CrashMeTwice

Fairly easy, it is pretty much just paying attention to it. I recommend to download the online manual (and maybe print it out like I did). In any case, a bit of patience goes a long way. So, make sure to have a cup of coffee or tea and a cookie nearby It took me about 20 minutes to mount the grip, detent plate, and adjusting it. Removing the grip takes even less time. The complete disassembly of the base to bare-bone took me about 45 minutes and about the same time to put it back together. The PCB has "nut shaped" hexagon markers printed on it which tells you where the nuts go on and where not before putting the lower case back on. The round hole markers have to be left out for the long bolts which are used to secure the lower case to the upper case (the one with the switches). Before disassembly you need to pull of the round red button caps and the grey rotary dial caps. You don't have to worry of the position as are "keyed" and you can't put them back on wrong. I took a lot of images, filmed everything, and will have a video about it hopefully soon up on YT and my website, I am currently editing the final touches on Part 4 of my Cyclic Force Trim Mod project which goes live on or before this weekend. Right after that I will work on the WINWING one.

I have the VPC Constellation ALPHA Grip and I do like it in ED. It also has labels which don't last. I do want a different stick for DCS though, thinking of rolling my own. The VPC MongoosT-50CM2 Base is awesome, very high quality in my opinion. Took the entire Viper grip apart yesterday and I think I found the issue with the antenna elevation knob/dial and I think I have a permanent fix for it. Will try that out today when everything is re-assembled. I'll let you know how it goes.

Orion2 Base: Well, first of all, the price is in the affordable category. I got it on sale and saved almost 80 bucks over the VIRPIL throttle. It was delivered within 8 days to my door with excellent tracking via FedEx Economy. There are a lot of switches to play with. The throttle movement feels very smooth and allows for fine tension/friction adjustments. I recommend to do the friction adjustments before installing the Viper grip which combines both levers into one moving motion. You can't tell which lever has tension. The back lighting is a nice green and not too obtrusive. The entire Orion2 throttle base is now all plastic, including the bottom mounting plate and detent plate (more on this later). I am a metal type of guy and it looks and feels somewhat cheap. I know that metal has increased in price but I would have gladly paid 20 bucks more for that feature. The base mounting holes are obstructed and near impossible to reach. I will have to do some innovative modding to directly mount it to my simpit cockpit. The included suction cup feet are likely for use with the standard throttle and not for the Viper combo as I couldn't find a way to use or attach them properly. I certainly wouldn't want to use the adhesive pads to practically glue the base to my desk or mount. Until I make a custom mount, I use two plastic clamps holding it onto an aluminum profile of my office simpit. They definitely didn't think that through, what a bummer! The software (SimAppPro) is good enough but I did not find it as detailed as VIRPIL's which can be configured to the extreme. In SimAppPro, it took me a bit of time to get used to the "Chinese" type layout and navigation in the app. Maybe I am just too old as I don't need fancy and prefer "to the point" software. OK, took a look at the inner workings of the Orion2 base. Well, I am neither impressed nor disappointed. I kinda found what I was expecting. The throttle levers and the throttle lever housing are made from cast aluminum. The two levers to the right are also made from cast aluminum but have a plastic casing. I personally think it is not VIRPIL quality as VIRPIL pretty much CNC's everything. That said, VIRPIL doesn't offer a Viper Grip and function, thus, I bought this combo from WINWING. The cable left of the throttle has been routed wrong by the factory and that's caused it to bind and kink when placing it into the cable clamp on the grip. After solving the routing part by simply unplugging it from the PCB header and re-routing it correctly, the issue was solved. However, after re-assembly of the Orion2 base, because this cable is not used for the Viper grip, I affixed it to the left side of the base enclosure which solved any issues I may encounter for good. The cable on the right side doesn't twist or bind. Overall the switches and levers work flawlessly and feel as if they are made of good quality. The switches are all through hole soldered which should make it easier to find a replacement and replacing them if I encounter a failure at some point in the future. The PCB looks organized and well engineered, easy to navigate, and traces are not obscured in any way. Everything is held in place well enough. Next on my to-do list during the coming week is a deeper look into the Viper grip and detent assembly. I will post my findings for anyone interested.

Same here! My antenna elevation knob/dial is also a bit on the wobbly side. Just feels feels loose and not as I would like it to be. I am going to investigate the issue (taking the grip apart) and post my findings.

I'll keep it updated and will post my findings. Thanks for your reply! All put together, tested, and confirmed working. Next step is to take a look at the inner workings.

Greeting Pilots! Hope you are all doing well! Today the WINWING Orion2 F-16EX Viper Throttle Combo I have ordered has arrived. Assembly and test is planned for today as well. Will have some more pictures and a video about my findings up soon. So far the build quality suits my expectations. I am quite exited about this new controller for my simpit!

This is just sad! May the road ahead be filled with success for you!

Force Trim Mod Update! Greeting Pilots! Today I have finished the rear bottom brace. This cross brace connects the rear vertical posts together and has the hole for mounting it to the Aluminum 4080 Profile. With this step completed I now can proceed with building the system for the Y-axis of the cyclic.

Greeting Pilots! Just uploaded part 3 of my force trim mod. I am working currently on the frame and chassis for the Force Trim Mod. I also have installed side mounted guide rails onto the frame posts. Please check it out.

Yes, sadly I do. However, I am staring this year with Solar and that should be a welcome deduction after the initial cost. Thank you!

Greeting Pilots! Hope you are all doing well! Just "finished" my Sim Rig mod project. I finally able to fly my Mi-24 without dropping below 60fps! Had in the past some bad framerates especially near water !? I am not a fixed wing pilot and do not know what to expect in frame rates but I tested the Su-25T and don't go below 100fps. Settings are all at default high. I only have played single player and can't say anything about multi-player though. I am not really familiar with mission editing and can't find any "autopilot" map for a consistent benchmarking of the Mi-24, if someone knows one, please let me know. I am still benchmarking and testing. Motherboard: Supermicro X10QBI CPU's: 4x Intel Xeon E7-8891 v3, Socket LGA2011 Memory: 256GB (32x8GB) (Quad Channel) Graphics Card: EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 FTW3 ULTRA GAMING Boot drive: Intel Optane SSD 900P Series (280GB, AIC PCIe x4, 3D XPoint) NVMe Game Drive: 1TB SK hynix Gold P31 1TB PCIe NVMe PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA 1600 P2 80+ PLATINUM, 1600W Fully Modular Power Supply (220-P2-1600-X1) Everything is watercooled.

I am afraid you are not alone in your backlash experiences. Why do you think I bought a new table/bed for the mill... LOL Character building

Thank you! Yes, fancy pockets are the most important thing on any project LOL Time, well, when I was young, I hadn't time to tie my laces but now I'm in my 60th and retired, I have so much of it that I had to find something to do or ending up as a permanent chauffeur for the wife's shopping trips. This is one of the reasons I choose to restart my simming hobby, of course it was not because nobody else in the family knows a thing about it and I will miss very much all the concerns and advise on everything and anything I do. Trust me when I say that eventually you will get the time, be it sooner or later. Yes, the mill, I couldn't live without it for sure. It has been my most versatile tool in the shop. Just got an extended bed for it too with 30% extended travel in both axis. This was an early x-mas present to myself! Best thing about it was that the wife was out shopping while the UPS guy huffing and puffing dragged it in. That said, I may be able to buy me another late "first and only" x-mas present Thanks so much for your comment! Made my day!

Greeting Pilots! Just finished editing and uploading part 2 of my force trim mod. So far I have build the base plate and rails, I also have created the bridge plates for the rail blocks. I have drilled NEMA 17 mounting holes on the bridge plates and installed the Modulus 1 Gear Rack with a aluminum base on which the 10 tooth pinions run to move the block assembly along the rails. I noticed that I needed a bit more room between the rail blocks and that meant to take off a bit of material from the blocks. I have mounted my old Nema 17 steppers for now (Replace them later on with Moose's steppers (Higher quality, Dual shaft, more torque). I also created a stick extension from 6061 aluminum which required a bit of machining and filing. I have removed the cam bearing which I no longer need and using the existing hole of it to mount the extension. In a matter of fact I will not re-use the bearings, cams, or the cam arms of the original setup. Still a work in progress You all have a nice holiday season!

This is fantastic craftsmanship! Inspiring to say the least!

Thanks for the input. Got a cyber week discount on a a open box Capri Tools 6" forged vise which was a super cool deal. Should have it by Wednesday. Finally my project can get on it's way again.

Sorry, a bit off-topic! Disaster has struck in my workshop. And there I was happily working on the Force Trim Mod getting ready to cut a aluminum rod when this happened! The bench vise decided to throw me a curve ball. Just broke so I am thinking what? Couldn't believe it? I had this for over a decade and now it quits on me from one minute to the next! How could I finish the next part of my project is my next thought and the answer is, not today! I will be spending some time on figuring out what's a good vise will cost me and which one will not leave me hanging like this one. There will be a bit of a gap towards the next update on this project. Hopefully I get a good deal on a new one.

I purchased some Motorcycle Steering Stabilizers on Ali for 25 bucks each which are fully adjustable and rebuildable. I have used them with light weight Lucas fork oil but they don't work for my new project as I require a lot more of stroke. For rudders they are great though! I am now looking at dampers which have 120mm stroke and they may be just long enough to work. However there are a bit pricey at 45 bucks each. I thought maybe I could make my own from some Lift gate dampers I have laying around in the garage from my old truck which was scrapped some time ago. About drilling out the piston, I have tried that and it made the damper very noisy and "sticky" but it may turn out ok on your model. Mine became unusable until I fixed it by re-closing the hole with a set screw. That's the one I am thinking about.

Wow, that was an awesome video! Thanks for your reply, it makes so much sense now and is a great help for my project. I have several options and I wasn't sure which type of trim return I wanted to use. I am flying mostly the Mi-24 (feels more refined) but I do like the Mi-8 and the KA-50 too. I have difficulty implementing full range trim and may have to build my own dampers as all the steering stabilizers I wanted to use are just to large in diameter to fit within my small box between my legs while still having room to use the rudders. This project is likely the most complex one I have taken on thus far. Anyway, Thanks for all the input!

Having some doubts with my approach... Almost impossible on finding consistent resources on the Force Trim function as it seems every helicopter is a bit different as I get different answers in the forums or on the web. I would like to know on how it works from a piloting perspective in the Mi-8, Mi-24, or KA-50 models. I would appreciate if a real life pilot would find the time answering some of my below questions related to the force trim function. Are the following statements correct: (a) If I engage the Force Trim function the cyclic locks into that position and this is the new 0,0 position. (b) I can still make corrections but the range is now limited and if I exceed that limit, Force Trim will disengage. (c) If I move the cyclic from that new 0,0 position I will feel a "spring" load, returning the cyclic back to the locked position if I would let go of it. If the range (b) is limited, by how much? Thanks! Very cool, looking forward to your post!

Awesome! Thank you!

Very nice! Love to see it when you have it done! Delrin is an awesome material and really nice to work with. I wish I had your skills in cad drawings!

Thank you! Not being able to make corrections quickly without unlocking the stick may cost you the mission. I found myself many times in a bind when I used to fly with a simple mag lock (door lock magnet) design and forgetting that the stick was locked and when I realized it, it was usually to late. I have now completely abandoned it. To much effort and work (and frustration) for something which doesn't work the way I want to. I have been working on the current design with rails and steppers for almost a year and find it a very good solution. A bit more expensive but you don't need a CNC to do it just some time. I know, it's easy for me to say but I have worked with basic tools before I had invested (a long time ago) into a Harbor Freight desktop mill and lathe and would never look back. It is fun to learn and will do any project you may encounter in the future. Food for brains? Would love some more details on what your simpler design approach is.

Thank you! edmuss: As an example, when the stick is moved forward and the lock button (momentary) pressed, this is now the new center position. The stick can move in any direction when pushed against a light spring load. When released the stick turns back via this spring load to the last set center position where it was locked. When the button is pressed again the lock disengages and the stick remains at that position but can now again moved moved freely without spring load to any new location. The force trim allows via the 8 position hat switch on my Virpil grip to move the stick into any position via motors to a new center position and locks in that position when the hat switch is released. I am also planning to integrate a "Home" button, which sets the stick to zero center in both axis. This will allow for easier calibration in the Virpil and DCS software. At least that's the plan in my head

Greeting Pilots! Hope you are all doing well! Today I would like to share with you the first part of my latest project in which I am adding a Force Trim function to the Virpil VPC MongoosT-50CM2 Base for my Helicopter cyclic. I have abandonment my previous mag lock idea and went to guide rails and steppers. I actually dreaded this project as it took such a huge amount of research on how this Force Trim system works in real Helis. I only have experience with the Robinson R22 and that was in the mid 80's. I am still working on it and until then I hope you enjoy the first part!