Cgjunk2

Hello all, Has anybody buying winwing Orion 2 throttles in recent months been having problems with the throttle axes failing? I bought my Orion 2 stick and throttle combo (F16 grip, F/18 throttle) towards the end of November 2022. I had been using my original MS Sidewinder stick for long enough (probably since the late 1990s lol), so I decided to jump in to winwing for my first "real" hotas. . Unfortunately, my first throttle lasted about a month before the left axis failed. The Simapp pro software showed no movement of the axis. Through their chat support, I took it it apart and did their prescribed diagnostic tests (calibrating, swapping cables, and swapping positions of cable inputs at the motherboard). All tests showed the signal was not being read at the motherboard. Winwing said they would send me a new throttle base, after I paid to return ship the old one. I decided to sleep on it because I had not yet decided if I was going to spend 120 dollars to ship mine back, or just call this a "learned lesson" about buying direct without the benefits of an importer. I continued to use the one remaining axis, but after a few more hours of use, the left throttle axis failed in a similar fashion. So I sent it back. I received my new replacement base pretty quickly, but after only a few days, I had an essentially identical failure of the right throttle axis. Dead as a door nail, as read on Simapp pro. I knew the drill, go to chat support again....But after the long hours of going through the chat support process and diagnostic work, I was just tired, and didnt have the time to go through the disassembly and picture/video posting routine. I had one working throttle axis, so maybe I'm destined to only have one throttle axis lol. Well, today, I finally had some time and went through their trouble shooting document, which again consisted of swapping cables from left to right, testing, and crossing inputs at the motherboard. Just like the first time, the both cables show the ability to pass a signal from the hall sensors to the mother board as long as it is connected to the left motherboard socket. But the socket at the motherboard for the right axis is not able to pass any signal to simapp pro. Being that this is my third axis to fail in two units, I've got to wonder if there has been a manufacturing problems that has gotten through. As for me, I just now let winwing know the results, but honestly, I can't spend another $120 dollars on shipping (I'm assuming their response will be similar to the first time...they send out a new one, and I pay to send mine back) I had looked at Virpil, but the prices were eyewatering. Before buying winwing, I figured it was gamble, but where odds were probably in my favor, even if I had to ship things back once. It doesnt look like it payed off for me, but it's not a total loss. At least I have one functioning throttle axis (still) and I really like the Orion2 joystick, which is functioning well and feels great. I figured I would post this because it helps others, who like me, were trying to weigh the odds of going Winwing, vs other manufacturers.

One of the main things I would look forward to is the flight engineer slot. That's the guy that gets things rolling and warmed up while the pilot and copilot talk business. And as mentioned, who is going in the back to check on the slingload if it isn't the flight engineer. Honestly, the more the merrier. We should have at least one slot for each bench seat. Party bus!

Broken wings also do not show up to other players on multiplayer....so your heroic return to base with wing stubs go totally unnoticed

I was referring more to the landing regime. As for other flight conditions, I am relegated to using buttons only to control prop, which, as you say, makes fine adjustment difficult.

You shouldn't need to assign prop to a third axis. If you link prop with throttle, it will come back with throttle automatically.

Yes, when the generator is on, the ammeter will move to 0 amps after a short period of flight. Maybe after half hour? Actually, the discharging battery might even happen independent of pitot heat being on, but Id have to test that to make sure.

Well, for what it’s worth, Ive done a few more flights with prop linked to throttle during the landing phase . Have not experienced any more engine failures after landing...

Yeah, i noticed water does not get refilled after refueling. Although lately most of my flights end in engine failure, so refueling doesnt help much

Good tip! Do you know if there is any way to see if bearing damage was cause of failure when you are playing multiplayer? I am among the ones frustrated with with the tenderness of the engine. No matter how gently it’s treated, it seems the engine is only seconds away from destruction if subjected to momentary windmilling. If this is true behavior, i guess it’s acceptable. But it’s really hard to tell when that transition to windmilling occurs because of the lack of physical feedback. Edit: took another long cross country flight. Kept rpms 2550 and mp pressure as high as I could during approach and landing. Another engine failure on roll out. Frustrating end to a nice flight. Think Ill try again tonight with linked prop/throttle to see if that helps

Im trying to understand what is happening related to pitot icing, airspeed indications, and an electrical system that is sucked dry by pitot heat. I’ve done some longish flights where I notice my airspeed go to zero. When I turn pitot heat on, sometimes the problem is resolved in a few minutes, other times it stays at zero airspeed (until the ammeter indicates zero amps-generator on), and some other times, the problem seems to resolve until I notice my airspeed reading as wildly high (ie 600mph indicated in straight and level cruise). It’s been a while since I’ve thought about airspeed errors/pitot icing relationships. I seem to recall that a frozen pitot can make the airspeed ind act like an altimeter in some situations, which may explain my high readings. But Im stumped as to why the pitot heat doesnt seem to be clearing the ice, or why the electrical system is sucked dry so quickly. Most of my flying is on Aerobatics online where currently it is winter on caucases.

For some reason I thought this was fixed already, but I still see that this hospital heli pad is not landable yet. This is a very nicely modeled building, and hope it gets fixed soon. Love the map!

What speeds are people going when this happens? I noticed an oscillation today down low, but it was at speeds beyond the barber pole. I figured it was a feature of going past Vne.

I’ve noticed that in winter conditions (on aerobatics online) my oil temp never moves. It stays pegged on “cold” side, even after long warm up period with oil cooler closed, oil dilution on, cowl closed, and oil pressure in normal ranges. Might this be related? This started with the latest release.

Haha. I thought I reached some hard coded altitude limit when I blew up. But apparently not, as I was flying with another P47 pilot on Aerobatics online at the same time who got past 160,000 feet and didnt blow up. Try it out for yourself! Just get it to any speed beyond 300, faster the better, then hold.the prop switch forward until the engine seizes. Then hold on for the ride! Great fun lol

Sorry havent gotten the track file up yet, but glad it’s reported. Basically, from my eyes it seems some phantom force is being generated with an upward/sideways vector coming from the side of the fuselage somewhere. The amount of force varies to where it’s just yawing and keeping you at same altitude on some occassions, but on other occasions the force is enough to cause altitude increase greater than what the vsi can read. Either way there is considerable yaw. Any chance the that the airscoops for engine cooling and intercoolers make some thrust like the p51? . If so, maybe the values for thrust are messed up?

You think that’s bad, lol, try getting to 300mph, then use the prop rpm switch to increase rpm to 4500rpm. After the engine seizes, you’ll be able to climb indefinitely. Well, that’s not true, since my P47 got up 122,000feet before completely exploding for some reason. But yeah, the whole time, there is this phantom yawing force being applied. This is the funniest bug Ive seen, and i had a blast with it last night, but alas, it is a bug that needs to be squashed. Ill try to get a track file up tonight.

I see the Hueys got a 4 position multi-crew with the latest OB update. I’d love to see a five position crew for the Mi-8. The Hip is sufficiently complex to keep all positions busy with something. Please bring multi-crew to the Mi-8!

Agree 100 percent that this is one of the best modules of DCS! I would love, love love to see a graphical update with some additional features, even a new dolphin nose/tail ramp variant. I’m also among those willing to pay for an upgrade. Multi-crew, even a very simplified version of it would be extremely welcome, even if it’s just for being able to be in the cockpit just to make instruction a bit more immersive. With regard to expecting updates for modules that have “outlasted their playing timeline”, I don't think it’s fair to compare a good DCS module to other types of games. A definitive simulation like this Mi-8 is more akin to being a reference, I don’t think it should be viewed as having an expiration date. Updates should be viewed as being more about preserving the Mi-8’s place in the DCS ecosystem, as it itself continues to evolve. The valuable work of simulating this chopper is done. Updates keep the module attractive to new players, entices new sales, and helps ED showcase this as one of the best modules in it’s portfolio. For example, I had never intended to buy the A-10C, but the extra love DCS put into the new C-II version, along with the good reputation the C model already had, essentially caused me to impulse buy (no regrets). With regard to the “small” DCS multiplayer base, I don’t think ED should underestimate the power MP has to drive sales (if not now, then in the future). Almost all my purchases have come after hearing others I play with “talk up” different modules, or to participate in various events. Eagle Dynamics has made an inter-generational product, it’s been around a long time (going back to Flanker 1.0 for me), and hopefully they will continue to be around for much longer. Consequently, MP is full of old salty dogs and new young bucks. I think younger folks will cause DCS to lean more and towards MP as time passes (another good reason for multicrew).

Speaking of F2 view, except when on the ground, sound for this is viewpoint is a complete fantasy. To expect perfect fidelity in sounds in this view while in flight is to demand an onslaught of wind noise with perhaps a indistinct engine sound in the background. So, until ED banishes the F2 view on the grounds of realism, you are pretty much left trying to make a sound that “seems” to be believable, gives a bit of satisfaction to our pretend fighter pilot instincts, and doesnt sound like it’s repeating a loop every 8 seconds. Opinions on what sounds good will vary, I was just offering mine as a data point on how the sounds are being perceived by at least me. If AB sounds arent really perceptibly different from MIL power, I am fine if the decision is made to leave that part alone. Honestly, the looping quality is what gets me the most.. Does anyone else notice that, or is it just me?

I do use F2. But I realize that this is a simulator, not a game, so I probably shouldn’t.

I apologize for making a new thread just for this topic, but was surprised to see not many comments about the new external sounds. These new sounds sound a bit lower quality than the last ones (which I thought were fine). The sounds, while they sound rawer and more powerful, seem to my ears to come from an inferior sample, and sound loops are evident (kind of like the ‘m2000). The rear ext sound seems to be on an 8 second loop. The front ext sound displays similar looping quality. The transition from front to rear sounds is pretty sharp. There doesnt seem to be a qualitative difference in sound with the AB on either. I really liked the old sounds. I hope the sounds get rolled back, or at least hope the current sounds get improved significantly. Besides the issues above, the external sounds seem a bit too aggressive compared to the f14.

It seems the latest update changed things a bit. The stall behavior is no longer snatchy all over. Now, with low G stalls, it mushes straight ahead smoothly. Only with highly accelerated stalls do you get the violent snap-stall behavior. Also, Im not sure if it’s just me, but the nose up/down oscillations seem to be more damped now.

Ah, I see, thanks for the clarification. I still am not sure I understand what the two wheels are for, next to the throttle. They say en 1 and en 2. Does that mean they can be used as throttles axes for twin engine aircraft, or does it mean encoder 1 and 2. What do encoders do exactly?

It looks you guys are out of stock already. Do you anticipate restocking these? Im back and forth on this or the gunfighter.... Also, do you think the next restock will be the same NXT model, or will the will there be changes to the design? Also...sorry too many questions, on the NXT I see two wheels on either side of the throttle. Are these what are refered to as the “encoders”? They are labeled as en1 and en2, so on first impression it makes me think that they are left and right throttles for twins.

It’s a shame, considering part of the fun of the this plane is flying around with the canopy open lol