HOTAS Warthog™ Press Release (*CAUTION* Oversized Pics)

[Succellus]

You are off my party list! :D

 

Consider the stain in the paint as Scars of war, you should be proud of them, vet!

[jocko417]

My bad :

Lack of WHEEL without leaving the hand of the throttle.

 

Not to press the issue but how many WWII fighter aircraft had a thumb wheel on the throttle to control flaps with? ;)

[Ragtop]

Lets not forget that this isn't actually released, we're all drawing our guns quickly here over a prerelease version of T.A.R.G.E.T! They may still add support for third party controller and let's be honest, it's not TM's job to make other companies hardware play inside their software, although it would be a nice thing to add.

 

Really it's down to the sims themselves, DCS and FC2 can support multiple controllers, so just set your USB rudders up in there. I can't speak for the prop sims cause I don't play them, but it's not hard for them to implement.

 

If you use the Cougar port rudders, T.A.R.G.E.T supports the Cougar, so you can use your rudders with that.

[hassata]

Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.

 

I'll bring your TM WH with me when I come visit :D.

[hassata]

Wow. That review had my G meter wound the opposite direction of extreme carnage. The absurd mental image of my cheap, plastic Suncom in fetal position eying up at the underside of the towering TM Ubersome Warthog's boot disappeared like a warped bandit named Terrible Ping.

 

I'm sorry but I can't believe TM use the same cheap die-cast metal with the all-too-familiar imperfections on the paint job!? WTF? And the throttle...I was in lust with that throttle but that review had the light shined on me. They wobbled when moved? WTFofallFs? My Suncom throttle does that.

 

Sorry, guys. This is terrible for me to say but I am disappointed.

 

This season, leafer is the new Mower lol.

[kylania]

Also out of interest, where was it mentioned that the throttle wobbled? I can't seem to find it in the review and would like to know what was said.

 

From the videos I saw it's rock solid. He did hold it down while activating the detents though, which might indicate it pulls up a bit when you, um, pull it up... I saw no wobble though, all smooth as silk on the videos.

[Ragtop]

From the videos I saw it's rock solid. He did hold it down while activating the detents though, which might indicate it pulls up a bit when you, um, pull it up... I saw no wobble though, all smooth as silk on the videos.

 

Exactly what I was thinking, I wondered where people had picked up the idea that the throttles "wobbled when moved", as Leafer stated previously.

 

I don't want to discount this as made up, as it's a very interesting and valid concern, which is why I'd like to read more about it!

[leafer]

From simhq starting from 12 secs in.

 

 

And to think the guy was being gentle with it, too. You and I wouldn't be in the middle of a dogfight.

 

From Check Six from 2:58mins in.

 

 

The French man in the vid above was a little more heavy handed and you could clearly see it when he was operating the switches. The throttle canted on its own horizontal axis. Not very sturdy.

 

I did raise the concern when the CheckSix first appeared and received a response...

 

http://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=976002&postcount=31

 

Edited to add: I'm not on a crusade to discredit anyone or TM, but I feel that this is a valid concern and should be addressed. If they wobble now then wait till you've put in six months of constant abuse. You want that on your conscious every time you had to firewall that thing in the heat of virtual combat? For the most part I'm not a picky Pete - trust me on that. I tend to purposely overlook small flaws if I really wanted the product. Weird how the brain works but for some reason I cannot stand wobbly expensive/cheap toys.

Edited October 22, 2010 by leafer

[leafer]

This season, leafer is the new Mower lol.

 

Call me a mange in a feral dog or a b!tch if you will, but for the love of all those brazillian buttcheeks, don't call me the new Mower. :D

[Ragtop]

From simhq starting from 12 secs in.

 

 

And to think the guy was being gentle with it, too. You and I wouldn't be in the middle of a dogfight.

 

From Check Six from 2:58mins in.

 

 

The French man in the vid above was a little more heavy handed and you could clearly see it when he was operating the switches. The throttle canted on its own horizontal axis. Not very sturdy.

 

I did raise the concern when the CheckSix first appeared and received a response...

 

http://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=976002&postcount=31

 

Edited to add: I'm not on a crusade to discredit anyone or TM, but I feel that this is a valid concern and should be addressed. If they wobble now then wait till you've put in six months of constant abuse. You want that on your conscious every time you had to firewall that thing in the heat of virtual combat? For the most part I'm not a picky Pete - trust me on that. I tend to purposely overlook small flaws if I really wanted the product. Weird how the brain works but for some reason I cannot stand wobbly expensive/cheap toys.

 

 

I can see what you meant now, however it doesn't look like anywhere near as bad as what I had in my head when you said it wobbled. It seems as though there is a little lateral movement, but it seems as though it's moving against a spring, perhaps this is a little bit of play in the axis/movement of the lift, required to push the throttles over the idle/AB thresholds.

[leafer]

Did you see how much it moved when he demonstrated the switches? If the throttle shafts were made from cheap plastic then that would explain the twist. If the shafts are metal then we're talking a problem with the design here.

 

Can we get people with hands-on experience on the X65F and G940 to confirm if those units do this as well? Not that it'll make this less of an issue for me but I'm just curious.

[VTB_Ray]

Thought I'd chime in since I've been giving the Warthog a workout since May - and remember this is a beta unit.

 

I just measured from the top of the throttle surface where your hand would rest. There's about 4mm side to side slack/wobble in the throttles if you have them unlocked from each other when you move them left to right. It's normal though given the design, there has to be some space between shaft and throttle base, or else the friction would be too great. There hasn't been any increase in slack/wobble over the months though.

 

There really isn't any reason to be moving the throttle side to side anyway because all of the buttons can be actuated without having to put a side load on the throttles.

 

The shafts are made of a high quality type of plastic, very sturdy/solid feeling.

Edited October 23, 2010 by VTB_Ray

[Steel Jaw]

Mower is bad news, a real degenerate. Mind you, maybe his abusive prone-to-violence-cop-wife is to blame.

 

I would buy this if I had the scratch, since I plan to be flying the DCS A10C long term.

 

*sigh*

[kylania]

Ooh, now I see what you mean. Coming from the X-52 (standard) basically anything that doesn't rotate like helicopter blades is an improvement for me! :) X-52's throttle seems real solid, but the stick has a LOT of wiggle to it. Doesn't really translate into game though. The rotarys on the throttle however jiggle constantly to the point where I had to unmap them from zoom since it was constantly twitching.

[Highwayman-Ed]

Coming from the X-52 (standard) basically anything that doesn't rotate like helicopter blades is an improvement for me! :).

 

Ditto... I'll be buying one as soon as I can get my grubby mits on one :)

[coolts]

Well. My cougar has more "centre play" than Wimbledon so a little throttle movement doesn’t worry me. The review didn’t mention it at all and Joe was pretty thorough.

[Bwaze]

Well, I guess side to side slight movement is not a problem with throttles - you usually don't exert a lot of force in this direction even when operating the locking switch (since your hand is on throttle). I just wonder if it does detract from the "rock solid" feel of a well made equipment.

 

I think Warthog can never have "centre play" as bad as Cougar - even if the ball joint would wear out so there would be area in the centre where you wouldn't feel spring force the hall sensor bellow would still pick up stick movement, since it is directly connected to the stick.

 

The only way for centre play to really happen is the inside joint of stick with the centre shaft - it looks awfully similar to Cougars, and there it had all sorts of problems (you could easily strip the threads in the soft zamac, and the connection wasn't solid any more). There was even a "hardware mod" - a bit larger screw that held better than original one.

 

I'm curious why is there an octagonal shape to the stick movement? And since output is still as if it was a rectangular movement, how the hell are the sensor outputs mapped? Stretched out at the corners? It just seems unneeded complication.

[sobek]

I'm curious why is there an octagonal shape to the stick movement? And since output is still as if it was a rectangular movement, how the hell are the sensor outputs mapped? Stretched out at the corners? It just seems unneeded complication.

 

I don't get all the fuss about that one. IMHO if you often need to hit the edge of your stick, you've set it up wrong.

[leafer]

Thanks for clearing that up, VTB.

[StageFright]

Anybody get there TM Warthog yet, my order got pushed back till Nov 2nd.....sniff sniff :cry_2:

[kylania]

Anybody get there TM Warthog yet, my order got pushed back till Nov 2nd.....sniff sniff :cry_2:

 

Been Nov 2nd since i ordered mine last week.

[theguid]

"Play" in the X-65 Throttle

 

Can we get people with hands-on experience on the X65F and G940 to confirm if those units do this as well? Not that it'll make this less of an issue for me but I'm just curious.

 

I bought an x-65 this week. Yes, there is some lateral play in the throttle, particularly in its split configuration. However, that's only evident when I actually try to wiggle it. During operation, the downward pressure from your hand essentially negates any side-to-side movement. The throttle also tracks well, and you don't for a second think of the unit as fragile or unstable. The stick, of course, is solid as a rock. :thumbup:

[StageFright]

Been Nov 2nd since i ordered mine last week.

 

Ordered mine of the 8th of October, but for whatever reason they pushed it back. :joystick:

[leafer]

I bought an x-65 this week. Yes, there is some lateral play in the throttle, particularly in its split configuration. However, that's only evident when I actually try to wiggle it. During operation, the downward pressure from your hand essentially negates any side-to-side movement. The throttle also tracks well, and you don't for a second think of the unit as fragile or unstable. The stick, of course, is solid as a rock. :thumbup:

 

Nice. :thumbup:

[Bwaze]

Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog manual:

 

ftp://ftp.thrustmaster.com/accessories/pc/hotas/manual/HOTAS_Warthog/HOTAS_Warthog_Manual_v1.pdf

 

18 pages in several languages, it's just an overview of buttons, axes, throttle detents and removal of base plate.