My F-16 Throttle Has Arrived!

[rob10]

12 hours ago, Mel said:

Thanks. I've had the Orion throttle base w/ F/A-18 handles for almost a year now and i'm very pleased with it. As i'm starting to learn the F-16 i'm considering getting the F-16 throttle handles. I just hope it doesn't take too much effort/time switching between the two setups.

It's not hard, but it's probably at least a 5-10 minute job.  You'd have to remove the screws for each handle and swap them (total of 6 screws + 1 holding the 2 throttle levers for the F-16) and remove/replace the side panel (just need to loosen 4 bolts).  And a few seconds to do the 2 wires.  So not hard, but a 30 second job.

[Wicked.-]

I received mine last week. I've had 6 Cougars over the years with the other F-16 sim but the last one finally gave up the ghost 5 years ago. The Orion is outstanding. Be aware though that this new Orion 2 base is mostly plastic whereas the previous were all metal. The arms, grip, gimbals and bottom plate are all metal from what I can see but the housing is totally plastic, including all non-toggle switches. The gimbal and throttle arms look suspiciously like zinc.... which is what Cougars were made out of... Only time will tell if these hold up to constant cycling.

Other than those observations I'm totally impressed. I had been planning to fabricate my own but there is no way I could make it as polished and with as many features as the Orion has out of the box. The only annoying thing for me so far is the throttle grip in the jet begins to rotate into AB before the physical throttle hits the detent. I'm guessing I'm not understanding what SimApp means when it says "set afterburner ratio". Does that mean at the detent, after the detent or full AB? If someone else knows the answer please let me know.

As was said by a previous poster, having the Antenna Elevation on an absolute axis was a deal breaker for me. It feels like a rotary encoder "and probably is" but it behaves in the SimApp software and the game as a pot. It's just missing those annoying Cougar spikes. Same for the micro stick. No spikes.

For all of us die hard Viper drivers, we finally have an outstanding TQS to throw money at!

[Wicked.-]

Quick follow up to my post. The other issue I was having and didn't mention is that while in the jet I could not get to idle. It was slightly above idle. After opening up SimApp and looking at the throttle position, I realized it was the vertical guide that wasn't aligned right. Therefore, once you've put it together, plug it in, open SimApp and adjust the vertical guide/gate while watching to ensure you have as little blue above idle as possible, then crank it down. That should eliminate any AB detent issues as well.

I'm a happy camper.

[rob10]

2 hours ago, Wicked.- said:

 The only annoying thing for me so far is the throttle grip in the jet begins to rotate into AB before the physical throttle hits the detent. I'm guessing I'm not understanding what SimApp means when it says "set afterburner ratio". Does that mean at the detent, after the detent or full AB? If someone else knows the answer please let me know.

The pinned topic on setting the afterburner at the top of the Winwing subforum has excellent instructions on how to set your AB detent.

[Wicked.-]

I was able to dial in the idle and afterburner positions and it’s function as it should in DCS. However, when going from idle to the cutoff position, the grip does not come far enough back to rest in the off slot of the guard. The distance between idle and cutoff is too wide preventing the grip from fully seating and laying horizontally as it does from idle to the AB stop. The grip instead remains in the unlocked position and angled up. 
 

if you look at the throttle in the sim in the off position you’ll see it’s laying flat, not angled up. Is it possible this guard was not machined properly in this area or was this intentional? I ask because there is simply no way to adjust the guard that allows the grip to fully seat in the stop position, while at the same time come all the way back to idle. In the sim.

Grip in the idle position..

 

 

Edited May 2, 2022 by Wicked.-

[MartinVoy]

Worth every penny. Mine arrived yesterday. So smooth and precise... I love it. 

The handle is amazing, full metal. The base was a bit of a disappointment - not big - it works great, but most of it is plastic, including base plate... The sliders are cast metal, what was a surprise, but the base is plastic.
Plenty of switches and rotary to choose from. The software (WinWing's SimApp Pro) has no any manual and it is all guess work.

Despite of all above, the feeling is just amazing, it feels so smooth and heavy in a way, but precise - one can feel the big piece of metal is rolling on rails when moving the handle - much more precise than Warthog.

A great toy for Viper drivers, but if you think about having one base and two different handles (F16 and F18 let's say), swapping it would be a pain in the ass. At least half an hour I believe. Maybe 20 min if someone is talented DIY   Forget about changing the handle between fights.

The cut-off switch works great and gives a really nice feel when going from OFF to IDLE - inside the game - instead of using just a regular/any switch.
 

Edited April 30, 2022 by MartinVoy

[Wicked.-]

It looks like your grip comes back farther into the off position than mine. However, it still doesn't look like it's laying horizontal/flat or perpendicular to the floor. Is that correct?

 

UPDATE: Problem solved. With a little more adjustment it now drops into the off slot. That said the grip is still canted slightly upward as opposed to the real TQS but I won't nitpick. I really am pleased with it overall.

Edited May 2, 2022 by Wicked.-

[MartinVoy]

On 5/2/2022 at 8:04 PM, Wicked.- said:

However, it still doesn't look like it's laying horizontal/flat or perpendicular to the floor. Is that correct?

Hi, it's not horizontal, it's angled a bit. I made myself a seat with shelves for the throttle and the joystick. I don't have a desk for gaming and didn't have any idea where I could put my HOTAS, so one day I found online some CNC plans, I cut it, put it together and started dreaming about building full cockpit
I'm glad you've it sorted. It takes some time to adjust the handle - you're going to love it, it works great. 

 

If you guys bought yourself Winwing Orion and suddenly noticed dramatic FPS drop, here is why: Orion messing up with FPS video.

Edited May 14, 2022 by MartinVoy

[suhast]

I have done a mod for the MAN RNG to be similar as the original

 

https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/game/winwing-f16ex-tqs-rng-mod-jest-da8f