WINWING Orion 2

[WINWING]

 

 

Edited April 10, 2022 by WINWING

[DeltaMike]

I've been delighted with my Orion F18 throttle, that is some fine engineering.   I really like the finger lifts and the new switch layout; well done.  I would definitely consider upgrading the base depending on the price.  

[Dragon1-1]

For 50$ you can get a finger lift kit for the old one. What's interesting about the new Orion is that the switch panels now seem to be separate units. Perhaps we'll get alternative panel options in the future.

[Taderaz]

Preordered yesterday a Orion 2 (F/A-18) as replacement for my VPC MongoosT-50CM2 Throttle.
Unfortunately Virpil never offered a finger lift detent for retrofitting which bothers me a bit and has now led me to take a closer look at winwing.
Winwing offers something like this for the older base, which makes me think I buy a more sustainable product (hopefully).

Depending on the quality of the throttle, I may then also replace my stick.
It's a pity that you can't find any information about the delivery time or restocking the warehouse. So you only have a pre-order and don't know how long it could take.

[ggerman2862]

Their re-stocking times prior to March were about every two weeks... I bought almost $2k of Winwing hardware and it shipped the same day. Took less than a week to arrive in the US.

With their pre-order, the good part is that (unlike most preorders) you aren't charged until it ships!

[Dragon1-1]

TBH, I'd prefer to have it on the books right now, since I don't know how my own currency will work out with regards to the dollar on the day they'll actually want me to pay. It's been a bit of a rollercoaster in the financial markets recently (but hey, at least it's not roubles...). I suppose that in a more stable world, it'd be a nice thing to have, though.

[Supmua]

This seems like the best bang right now.  Very versatile with plenty of useful switches and dials.  If Winwing makes the A-10C throttle grip I would definitely replace my Warthog throttle with this base.

[Bwaze]

Grim Reapers: Product Review: Winwing ORION HOTAS Throttle Base V2

Nice overview of the changes from 1st gen base to V2. There's also a short bit about finger lifts on F-18 throttle grips. They look like they work far differently than I imagine, instead of just lifting they swivel upwards - might be the only way they could make them fit under the grips in the afterburner position, since it comes so far forward.

We see that new Orion base does not have detents in throttle levers - which is logical, F-16EX throttle has it's own detent system, F-18 throttle grips now have their own finger lift system, and Black Shark collective grip has short movement that doesn't reach the detent positions. So for using Finger Lift KIT for Orion (1st Gen) I imagine we will have to disassemble the 1st Gen Orion throttle base and remove the detent captive ball stops? That's quite a lot of disassembly.

Also, will the lower part of the F-18 finger lift detents that is installed on a base be in a way of F-16EX throttle grip? The part that goes between the throttle handles and is installed on the base, and is screwed with two long screws that go through the base. It wasn't a quick swap system before (with fiddly setup of rails), and it looks like more things to uninstall / reinstall, if it has to be removed.

Edited April 18, 2022 by Bwaze

[Bwaze]

Here are several screengrabs from Grim Reapers' video that show F-18 finger lift assembly and operation. You can see the probable reason why they came up with the mechanism that they use, swivelling paddles instead of just lifting them - look at the image of throttle in afterburner position - there isn't space for normal finger lifts that just lift a bit:

[Katmandu]

Looking great! Love that they removed the ball bearing push through detents, now the throttle is properly universal, perfect for choppers and warbirds.

The only minus I can see (apart from the F/A-18 grip angle that is still opposite to what it should be) is the now plastic exterior top of the base. The mold seams are not apparent in the stock photos, but definitely apparent in the natural sunlight pics above. They cheapen the look and make the base look more like X-55's, than TM Warthog's. But I'm talking looks only, function wise the Orion's base is in a different league to both. I would even say *perfect*. 

[Dragon1-1]

I really like the customizable detent system. There's one for space sims, and while I'm not sure if the idle detent should leave the finger lifts up (in the real Hornet, you have to pull them up to go from cutoff to idle, as well as the other way around), it seems like 3D printing your own detents might be viable. Even better, the seem easily removed when mounted, so you can, for example, get rid of the idle detent when flying props, which have the fuel cutoff on a separate mixture control. 

I wonder whether it'd be possible to use the system to introduce a functional collective brake at some point. Russian helos have a peculiar feature where you have to pull a brake handle to move the collective freely, attaching a friction pad to the detent track and have some contraption with a spring pressing a friction block against it, lifted by a handle, could enable them to replicate that system.

[pacotito]

Does the mounting rail for the F16 kit cover all the holes on the throttle base? The reviews I've seen of the v1 showed that the last mounting hole was still open. V2 looks like the rail covers even the furthest mounting hole. 

[paschon]

You should really think about buying a WinWing Orion 2.

I got mine yesterday and this ist what I experienced. The Engine OFF button is not working properly. It only works if you push the throttle with a force to the last bit of the end.

I think the sounds of moving the throtle with the new fingerlift design speaks for its self. 

The force to overcome the afterburner is differently on the left and right throttle. You need double the force on the left throttle to overcome the AB resistance.

The fingerlifts are made of plastic and they feel really cheap. In addition they are way to low. You need to change your grip to grab them, what makes them unusable for AB detend.

 

 

[FalcoNg]

What exactly are these things for?  Future modules to add on?