Haptic feedback

[DCoffey]

Anyone have any experience with the butt kicker or HF8 seat pad?

 

I mainly fly the huey in vr and am considering purchasing one

[Dawgboy]

5 hours ago, DCoffey said:

Anyone have any experience with the butt kicker or HF8 seat pad?

 

I mainly fly the huey in vr and am considering purchasing one

Yes.  I have the HF8.  I find it about half as necessary as TrackIR/headtracking, which I know is a bold statement. I was living without it, but now that I have it, I don't want to give it up.  I fly mostly fixed-wing aircraft, and now when I drop gear or deploy the speed brake, I know they are working.  

I have mine configured to give landing gear feedback through the seat bottom, G-force and stall through the back, and speed brake all over.  For prop aircraft and helos, I have the vibration set to all of the seat's vibration points.  I use HF8 in DCS and BMS, and in DCS, I use it on my helos.  When you get into the helo transition phase, you'll get vibrations that don't exist for forward flight.  So, it increases immersion when using the control inputs.  I have no idea how realistic it is, but that's the experience it provides.

For DCS, you can use their hardware and software directly, as well as for MSFS2020.

[DCoffey]

Thank you for your reply 

[Ala12Rv-Tundra]

On 9/15/2025 at 11:33 AM, DCoffey said:

Anyone have any experience with the butt kicker or HF8 seat pad?

 

I mainly fly the huey in vr and am considering purchasing one

Using VR and haptic since 6 years ago aprox. DEfinitely both mandatory for me to fly.
The haptic for helis is great specially for feeling VRS.
For engine startups is a really nice addition to inmersion. For Huey, you will notice whenever your left of right crew engages with their guns, with stereo effects.
Also worth mentioning, the PRO version for HF8 is apparently and massive improvement regarding confort and performance, according to online reviews.
Good thing is, you can buy the item on amazon, try it for 30 days, and make a decision.

Back in the day, when non-haptic friends came to test the haptic, we fire up DCS and, after 5 minutes flying with haptics ON, I silenty turned the device off(yhey were wearing VR). Then all of them complained what jhappened, the sim feeling numb and lacking.

[Cali]

I have a HF8 pro and wouldn't want to fly without it! I've had it for about 3 months and didn't know how much I would love it, but here we are. 

[Polar-eX]

I bought the HF8 Pro and i dont use it. The seat makes way too much noise. To get a decent amount of feel you need to set motors at >15%.  AT that point the vibration is strong and if you live in an apartment (as i do), neighbors will hear it. The two upper motors, near the shoulders are loud. Using a headset, their vibration is clearly audible in the headset, so i turned them off: 2 of the 8 motors gone. Software: the default software is...crap. I used Simhub or Simshaker for Aviators. And even then...i used Simhub with DCS A10C II...during the takeoff roll, motors went on and off all the time. And most of the time i wanted to feel a THUMP, i got BRRRR. 

With racing i have enough with FFB. The seat does not give me any extra cues: the seat uses the exact same signals as FFB.  

So im actually thinking about just using it as a massage chair but i have to figure out how to use it so the neighbors wont be bothered. 

My advice: dont waste any money on the chair. Use the money for an FFB joystick.

[Nightdare]

I have the HF8, used if for no more than a few hours total in 2 and a half years but 3 out of 8 motors failed due to broken wires, which I managed to get 2 of those working again

 

But it isn't good advertisement when seat pad stops working because you're sitting on it