Where Can I Find A Realistic Joystick?

[NavyAce]

Hello,

 

I am hoping someone here can give me some advice on a rather specialized topic. I am a WWII flight simmer and like to fly my virtual aircraft accurately using actual checklists and procedures. This comes from my background as a retired airline captain where this was a requirement and also logical from a safety standpoint. I have also been fortunate enough to have acquired 20 hours of front seat flight time in a real SNJ, where I have learned that there is a significant difference to flying these old tail draggers that has been overlooked by joystick manufacturers. The control sticks in the actual WWII warbirds are 3-4 feet long, and because of this, moving them requires considerable use of your arm and shoulder muscles, especially when doing aerobatics. Most commercial joysticks are only about a foot tall, and even with some sort of force feedback they can be moved with relative ease just by using your wrist, which is hardly realistic? Does anyone know of a manufacturer that makes a joystick of realistic length, or of one that can be so modified? If there is one, how could it be floor mounted in front of my chair without drilling holes for mounting bolts/screws? For me it would also have to be a plug and play with a UBS connection to work with my desktop computer. I would also be interested in a more realistic WWII control yoke, as flying my B-17 with a Cessna yoke is kinda tacky. Any help anyone can give me would be most appreciated. Thank you.

 

NavyAce

[Fri13]

Thrustmaster Warthog grip mounting threads are common ones, and AFAIK the cable inside is a mini-DIN connector, so you could easily make a own custom extension and build a own cable as wanted length. Meaning, take existing extension pipe and cut it two, connect it to anything that you can use for extension for wanted length and put own cable through.

 

For base in such case I would recommend Virpil as manufacturer, and as grip too. Basically forget Thrustmaster ;-).

Virpil use same threads and cables and all as thrustmaster.

 

VKB is as well another manufacturer but they have own connector (better) and just a three pin connection. You could basically do the same thing there.

 

What comes to force feedback (FF) for the effects, then there is expensive magnetic one with enough force and all. But again it leaves just the virpil as grip option, as it uses Thrustmaster threads.

 

BTW, 3-4 feet is 90-120 cm... The gimbal axis must be shorter than that to the grip, considering seated position and how stick is between legs. Maybe from gimbal axis to handle just 40-50 cm?

[Rick50]

Well... they won't be cheap in any way, but... you could try a "stick" built for helicopters. That would have the length and throw. Now... they woudln't have a lot of heavy resistance, soooo...

 

 

I dunno, I think maybe your best bet for original forces, original stick length and leverage... would be to make your own, really. Been done many times. Probably easier to do now than ever before, but you'd have to invest some time to source the parts, design, assemble and test, then fiddle about with flashing some code to the Arduino Micro or some similar board.

 

Other people go for force feedback sticks. And still other take those tiny cheap sticks and add extensions to them.

 

You should start looking in:

 

ED Forums » English » DCS World Topics » Input and Output

https://forums.eagle.ru/forumdisplay.php?f=96

[Sokol1_br]

P-51 control stick is not that "3-4 feet long":

 

1'8-11/16" ~ 52.6 cm

https://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/4380421/2

 

Virpil T-50CM2 base +20 Cm "S" extension and various grips, can add ~4/4.5 cm of base bellow the articulation point (base total height is 8.7cm).

 

EDIT - Simular configuration for VKB base + 20 cm "S" extension, or Warthog + 20 cm Sahaj straight extension.

Edited October 15, 2020 by Sokol1_br

[Zunzun]

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJyzIH0Qq9iNdiv62uvRvzQ

 

 

This guy is making replicas. He is still in the developing and testing phase but, apparently quite advanced.

They look gorgeous but I do not have any idea about the real quality experience as they haven´t been released yet (and AFAIK there is no date yet).

[Mr_sukebe]

Ref the grips, VKB make the KG2, which is based on the grip as used in the BF109.

I did see a chap making a very smart looking Spitfire spade grip.

 

Both Virpil and VKB make swan neck extensions of 20cm.