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Winwing Orion HOTAS worth it?


CybrSlydr

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Just got mine yesterday.  Have a couple of hours in DCS with it and it is much better than my 15 year old TM Cougar.  Smooth and for the most part works out of the box.  There are some switches that I can't figure out how to configure in DCS (hdg and crs buttons, and the parking brake..) but my only real beef is the SimAppPro is not really intuitive.  I want to assign some keyboard commands to some buttons, which I think is the Virtual Device Mapping section and I just can't figure out what the program is asking me, and there is zero documentation included with it or online that I can find.

 

The stick and throttle themselves seem to be pretty well built; all metal.  I do have one issue with the throttle sync lock - it seems one of the holes is slightly off from where it should be and my throttle halves do not quite match up.  They're offset front to back by about 1/8 of an inch.  Doesn't really affect anything, but you can feel it in your hand.

 

Overall, I'm pretty happy with it and would recommend it for the price.  FedEx from China to the US was $82, so be aware, but mine got here 6 days after I ordered it, so at least I wasn't waiting for 2 months like I did for my SSD a year ago...

 

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Chris P

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Raleigh NC

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4 hours ago, Chris P said:

Just got mine yesterday.  Have a couple of hours in DCS with it and it is much better than my 15 year old TM Cougar.  Smooth and for the most part works out of the box.  There are some switches that I can't figure out how to configure in DCS (hdg and crs buttons, and the parking brake..) but my only real beef is the SimAppPro is not really intuitive.  I want to assign some keyboard commands to some buttons, which I think is the Virtual Device Mapping section and I just can't figure out what the program is asking me, and there is zero documentation included with it or online that I can find.

 

The stick and throttle themselves seem to be pretty well built; all metal.  I do have one issue with the throttle sync lock - it seems one of the holes is slightly off from where it should be and my throttle halves do not quite match up.  They're offset front to back by about 1/8 of an inch.  Doesn't really affect anything, but you can feel it in your hand.

 

Overall, I'm pretty happy with it and would recommend it for the price.  FedEx from China to the US was $82, so be aware, but mine got here 6 days after I ordered it, so at least I wasn't waiting for 2 months like I did for my SSD a year ago...

 

Chris, I had a similar problem with my throttles not lining up properly and went through an email tango with Winwing trying to resolve the issue. My lock wouldn't seat all the way and so my throttles were never truly locked and would easily split. Is this the same issue you have? 

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Not really. They lock together fine, but one of the holes is offset so that the right side is slightly behind the left.  If you look at them from above, the backs of each should line up, but they are slightly off.  i may take it apart one more time tomorrow to see if I had something screwed in the wrong place, but I did a quick check when I noticed it the first time and it looked like it was assembled correctly.

Chris P

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Raleigh NC

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9 hours ago, WishfulThinking said:

Chris, I had a similar problem with my throttles not lining up properly and went through an email tango with Winwing trying to resolve the issue. My lock wouldn't seat all the way and so my throttles were never truly locked and would easily split. Is this the same issue you have? 

I had that -- seemed like the hole was slightly too small for the pin?  I'm still not sure exactly what I did to fix it, but I was messing around with things, contemplating taking things apart and sanding the pin or drilling the hole and suddenly it started sliding in no problem 🤔.  I almost wonder if there was some sort of coating that once I got it in once rubbed off.  It was while playing with it taken apart and trying to see why it wouldn't go in that it suddenly seems OK all the sudden.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for posting this guys! So it sounds like shipping isn’t really an issue. That was one of my main concerns seeing as it comes from China. I understand they have a US distributor but I don’t think they stock anything??

 

In any case as stated above, trying to find some thing that is worth the price tag… and in stock… and has a reliable group of people who enjoy it, is a hard match to make, right now and at least for the last year.  I think I’m going to pull the trigger. With news of interchangeable grips and knowing I don’t have to wait months for it to “hopefully” arrive, don’t think I can pass it up. Thanks again and fly safe.

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I have been using mine now for about 10 days or so, and love it, takes a while getting used to all the switches etc again, but the overall feel is that it's super smooth, and unbelievably light!
So much lighter than the TM Warthog, that I'm going to take this back to Iraq with me next week.
Only small issue I have right now is that when I throttle back, it's conflicting with one of the zooms, so I'm trying to figure out the issue.

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I have a modded HOTAS Cougar with the UBER II NXT gimbals.

 

These gimbals are very precise, have no detente in middle, no flat spot, are smooth completely throughout the entire range of motion.  How do the Orion stick compare with these gimbals?  Anyone here experience both?

 

I'm debating the Orion vs. the Super Libra base and trying to figure out the difference.

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On 6/18/2021 at 3:02 PM, Mr_Blastman said:

I have a modded HOTAS Cougar with the UBER II NXT gimbals.

 

These gimbals are very precise, have no detente in middle, no flat spot, are smooth completely throughout the entire range of motion.  How do the Orion stick compare with these gimbals?  Anyone here experience both?

 

I'm debating the Orion vs. the Super Libra base and trying to figure out the difference.

The super libra stick has a heavier built gimbal compared to the Orion, its physically quite a bit bigger and heavier.

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Does the Orion support the Warthog grip via the adapter same as the Super Libra?

 

I asked WinWing a week ago, but they haven’t given me the courtesy of answering my emails…

 


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20 minutes ago, Highwayman-Ed said:

Does the Orion support the Warthog grip via the adapter same as the Super Libra?

 

I asked WinWing a week ago, but they haven’t given me the courtesy of answering my emails…

 

I've asked the same question; they reply: "Yes but not suggest to as Orion is mid load base, not like libra is high load base. the TM grip is very heavy."

I bought it anyway. After a few tests, the TM stick movement actually feels too soft due to the increased weight.

Perhaps it is better to wait for the lighter F-16 wingwing stick. (or buy a Libra stick base?)

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6 hours ago, Topo said:

 

I've asked the same question; they reply: "Yes but not suggest to as Orion is mid load base, not like libra is high load base. the TM grip is very heavy."

I bought it anyway. After a few tests, the TM stick movement actually feels too soft due to the increased weight.

Perhaps it is better to wait for the lighter F-16 wingwing stick. (or buy a Libra stick base?)

you can always add a heavier spring to the Orion base.

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1 hour ago, MelkorBorgir said:

you can always add a heavier spring to the Orion base.

Yes, but every time i want to switch the grip, i must change the spring also...

 

However, are there any aftermarket replacement springs already?

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 6/21/2021 at 11:09 PM, Eisprinzessin said:

Anysolution for the heading an crs knob in the hornet?

 

Configured as butto s in simapp doesnt work and a axis we can sadly not assign in dcs...

any joy yet?

I have little issue that when I throttle back, it affects my zoom a tiny little bit, even though the axis for zoom is assigned to the topmost slider, only happens when I throttle back though, and not pushing through the throttle.

Overall I love my Orion, it's super light and brought it with me to my work overseas, will deffo buy more attachments for the F16 when they become available

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On 6/21/2021 at 4:09 PM, Eisprinzessin said:

Anysolution for the heading an crs knob in the hornet?

 

Configured as butto s in simapp doesnt work and a axis we can sadly not assign in dcs...

11 hours ago, Oban said:

any joy yet?

 

My guess is that you'll have to do some real gymnastics to get it to work.  The CRS and HDG selection in the F-18 is done with SWITCHES rather than a KNOB, so I'm guessing the input it's expecting is NOT what a rotary knob is sending.  It's expecting a "press", and needs a long press to activate UFC entry of the CRS/HDG (which you couldn't do with a rotary) -- I presume that's why it's programmed the way it is in DCS.  The knobs work fine for items that are actual knobs in the F-18 (i.e. brightness controls, COMM preset channels).


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  • 3 months later...

....and there's probably many who have no issues. Jump on to Discord, find the HOTAS/HOSAS/SIMPIT server and look for the WinWing sub channel. Shout out to Tony409 and see if he can help.

 

Check my sig, not one problem in over 12mths of ownership

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18 hours ago, MustangSally said:

....and there's probably many who have no issues. Jump on to Discord, find the HOTAS/HOSAS/SIMPIT server and look for the WinWing sub channel. Shout out to Tony409 and see if he can help.

 

Check my sig, not one problem in over 12mths of ownership

To the OPIt's worth it, like every other product in the world, some defects slip past the QC, and some owners have had issues, I have used mine almost daily since I bought it, packed it up and thrown it into my cabin bag for 2 trips back home to Thailand and not had any noticeable issues, the joystick did have a slight creaking sound for a while, but that's gone, flown close to 100hrs in the F18 alone with it, I'm a very satisfied customer.

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In the last 3 years i went thru 4 Thrustmaster T16000m Joysticks, all stopped working in the stick twist function. I played mostly with Elite Dangerous in VR then after the ED Odyssey mess I found DCS " DCS in VR is great".

when the 4th Thrustmaster started to fail and the price of the T16000m like doubled I got the Orion set. Very happy with it so far ( about 6 months).  For the life of me I could not do in air refueling with the Thrustmaster but found it doable with the Orion Joystick, there is a huge difference between the plastic HOTAS and the Metal types. I believe the Orion HOTAS is a good value for a high end HOTAS setup. 

One thing about the Orion is it will sits too high on most deck tops to be comfortable to use, you may want to thing about a way to lower the HOTAS. I made wood offset clamps to lower the HOTAS, you can also purchases lowering systems.  

 

IMG_0108.JPG

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