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VKB Tomcat Grip Entering Production


swither

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We’ve teased it before, but the time has finally come for our great friends over at VKB to start production of their F14 Tomcat replica grip. If you already purchased our DCS F14 then you are eligible for a 10% discount on the VKB Tomcat grip. Haven’t had a chance to check our module out? Don’t worry, we won’t leave you hanging. Purchase the VKB Tomcat grip and receive a $10 discount on the DCS F14.. This is not a stick designed to look somewhat like the Tomcat stick, it’s based on our 3d scans of the real deal and intended to mimic it as closely as possible. Please see the press release from VKB below:

 

THIS is the state of the art F-14 Tomcat grip that is now officially announced as it is entering production stage.") Please put on your helmets, fasten your belts, and get ready for the take off.

F-14 Tomcat grip turned to be one of our most interesting products (joint project with Heatblur, supported by Eagle Dynamics).The grip is a veritable replica, exact to a fraction of a millimeter. Prototypes were checked and approved by the real veteran F-14 pilots of Heatblur team.

 

 

hcs67dxiqbt31.jpg

 

 

Making a replica grip wasn't easy, as we couldn't alter the shape or size of the device, nor the controls' layout. However our engineers set their creativity free when it came to internal design of the grip. We didn’t want to make a lookalike device, somewhat resembling the original. Instead we wanted to deliver the spirit and feeling of this legendary warbird with her feline nickname.

The very touch of this grip is supposed to wake up the memories – or, bring up the images – of the glorious service Tomcat did to the world.

 

  • Rubber inserts for a no slip firm and handy grip
  • Metal ammo switch, hat, and emergency autopilot disable trigger
  • Long travel soft click buttons
  • Modular hat design (fully dismantleable, all buttons user replaceable)
  • Ammo switch design based on contactless sensor
  • DLC maneuver wheel design based on contactless sensor
  • Two-step trigger design based on cam mechanism – similar to that used in real life war planes
  • Lockable contactless sensor twist mechanism
  • 32-bit APM controller as the brain of the grip

Now, where are we, and how it translates into simple words?

We have finished the molds. Here they are, the real beauties. Perfection in every curve!

 

 

lxvvupnqqbt31.jpg

 

Our engineers need a few weeks to finalize the surfaces adding texture and making tiny invisible tweaks here and there.

We're planning the first copies roll out in early-mid November. There will be pre-order open in November; RRP is marked at 189 USD (base not included).

Those who already purchased F-14 module from Heatblur will enjoy 10% off this price; those who consider buying that module will have 10 USD off the price of the module with the purchase of the VKB F-14 grip.

New VKB F-14 grip is breaking into the gaming devices market. We know: we did it right, and we’re proud of our new creation. Hope, you can join us and share our pride and happiness!

P.S.

An attentive pilot has probably noticed something interesting in the picture of the grip… What could that be? - Great question. Please stay tuned for more news: a new announcement is coming soon.


Edited by swither

/Daniel

 

Heatblur Simulations

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So what's the "interesting" piece in the picture of the grip that's mentioned?

F-14 | F/A-18C | F-16C | AJS-37 | M-2000C | A-10C | UH-1H | F-5E | P-51 | Bf 109

Nevada | Persian Gulf | Normandy | Supercarrier

 

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From what I'm getting it's proprietary to their base, and they only at one point offered an adapter to add a Warthog stick to their base, but not the other way around.

 

They also don't offer the base separately, so you have to get it in one go and per their FAQ.

Heatblur Rivet Counting Squad™

 

VF-11 and VF-31 1988 [WIP]

VF-201 & VF-202 [WIP]

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Yeah, the lack of an adapter to adapt their grips to TM Warthog grip connector and control mapping is really limiting their market potential.

i386DX40@42 MHz w/i387 CP, 4 MB RAM (8*512 kB), Trident 8900C 1 MB w/16-bit RAMDAC ISA, Quantum 340 MB UDMA33, SB 16, DOS 6.22 w/QEMM + Win3.11CE, Quickshot 1btn 2axis, Numpad as hat. 2 FPH on a good day, 1 FPH avg.

 

DISCLAIMER: My posts are still absolutely useless. Just finding excuses not to learn the F-14 (HB's Swansong?).

 

Annoyed by my posts? Please consider donating. Once the target sum is reached, I'll be off to somewhere nice I promise not to post from. I'd buy that for a dollar!

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Great work, but because of the lack of buttons on the stick, it limits the potential for selling this product, it should come with the throttle to compensate for the lack of buttons.

 

On the other hand, VKB should change its collection policy and should include PayPal, since Stripe does not accept several countries including mine.

 

For years I have wanted to buy a VKB product but I have not been able to.

 

I spoke with support and they could not help me unfortunately, they directed me to the Aliexpress store but they do not accept PayPal with VKB products.

 

It would be interesting if Heatblur opened a channel for the purchase of the stick, for which we have the module of the F-14 and that we are limited with the payment to VKB.

 

I am really interested in this product and I would like to acquire it ...

FORTIS FORTUNA ADIUVAT

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You don't buy the VKB F-14 grip for buttons/axes counts. You buy it because you want an ergnomic and functional replica of the real F-14 grip to perfectly match the DCS F-14 module in much the same way the Warthog grip is the perfect match for the A-10C and F-16C with no extra buttons or analog axes, only the controls available to pilots of the real aircraft.

 

If you don't have a VKB Gunfighter Mk.II and don't want to spend the big bucks to get one, this isn't the grip for you, either. Thrustmaster's Warthog stick base is inferior to VKB's Gunfighter Mk.II in almost every way. A key compatibility issue is that VKB grips support multiple analog axes for things such as cursor control, brake levers, rudder twist, etc. while the Thrustmaster grips don't have the option for even one analog axis nor does the TM stick base support as many button inputs. So supplying an adapter to use the VKB grips with the Warthog base doesn't make any sense as you will lose quite a bit of functionality, especially if you are trying to use an MCG Pro on a Warthog base.

 

On the other hand, if you already have a VKB Gunfighter Mk.II or you can afford to buy one and already own a Warthog stick, you are the person that VKB expects to buy this grip. You can get the Warthog adapter to retain full use of your Warthog grip, and with a little filing to round off one of the corners of the adapter, the F/A-18C grip is fully functional, too. I am in this category and can't wait to get the F-14 grip to complete my collection of grips compatible with the VKB Gunfighter Mk.II.


Edited by streakeagle

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

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If you don't have a VKB Gunfighter Mk.II and don't want to spend the big bucks to get one, this isn't the grip for you, either. Thrustmaster's Warthog stick base is inferior to VKB's Gunfighter Mk.II in almost every way. A key compatibility issue is that VKB grips support multiple analog axes for things such as cursor control, brake levers, rudder twist, etc. while the Thrustmaster grips don't have the option for even one analog axis nor does the TM stick base support as many button inputs. So supplying an adapter to use the VKB grips with the Warthog base doesn't make any sense as you will lose quite a bit of functionality, especially if you are trying to use an MCG Pro on a Warthog base.

 

There's more than only the TM Warthog base here. You have various Cougar modded bases (NXT, FSSB), there's also the FSSB Warthog base, then there are also Virpil bases which are compatible with TM grip standard (and can emulate TM base to be compatible with TM Target).

 

Regarding the compatibility, Virpil grips work on TM bases with adapted functionality (e.g. a button press instead of an analog brake axis, etc.). You lose some functionality, but you keep TM Target compatibility. There's no reason why VKB couldn't offer the same.


Edited by Dudikoff

i386DX40@42 MHz w/i387 CP, 4 MB RAM (8*512 kB), Trident 8900C 1 MB w/16-bit RAMDAC ISA, Quantum 340 MB UDMA33, SB 16, DOS 6.22 w/QEMM + Win3.11CE, Quickshot 1btn 2axis, Numpad as hat. 2 FPH on a good day, 1 FPH avg.

 

DISCLAIMER: My posts are still absolutely useless. Just finding excuses not to learn the F-14 (HB's Swansong?).

 

Annoyed by my posts? Please consider donating. Once the target sum is reached, I'll be off to somewhere nice I promise not to post from. I'd buy that for a dollar!

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Price?

 

Caro Pedro, como bom Português, nunca se lê tudo não é ?

 

( Dear Pedro, as a typical Portuguese, never read the whole stuff isn't it ? )

Hangar
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Mi-8 MTV2

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There's more than only the TM Warthog base here. You have various Cougar modded bases (NXT, FSSB), there's also the FSSB Warthog base, then there are also Virpil bases which are compatible with TM grip standard (and can emulate TM base to be compatible with TM Target).

 

Regarding the compatibility, Virpil grips work on TM bases with adapted functionality (e.g. a button press instead of an analog brake axis, etc.). You lose some functionality, but you keep TM Target compatibility. There's no reason why VKB couldn't offer the same.

 

There's no reason why they should either, it's their product, their ecosystem... They have absolutely no obligation to make grips compatible with any other products. Wonder why everyone so damn entitled over it.

 

If u want the stick, u buy it... If you don't agree, don't buy it...

 

From.most of the complains I see... Most of the complainers either don't understand the philosophy of the product... Or selfishly want a tm compatible grip because they own tm joysticks.

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There's no reason why they should either, it's their product, their ecosystem... They have absolutely no obligation to make grips compatible with any other products. Wonder why everyone so damn entitled over it.

 

If u want the stick, u buy it... If you don't agree, don't buy it...

 

From.most of the complains I see... Most of the complainers either don't understand the philosophy of the product... Or selfishly want a tm compatible grip because they own tm joysticks.

 

Entitledness, complaining, selfishness? You might want to tone your imagination down a few notches..

 

Nobody's expecting them to do anything, it's just potential customer feedback.


Edited by Dudikoff

i386DX40@42 MHz w/i387 CP, 4 MB RAM (8*512 kB), Trident 8900C 1 MB w/16-bit RAMDAC ISA, Quantum 340 MB UDMA33, SB 16, DOS 6.22 w/QEMM + Win3.11CE, Quickshot 1btn 2axis, Numpad as hat. 2 FPH on a good day, 1 FPH avg.

 

DISCLAIMER: My posts are still absolutely useless. Just finding excuses not to learn the F-14 (HB's Swansong?).

 

Annoyed by my posts? Please consider donating. Once the target sum is reached, I'll be off to somewhere nice I promise not to post from. I'd buy that for a dollar!

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Share on other sites

Great work, but because of the lack of buttons on the stick, it limits the potential for selling this product, it should come with the throttle to compensate for the lack of buttons.

 

On the other hand, VKB should change its collection policy and should include PayPal, since Stripe does not accept several countries including mine.

 

For years I have wanted to buy a VKB product but I have not been able to.

 

I spoke with support and they could not help me unfortunately, they directed me to the Aliexpress store but they do not accept PayPal with VKB products.

 

It would be interesting if Heatblur opened a channel for the purchase of the stick, for which we have the module of the F-14 and that we are limited with the payment to VKB.

 

I am really interested in this product and I would like to acquire it ...

 

There are already lots of products in the market with lots of buttons. If you want buttons why don't you buy one of those if you don't already have one.

 

This is a replica. Different intention for the product. Frankly a different market to you - clearly. No insult to you. But you are clearly not the target customer. I suspect VKB and Heatblur know their target better than you.

 

I'll be buying one.

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

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(and again - as a side note to point out the typo "32-bit APM controller as the brain of the grip" should be "32-bit ARM controller" (as in ARM Processor).

PC: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X | MSI Suprim GeForce 3090 TI | ASUS Prime X570-P | 128GB DDR4 3600 RAM | 2TB Samsung 870 EVO SSD | Win10 Pro 64bit

Gear: HP Reverb G2 | JetPad FSE | VKB Gunfighter Pro Mk.III w/ MCG Ultimate

 

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There are already lots of products in the market with lots of buttons. If you want buttons why don't you buy one of those if you don't already have one.

 

This is a replica. Different intention for the product. Frankly a different market to you - clearly. No insult to you. But you are clearly not the target customer. I suspect VKB and Heatblur know their target better than you.

 

I'll be buying one.

 

Are you answering me on behalf of VKB or Heatblur?

 

It's not the way, I don't take it badly, but it's disrespectful.

 

I have the Thrustmaster Hotas Warthog, both the joystick and the throttle, I have the Viper pedals from Salw Device (I don't know if you know them) and any other flying aditution.

 

I love the F-14 module, Heatblur has done a great job with this module, I fly it daily on several servers and I think I'm dominating it quite well.

 

For an F-14 fan like me, the VKB joystick goes very well, the buttons it brings are like the original and I like that, but for sale for an audience that flies other modules, it is not suitable for the lack of buttons.

 

Now, my comment you take it in another way, it will be that I do not explain myself well, because I am using a translator.

 

My comment is as follows:

 

It would be excellent if VKB built a throttle along with the F-14 joystick to add, such as the original plane, several of these buttons or levers, such as the variable wing lever, flaps, engine ignition, autopilot, etc.

 

Greetings not very cordial Milou :smilewink:

FORTIS FORTUNA ADIUVAT

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It's not the way, I don't take it badly, but it's disrespectful.

Greetings not very cordial Milou :smilewink:

 

You don't sound like you've taken it badly.

 

because of the lack of buttons on the stick, it limits the potential for selling this product, it should come with the throttle to compensate for the lack of buttons.

 

And there was me thinking that you were complaining about a lack of buttons on the stick.

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

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You don't sound like you've taken it badly.

 

You cannot speak on behalf of third parties and you must be careful when reading the comments of the people who make up this forum.

I see disrespectful and rude, when you tell me that I am not a target customer and that Heatblur and VKB know their goal better than me. I am very clear about the objective of the device and software manufacturers of this wonderful simulator, which is why I have spent a lot of money on it.

 

there was me thinking that you were complaining about a lack of buttons on the stick.

 

Again, I may not explain well or you read it wrong, I am speaking in general, I never said it personally but in a way of selling a product designed for a mass that uses different simulator modules. In the last paragraph I wrote that I am interested in this product and that I want to acquire it, I do not see that as a complaint.

 

I do not want to turn this into a silly discussion, in the end we are flight partners and the idea is to have a good time with this simulator and everything that makes it up, for something I have been flying virtually four years and I hope to spend many more .

I hope someday to meet you on some server, to have a good time.

FORTIS FORTUNA ADIUVAT

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