left handed pilots, wheres the hardware?

[G3]

first and foremost, this is not a thread for right handed players to tell us to "just get used to it" and so on, so please resist.

 

we know its not real and not right (pardon the pun), and its not a real plane etc etc, so that crap is not required here.

 

i have attempted to come to grips (more puns) with the way of the right hander but i am afraid i am too far gone, the dark side of the lefthander is strong in me.

 

as a left hander i am interested in hearing from fellow left handed pilots and what solutions if any are available for us lefties.

 

at present i am using an attack 3 from logitech, this stick attracted me as its obviously ambidextrous, initially i was happy with the stick but it has gradually become spikey and has a tendancy to randomly roll right, and centre slop is also a disappointment.

seems to require constant calibration, in the end the nicest thing i can say is it looks nice.

 

in the past i was using an old gameport ms sidewinder pro with twistgrip option for rudder, this stick was accurate and reliable, but as you can imagine the buttons etc are placed for right handed operation.

 

the problem just snowballs when it comes to hotas, who is going to make a left handed hotas, the market is already quite niche, and lefties are a niche within a niche.

 

for throttle i have been using a small program called ppjoy that allows you to map the throttle axis to the vertical mouse movement, not bad but it doesn't quite give that feeling of a hotas throttle as in the repeating definate position of afterburner etc.

 

for a while now i have been operating the rudder thru my racing wheel pedals, works very well as you would expect, no toe brakes but no big deal there.

 

and as an experiment i disabled the ffb on the steering wheel and moved it to the right of my desk and am now using it as a throttle.

this may sound strange at first but works quite well considering, at least the movement is consistant compared to the mouse throttle.

 

other solutions i have seen include the cyborg series with swap-able grip supports, the reports i read on these sticks range from great to crap, never having had one myself i would like to hear from owners of these sticks, along with any other solutions you have come up with to enhance you lefthanded flying experience, thankyou.

[NEODARK]

There is this guy I remember hearing about, I think his name was Ned Flanders, he might be able to help with your situation.

 

Kiddin, just kidding. Good luck with your issue. Are there such things for real war planes though?

 

-How about a yoke?

[G3]

yes Ned had the idea, and believe me i would like to start my own LH shop, even if it just made hotas's :)

 

lets keep this semi serious please.... (i fear just by saying that i will regret it).

 

off topic:

below snomhf tells about his controls, i was just typing that i had seen somewhere a guy made his own but sometimes the forums refuse to accept my updated posts and revert me back to the login screen?

[snomhf]

as a left hander i am interested in hearing from fellow left handed pilots and what solutions if any are available for us lefties.

It's a conspiracy. They're out to get us! ;)

 

I made my own handles out of fiberglas several years ago. Works great.:

http://forum.lockon.ru/attachment.php?attachmentid=4988&d=1142435970

[G3]

hey there snomhf, could you please go into some more detail as to how you achieved this result, they look amazing.

eg: did you make a reverse mould or something like that?

i for one am very interested to learn more on how you achieved this end result, brilliant in my eyes.

 

it would appear you left the sticks main buttons/hats intact on the circuit board

(i am assuming they are mounted directly to a printed circuit board?)

 

you have done a magnificent job and i believe it was your controls that inspired this thread in the first place.

 

ideas like this is what its all about,

keep em comin lefties.............

[NEODARK]

Maybe you should qote my last post :p

 

But I know your pain. (im not a lefty, but...)

 

a few years back, when I played FPS in a console I got used to the legacy setup back in the days of N64 and Goldeneye.

 

Now a days with modern consoles and FPS games, developers are getting really pushed or lazy and dont include the legacy southpaw setup. (where opposite sticks are used to look and walk around) so It's been a pain. The latest offender was GR:AW in 360, So I know how it is.

 

as far as a fully designed "lefty" stick, I think you are out of luck, but if I was you. I'd simply mold my own and use the insides to retrofit the custom made one.

 

(what I did was swaped the internal wiring in one of my 360 controllers so that I could have a permanent southpaw layout, and not worry about game configs)

 

PS: I see why you have Hilary Clinton in your avatar now..

[BeetleJuice]

Well I'am left handed, sorry, but: get used to it!

Get a decent hotas setup from ch, thrustmaster or saitek and learn to fly with them, its not that difficult, trust me :)

[snomhf]

Hi ggg,

I'm an ole' time radio control pilot with a lot of experience making engine cowlings, nacelles, and fuselages out of fibreglas.

 

Basically, I bought a block of that green styrofoam potting plant stuff from a garden center and carved it in the shape of a CH FighterStick. I did the same thing for the Pro Throttle. Then I covered the carved foam moulds with fiberglas. Using a bandsaw, I split the handle down the middle, scooped out the foam and built little mounts for the electronics, drilled the holes, etc. and replaced the original handles with my own.

 

It was a lot of work but it was fun and they have worked perfectly. Of course the hats on the PT are upside down but you just have to keep that in mind when you're programming (MicroStick Up is really Down for me, etc). Pretty easy to deal with.

 

Naturally, the warranty is voided instantantly but I'm not much of a warranty kind of guy anyway.

 

So, sound like a new hobby for you?

 

Good luck

-mark

[G3]

thanks mark, thanks for the insite.

you may have me down at the nursery yet, i know the green stuff you mean, solid yet easy to work with.

cheers.

[mikoriad]

I'd say, GET USED TO IT!!! lol.... that what happens in real life piloting :)

[G3]

Well I'am left handed, sorry, but: get used to it!

Get a decent hotas setup from ch, thrustmaster or saitek and learn to fly with them, its not that difficult, trust me :)

please refer to original post, and from a fellow lefty.

come on, we are supposed to be the more intelligent ones :)

 

i have tried right handed but it just doesnt fell right, i feel clumsy and inaccurate, especially if i am flying thru a valley or mountain range not to mention a dogfight or missle avoidance.

 

now come to think of it perhaps i am lacking the intelligence to comprehend controlling the planes the right handed way, i do appreciate what you are saying but the thread is intended to provide options and not to condem our superiority :), hehe.

[snomhf]

Well I'am left handed, sorry, but: get used to it!

Get a decent hotas setup from ch, thrustmaster or saitek and learn to fly with them, its not that difficult, trust me :)

 

That's the sissy approach to this right hander's world! ;) I say don't give in and "do it their way!" Fight back!

 

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a baseball catcher. NO ONE made a left handers catching mit. Beetlejuice would have me learn to throw right handed I guess. (Just playing with you here Juice. :p) Not me man! I picked up an old mit, took it apart and bought some leather and reversed all the pieces and made myself a left handed catchers mit! So take that right handed world!

 

Ok, I admit, I'm a bit over the top. But aren't you glad that there are a few of us around who don't just go with the flow and will stand up against the norm?

[Jester_159th]

Us left handed folks should unite and take over the world. Afterall it's a well known fact that just about every genius there's ever been was left handed. That's the problem you see.....the lesser mortals that make up the majority of the world's population are jelous of our natural gifts!!

 

Seriously though, apart from making a HOTAS yourself, you're pretty well stuck with the Saitek Cyborg range. I had one for years in one version or another and never had a problem with them apart from the throttle, which was never as sensitive as I'd have liked meaning it was hard to properly control your power settings especially for landing.

 

I eventually bit the bullet, bought an X-52 and learned to fly right handed.

 

The problem is that, with us lefties being such a small minority of the consumer base, companies just don't see it as being profitable to build units for us. Take guitars for an example. Manufacturers either don't make left handed models at all, or those that do charge on average 33% more for the same thing just because it's reversed (most of the extra cost coming from having to reset the cutting macinery to create a mirror image etc).

[mikoriad]

I'm no lefty but I can feel all your pains. Sounds like it would be a huge pain to deal with some things. GET USED TO IT!! RID THE WORLD OF ALL LEFTYS!!!! You darn basketball shooting, pool playing, baseball throwing, nice hand writing, strange hand wanking, bastards!!!! LOL... I'm just kidding guys, just seems like a funny matter to me. This is how I look at it, where ever you live you have to get used to what side the drivers seat is in your car. I personally, being from the US, would hate to have have to shift gears with my left hand in my car but I'd just have to deal with it.

[G3]

Jester,

i hear you loud and clear, forgive me but i took the first part of your post as serious, hehe.

 

as for the average price increase you mentioned, i for one would have no issue paying $100 extra on top of the less intelligent version for an off the shelf left handed version.

 

maybe a partition to ch or cougar might do the job, i don't know.

i would happily pursue this option if we think it will do any good.

 

i guess it all stemmed from the first day i tried to cut paper with a standard pair of scissors.

[snomhf]

I'd say, GET USED TO IT!!! lol.... that what happens in real life piloting :)

That's a very "milk toast" attitude there mi[l]koriad! ;)

 

Have you ever broken your right hand and had to write and eat with your left for a while? Ok, then you know what this is all about.

 

I say, if you want to do something bad enough then DO IT!

[G3]

snomhf, you the man.

what a great attitide you have to all this, thankyou.

i loved the mit story, all the power to you.

an inspiration to all.

 

any lefty knows the pain of living in a world dominated by the right.

even my bloody mouse is wrong :)

 

mikoriad, i understand you are just having a laugh along with us/at us, point is anything can appear trivial when it doesnt effect you personally, too me this is an issue that has so far plagued me for my entire life, and will no doubt continue to do so unless i do something about it and thats what i am hoping to achieve here, so far so good, some great ideas coming thru.

 

funny you mentioned the gear shifting thing as i originally learnt to drive left hand drive, so the shift was on the right, now i drive right hand drive with the shift on the left.

therefore reinforcing comments like "get used to it" and also it kind of contradicts some of what i have said but make no mistake, not entirely.

 

when i learnt to drive i had no previous manual transmission experience so i didn't know any different.

i soon adapted to the right hand drive shifting and it all seems very normal these days.

unfortunately i have just spent far too much time flying the left handed way and don't think i could ever seriously change back, its locked in and the key has been thrown away.

 

i thank everyone for a great discussion so far and look forward to reading and contributing more on the subject, thankyou ggg87.

[mikoriad]

That's a very "milk toast" attitude there mi[l]koriad! ;)

 

Have you ever broken your right hand and had to write and eat with your left for a while? Ok, then you know what this is all about.

 

I say, if you want to do something bad enough then DO IT!

 

 

I did one time break my pointer finger, had to shoot a basketball and learn to dribble better with it. That was definitly hellish for a while, it sure made my game better though in the end. How about playstations, Xboxes and all other arcade games? All directional movements are made for the left hand, I've always thought that was backwards and strange. Anyways, this isn't my fight (or a fight at all) just trying to be a pain here really.... GGG87, I digress :) you guys have my support

[504MrWolf]

if your not bothered about a HOTAS setup then id say find a Saitek Cyborg USB GOLD joystick, it is adaptable to both handed users.

 

Comes with hex key to make it left-handed bit old now so Ebay is best bet. You can swap the throttle over too ! Here is a photo of it in left handed mode.

 

I beleive the Cyborg EVO is also left/right handed adaptable though im not 100%, it might be just for hand size. This uses the tumbscrew/no-tools method for changing, also USB and ForceFeedback verions.

 

 

Hope this is some help.

[BeetleJuice]

I have that stick on the second picture for arcade games and that, IMHO the movement of that stick suxx.

[Jester_159th]

I had the one in the first picture and the stick was perfect and extremely comfortable to use, just a pity about the throttle sensitivity problems I mentioned in an earlier post.

[snomhf]

I Anyways, this isn't my fight (or a fight at all) just trying to be a pain here really....

 

Mik,

And I'm just having a bit of fun here myself. Trust me, I don't care one bit what anybody thinks of me or my left-handedness. I don't want sympathy or understanding or anybody feeling my pain. This just sounded like a fun exchange and I did feel the desire to offer ggg something other than just "getting over it."

 

BTW, I was an adult by the time I first got my hands on those darn left-handed scissors. I couldn't cut crap with em. I kept pushing the blades apart! I never picked a pair of them up again. So there, mikoraid, you see, I can adapt to your world after all!

[G3]

oh the scissors, its a fine example.

the old spread the blades apart, i know it well, hehe :)

 

mr wolf, i agree the sticks you showed would be fine if not after a hotas setup.

and for a hotas one of these would be great with a home made throttle.

 

i will consider and look for the gold version, as even without worrying about a throttle i am unhappy with my current stick.

( i just cannot use the on stick throttles )

 

what would be nice is for a company to manufacture a base of solid construction and with a reliable accurate movement, and then make the actual stick or grip attachment in a variety of configurations, such as f-15, f-16, heli etc, and in left and right handed.

 

but hey, i'm just an ideas man...

[snomhf]

i will consider and look for the gold version, as even without worrying about a throttle i am unhappy with my current stick.

Hey ggg,

I say it's time for you to stand on yur hind legs and get to work with the foam and fiberglas! :)

 

I'm telling you, you will love it. For the longest time, I fooled around with those crappy ambidexterous sticks and finally just decided I was "going for it!"

 

So, GO FOR IT!!

 

Good luck ;)

-mark

 

Edit:

If you end up going with CH gear and make your own handles, I have a really nice profile that I put together and a form you can print out allowing you to label all the buttons and keep by your keyboard while you fly. I've put a lot of effort into it. I'm going to post it at the CH discussion forum when I get it all together.

[snomhf]

I see why you have Hilary Clinton in your avatar now..

Oh, you think because I'm a lefty with a Hilary avatar that I'm also a political lefty? Too funny!