Which Flightstick/Joystick would you recommend?

[Ranger79]

Hello everyone,

 

Wanted your comments, the pros & cons of your favorite or least favorite flightsticks/joystick systems. Upgrading in the near future. Thanks in advance.

 

[WarriorX]

First off, welcome to the Forums Ranger79 and thank you for your service.

 

There are a whole bunch of threads discussing the Thrustmaster Warthog and the other HOTAS setups you are considering. Check those out for the most diverse information possible.

 

I can only provide my experience with the Thrustmaster Warthog, as I have never owned either the Saitek or Logitech hardware.

 

A little history, I previously had the Thrustmaster F22 (old) and then replacing that with the Thrustmaster Cougar (newer). I saw the need to replace the gimbal system in the Cougar with the NXT Mod, and also replaced the potentiometers with Cubpilot's Hall Sensor upgrade. The Warthog replaced the Cougar.

 

Here are my pro's and con's on the Warthog:

Pro's

-all Hall Sensors, which gives me outstanding accuracy and service life.

-Joystick gimbal feels great to me, force distribution is smooth and even.

-Joystick can be center mounted on a pedestal, or desktop.

-Switches feel just as advertised, mil spec.

-Throttles feel hydraulic smooth.

-Throttles can be easily locked together to work as one, or unlocked easily to be independent.

-Pairs up effortlessly with the DCS A-10C, I mean true plug and play, as if they developed it together.

-Provides a ease in pilot workflow in the DCS A-10C Sim as it is a replica.

-Build quality and weight look and feel outstanding. It really is a beautiful HOTAS.

 

Cons

-I have not experienced this but there are many, many threads on the 'bricking throttle" check it out.

-TARGET programming software was released "not ready for prime time" in my humble opinion. There are improvements that have already been made and are planned to be in the future per Thrustmaster. The saving grace is that you really dont need it if you fly the DCS A-10 Sim.

-Thrustmaster Support is spotty and they do not have a Support Forum on their website. This means getting an "official response" in a timely manner is hit and miss sometimes. You will be relying on emails to communicate with Thrustmaster Support.

-Lack of Rudder Pedals included. If you want rudder pedals you will need to find 3rd party pedals, which at this time, TARGET will not "recognize" unless you use the Simped Rudder Pedals that run through the older Cougar base. But you do not have the older Cougar per your video.

 

Well that's my .02 cents. I will say that if my Warthog was stolen from the house tonight, I would go out and replace it with no hesitation. I wish you the best of luck in your quest, I hope this helps you.

[Ranger79]

WarriorX, outstanding advise!

[Scarecrow]

I have a warthog (2101) and it is the absolute best for A10c although for IL2 I found the centre detent a little to obtrusive and went back to using my G940stick for IL2. Hopefully the Hogstick should last well into the 10year lifespan as it feels incredibly solid.

The G940 reversal bug makes the throttle&rudders very imprecise so I would advise against it if precision is what you want, however the stick is pretty good for IL2. The force trimmer on the stick doesn't work well in DCS series as the G940 has an incredibly small throw, the detectable throw is actually only about two thirds of the physical throw, so you have to use a response curve which doesn't follow the trimmed position so once you've trimmed the aircraft you're halfway up the response curve which gives some whacky handling characteritics to the aircraft at max and stall speeds.

I don't know about the x52 pro, I've always assumed it was just a shameless rebranding of the original at a higher price tag for those that didn't like the look of the x52. Over all I'd say Warthog all the way and if my warthog was stolen tonight I'd go out and buy a gun tomorrow!