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I received the shipping notification for Control Panel 3. DHL is currently showing Wednesday of next week; just before the Thanksgiving holiday. Perfect timing.

While I understand this is not the way hat switches were designed to be used, I never accidentally do an incidental center button press on the Virpil grips or CM3 throttle by just pushing the outside of the hat switch in the direction I want like it is a button instead of a hat switch. It's intuitive and you get used to it fast. With that said, I haven't had much trouble using it the traditional way either.

They had a good product from a look and capability standpoint, but didn't know how to run a business apparently, which is actually the hardest part.

I wish the base was designed more like the K-51 collective. The whole unit base needs a casing around it and where the collective pivot point is secured on both sides and the cables are connected to the casing instead of the collective itself. Hopefully we get more input from others to see if your problem is an anomaly or part of a bigger problem. I'm sure we'll see multiple revisions like Virpil's past products, but that doesn't help the early adopters.

VR is awesome, but at the same time, I have zero issues swapping back to 2D and vice versa.

That's why I got the CP1 also as the two analog axis have a center detente.

Virpil is getting much faster on the turnaround times now. Their shipping time banner page has been quite accurate at least for me on orders the past few months.

Yeah, based on recent shipping times, I would anticipate you receiving then in the next 10 to 14 days depending on the shipping option chosen. They are much faster than they used to be as far as the end to end ordering process. I ordered their Control Panel 2 a couple of months ago and received it in under 2 weeks. I'm in the U.S. They have an ordering thread on their site where people post their ordering statuses.

I'm not fond of how they did the base. I would have preferred the collective assembly be secured on both sides instead of just the interior side and that relying on the mounting assembly itself and I also don't like that the cables are connected to the assembly itself where they move when the collective handle does. It's a very different design from the other collective bases out there, but hopefully it holds up over the long term.

That bad part about VR is everyone's experience is going to be different due to a variety of physical characteristic reasons both in regards to the person and the respective VR device. They simply have to be tried and try various settings based on various recommended settings and go from there. Maybe some day there will be a truly versatile VR headset in terms of being able to adjust several aspects.

CH Products still have the best hat switches in the industry. I do wish manufacturers would use those as they have zero play and are "clicky".

It is. Some people just have less expectations. Or maybe they just understand how gated versus non-gated hats work.

That's the only person I have ever heard complain about it in sim forums or YouTube or Discord or wherever. If those are the same hat switch mechanics as the Virpil Alpha grip, "he's doing it wrong". If he is struggling with it though, he could always put in a 1 second delay for the middle button input and that would mitigate the problem. Also, he's using a CM2 it appears along with what it says in the video title, but the switches aren't different on the CM3 most likely.

Are you going to go the arc or rail direction for the VKB throttle? I'm thinking rail since the CM3 is an arc already, but not completely sure yet as I want to make sure the rail has a relevant enough amount of more travel distance compared to the arc.

"Resistance is not completely linear, and is slightly lower in the middle of the travel range." Virpil may need to do a couple of revisions as usual to work out those kind of kinks. The K-51 is very consistent on the travel range, but I like the option of different grips on the Virpil. Tough call for me so far. Thanks for the review!

True, but on paper, this will be the most advanced and versatile throttle on the market. "Paper" being the operative word though as it currently stands. I have concerns about the reliability of electronic detents versus mechanical detents, but only time will tell on that. Given the recent delay, I think I am going to go ahead get the CM3 and then still get the TECS when available as I sure want to give it a go. Having one or the other as a backup throttle won't exactly be a bad option.

I had concerns about the design of the base from the beginning. I wasn't fond of the pivot point relying on the mounting bracket itself. I will be interested in reading more reviews about how the collective responds with the 3 different cams. The base is what I really like about the K-51 collective, I just wish the button box portion wasn't 3D printed. Yes, I know that keeps the cost low, but would love to see a premium version as the base has been great over the past year.

Yep, I stopped reading it.

Still primitive.

I won't be interested in any reviews, just if there are going to be any teething problems or not. Virpil just put a serious hurt on other more commercial collectives at that price point as I thought they would.

Still using primitive design base stations. *sigh*

Maybe make it the dedicated "cold start" box with a landing gear? That's all I got.

Please disregard.

From a practicality standpoint, it mostly comes down to whether one doesn't like to be stuck with two analog hats on the Pro. The light status and material is quite secondary to that imo.

I would guess 200 to 250 for the grip and 250 to 300 for the base based on their other offerings. So under 600 for the complete package. Of course, this is even more niche in a niche market so we'll see.