Immune

It has released to the general populace! Install is painless and had no issues getting the game to interact with the server. It all ran smooth. Now to figure out how to login to the web UI to start using this sucker!

Dang! That's awesome bud! Glad to hear it was so freakin quick mate!

Mine actually was missing the set screw, so I had to use another I had on hand. To your question, I offset my stick, so I didn't notice a flat spot to lock it into. It does not move or slip though. My pre-order was right on the cutoff. I got the v2 for both the stick, base and F-16 throttle. So latest and greatest all around!

It isn't so bad. I didn't have issues, just a slight wiggle. Then I thought to used a small vice from the old toolbox and hold them together. Now it is as stable as four bolts. Not to mention, using a vice now makes changing controllers from the mount more efficient when I want to swap to flying the F-18 with my other controller instead of having to unscrew everything, now it is like a quick release.

I did similar to Wile E. I drilled out the right side holes and so far it has been fine with the mount I have. I would prefer to have all four, or at least three, screws secured, but thus far I have not had issues.

At long last, the F-16 stick/throttle combo arrived! It has been unpackaged and assembled. I will be utilizing it tomorrow (Friday baby!), the wife has been advised she may as well not even knock on the door since I will be doing my best to save the world from the communists! While the wait sucked (ordered back in May), once the pre-order went through, it went to FedEx in China on the 11th, shipped on the 12th and arrived today, 14 June!!! 4 days from packaging to delivery, a speed record! No missing parts, no damage, as expected for WinWing's quality and detail. Thus ends the painful pre-order experience. No too bad for being 4 days late for the birthday present it was intended. Better late than never! .

**Edit: Stating up front for clarity since the interwebs are hyper-sensitive these days, this post is NOT a complaint. I am very happy with my current WinWing gear and am really excited for my F-16 stick/throttle combo order now being processed.** I just paid my pre-order, so now onto processing and shipping! Turns out, WinWing was doing a lot of updating! I have to say it may have been worth the wait considering their upcoming offerings with the MFD and F18 comms/input panel. The F-16 throttle is upgraded to a v2, hence the extended delay. I will be saving up for the MFDs over the next year or two! I am bummed for folks that order the F-16 throttle/stick combo this point forward. It appears the button-hat addon for the F-16 stick is now a purchased addon, instead of coming with the stick. Also, the base price for the combo appears to be $769, meaning with shipping you are looking at least $900! I paid $665 after tax and shipping. If I recall, the original price was like $550 for the full stick/throttle combo, pre-tax & shipping. Mainly sharing for posterity, what the combo came with and cost before they updated their site and store offerings. I guess I can appreciate the cost increase given the massive supply chain issues China is having (which are FAR worse than those in the United States!). Entire cities are still being locked down and people locked in their homes as of July 2022, so China is hurting economically and industrially. Thus, everything from China is going to cost significantly more than previous. Hope some of this rambling is helpful insight to someone.

I am still waiting on my order from a month ago. I contacted WinWing support 8 Jun, with my last update from being on 20 Jun, which they said they were still working on their upgrade to the Orion 2 and that orders should be moving "soon". Pre-ordered: 23 May 2022

I am looking forward to no longer needing to be jealous! Edit (6/12): Just heard back from WinWing chat. They held my F-16 Orion 2 order over, but it was because they had an upgrade to the Orion 2. I am trying to get word on what the changes were and will update this post with any information I receive so others are aware. Edit (6/14): The WinWing team does not speak any English. Which is saying something considering they have created a large portion of the high-end sim market. They may rely on Google translate or phone-a-friend type deal. Anyhow, they do not push out changelogs for their products, which is a bummer. The only insight I received is there have been many improvements in this next iteration of the Orion. Not sure if this is a v2.5 or a new v3, but should know soon when I receive it.

I am looking forward to no longer needing to be jealous!

@Tiger19 TL;DR - You should be good on #1, and #2, use a grounding wrist strap and/or ground your computer/peripherals. I can only speak for my experiences. #1 - I have only had one issue with firmware updates (non-brick) when I tried to update while other controllers were hooked up. The firmware update soft-failed so I was able to re-run it after disconnecting the others (including my Saitek rudders). Since then, I follow the advice of only having one controller connected at a time and only direct-connect to the MB USB ports. As for using a separate computer for updates, it shouldn't be an issue as long as you are using the SimAppPro to process the firmware updates. Side note: I do find it irritating that there are firmware updates so often. Typically firmware is a once or twice in a lifetime update so I wonder what changes they are really making. My gut says it is more for telemetry and data collection as opposed to quality/functionality updates, but that is just my tin-foil hat going off. #2 - I also grew up in the high desert and remember the shocks rather well, and do not miss them one bit!!! Having said that, I definitely recommend grounding wherever and whenever feasible. However, your gear should (keyword: should) be grounded through the USB-MB-Power Supply; however, a little extra is not going to hurt anything. Especially if you have a more permanent setup where you would not be regularly changing out gear. My situation, I have a couple different joysticks I change out and my gaming rig is also my work rig. So I have to tear it down after flying to be ready for work the next day. So grounding the gear is not really conducive to my setup. If you are getting shocked when you touch the body of your throttle or joystick, I would say the next best thing is to use a grounding strap on your wrist. That would be the easiest setup. Side Note: I would recommend getting yourself a UPS as well if you do not already have one. Not only does it condition the power before it enters your computer, it provides additional grounding protection, assuming your house is wired under modern standards (mine is not, it was built in 1952). You can pick a decent 1-Hour UPS from Costco or Office Depot for about $100. Saves your system during power surges, lightning or rolling brown/blackouts as I have in California.

@Sedlo You know, I didn't realize they even had a chat, I have probably stared at it many times but never noticed it #fail. I used the chat and am standing by for their response (it is outside their working hours). Update: Communicated with their chat service, my order should be executed this week. Thank you again for bringing my attention to what should have been bleedingly obvious, Sedlo!

@rem27 I didn't know about transparent foil, I will be looking into that! I am not very artistically inclined and my hands are no longer 100%, but looks like something I might be able to replicate, thanks for mentioning and breaking it down with examples! @LooseCannon Once my Orion2 comes in, I will try taking my Orion1 apart to pull off the faceplate. If I am able without causing damage, I will DM you to send it out. As for the Orion2, I am not sure the plates would work due to it no longer being a flat surface. They went and tried to make it look all nice. Unfortunately, it appears to be a single molded plastic surface, so the sections are not individual, removable surfaces according to a couple posts I read. So using my label maker may be the only solution there unless you creative folks come up with something awesome, as you have already!

Maybe I need to cancel my pre-order. After missing my initial order by one day, I re-pre-ordered on 23 May, but have heard nothing since. Now folks that ordered after me are receiving theirs. Going to re-order, see if that helps somehow. Bummer! Have been looking forward to it shipping and arriving.

@rem27 @LooseCannon Both of those are wonderful examples and look really nice! Once my F-16 stick comes in I may hit you up for more info on customizing the plate! Do you have an estimate on price for an Orion plate? On the flip side, both are good solutions if you fly the same aircraft, otherwise it is cumbersome to change the plates every time you want to fly something different using the same stick. That is where I was thinking something more of a permanent-ish fix where you could change profiles and have the label update (i.e., mini-LCD screens). A bit outlandish as it would skyrocket the price I imagine...not to mention make the gear far more complex to design and maintain for the developers. Again, it was a bit pie in the sky. However, considering how far developers and pit-builders alike have come, it may not be too far off in the future this is an option! But dang those plates look nice!