Thought that some of you chaps might find this interesting reading.
I've been flying for a few years ago. Mostly DCS, some ED, tried IL2 and even Xplane-11.
Whilst getting in the genre, I looked at HOTAS options. Discounted Saitek gear on reliability grounds. The Warthog was considered the best, but for me there were too many horror stories about bricked throttles and "stiction" on the plastic gimball.
So I ended up going with a CH Fighterstick, Throttle and Pedals. Probably the least appealing visually, only 8 bit, but supposedly extremely reliable and with plenty of buttons.
Changed my pedals to a set of MFGs last year, and have finally bagged myself a Virpil T50 with grip. It arrived yesterday.
The base on the T50 is taller than most and has a smaller cross section. They also recommend using the mount that's attached to the front of the base. So the first job was to find how best to mount it. After some head scratching, found what seemed a good method and it's now bolted to the side of my chair (Ikea Poang).
The stick is interchangeable with a Warthog grip, so in theory, you could use either on the same base. Nice option for Warthog users who might be having problems with their base. Once the grip is attached to the base, there's an option (controlled by a grub screw) to rotate a stick a little in either direction to find the optimum comfort position.
It does come with it's own calibration software, which is apparently recommended over using Windows. For all that, I plugged it in, tested it with the Virpil calibration and nothing appeared to be needed. So just fired up DCS and got to work re-binding controls for some of my aircraft. I experienced no issues with any of the axis or buttons not doing what you'd expect.
The grip has slightly more buttons than the Fighterstick and I'm guessing a similar level to the Warthog.
Plastic feels high grade and durable and the ergonomics of the design must be pretty good as everything instantly felt in the "right" place. Button clicks are good and positive. It includes an adjustable wrist wrest. The only real difference to what I'm used to is the addition of an analogue lever, which I've found works very nicely with the wheel brake in a Spitfire.
On reflection, the grip doesn't really seem to move the game on. Rather it matches what's currently available. Don't get me wrong, it's very good, just nothing really ground breaking.
The base/gimball however, just wow.
Out of the box, I found the springs rather firm, but then I'm coming from a fighterstick, with it's notoriously light controls. The unit came with a couple of other "cams", and different grades of springs, such that you can change the feel. Initially I'm going to see how I get on, as changing them is not a 2 min job. If you're interested, there's some online video guides which will give you an indication of the time required.
In the meantime, I used the built in "adjusters". In short, grab yourself a small flat head screwdriver, and there's a couple of holes in the top of the unit, that allow you access to change the spring firmness VERY easily. Very nice touch.
The real biggy however is the all metal gimball. On my Fighterstick, it's quite obvious where the 2 axes of their plastic gimball are. In feel, the T50 is like use the ball head of a high quality camera tripod, when comparing to the older hinged type. It's pretty much seamless in the transition from say left/right to up/down.
To get a better understanding of the precision, I flew my Huey, Spitfire, Viggen, Harrier and Su33. That included take off in the Spit, hovering in the Huey, carrier landing in the Su33 and re-fueling and VSTOL landing in the harrier. Whilst the physical deflection of the stick is smaller than when compared to the Fighterstick, and I'm clearly not used to the T50, it was definitely easier to be more precise. Probably the most difficult activity I mentioned was re-fueling in the Harrier. Once I'd sorted out the trim of my aircraft, frankly, it was pretty straightforward with the T50.
In summary:
- Grip is very good, but if you already have a Warthog, maybe try using that stick
- The base is awesome. It's a small black box, but clearly is beautifully engineering
Is it worth the money? If flying is what floats your boat, then most definitely.
I've been flying for a few years ago. Mostly DCS, some ED, tried IL2 and even Xplane-11.
Whilst getting in the genre, I looked at HOTAS options. Discounted Saitek gear on reliability grounds. The Warthog was considered the best, but for me there were too many horror stories about bricked throttles and "stiction" on the plastic gimball.
So I ended up going with a CH Fighterstick, Throttle and Pedals. Probably the least appealing visually, only 8 bit, but supposedly extremely reliable and with plenty of buttons.
Changed my pedals to a set of MFGs last year, and have finally bagged myself a Virpil T50 with grip. It arrived yesterday.
The base on the T50 is taller than most and has a smaller cross section. They also recommend using the mount that's attached to the front of the base. So the first job was to find how best to mount it. After some head scratching, found what seemed a good method and it's now bolted to the side of my chair (Ikea Poang).
The stick is interchangeable with a Warthog grip, so in theory, you could use either on the same base. Nice option for Warthog users who might be having problems with their base. Once the grip is attached to the base, there's an option (controlled by a grub screw) to rotate a stick a little in either direction to find the optimum comfort position.
It does come with it's own calibration software, which is apparently recommended over using Windows. For all that, I plugged it in, tested it with the Virpil calibration and nothing appeared to be needed. So just fired up DCS and got to work re-binding controls for some of my aircraft. I experienced no issues with any of the axis or buttons not doing what you'd expect.
The grip has slightly more buttons than the Fighterstick and I'm guessing a similar level to the Warthog.
Plastic feels high grade and durable and the ergonomics of the design must be pretty good as everything instantly felt in the "right" place. Button clicks are good and positive. It includes an adjustable wrist wrest. The only real difference to what I'm used to is the addition of an analogue lever, which I've found works very nicely with the wheel brake in a Spitfire.
On reflection, the grip doesn't really seem to move the game on. Rather it matches what's currently available. Don't get me wrong, it's very good, just nothing really ground breaking.
The base/gimball however, just wow.
Out of the box, I found the springs rather firm, but then I'm coming from a fighterstick, with it's notoriously light controls. The unit came with a couple of other "cams", and different grades of springs, such that you can change the feel. Initially I'm going to see how I get on, as changing them is not a 2 min job. If you're interested, there's some online video guides which will give you an indication of the time required.
In the meantime, I used the built in "adjusters". In short, grab yourself a small flat head screwdriver, and there's a couple of holes in the top of the unit, that allow you access to change the spring firmness VERY easily. Very nice touch.
The real biggy however is the all metal gimball. On my Fighterstick, it's quite obvious where the 2 axes of their plastic gimball are. In feel, the T50 is like use the ball head of a high quality camera tripod, when comparing to the older hinged type. It's pretty much seamless in the transition from say left/right to up/down.
To get a better understanding of the precision, I flew my Huey, Spitfire, Viggen, Harrier and Su33. That included take off in the Spit, hovering in the Huey, carrier landing in the Su33 and re-fueling and VSTOL landing in the harrier. Whilst the physical deflection of the stick is smaller than when compared to the Fighterstick, and I'm clearly not used to the T50, it was definitely easier to be more precise. Probably the most difficult activity I mentioned was re-fueling in the Harrier. Once I'd sorted out the trim of my aircraft, frankly, it was pretty straightforward with the T50.
In summary:
- Grip is very good, but if you already have a Warthog, maybe try using that stick
- The base is awesome. It's a small black box, but clearly is beautifully engineering
Is it worth the money? If flying is what floats your boat, then most definitely.
