Osita

We don't have any mock-ups of it yet because it's really at the moment just something our principle engineer conceptualized pretty much on the spot when we were in a meeting on something else related to our A-10 project. It got mentioned how TM has all these good products for A-10 and had stopped making the viper throttle once the A-10 was so popular, which is disappointing. Then our PE says something about being sure that we can make a "fairly decent" replica of the viper throttle for low cost. So that is one of the projects we penciled in for consideration in a year or two after we finish work on the A-10 and JAS-39... but if a lot of people want this F-16 throttle, we could justify bringing that project forward more quickly. I just have to prove there's a reasonable market for it. For reference see https://photos.app.goo.gl/Fb6yHoiX2SxKuMWz5 which is an early stage prototype of a CDU we're developing now for our A-10 project. It is different from other products available now because it has its own dedicated PC that will be mounted under it, so an all in one unit (which also has full computer functionality). We did not design this one for selling though, because we think it would be too expensive to offer for sale because of the PC. But again, if people will be interested, just need to let me know. We also are planning to make A320 style MCDU. I know what is shown in the pic is not perfect, but it's just an early prototype. Also notice we are using 16:9 screen instead of 4:3 just because it's a lot simpler and because it actually gives a bit more room for the display, and the display can be set to a higher resolution than the real thing (full HD) for better clarity. And further down the track, we'll be making functioning HUD kit for F-16, A-10, F/A-18, F-14, and maybe some others. Again that's intended mostly for our own internal needs and not for selling because everyone is using VR now. We might sell them if people ask. Expensive also because of the special glass they need to have.

Hey everyone, my team is thinking of making this throttle already but we plan to do it some time in the future... but if enough people want it now I could probably get this project started more quickly. So this is just a check to see how many of you are interested in this product at this price. It will be $250 to $350 and we will try to make that including the cost to send it, but maybe depends on where you live. We don't know much about the EU VAT law, so we might have to add something for VAT in your country if we are told by your govt that we have to do that. Some things to know: 1. It's planned to make it very strong and work very well. 2. Plan to have proper detents (using sensors to track motion of the lever) 3. It will be made in Thailand 4. It might not be a perfect 100% replica but much better than the cheap Thrustmaster and Saitek single lever throttles. 5. Having said that at point 4, we will still make as much effort as reasonable to make it look authentic while keeping it "affordable" (that very much depends on your circumstances if it is really affordable or not, but we try!). If there would be about 75 to 100 positive responses it's probably enough that I can get this project started more early than planned. But please be sincere in your replies. If you really would not like to have it, that is also useful information. Thanks!!!!

Thanks for the instructions, Milou.

I'm not really sure because it is just something I talked about with the engineer a few weeks ago and it wasn't our main topic of conversation at the time, just something that we really want to get done. I will ask at the next opportunity and report back. For now I imagine it will be that you have to push it sideways a bit through a track, I will try to draw... || || || || || || || Easier and better than lift and pull, I think. This won't affect the function of it, but makes it so you have to consciously decide to go AB. Actually a bit difficult to do it, but I believe that will be better.

Thank you. Actually it is being made in Thailand, but that's part of why it's a bit less expensive, because we have lower overheads for some things (but electronics still quite costly). I will try to add the poll thing but I have never done something like that before.

FWIW, one of the guys on my engineering team is fairly confident we should be able to start making a "decent enough" replica of this throttle some time late next year or early in 2022 (because we're prioritizing other projects at the moment), and we're expecting it to be in the range of $250 to $350 (what he said it's likely to be). Of course we know that TM is eventually going to start making these again (because it would be crazy not to), but we're expecting to need them for our own use before the TM ones come back to the market. If enough of you guys wanted to buy it, we might push it up in priority and get started sooner. Note that I don't know if it would be as good in looks as the TM ones are likely to be, but it will be "industrial strength" so it will be able to stand up to a lot of punishment and it will have all the functionality. How many is enough people interested? I think if we had 75 to 100 people asking for it, it would be enough to allow this project to get accelerated (oh, definitely did not mean to make an acceleration pun when talking about throttles, but let's just roll with it).

Well... pretty much what the title says. The user interface looks okay and the LUA file seems to be working, getting UDP output when A-10C loads and for the whole time it is running, but the gauges are not doing anything at all. There's probably some real easy step that I'm missing, but I can't figure out what it is. Using the BlueFinMa version of Helios, 1.4.2019.1005 OS is Win10 Pro 64GB RAM (DDR4-3200) Ryzen 5 3600 I have VCS supplying the MFCD output. Don't know if that's bad or not. I am also later going to add another screen for CDU and also planning to have that configured by VCS. Anyone can provide some clues about how to get Helios to notice the output from DCS and update the screen? Seems from reading other posts that mostly everyone else can get this running, but not me :( Also does anyone know where I can get a pre-made working profile that has only instruments, not all the buttons and switches and stuff like that? Every pre-made profile I have found includes the switches and I don't really want those and don't know if deleting them will break the profile.

Well I think for those who only fly software version on their computer screen or who use VR, this is not going to be a problem. But for anyone who builds hardware cockpit then its a bit more complicated, especially if they use 3rd party software to achieve better functionality. It's potentially going to create some compatibility issues, particularly with older software like Helios and some of the more specialist mobile apps that have been developed. So I think only those who have a need for it based on compatibility are going to stick with the older software. I'm going to try the new one, but if it doesn't play well with my hardware then I'll have to revert. What I am pleased about is that for now the ED team is saying they will not be forcing us to upgrade, so we get to choose what solutions are best for us. This is the natural way that all software should be. Let the user make the decisions. It's rare for software companies to be so reasonable, which explains why so many people felt skeptical and suspicious. It's not because of ED, it's because of the software development community in general has had a tendency in the past to take the view that whatever is the latest version is the best for everyone to have, and sometimes (especially in the case of Windows 10) force that on the user even if it may create problems.

Negative. Also, why would anyone bother wasting the time to write an insult? How would that yield a benefit?

Thank you very much for your informative answers, gentlemen. In particular thanks to Jester986 for living up to his name and providing a good laugh at the end.

Wonder why nobody is addressing the obvious elephant... Everyone is so obsessed with the software compatibility issue between these 2 versions of the sim, but there's another much bigger problem for many users (probably not the majority, but still, a big number)... What about how this will affect cockpit builders and things like DCS BIOS, HawgTouch, Helios, etc? This is a much bigger problem I think, because people have invested countless hours and dollars to make these things work, and every time there's a major change there is a risk that all that hard work and investment is wiped out or at least massively degraded. This is the reason why ED should not make the upgrade compulsory and should not implement any changes that would make the old version of A-10C stop working in newer versions of DCS or multi-player games. That would not be fair (if the only way to play multi-player is through ED's systems and ED removes the ability for A-10C players to participate, thus "forcing" the upgrade as somebody mentioned happened with Black Shark). I don't know if that Black Shark allegation was true, but if it was, then definitely not cool.

Since the AGM-122 is a modified AIM-9, and we already know the A-10 can carry AIM-9, is there any good technical reason why it hasn't been included as an option for us to use? I accept that maybe it's not used on the real A-10 (though it would be a sensible choice, along with the AGM-88 ). We probably do get these weapons with F/A-18 and F-16 (confirm?). But if you have a team of just A-10s, it would be so good for at least one of them to have this weapon to take down enemy radar in the opening of an attack. Anyone know if it's technically not possible for this weapon to be carried and used other than just a limitation / oversight in the sim?

I noticed almost everyone recommending to use MDF for building cockpit frame, and this is probably fine if you live in Europe or US. I want to bring some attention to the fact that if you live in any place that could be described as "tropical" then MDF will be a very bad choice. It can get ugly very fast, because it absorbs moisture even if you paint it. This can result in a soft, crumbly texture on the thinner sheets and also mold. I am using plaswood and this is what I would recommend for everyone, not just those who live in tropical environments. It has these advantages: 1. Very light compared to just about everything else, but still reasonably strong if you choose good quality. 2. Easy to work with. You can drill it and cut it so easily, and screws will auto-countersink every time. 3. Easy to paint. Other wood slurps up paint, which is very expensive. With plaswood I have found that nearly always I only need one coat of paint (I use "Leyland" and "ATM" spray paint, which gives me much better results than more expensive paints that I have tried). 4. Typically can be wiped clean with just a damp cloth. Disadvantages: 1. Slightly more expensive than MDF (where I live, anyway). I think the advantages listed above more than justify the very small increase in the cost. 2. Anything thinner than 10mm will not have good resistance against breaking, so you will need to be careful when handling thin pieces. 3. If you hit or bump it too hard, it will definitely leave impact craters. You may need to take this into account if you have kids or overly-rambunctious pets, etc. 4. It's not a natural product, and I don't know if the dust particles resulting from cutting it may harm your health and I don't know if it is good or bad for the environment (I am guessing they use some recycled plastics in the manufacturing process, so it probably is "good" but I don't actually know at this time). Note that I know many of you have successfully used MDF and you love it, and that's fine. I don't personally have a vendetta against the stuff, but I found the results very disappointing and hope that by sharing my experience then some of you may avoid the same costly mistakes that I have endured during my building process.