So what do you fly with those godly things? DCS F-18?
Ace Combat 7.
Seriously, I do chew on the edges of DCS from time to time. I need to make more of an effort to get into it in earnest.
Mostly MSFS, IL-2 BoX, Elite Dangerous. I don’t play ARMA 3 much anymore, but I tried it over the weekend and the throttle seems to work ok. I’ll happily use it in other games where I can justify a HOTAS setup, even if it’s overkill. (Haven’t actually tried Ace Combat 7 though)
About the throttle, I’ll note a couple of things. My hands are on the small side and the handle is big, so I need to move my hand around a bit to reach all the controls. It’s not a problem though since I don’t need to maintain a grip on the throttle as I would with the joystick.
The afterburner detent action was a little sticky and squeaky initially. I read posts from other owners that it gets better after some usage. I just put Super Lube on the parts, and that smoothed it out right away.
Also, the shipping cost made me gulp. Otherwise I love it. The build quality is solid, the controls feel great.
I’ve had the joystick for about three years, and it works like new. I use the hard center cams and the lightest springs (which are still plenty strong). There’s no wobble on center, no need for a deadzone in games. Movement is very precise. The buttons have a short travel, hard tactile feel. This stick may very well outlive me.
Very cool! Thanks for the report. I’d already put in a preorder, but the way they do it I don’t have to decide until it’s time to pay. But between your reports and the YT videos I’ve watched, I’m sold!
They’re delaying current preorders because they have a new joystick base coming and they want to ship the Orion 2 base instead of the original. (Like what happened with your throttle.) Weirdly, though, they have a picture of the new base on their Facebook page but haven’t listed what’s actually new on it.
I went with the combo they offer that has the F/A-18 throttle and the F-16 stick. Not a realistic combo, but the one that offers the most buttons and hat switches!
I’m not guessing I’ll see it for a while (they haven’t started shipping out the Orion 2 bases yet, and it looks like they built up at least a couple of weeks of backorders before I jumped in the queue), but I’ll report once they arrive.
Also had to order new bases for my Monstertech mounts, so I’ll have parts coming from China and Germany. So. Much. Shipping. Cost. :)
Virpil now has a store and distribution center in the USA:
They have a 5% off grand opening sale for the next few days.
Just as a test, I put a throttle in the cart and plugged in my address. Shipping cost was $10. Almost brought a tear to my eye.
Oh here’s another great deal on one
With Microsft’s focus on games on the rise makes you wonder why they don’t make them again.
I have one broken example of the msffb2 and one working. The good one does have some gunk on the plastic coating making it feel very icky indeed. What could I do to get that thing usable again?
The current state of my simpit:
It contains:
A car seat salvaged from the scrapyard
A www.totalcontrols.eu button box
A warthog throttle with upgraded ministick
A beyerdynamic 220 studio headpjone
A virpil cm2 stick on a curved extension
MFG foot pedals
A fan
An HP reverb G2
A lego imperial doom cow
Sounds similar to a problem I had with my X52. Hadn’t used it in a few years, came back to find the throttle handle was sticky/tacky. My understanding is that it can be caused by oils from the skin interacting with the plastic over time. In any case, talc fixed it. I coated the handle with baby powder, took multiple applications but it did the trick.
Good to know!
Hey so the stick I got was indeed sticky. Could you share some instructions on how to do this properly with the baby powder, please and thank you?
It was a long time ago, but I didn’t do anything fancy. I just took a generous amount, rubbed it onto the problem areas, and wiped off the excess.
Keep in mind, I’ve never owned a Sidewinder. You may want to try it on a small area first just to see how it reacts.
I first tried alcohol. Didn’t work for me. I wasn’t trying to remove the top layer though.
They’re right about the materials. You can tell where I gripped the controls on my X52. Over time and usage, the top surface has worn away to the hard, shiny plastic underneath. Cheap materials, but I’ve also owned it for a long time. I bought it at CompUSA, for crying out loud!
Interestingly, the joystick is made with the same materials, but I never had the sticky/tacky problem with it.
Yeah I’ve had that throttle and it’s similar material so I’ll try it out. Thank you.
No, not baby powder, that’s just gonna make it sticky AND covered with baby powder.
Isopropyl alcohol will take the coating off and with a bit of rubbing you’ll get it down to nice, non-sticky bare plastic. It takes a while, but eventually you’ll get down to the base plastic.
My old Logitech G940 did this; it was a sticky mess and after cleaning it with alcohol it was non-sticky, normal plastic.
Bet it didn’t smell as good as if you’d used baby powder though…
