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VKB WWII Setup Marching In


AeroGator

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KG12.
The legendary Knuppelgriff of the legendary Messerschmitt Bf 109.
It started a whole family of plane control grips and underwent a host of modifications during decades it was in service.
No wonder it was KG12 that years ago we chose for our Gladiator joystick.
Like the original, our KG12 has gone through heavy re-designing and re-engineering.
Now it is back, mounted on Gladiator NXT.
Sticking to this famous grip model we pay our respect to the whole era of piston aircrafts.
No matter how re-designed it is, it is still a replica, and as such it delivers the carefully preserved spirit of the times gone.
We tried hard to make sure you have the most immersive gaming experience with this grip.

Now, here it cometh, the New VKB KG12 grip.

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Outside:

  • Beefier.
  • Made of better, higher grade, more durable and more solid industrial grade plastic.
  • With rugged sides.
  • With a stock twist adapter.
  • It grew an extra trigger/brake lever over a lower button, a new button on the side, and got a better magnetic lock for the main flip trigger.
  • Its thumb hat is smarter now, with a differently sculpted top, and ergonomically correct movements.

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Inside:

  • A world of difference.
  • Internal design borrowed from our top class grips.
  • All VKB trademark cable-free layout.
  • Sturdily interconnected PCBs for extremely stable glitch-free performance.
  • Uncompromising top quality original Japanese silent long travel Alps buttons.

But
What is more
Is that IT DOESN'T COME ALONE.

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The New KG12 is coming with a long-awaited WWII throttle control.
This barrel-shaped grip head sits in your hand like it was there forever.
Six buttons: two on the front side, two under the thumb, and two under the ends of the rocker for manual prop pitch control. (The original only sported two).

This throttle control grip proves VKB takes modularity seriously: structurally, it is a module for a module, and comes as an accessory for already well established GNX THQ.

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You got it right - it is a user-installable and user-replaceable accessory. You can fit your existing THQ with this grip head, and start flying piston planes (or civil airplanes, or GA, if you choose to). However it shines the brightest when it is lined up with another THQ; this way you can choose the plane you fly.

KG12 and the new throttle grip head make a great match, and can be purchased separately or as a set. 
Please take your time checking out these several configurations we assembled for you.
However these are mere suggestions. You can configure your very own setup to fit your very own requirements.
Because it is your VKB. Your Universe.

These items have already been produced and prepared for release.
Available March 2022 - if the virus behaves itself.


Edited by AeroGator
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Best Regards from VKB Lair,

AeroGator

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  • 1 month later...

Hello Aerogator, will the new KG12 grip be available either as a standalone or as an option for the Gunfighter base? I love the look of the redesign and am thinking about a nice center mount for it ...

 

I understand the first batch will probably already be for the NXT bases, but do you plan to offer it for the Gunfighter in the future?

Do you use VR? Do you feel sad when you are just a dismbodied set of eyes floating in the cockpit? Check out my list of paid aircraft modules that support the visible virtual pilot body:

 

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  • 1 month later...

The new KG12 stick grip just arrived today. It is a small, but nice step up from the original KG12.

The key differences are:

  • added twist axis
  • added side button
  • metal paddle in place of pinky button
  • new shape for 8-way thumb hat
  • textured grip

Options I wish it had:

  • As previously stated, the 8-way thumb hat should have had a center depress capability.
  • The adjacent weapon fire/release button should have been a 4-way or 8-way hat with center depress.
  • Button(s) to detect when the flip safety is in the safe and/or fire position.
  • As the real grips were metal, this is one case where I would like to see an "ultimate" version with the above changes and a metal grip.

Beyond the obvious WW2 fighter applications, this is essentially the same grip as the MiG-15. With the extra side button, it is now perfect as a stand-in for my all-time favorite B-8 grip. The standard B-8 had a 4-way trim switch, a trigger, a bomb release button, a side button, and a pinky button. DCS aircraft that utilize the standard B-8 include the F-86 and the UH-1. The F-5's modified B-8 grip has a fwd/aft/center depress button on the side button, which is beyond the available buttons on the new KG12. The twist axis could be programmed to provide fwd and aft buttons with the side button acting as the center depress. 


Edited by streakeagle
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[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

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Yesterday, I went to try out the new KG12 and discovered that there is no published software/firmware that supports it. So, I couldn't even use it. I put in a support ticket with the VKB website and requested help on the official tech support forum. Today, I was provided with unreleased firmware that works.

Out of the box, the hat switch is a simple 4-button hat. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to implement an 8-way POV hat in the configuration software. I normally only want/need 4-way hats since the switches on real life sticks are often only 4-way. But some applications work better with an 8-way POV hat (especially older games), so I wanted to see how hard it was to program. I learned that I really need to pay attention to the physical button layer map versus the logical button layer map. During button tests, the logical button numbers are used for display. But the POV hat is programmed using physical button numbers. Strangely enough, the stock configuration has an odd mapping between the physical layer and the logical layer. Once I figured out the relationship, I was able to program POV 1. The stock configuration also has 0 POV hats configured, so you have to go to the global parameters tag and set the number of POV hats to 1.

The configuration software looks complex and intimidating, but that is the price you pay for exceptionally good programming flexibility. It is amazing what can be done with the configuration. Most people won't need this level of flexibility, but I love having such a powerful tool available.

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[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

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Yeah I probably don't even use 1/10th of the capability of their software, but I use enough to get me by just fine. Learning and digging in deep to the underlying software is not really something that interests me. Long as I can get my buttons setup the way I like them I am just fine and prefer to focus my learning on the aircraft modules.

Been running my Gunfighter III Pro with Ultimate grip for quite some time now just fine and absolutely love it. Once I initially got things set up with way I like them have not needed to open the software for anything.

Don B

EVGA Z390 Dark MB | i9 9900k CPU @ 5.1 GHz | Gigabyte 4090 OC | 64 GB Corsair Vengeance 3200 MHz CL16 | Corsair H150i Pro Cooler |Virpil CM3 Stick w/ Alpha Prime Grip 200mm ext| Virpil CM3 Throttle | VPC Rotor TCS Base w/ Alpha-L Grip| Point Control V2|Varjo Aero|

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