustments to make these fit YOU. 

  There are real metal bearings everywhere. The hardware is top shelf stuff. Provision is made for a steering damper.  And then there are the pedals themselves. The Einheitspedal set comes beautifully painted grey and sporting serial numbers. Jewelry for simulation junkies is all I can say. Like a real Bf-109 there is a well engineered and yet simple appeal about it.
  For some reason, BoS did not recognize the brakes. I loaded up the Calibration software and still nothing. I then checked the invert brakes and BoS recognized them. Now I again unchecked invert. Pedals are recognized with no problem. DCS, CloD and IL21946 recognized them and I use them in all them.  RoF is unbelievable with these.  The Dr1 is able to flat spin with these and I am becoming an addict of WW1 again.  F

  Flying the I-16 is so much more fun.  The best part in BoS was the absolute control.  I was able to swing the nose on my aircraft from one side to the next while strafing the trains.  It was great.  Resistance created by all these springs is far greater than any Saitek or CH pedals I ever had. That meant that if I tried to get full deflection the pedals would slide on my slick tile floor. Carpeted floors may not have this problem. These things are heavy! Four small pieces of double sided tape was all that was needed. Gravity did the rest. Right after I "glued" them to the floor I noticed that I wanted to put the pedals out at their furthest apart. No worries. With a wrench and a Allen wrench I did the job right there. The feeling is superb. I have a very wide and controlled stance on my pedals now. Guys who complain about "child sized" pedals need not complain here. They are WIDE.
And the best for last. LINEARITY is unreal. Push and you will receive. It really is hard to explain how precise they feel. Its like they are moving on ball bearings... Oh wait, they are... Super smooth and really a joy to use. They are as solid as an anchor. I am really happy that I bought these and would recommend them to anyone who is into flight sims.

 

Well worth the price.

 

 

 

[Maico]

2015_7_31__18_39_21 by Mark, on Flickr

 

This is what happens with Pedals.  I am able to rake the train from side to side

[Norman]

I must concur. I have the first edition without the centering cam, and have actually placed an order for another one with the cam. I'm looking forward to hear what you think about the center feel with cam, or with the damper once you installed it. 

[663rd_Clutch]

No issues with mine after 1 year of use. I did add the extra spring and it feels better to me. Not cheap, but these are not throw away pedals. Very well made!

[Maico]

Its been two years and I still use these almost daily.  They are bullet proof.  Even the paint is so well done, its not even scratched.  I would buy other products from Slaw Device.  Please make a HOTAS.