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Any recommendations for a good extension for the warthog and what should the length be?


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I put a 10cm extension on mine, but it depends on where you mouth the base. My Warthog base sits on a Wheelstand Pro (basically an adjustable tubular frame), and sit just behind and level with my knees. Give me a nice level of control over mounting directly onto the base, but it's not so long that the overall throw is excessive.

Bought it from here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/292123030904

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I too have a 10cm Warthog extension from the same supplier.

Mine is bolted to a custom (cheap!) wooden frame, though I also have the Sahaj Green Spring which makes it lighter again which I prefer for helicopters and is fine for aircraft.

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I'm a very satisfied wheelstand pro user also and currently use a 20cm extension, which is just about as long as i could use, with the joystick mounting tube, on the stand, dropped as low as it can go.


Edited by Greyman
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2 hours ago, pellelil said:

Just ordered a 10 cm today, but I have my throttle on the desk, so I don't think I could have a longer.

I hope it's a low desk. I think you might start to get some pain in your arm and shoulder if you use it too much. An even bigger consideration is the angle of the grip. These extensions are designed for mounting between your legs, and as such are made so that the grip sits twisted about 20 degrees or so to the left. When it's between your legs it saves bending your wrist back to hold it, but if you have it on the right of your keyboard you will probably find it rather uncomfortable to grip.

If you're not in a position to buy proper mounts then I'd suggest trying to knock something together out of a few bits of wood. You'll feel the benefit, trust me. Some people (who are far slimmer than me!) even put the base of the stick on their seat and then sit with their thighs resting on top of the baseplate, which does work apparently.


Edited by frostycab
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32 minutes ago, frostycab said:

I hope it's a low desk. I think you might start to get some pain in the you arm and shoulder if you use it too much. An even bigger consideration is the angle of the grip. These extensions are designed for mounting between your legs, and as such are made so that the grip sits twisted about 20 degrees or so to the left. When it's between your legs it saves bending your wrist back to hold it, but if you have it on the right of your keyboard you will probably find it rather uncomfortable to grip.

If you're not in a position to buy proper mounts then I'd suggest trying to knock something together out of a few bits of wood. You'll feel the benefit, trust me. Some people (who are far slimmer than me!) even put the base of the stick on their seat and then sit with their thighs resting on top of the baseplate, which does work apparently.

 

Time will tell if I develop any pain using it (have a friend that uses one in the same manner without issues). The extension is straight (without twist) so I don't think that will be an issue.

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Pelle Liljendal

(MooseMan)

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Haven't got mine yet, so I can not give a definitive answer, but according to my friend who have a 10 cm extension it made a huge difference for him. For helicopters, the longer the better (more precise, more easy to put in small adjustments). However for a fighter-jet (e.g. F16) I would hate having to throw in a lot of extreme input which you would have to with a longer extension. So for me 10 cm seemed to be a good middle-point, where it is still a benefit for choppers, and still not to problematic for jets.

Longer extensions might also result in other issues. With my stick on the table, I might start to strain my arm/shoulder more resulting in pain/fatigue that I would not have with an un-extended stick. Time will tell, but if I end up having issues a table-mount will be the logical step (e.g. https://www.monster.tech/en/product/joystick-hotas-table-mount/). With an even longer extension I am sure some kind of mount is indeed a requirement.

Likewise with a longer extension the default spring in your stick might end up being "too weak" to center the stick. For me the default spring in the Warthog stick have always been a bit strong for helicopter flight (where you might hold the stick "in the same position" for a prolonged period of time, where you for jets are more likely to center it). So I expect the 10 cm extension will make the default spring feel more soft, while still being able to quickly center the stick. I ordered my extension here, and they also offer different spring options:

https://warthog-extensions-by-sahaj.com/shop/

Pelle Liljendal

(MooseMan)

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36 minutes ago, pii said:

Thanks All.

I was surprised to see that 10cm seems to be popular. Does an extention that size really do much for control?

Yes.

For two reasons: one is the more obvious one, where a longer total stick length + a fixed deflection cone means that, at the very tip, any given movement in absolute terms yields a smaller input angle so it's a lot easier to moderate small movements. It may be difficult to get a good feel for the difference between 0.5 and 1cm deflection, but with an extension, you might instead be dealing with 1cm vs 2cm and suddenly instinctively feel the difference more. It also helps smooth out any shakiness and jitter in how you can maintain your grip at a given angle.

This leads to the second one: an extension gives you a longer lever to fight against the springs or other mechanisms that are trying to return your stick to centre. The less you have to fight that centring force, the more subtle and delicate you can be in your control, and that's on top of already having a better feel for the difference in position because of the longer throw.

A 10cm extension on a 15cm stick (which admittedly is on the very low end) means you've almost doubled your throw and thus doubled your precision and halved how much force you need to put into it. On the longer end of things – a 25cm stick — you're still seeing a 40% increase, which is significant.

The actual length becomes a balancing act between getting more of those two benefits and ending up with a stick that is half-way up your nose, where it either becomes unergonomic to handle or just gets in the way of whatever other controls you have clustered around your setup. You still want to end up with the grip in a comfortable position so a longer extension means you need to find a lower mounting or placement point, and before long, you get to the point where you can't use all that extra throw because your chair or knees get in the way, or you keep banging your knuckles against the table at full forward deflection. Going above 10cm will very quickly require trickier solutions to deal with all those issues so between that and the still-significant improvement in precision, it's a pretty good sweet-spot.

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4 hours ago, pii said:

Thanks All.

I was surprised to see that 10cm seems to be popular. Does an extention that size really do much for control?

 

Yes, absolutely! I can't be bothered to take the extension off to measure, but with it on the overall throw at the top of the stick is increased to roughly 25cm, meaning that while large movements require much more positive inputs you get so much more fine control, not just at center but across the full range of both axes. It reduces the perceived "sticktion" that some people complain about with the Warthog base too, as the extra length means that less overall force is require to deflect the stick. Finally, I've found it results in less wrist ache (Now now! Behave!!!) during long sessions because instead of making most of the movements with your wrist you are now using your whole arm to control it, spreading the effort.

If your setup allows you to put the stick in an appropriate position then I'd definitely recommend getting one. Even if you don't like it you can just eBay it and probably get more than half the money back.

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As Pellelil said check out.  https://warthog-extensions-by-sahaj.com/shop/

As an alternative to an extension you can pick up Sahaj's weaker spring (green) which maybe helpful.  I grabbed one a few years ago just because I felt the stock spring was too strong.  It has certainly helped with helicopter flying (still use curves) and not affected my control of jets.

The extension is probably the best way to go though for fine control.

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12 hours ago, ScottyBS said:

Where are people getting them from?

I got mine off ebay. Just search "Extension for Hotas Warthog" choose what you find works for postage! Was $60 AU posted for me.

The one I got is the elbow 118mm which really revived my aging warthog stick

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Sounds like I need one of these on my "wish list", soon...oh look tax return! 🙂 

I think I'll get a 10-12 cm extention and a lighter spring. 

Thanks to  all that responded and for all the advice and info.

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  • 1 year later...

My two cents on the subject:

For me it is very clear that the 50mm extension makes the most sense for the Warthog stick.

Previously I had mostly used it without an extension, flying DCS aircraft including F-16C, F-14, F-18, Saab AJS-37 etc. However, I always found it a bit too stiff for precise flying without getting tired. I use a Monstertech table mount. I then tried a 100mm extension for the stick, but it only made sense for helicopters (Black Shark, Huey, Gazelle). Unfortunately, with the 100mm extension, the self-centering of the stick was a bit too slow, which was very annoying, and useless for fighter jets. Constantly removing or adding the extension or changing the spring wasn't ideal either when you often switch between helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.

Since I started using the 50mm extension, it stays on the stick permanently: fixed-wing aircraft can be flown very precisely without my arm or wrist getting tired, and even for helicopters the stick is long enough for good control & immersion. I don't even have to adjust the height on table mount, I just move it from my side to between my legs. The constant changing of extensions has now come to an end! I can instantly switch from helicopters to fixed-wing and back. I also don't have to change the spring anymore, the stock spring is perfect for the 50mm longer stick. I'm super happy with this solution. I use a “Reyann Aluminum Alloy Extension Rod 50mm” from Amazon which I can recommend.

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