A few questions about the WW throttle

[VpR81]

Hello dear virtual pilots,

 

So after a lot of planning and thinking about how to possibly mount the WW throttle to my simrig, i'm about to replace my WH throttle and finaly pull the trigger on that promising piece of hardware next month (restock for the standalone throttle is announced for the 15th of september). Still i have a few doubts about it and the company behind, wich lead me to ask a few questions to ppl that already own the WW throttle.

 

First of all, how is the WW customer support if anything goes south? Is it reasonable, or questionable? IMO, great quality cannot exist without excellent customer support so i rate this point very, very important. If anyone of you had to contact WW, i'd be highly interested in the result...

 

I also have concerns about the SimAppPro software. Is it necessary to be installed? I've read something about the software connecting to a server in china (totally unnecessary IMO, so highly suspicious), but can be uninstalled after setting up the backlighting. Can anyone confirm that? No offense, but i don't want to install chinese intelligence service spyware, covered as ordinary user software. Did your anti virus software detect SimAppPro and rate it to be dangerous? How does the throttle work after SimAppPro has been shredded? Any issues?

 

All i've read/heard about quality is, that it is excellent (except for the Recce button on the stick, but since i'm not interested in the stick i dont care about it's flaws). Only issue with that is, that those statements all came from reviews and first impressions. Can anyone tell me about long term experience? Well it's not that long ago it was released, but you know what i mean: Does the throttle friction wear out? The slew control seems to be better than the crappy Warthog stock SC, but is it realy better? Is it usable (unlike the Warthogs)? Same for radar antenna elevation. Is it reasonable? Any of the backlights failing? Long story short, is there anything that made you regret/question your purchase?

 

Friction control. Reviewers mentioned that the friction control is also an analog axis, but they all got a pre-serial version that saw some adjustments prior to enter serial production. Is that still true for the final version? If so, i'm sure i can live with it, but would propably be a bit annoyed if there is a redesigned version in the nearby future.

 

Also saw something about the locking system of the throttle handles. It seems to be not too practical and that there are tools needed to lock/unlock them. Is it realy that much of an issue, or is the amount of work exaggerated by reviewers? I never use autostart, so i'm highly interested about how this works during startup procedure. Is it doable?

 

Apologies for those rather stupid questions. I know there is no perfect flight control for private customers and they all got their flaws more or less. But going to spend ~600€ + VAT + shipping for "just" a throttle, i want to make sure i'm going to be fully satisfied.

 

With best regards,

 

Daniel

[MustangSally]

Hello dear virtual pilots,

 

So after a lot of planning and thinking about how to possibly mount the WW throttle to my simrig, i'm about to replace my WH throttle and finaly pull the trigger on that promising piece of hardware next month (restock for the standalone throttle is announced for the 15th of september). Still i have a few doubts about it and the company behind, wich lead me to ask a few questions to ppl that already own the WW throttle.

 

First of all, how is the WW customer support if anything goes south? Is it reasonable, or questionable? IMO, great quality cannot exist without excellent customer support so i rate this point very, very important. If anyone of you had to contact WW, i'd be highly interested in the result...

 

 

Haven't had an issue. All questions were answered relatively quickly.

 

 

 

I also have concerns about the SimAppPro software. Is it necessary to be installed? I've read something about the software connecting to a server in china (totally unnecessary IMO, so highly suspicious), but can be uninstalled after setting up the backlighting. Can anyone confirm that? No offense, but i don't want to install chinese intelligence service spyware, covered as ordinary user software. Did your anti virus software detect SimAppPro and rate it to be dangerous? How does the throttle work after SimAppPro has been shredded? Any issues?

 

 

Install it and run it to update firmware. You don't need to have it running unless you want to have the APU light in sync with DCS or run the cockpit editor. As far as sending info back to China....I'll just go and get my Tin Foil Hat!

 

 

 

All i've read/heard about quality is, that it is excellent (except for the Recce button on the stick, but since i'm not interested in the stick i dont care about it's flaws). Only issue with that is, that those statements all came from reviews and first impressions. Can anyone tell me about long term experience? Well it's not that long ago it was released, but you know what i mean: Does the throttle friction wear out? The slew control seems to be better than the crappy Warthog stock SC, but is it realy better? Is it usable (unlike the Warthogs)? Same for radar antenna elevation. Is it reasonable? Any of the backlights failing? Long story short, is there anything that made you regret/question your purchase?

 

 

Far exceeds anything that the Warthog offers. Had it for around 2 mths with no issues. It's a work of art!

 

 

Friction control. Reviewers mentioned that the friction control is also an analog axis, but they all got a pre-serial version that saw some adjustments prior to enter serial production. Is that still true for the final version? If so, i'm sure i can live with it, but would propably be a bit annoyed if there is a redesigned version in the nearby future.

 

 

Prob the only thing I would have liked changed....I don't use it as an axis just friction.

 

 

Also saw something about the locking system of the throttle handles. It seems to be not too practical and that there are tools needed to lock/unlock them. Is it realy that much of an issue, or is the amount of work exaggerated by reviewers? I never use autostart, so i'm highly interested about how this works during startup procedure. Is it doable?

 

 

I use the throttles as per the real aircraft...haven't had them locked.

 

 

Apologies for those rather stupid questions. I know there is no perfect flight control for private customers and they all got their flaws more or less. But going to spend ~600€ + VAT + shipping for "just" a throttle, i want to make sure i'm going to be fully satisfied.

 

With best regards,

 

Daniel

 

 

You wont regret it.

Edited August 25, 2020 by MustangSally

[Weegie]

Just to chime in I'm totally in agreement MustangSally

 

The throttles are great, apart from the friction control being an axis, which is really stupid IMHO, so I don't use the axis either. Yet to mess with the Neutral Feel tension control on the main box itself though (don't understand the instructions and just haven't felt the need).

 

I installed the throttle "spacers" from the get go and don't have any issues with the throttles interfering with each other, some early version reviewers complained about.

 

I don't use the software at all it does appear web based. The Dx buttons also have positions for Off as well as On making it super easy to configure.

 

For any keyboard commands I want to use as opposed to Dx I just run them through Voice Attack. This lets me synchronize with TARGET on the Hog throttle with the Super Taurus if you want to extend the use of switches for "Shift", "Modes", "Tempo" etc:

 

My only gripe is I wish the Finger Lifts could be locked up in order to advance the throttle thorugh its full range without activating them, for the warbirds or some way of removing the burner detent. You can push through them but I feel that's a bit coarse and not exactly sympathetic to the hardware.

 

Overall so far I think they are great

[Waxer]

My only gripe is I wish the Finger Lifts could be locked up in order to advance the throttle thorugh its full range without activating them, for the warbirds or some way of removing the burner detent. You can push through them but I feel that's a bit coarse and not exactly sympathetic to the hardware.

 

Overall so far I think they are great

 

Can you not just remap 0-100% of the throttle action to the pre-detent range of the throttle?

[streakeagle]

My only gripe is I wish the Finger Lifts could be locked up in order to advance the throttle thorugh its full range without activating them, for the warbirds or some way of removing the burner detent. You can push through them but I feel that's a bit coarse and not exactly sympathetic to the hardware.

 

I just looked at the finger lifts from the side. They move up and down with a slot to guide them. It should be fairly easy to make some type of pin or clip to fit in the bottom of the slot after lifting them to lock them up, which is a great idea when flying some aircraft and better yet when flying helos. I just tried jamming my allen wrench for my VKB grip in the slot. Something that diameter fits and the spring pressure holds it in until you pull on the lift to relieve the pressure. So, if you used something of a similar diameter, but shorter, it should work. Perhaps a piece of wire with a loop or d-ring on one end to make it easy to handle.

[Weegie]

Milou Yes I could do that but I'd lose around 25% of throttle range, by that I mean the physical movement and I wouldn't want to do that.

 

I'd also need to recalibrate every time I wanted to use the fingerlifts and I try to mess with cals and firmware as little as possible. The response is appreciated though.

 

streakeagle, that sounds llike an idea definately worth exploring and thanks for suggesting, I'll be looking into that.

[Waxer]

No problem. Just an idea. Have fun with the throttle. It looks like a nice bit of HOTAS kit, for sure.

[Supmua]

My temporary solution when I’m playing MSFS. People who are good at 3D printing can likely make a snap-on contraption that will keep the finger lifted tabs in the up position.

 

[Weegie]

Good idea too Supmua................if it works it works

 

Cheers

[VpR81]

Thanks a lot for the input, glad to hear you guys are satisfied with the WW throttle. Restock was announced for Sept. 15th, but somehow was already today in stock. So i just ordered it, now waiting begins. Price was 642$/568€ incl. shipping. Our govt. reduced VAT. from 19% down to 16% due to the covid-19 pandemic, so maybe at least a small discount.

 

Ah btw. the tin foil hat isn't realy a proper solution for me, as it only helps with WLAN and i'm using a wired connection. :D

 

Cheers

[Waxer]

 

Did your slew sensor button hat fall off?

[Supmua]

Did your slew sensor button hat fall off?

 

I was testing/messing around stuffing things in the little hole inside the hat to make it work perfectly in real slewing mode with the Hornet and forgot to put it back on in that pic. It also works great without the hat.

 

That plastic rod part is 3-4 mm too short preventing click and hold operation when the hat is moved all the way to the periphery. But you can make the hat button stick out more to allow this operation by doing what I did. Alternatively, you can also file the bottom part of the hat thinner to give similar effect.

Edited September 8, 2020 by Supmua

[Waxer]

Thanks for explaining. I am keeping an eye on these throttles as I quite like them, but when I saw your photo I was concerned about grip button quality. There were cases of one of the joystick buttons falling off you looked at it the wrong way. Glad to hear that this was not the case on the throttle grip, but that you were just tinkering.

[MustangSally]

Thanks for explaining. I am keeping an eye on these throttles as I quite like them, but when I saw your photo I was concerned about grip button quality. There were cases of one of the joystick buttons falling off you looked at it the wrong way. Glad to hear that this was not the case on the throttle grip, but that you were just tinkering.

 

 

You're talking about the Recce switch on the grip.....nothing fell off the throttle.

 

 

My Recce switch hasn't missed a beat.

[Waxer]

You're talking about the Recce switch on the grip.....nothing fell off the throttle.

 

I was clear in what I wrote.

 

Glad to hear that your joystick button did not fall off.

[MustangSally]

I was clear in what I wrote.

 

Glad to hear that your joystick button did not fall off.

 

 

Apologies, was on the run and didn't read your post correctly.

[Supmua]

Thanks for explaining. I am keeping an eye on these throttles as I quite like them, but when I saw your photo I was concerned about grip button quality. There were cases of one of the joystick buttons falling off you looked at it the wrong way. Glad to hear that this was not the case on the throttle grip, but that you were just tinkering.

 

The buttons on the throttle are better than the Warthog and easy to operate (not as stiff), and I currently have 2 different Warthog throttles to compare (the second one is fairly new bought last year). Interestingly the slew hat is interchangeable with Deltasim's mod for the TMW, it seems they use common internal components (also found in console controllers). Despite longer stalk of the Deltasim's hat, I'm unable to make it (Warthog) work with realistic slew in the Hornet--so there's a slight difference.

Edited September 8, 2020 by Supmua

[VpR81]

So i just recieved my Throttle and it's a great piece of equipment. Shipping was fast, 6 days from China to Germany. My only gripe is, that it does not have a CE certification wich is mandatory for electronic devices in the EU. Electronic devices without CE certificate are illegal to import, sell and operate within the european union. If the shipment gets checked by national customs, it will be confiscated. European buyers should be aware of that risk. The device is from outstanding quality and i doubt that there will be any issues. But the fact, that there hasn't been a single reviewer mentioning this major issue with WinWing, is very dissapointing. And their products beeing illegal in europe, IS a major issue IMO.

 

Cheers

[Crusader69]

Received mine this morning... Very happy with the purchase. During the desk mount assembly, got a feeling that I just bought something from Ikea. :)

 

Yeah, my unit came with a misaligned USB port. But problem solved within minutes after contacting Winwing via FB. The support response speed almost unbelievable compare to Thrustmaster (which is non existent for my case). Bought 2 units of Warthog from them. Both throttle have problem out of the box. Wrote to them numerous time but no reply from them till I gave up.

 

Anyway, here's how I solved (with Winwing support help) the USB port misaligned problem at the Throttle.

 

(picture from Winwing support)

 

Loosen the 2 screws shown in the picture above slightly and the USB port will pop back to the right place.

Edited September 17, 2020 by Crusader69