Auxair 51

Replacement grips did the trick. All good now.

It actually gets worse..... they sent out a replacement throttle base..... hooked it all up and guess what....? Yup, same issue. They now want me to return the grips and then they'll send out replacement grips..... driving me nuts!

To install the finger lift kit, you have to remove the grips, install the lift base with two long screws, and then attach the grips to the lift kit. I did all that fine. As soon as I entered DCS, none of the grip buttons, hat switches worked. Went into SAP and the grips were not even there. Not recognized at all. Removed the kit and reverted back to my original set up and the grips still didn't register. Lots of back and forth on their CS portal. Initially they thought the PCB in the grip was faulty so had to take it apart and send them video of the red light flashing. That showed the grip board was working fine so they deduced it was the cable running from the right grip to the base and sent out a new one. Stripped it all down and installed the cable and guess what.... no difference! The then told me to send the base back and they would send out a new one. My guess is that by adding the lift kit, at the top of the curve of the kit, it put too much strain on the throttle cable and that damaged the main board in the base unit. All the buttons and switches on the base worked fine, the throttles worked fine, just the grips didn't register. I'm in two minds as to whether or not to attach the lift kit when the new base arrives.... I liked the feel of the AB Detent and the idle cut off.... but it's not worth risking the loss of grip functionality, and the 2 months of faffing around with the CS team and waiting for a replacement to arrive....

My problem with the shaker kit was when I went to plug in the cable, the socket broke off. Needed to replace the entire PCB inside the stick. Spent all day getting that sorted. I had zero issues until that point. I added the shark kit as a way of adding extra button functionality that I lost from the throttle grips when they failed. I regret spending the $100 CAD on the finger lift kit that ultimately caused all the issues. It cost me that in shipping to ship the quadrant back to China so they would send out the replacement.

I wouldn't go so far as to not buy one. Mine was working fine and is actually fantastic. I do all my flying in VR now, so having all the switches available to you is awesome. Let it be known though, if you buy it basic and then add on to it, you're doing it yourself with pretty much zero customer support. If you're good at this, it's fine. If' you don't have the steady hands of a brain surgeon or you have limited knowledge of printed circuit boards...it's a little intimidating! Make sure you don't throw your old kit away! My problem came when I added the finger lift kit.... seems to have broken something inside. Same when I added the Shark kit to the F16 joystick grip... If you fancy getting the add ons, get them at the time you buy it and they should preassemble them and test them before they ship them out, (or so they claim). Their customer service sucks, and my replacement is now in a holding pattern in Shanghai as China shuts down for their Lunar New Year holidays. FedEx have stopped all operations there until 28th Jan. My failures happened at the end of November..... so it will be 2 months before it's all sorted. Still, way better than the Saitak X52 i've had to revert back to.

I had exactly the same problem. My Throttle with the F18 grips was working fine. I was flying the AV8B exclusively. I then returned to the FA18 and was having problems getting the throttle settings right for the AB. I purchased the finger lift kits. Installation was simple but straight away, none of the buttons, hat switches worked on either grip. SIMAPP Pro showed only the throttle base present. The rest of the switches were working fine, as were the throttles. I went through their support and followed their instructions. They said it was a problem with the right throttle cable and sent me a new one. I installed it and it didn't have any effect. They then said they would send me new grips.... sound familiar? I took the grips apart and showed them the PCB, (sent them videos and stills). Also took the base apart and showed them. they now say it's a problem with the base and not the grips or cables. I have to return the base and they will send out a new one. Seems to me that the length of the throttle cables is too short. When you add the lift kit, it creates a lot of strain on the cable. In my case it was instant. Everything was fine right up until I installed the kit. When I took the kit out, it had no impact. The software doesn't recognize the grips.... can't see it being a grip failure.... Most annoying!

I had a similar problem with both my F16 joystick with the "Shark Kit" adapter and the Orion 2 throttle base. The throttle with the F18 grips and the F16 joystick were working fine. My problem started about 3 months in when I added the finger lift kit on the throttle. Followed the instructions to the letter (simple really - take off the grips, install the lift kit - reattach the grips). Immediately all the buttons on both joysticks did not work and the software only recognised the base. As a result, I added the Shark kit to the joystick to at least give me some additional functionality, and when plugging in the small cable, the plug socket broke. They sent me a replacement PCB which I had to pay for, whilst sending me replacement throttle cables for the grips. had to disassemble everything in the joystick and the throttle base.... got the joystick working but the grips still didn't. Now I have to ship the throttle base back and they will send out a replacement base..... appears to this lay person that when adding the finger lift kit, the cables become super tight.... almost restricting the throttle movement at the highest part.... clearly a design failure. Shame though as I loved it - way better than my X52.

Great video! Just wondering how you got the Tarawa ATC to give you Marshalling directions etc, just like with the Supercarrier? My Tarawa ATC only provides basic info just like a land base.....