First, note that I do have a CH Yoke. Many flight simmers seem to think that a yoke is the only realistic type of controller for flightsims. This is not the case. The Yoke is of course incredible for aircraft that feature a yoke in real life - anything from the C172 to the 747. However, many airplanes feature a stick in real life, so, a joystick is more realistic to use for these aircraft.I brought this up in the DA20 thread but I thought I'd start a new thread to get some more input.I'm using a Logitech Strike Force 3D stick. The range of the movement radius is very small, which makes the stick ridiculously sensitive. Just shifting the grip on the stick is enough to send the airplane into a 500 fpm climb or dive. I have to strain my wrist and hand to keep the stick 100% steady which causes great pain after 15-20 minutes. If I just increase the forward preassure (no detectable motion of the stick), the airspeed indicator hits the yellow range and the plane starts descending. It's virtually impossible to fly straight and level this way.So, I tried reducing the sensitivity. This made things somewhat better. I can now fly straight and level, though I still find myself straining my arm and hand to keep the stick steady.However, this created another problem. With the sensitivity turned down, there is not enough elevator left to flare properly when landing. I find myself approaching the runway with the trim set fully nose-up. Even with the trim setting to the full nose-up position, and with full back-preassure, should I come in just a little bit slow, I make heavy and bouncy nose-down landings (as opposed to my normal, heavy and bouncy nose-up landings with the CH Yoke :-lol ).I think the reason I strain my hand and arm is because of the unnatural and weak force from the force feedback engines. A proper spring-centered stick would probably feel more comfortable. Also, the ideal stick would have to be ambidextrous. Some aircraft have you hold the stick with your left hand, throttle with the right, and in some aircraft it's the other way around.Either I need to find a way to make flying with the Logitech stick more comfortable, or I need a new stick. One with:-Large movement radius-Properly spring-centered-Ambidextrous if possible (not essential)-GA-style if available. Flying a Cub with an F16 jet fighter stick just feels "wrong" :-lolAny advice? Suggestions for a new joystick or some tweaks I can do to make the current joystick better? Would the FS Force program make the Logitech stick more comfortable by providing more natural resistance when moving the stick?

Hi,Not sure this will work. However I had some similar problems and found that if you have any other joysticks or game pads installed other then the one you are using in FS9 I ended up with control problems until I disabled the other gear either in the XP control panel or the Device Manager. No problems now.Anyway, just one idea.Capt.Mac

I had similar issues with my CH Yoke. I ended up going to the Saitek X45 stick and throttle for everything (CH pro pedals for rudder). As you said, it isn't realistic to fly a Cessna with a joystick, but overall it gives me the best feel and response. I like it because it is firm enough to give me good control, yet smooth enough to control without my arm getting tired. It is a little strange doing patterns in a 152 with a side stick though. For me, I started simming as a fighter jock originally, so the sidestick configuration is most comfortable for me even though it is not very realistic. Someday I might save up some money and get one of those high quality yokes. Until then, the X45 gives me the best bang for my buck. But try them out for yourself. Try to find a computer shop which has demo models. Joysticks are such a personal preference kind of thing. Forgot to add that Saitek has some new sticks out which are very nice, if you don't need a throttle. I believe they have a nice new stick for around $30 US.

You have a really simple answer to that question. Saitek cyborg force stick. Ambidextrous. The longest stick travel of the Saitek/MS/Logitech league and the strongest force feedback available. And it looks more like something Spock in Star Trek would use than a F-16 pilot ;)I use it and love it. Fly better with that than with my CH YOKE really.

Yet another opinion for you ....I use CH yoke and pedals in tandem with a Logitech Wingman Extreme 3D, with which I use pedals when flying with that, of course. I use it a lot, as you do, for everything that should be flown with one. I have disabled those commands that caused any conflict and all is well, and has been for a couple of years.But I did make one mistake. I liked the Logi stick so much I went out and bought the FF equivalent, expecting great things. Well, it shook occasionally, yes, and made nasty grinding noises as it was supposed to, but it was as useful to fly with as a diarrhetic elephant. Compared to the standard stick, it was like stirring custard with a feather. Useless. I spent a day trying to get it to work nicely and then abandoned it.And went back to my standard Logitech stick. With a decent sound system, I get all the FF I need, thanks, and have a precise instrument once again. So that's my recommendation; dump the toy and get the real McCoy. What's more, it's a lot cheaper!Mark "Dark Moment" Beaumonthttp://www.swiremariners.com/newlogo.jpg

How does the Saitek Cyborg Stick EVO compare to the Saitek Force stick?

Hi,I agree with Mark here... FF was useless for me, it was impossible to center the stick precisely and the travel was way too small. All in all, it felt like pudding. I returned it and bought the Saitek X45. Precise, large travel, lots of buttons to program... Never been happier! I thought of buying a yoke before, but for now I'll stick to the X45 stick. :)As a side note, I use CH analog pedals connected through an old CH Flight stick to the gameport and all is well.Regards,Jurehttp://www.reality-xp.com/community/nr/rsc/rxp-higher.jpg

Do you see your common misstake here? You all got the Wingman Force stick which everyone knows sucks. It also dies very quickly.You should have tried out either the MS FFB 2 or the Saitek Cyborg Force stick to see what force feedback really can do. And if you don

I was not able to find any store that had the Saitek joysticks (I live in a very small town...) so I bought the Logitech Extreme 3D Pro (most cheesy name ever invented for a joystick?). It was fairly cheap and I prefer to buy stuff at the local stores because it's easier to return it if you don't like it.If I don't like the stick I'll return it and order a Saitek stick online.I tried it at the store and the feel was completely different compared to my current Logitech FF stick. Much bigger range of travel, smooth spring centering with no play and it felt very comfortable. I will try it with FS2004 later today.

Jimmi, A thread about this is already running in the Aerosoft forums. You might want to post there also.http://forum.aerosoft-shop.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=790Allcott

Yes I noticed some problems with this particular plane. I hope one of the developers writes a proper reply to this.But the lack of precision with the Logitech FF stick exists with all planes.

Have you happened to try increasing the "null" zones so that you can release pressure on your hand from holding the stick center? The increased null zone may be a better option than decreasing the sensitivity so much. Don't know, but I may be worth a shot?regards