TheSlickOne

For those with the loose Orion2 base sliders, it's possible to get them tighter. Take off the base plate (lots of screws but no cables to worry about), unscrew the two retaining screws on each slider and pull it out (there are no cables). You need to take the slider body apart by unscrewing the 3 small metal screws and gently pry the two halves apart with a knife. You will see two thick and one thinner plastic pins protruding from one of the halves. The thinner pin that goes through the cutout in the slider is what's providing the spacing for the upper part of the plastic body. You can file down this plastic pin a bit to be able to tighten the top screw therefore pulling the slider body halves closer together to create more friction. Only need to remove a hair, don't overdo it. You can just press the two halves of the slider body together to test the feel. The actual factory friction is created by a thin spring washer that is bent in a U-shape. You'll see once you take it apart. I thought about putting more bend into this part to increase the friction but it's so flimsy that I was afraid it might break. Plus, I wanted a very tight slider and my feeling was that even bending this spring wouldn't increase the friction that much. So I chose the other option described above. Make sure you file the pin end in a right angle to make sure the tightness is even once assembled. If the end is slanted the slider body halves won't mate up evenly and you'll end up with the slider having more resistance during one half of it's travel. I managed to get them much tighter than the Warthog HOTAS slider. An accidental bump won't move them now and at the same time the action is still smooth. Hope this helps someone.

I have the Orion2 F/A-18 Hornet Throttle Combo and would like to make the friction/tension of the two thumbwheel sliders (picture below) stronger so they're not so easy to move. Is there an adjustment for these? Did anybody disassemble this throttle before and see if anything could be done? Btw, if anybody has any info on how to take it apart safely I'd like that information. There are too many screws.

Hello, how to install this without any mod manager? Thanks!

I was talking about the WarBRD base.

Are you using it with an extension or without? Does it have less ramp-up with deflection than the T-50? Smoother near center? I'm pretty much ready to jump on it come tomorrow...

OK, great to know about the "articulation sphere". I think my issue of play at center is the result of that part anyways. Now, we'll see how much they want for it... Still, in the meantime I'll be looking at the WarBRD as well coz I also have a stiction issue with the Warthog and frankly not sure if the new part would help in that regard as I think stiction is the result of a combination of thigs like the alignment of the four guide pins, the wholes they ride in, the plastic washer, etc.

Frankly, I didn't even check Virpil's site for over a year now as I got the T-50 base and was not happy with it. Deflection angle is too small, one of the bearings is binding resulting in not smooth movement and deflection resistance ramp-up is too fast (probably due to the small deflection angle). I've tried all cams and springs. It's sitting in the bin. :( I'll look into the new WarBRD base. Maybe it'll be better in those regards. Would probably be the same money anyways. However it seems to be out of stock?

My TM Warthog stick developed a play around center so would like to order a replacement gimbal set or whatever parts involved. Has anybody done this and if so what is the part called exactly? Or if anyone has a parts list or diagram I could use to look it up that would help greatly. Thanks for any tips!

Can someone verify if rudder with keyboard is working in 2.5 OB ? It's not working for me. On 1.5 it's working as advertised. I tried 2.5 on a separate machine with no controllers, no axis assignments and the X and Z keys don't work for the rudder. Aileron and elevator with the arrow keys work. Thanks!

Yeah, so it's ONLY available for Russia. The one red country I didn't select, lol.

Trying to create a simple mission but only seem to be able to add the regular 25. The 25T is not available. What am I doing wrong? Is it specific to some countries? I tried Russia, Belarus, Kazakh but only see the 25.

OK, looking at the track log it seems the power lines are OP :D

Can someone please clue me in why my rocket pods are empty when loading into a mission? Edit: Never mind, I didn't know that you have to click on SPECIFIC pilon slots on the loadout screen. Never clicked on pilon 2 which is the only place you can mount rockets.

I'm trying to engage the tanks from 4 km out but my missiles almost always explode before the tanks. Even on the Nevada smooth desert map. What am I doing wrong?

Just giving my observation in case it helps someone. I just started flying 2.5 and I also found the Gazelle cyclic behave strangely. With default curves for the axis I could move the stick (CH) almost 10 degrees and nothing would happen and then beyond that all of a sudden crazy things. So yeah, no matter what I did, no fine control was to be had. I still have Alpha 2.0 installed so I tested it there and it was butter smooth with same default axis settings. Then I looked other settings and under "Misc." I noticed that on 2.0 I had "Force feedback" checked. Not sure why but I never touched it. I checked on 2.5 and it was also enabled there so I unchecked it and voila! Heaven returned! Now why it had no effect in 2.0 and why it messed things up for me in 2.5 I don't know. But once I turned it off things were smooth and now I could hold a smooth 500 fpm climb or descent or smooth turns. Give it a check and try. Now if I could just find a fix for those Robin Hood-like sniper tanks too... :D

I just found out that if the fuel lever is not set COMPLETELY forward during startup auto hover will not engage. Because I had a few startup with too fast spool-up resulting in the turbine shutting down I mapped the lever to a slider and set the position based on the needle position being between the two red markers. However because it wasn't FULLY forward the auto hover wouldn't work. You can actually hear a small clunk sound when it's in position. Worth checking to make sure...

I bought the Dora through Steam but also installed and activated it for DCS 2 with the Nevada terrain. Are there missions for this terrain? The Caucasus ones don't show up in "Instant Flight".

I think I found the answer: https://www.fastenal.com/products?r=~%7Ccategoryl1:%22600000%20Fasteners%22%7C~%20~%7Ccategoryl2:%22600135%20Retaining%20Rings%20and%20Clips%22%7C~%20~%7Ccategoryl3:%22600137%20E-Clips%22%7C~ Now just need to know any online parts store in Europe where I can order some.

What is the proper name for the lock ring holding the axle for the pinky trigger in the TM Warthog stick? It's half open and snaps on from the side into a grove. Mine took an anouthorized flight and I'd like to find a replacement. Thanks!

I think the size of the issue you experience largely depends on what you fly with the Warthog (and your luck with QC). Mine has a VERY bad sticktion problem but despite that I can use it in DCS to fly jets and launch missiles, drop bombs, etc. However, trying to precisely aim the guns in DCS or in particular War Thunder sim mode is an exercise in futility. The sticktion simply prevents smooth tracking of a maneuvering target where you need to hold your plane in a turn WHILE making small minute adjustments to aim and give lead to the guns. If I pull a turn and then trying to ease on that turn the TMWH stick first sticks then abruptly jumps a bit as I relax/move my hand. I have absolutely no problem with precision aiming in these situations with the T16000 or the recently acquired VKB Mamba. It appears that the TM Warthog quality control varies greatly from unit to unit. I pulled the short stick so my money is wasted. Others may be more fortunate. Therefore I'm eagerly awaiting the spring mod so I may be able to use my TM WH again. :(

Bob, if the Warthog was ever good it's not so any more(of recent units). Not consistently anyways. Mine stuck so bad brand new in the forward position that it would almost stay there by itself. Their T16000m has a wonderful feel by comparison. What a shame. I'm awaiting the new VKB stick with their latest metal gimbal mechanism for that very reason. The kind of FEEL of the stick you've described is the MOST important thing to me. I want to enjoy flying, not button pushing. So the only thing I'll be using from the Warthog is the grip (and even that will be lightened with holes). The rest is garbage (unless you got lucky with a good one). Thrustmasters is riding their earlier quality reputation but the recent quality control is utter crap.

Just to illustrate what I expect from a stick in terms of feel. One of my t16000m that works perfectly (the other has developed a loose center) let's me hover the Huey in DCS literally by just tightening my grip and flexing some grip muscles. I don't have to stir the stick around. It moves only a few mm just like the real R22 stick when in a hover which I've flown. The soft center and utterly precise and fluid response of this particular stick let's me literally relax into the hover. The HOTAS stick? Ha! You have to wrestle that thing even if I remove the big spring. It sticks so bad in almost any position. Yes you can "relax" into that stick position coz it's stuck there but you can not relax into the rhythm of control response required to keep ahead of the heli. Same applies to precision aiming with a WWII plane. Flying the A-10c or F-15 in DCS or any airliner in MSF or Xplane with the HOTAS ? No problem. But the requirements are not the same either. So for the money it costs the HOTAS stick is very limited in it's application when it comes to feel. At least my particular one is. But at that cost I absolutely won't tolerate such a wide difference in quality. That is acceptable for a $30 stick but not for a $400 one. For $400 I want to see the kind of engineering AND THINKING that hegykc is demonstrating!

That was my point. YOURS maybe perfect. I'm not arguing with that. You got lucky to get a unit that was happened to be built as it was intended to. I've also talked to many hard-core simmers before I made my purchase. I watch these guys fly on stream and know what and how they fly. My issue is with the scale of variation in build quality that makes this product a total black box to buy. And after I saw the insides I knew why. I'm so disappointed in their engineering I'm not even going to bother trying to exchange it with TM. My time worth much more than that. I'll salvage what I can and move on. Oh and btw, I have a background in engineering and also fly gliders so I don't have to have much imagination when I see the innards of the other product and hegykc's stick base displayed for all to see to know how and why it will work as I expect it to. So yes, I'm very much interested in his stick system as I see some sound and passionate engineering behind it. So I'm here to support that. My previous posts only explain what drove me here. Guess all the others who are here to see this product take flight must be here out of boredom, right?

The main problem with purchasing the Warthog is that it's not available in stores so you could put your hands on it and try it out. Plenty of other joysticks are on display where you can try and compare but for some reason the Warthog isn't. So it's a $400 black box in terms of feel unless you know someone who has it. And even then, because of the molded construction apparently there is enough variability that you're not guaranteed to get the "same" stick as the next guy. The ability to reproduce the exact same quality and feel from stick to stick is just non-existant if you look at how and from what it's built. Funny thing is, I have two of their t16000m sticks which are quite good for the money but even though I bought them about 6 months apart they don't feel and work the same either. I already had to replace the trigger micro switch in one of them coz they've saved 0.15 cents by using the cheaper switch... But enough talk about the Hog, as it turns out I bought a $400 throttle and grip (which I have to drill to lighten coz it's just too heavy) and be waiting for the cam/bb base to arrive. Good riddance!

One more post about how CRAP the TM HOTAS stick is !! :D I challange any TM engineer to stand in front of us and explain why the stupid friction gimbal is a sound idea for a top of the line stick! And for $$$ !!! Are you kidding me ?!? And exactly because the rest is reasonably good it is such an outrage! I don't care if it's currently the "best" available. They will fall soon, many great cam/ball bearing designs are in the pipeline! They deserve what they get for selling such crap as so called "top quality" product at an outrageous price! I just bought the Mamba III and will buy hegykc's set also. I have no issues putting my money where true QUALITY is found! I also bought the VBK pedal and it's top notch. And yes, I also bought the MFG too, also fantastic. Anybody calling the TM HOTAS "amazing" has no credibility with me...