I'm thinking about getting a force feedback joystick. Was wondering if anyone could give me some tips. To be honest, I will only use it for a few different sims. FS2k2, Xtreme Air Racing, X-Plane and Fly!II. And then, only when I'm in stick and rudder planes or helicopters. (I already have a yoke/pedals/throttle set up, albeit gameport) I'm interested in USB connection. I Ebayed for some options and see that Logitech, MS and something called a Cyborg all make forcefeedback sticks. The Logitech is only $20 which, if it would work with WinXP, seems like a pretty good deal. Of course, the MS models look pretty good too.Any advice or tips?Thanks

I do not recommend buying a FFB joystick unless you are going to fly helicopters. The bumps, forces, etc. are not representative of the real aircraft by any means.The reason to buy a FFB for helicopter flying is to have a non-centering stick (i.e., one with a big spring centering the joystick). When flying helicopters, you actually turn OFF the FFB but you must hold onto the joystick since it will flop over. With a self-centering joystick, you are always pressing against the pressure which becomes fatiguing in the short term.

The MSFFB2 stick is great. I wouldn't fly without a good FFB stick. Makes all the difference IMHO. Personally, I throw the sim away but for the great feedback from the MS stick. Adds the "as real as it gets" feeling. Xplane doesn't support FFB but it'll work well with no forces with the MS stick. FS2k2 helicopters are totally worseless with the MSFFB stick. No forces whatsoever and no centering whatsoever. Just a floppy stick with no feel to it and hardly any control at all. Don't know anything about FlyII.

It's always interesting to see the different opinions on FF joysticks.I bought one to see if I could add FF to a yoke to make it more realistic in FS2K2.When I tried the joystick itself on FS, I was disappointed because as I flew, the stick would suddenly slam to one side and back... something which doesn't happen in real life, at least not with that kind of force. I know I should look for a FF setting in FS, but I was hoping it'd be more realistic out of the box. Or is this a bug?Ummm... the main thing I want is to be able to dial in elevator trim and have the stick pressure ease off. And also perhaps have some feedback (and lack of it when established) on turns. Is there a way to disable at least some individual FF actions, such as wind gusts unrealistically tearing the stick away? Thanks!Kev

The aircraft cfg file should have a FFB section. That section controls the ground handling. I noticed some of MS' default aircraft FFB sections weren't done right. You just need to grab a good one from a third party download and add it to the aircraft cfg file. Ground bumps, knowing when the elevator needs trim by increasing forces on the stick, moving the ailerons and feeling the forces when doing so, actually feeling the aircraft lift off the runway, feeling turbulance through the stick when in flight, etc., etc., etc., makes for a much more realism IMHO. I once used a non-ffb stick. Didn't like it at all. IL2 with FFB is simply awsome. Same with EAW, Freespace2, etc.

You can test this and see if it works ok.Regards,Pedrohttp://www.simviation.com/fsutilities_gen2.htm