DirtiByrd

I just learned about them this week! The joystick mountiung plate is eactly what I need. I would love to support a stateside, veteran-owned small business, too.

@CybrSlydr you are one of the lucky ones! If your order was below 116XXX you are stuck with your mounts coming from Germany. I ordered 32 days ago - just the HOTAS R & L mounts - and nothing has changed. I am glad they are ramping up their Tampa distribution center. It will ultimately help with shipping costs and delivery times. A good hex key set is a requirement for a lot of things in life so that $15 is money well spent, especially if you are going the aluminum extrusion route. I'm $3000 in on extrusion cockpits and I have a set of metric keys strapped to the frame to make adjustments on the fly. Enjoy your mounts!

Mine arrived Thurday, ahead of schedule! @Sorata Any issues since they updated SimAppPro last week? Mine seems to work fine but I am geting used to the FSSB concept so I am not sure if what I am experiencing is "correct" or not. Y axis seems damp in the FA-18 with no the stock curve. What curve seems to work best for you?

Has anyone found alternatives to Monstertech for mounting plates for Orion Joystick and/or Throttle? I would like to find an option that mounts to 40mm slots that I can buy separate from the extrusion pieces itself (i.e. just the mount, no more). There has to be someone else with a CNC that can cut and powdercoat 16-guage steel, right? All I have found are mounting plates with extrusion and desk clamps attached. Thanks in advance for any wisdom! <rant> Unfortunately, it seems like Monstertech is really under water and way behind on orders with no end in sight. I am reluctant to send them more money until they 1) improve communication on lead times, or 2) change billing to happen at the time of shipping. I think their products are world class, especially their chairs, but there is nothing unique or innovative about their system that justifies a built-to-order business model in 2022. I think I would be all-in with them if they had a more resilient supply chain. We all used to waiting a long time for our new Winwing gear and they are upfront on their site (for each product) what is in stock, what is coming, and what can be pre-ordered. Winwing bills me at shipping and my order arrives promptly thereafter. As a result, I feel confident pre-ordering and waiting for their products. Monstertech takes your money and provides no proactive communication, forcing you to beg for order status on Discord at which point they are very nice and helpful. Alighierian is a saint and his job would be much easier if they operated like a modern ecommerce operation and set expecdtation in advance of taking your money. </rant>

I COMPLETELY agree. The offer to provide a refund at this stage is generous and shows genuine concern for their customers. I appreciate that they needed to make a quick judgement call and may not have had enough information yet to offer a clearer assessment of the situation. Rather than create a bunch of disastified customers out the gate, offering an option now is the right move. I am an early adopter and I already have a functioning set of controls so I'm keen to try it out warts and all, provided it's not DOA out of the box, or an issue that renders the device unserviceable later. I think I will just ride it out. Going to the back of the line now would be worse than a longer wait. If it is as good of an experience as Sorata says, I want it as fast as they can get me a working product.

Clearly, I wasn't clear, either. I understood the words they wrote, but the words they wrote don't communicate very much. Is it a harware problem? Is is the calibration problem @Sorata is describing above? Are the bases spontaeously combusting when plugging in your grip? Who can be sure based on Dory's few words... If the problem is software alone, why hold the units back and not just issue a patch? Thier responses leaves a lot to be desired now that the money has left my bank. It's one thing to say the pre-order has been delayed another month to work out some bugs and quite another to charge me, send me a shipping code and then send me that email. The fact they are offering a refund after I have waited on pre-order for months tells me they don't think they can resolve this issue in a few days or a couple of weeks. Rather than put the matter to bed with better information, I get to fill in the spaces with wild speculation and conspiracy theories while I wait. Clear?

Same here. Pretty good experience so far. FedEx tracking is still saying no receipt of the package so I might get lucky but not holding my breath. Here is what they sent us. As you can probably discern, this message is the opposite or clear and could mean literally anything. Not sure whether I will wait or go to the back of the line.

They may have realized this as well. They sent me and about a dozen other customers a note saying they were not sending us the units and we could get a refund or wait. This after getting the shipping notification two days ago. Whatever is wrong they are clearly uncomfortable sending out more units until these issues are resolved.

Thanks for the heads up!! My pre-order payment just came through so I guess I will get to see how it handles next week. I bet it won't be long before profiles and software get cleaned up if the bulk of pre-orders are starting to ship.

I know I laughed

The lights stay on because you're plugged into a USB 3.2 port which allows for power passthrough for charging without the device being turned on. If your PSU is plugged in, power will flow through to the device causing the lights to remain on. Plug it into a USB 2.0 port and it won't stay lit after shutdown.

Very nice Viper pit! Hadn't considered dropping the switch panel, and in your case that makes a lot of sense. I hope WW comes out with a Taurus panel and rail for the F16. I would definitely jump at it if they did. I think for now, I am going to build out my pit around the F/A-18 as a primaryt control set and put a second Orion 2 TQ offset and behind the Super T to use the F-16 as well as collectives. I have an alumin extrusion cockpit as well so I could mount it on a swing-away bar when not in use. You have given me a lot to consider, thank you!

Nice workaround, and thanks for the tip on the hot glue! Do you like the F16 grip over the F18? What are your pros & cons with this setup?

I bought the Super Taurus (hereafter referred to as Big T, Super T or Mr. T) with the intention of using it as much for the Viper as the Hornet. I've seen other threads that make mention of the adapter but so far no installs or reviews with this combo after the recently released the adapter. When I placed my order for the Super T, I also added the F-16EX bases+stick and F-16 Throttle converison kit and didn't think much about the lack of gouge on the combo until all of the parts arrived and it was time to set it all up. That's when I ran into the challenge. How exactly does it all fit together and work? There is no manual that describes the combination nor thread I could find with photos or videos of the install. Only a 2D image on the product page with xrays of the assembled grip which are hard (for me) decipher. Decipher I did and was able to make the install happen. For everyone else's benefit, here are lots of photos of the conversion and some thoughts on the value of the conversion kit, as it is sold today. First, let's take a look at the F-16 throttle grip as it comes from Winwing, specifically from the rear: The imporant callout here is that none of the gray metal assembly is transferable to the Super T. That means no roller guide, no pinkie detent release and spring-loaded cam action. If you were considering purchasing this conversion to enjoy those ergonomic aspects, DO NOT BUY THIS CONVERSION. Instead, buy the ENTIRE Orion 2 Throttle with F-16 grip as a package. Otherwise, you are paying for a lot of money for parts and featuers that are now worthless. If all you want is the F-16 aesthetic for your F/A-18 throttle base, please continue reading. The next step is to remove your F/A-18 throttle handles. 4 x 2.5mm hex nuts must be removed and each cable disconnected. To do this, split the throttles and remove the two pan head screws attaching each handle to the base: Next, place both throttle arms back into the off detent and insert the adapter plate between them like this: Next, insert the 2 x 3mm screw, washers and nuts from the right-side throttle handle, through the adapter and out the left-side throttle handle holes. The screws can be inserted from the other side if oyu like, but this will make adjusting the angle of the throttle grip more difficult. If you want the grip to freely move up and down in the channel, do not tighten down the nuts all the way. Here is an image of the adapter in place, with the screws mounted in the opposite direction as I have done it: Now it is time to disassemble the F-16 throttle grip from the Orion 2 assembly. This involes removing the 3 x 4mm hex bolts seen here: Unclip the grip's wire lead from the Orion mounting assembly and you will have something like this: Quick note on the captured bolts seen in this picture. Winwing only secures these nuts into the grooves with a tiny bit of silicone at the top. During my first disassembly the silicone cap came off two of the nuts. I had to super glue the nuts into the grooves to reassemle the grip and attach it to the Super T adapter. The next step is to thread the grip wire lead through the large hole at the back of the adapter and connect the lead to the right-side (3-pin) throttle handle plug: Last, re-use 2 x 4mm bolts you removed from the Orion subassembly to attach the grip to the adapter as shown: The completed assembly looks like this: Notice the left-side loose cable and the right-side cable just laying on the switch in the OFF position. These will need to be zip tied as there is not a clean way to police them up. Problems inherent this setup/design: The ergonomics are also extremely awkward. You will need to remove the finger-lifts entiorely, or completely break your grip to get the throttle into the IDLE detent. Not a great experience either way Because the third bolt is missing from the mount, it is possible to accidentally rotate the grip off the adapter mount if there is no play in the adapter bolts. The loose play in the grip to prevent this makes everything feel janky and awkward. Aesthetics are trash. Loose wires, visible mounting hardware. No guide rail or pinky detent functionality. So there you have it - an F-16 throttle grip on your F/A-18 base. Ugly as sin? Definitely. Worth the cost of the current Orion 2 upgrade package ($359 USD shipped)?? Definitely NOT. I immediately removed it and replaced it with the F/A-18 throttle grips. I will eventually buy an Orion base and have a dedicated F-16 control suite but having to swap entire throttler ergos to do so is unfortunate. If you are reading this and don't have any legacy Winwing hardware yet, buy the Super T if you love the Hornet and don't care about HOTAS immersion or compatability with other Winwing gear. It is not forward compatible with Orion 2 designs in a way that you will appreciate later. I would rather have paid $600 for a Super-Sized F-16 version of the Super Taurus than waste money on this half-baked "conversion". When I finally pay to mount this grip onto an Orion base, I will have also paid almost $200USD more than if I had just bought the Orion 2 to begin with. Live and learn I suppose. Despite this poor choice on my part, I really do love the Winwing, the Super Taurus and the F-16 throttle grip. I can't wait to use it when I get around to mounting it on an Orion. I am sure they will produce better options for us in the future. If I ever get around to re-mounting the grip and flying with it, I'll produce a full video review. Leave a comment below if you would like to watch a video like that.

Thanks, @BuzzU. I have heard that as well. The good news is that I have no recent joystick muscle memory to overwrite. For my first 100hrs, I want to work exclusively on F-16 proprioception. Afterwards I'll add a separate middle stick for rotary/other fixed-wing to build on top of that finer-tuned foundation.

Got the email to pay for my pre-order on 8/4 and excited to give it a try. Has anyone actually taken delivery of the upgrade kit or base yet? If so, any wisdom to share on setup and initialt thoughts? This will be my first FSSB stick. it is worth the $389USD for the base alone.

I was able to figure this out after creating a new account from scratch and have now sucessfully submitted and paid for two orders. For those of you in USA who struggled like I did to get this form to work, I have a breakdown of what to enter into each field in the form: After selecting "United States" for your country, the form will change and you will need to fill out the rest of the forms as follows: State: Dropdown menu of all 50 states, pick yours Input City: Type your city name here Input District: This is actually your house number, or the street number of your business or apartment. ENTER ONLY THE NUMBER and NOT the street name Detailed Address: This is where you type STREET NAME ONLY. If you need to specify a Suite or Unit number this is where you input it Full Name: self-explanatory Telephone: Your 10-digit number with a 1 in front indicating USA country code. DO NOT use +1 as the country code, it will not work. ZIP Code: This is your 5-digit ZIP Code+4. Using just the 5-digit ZIP will not verify without the +4 tacked on. Apologies if this is redundant information to those Americans who who made it through without a hitch on their first try. Your clairvoyance is truly remarkable. For the rest of us, I hope this helps. Thanks to @Gumby22 and @MustangSally for the Address Book suggestion as that definitely makes it easier once you have saved the right info before ordering. Can't wait for all the random FedEx notifications and the eventual arrival of all the Winwing awesomeness.

Thanks for the tip @MustangSally. That was what Gumby suggesteed above and something I tried before leaving my comment. I tried this method with six different addresses, a couple commercial and a few residential and none of them would verify. When I got to check out and try to add them from the address book, nothing happens and the Buy Now button is not clickable. It's a garbage ecommerce engine thye're using (I know, I build them) and I've never seen anything quite as bad as this whilst buying my Chinesium.

@seb62085 Were you able to complete your order as @Gumby22 described, or by some other means? This is happening to me as well, despite having the house number and street exactly as it exists in the FedEx database? I added it to my address book as Gumby recommended and had no joy checking out. I also tried adding a commercial address and the same thing. Is this a browser issue maybe? Chrome 103.0.5060.134 for me. Is their website chat useful at all?

Mad props for the Robotech cockpit love