Saitek Aviator joystick, a good alternative.....

I was fed up with my Saitek Throttle spikes. Despite all the good suggestions about cleaning the pots, I never could rely on a smooth thottle axis. I am an electronics guy. I used the best of contact cleaners, took thepots apart and cleaned the actual carbon disk. All too temporary fixes! Eventually, one bad axis would affect the other two. I decided to look closely at the Aviator AV8R I had in my unused joystick pile. With this stick, I saw everything I need: throttle axis and many, many programmable buttons as well as variable pots, including a "twist" rudder pot.

Unfortunately, the joystick itself interfered with easy access to the throttles and gets in the way of placing it under the desk, next to the yoke. So I removed the stick and now I have a flat unit attached next to the Yoke. Not only do I have separate smooth throttle axis, but I also have many programmable buttons, all within easy reach.

Removing the stick is not difficult. Once you've opened the bottom, it's a matter of removing the screws and disconnecting the wire plugs from the main board.

Once you've removed the stick, be sure to reconnect all the wires( they have snap in plugs), including those found on the stick, or else the stick will not be recognized.

Now I am ready to slowly build my own controls. I have plenty of pots, espcially the one that's spring loaded that controls the "twist" rudder, that can be fitted into a new rudder design.

For $30 on Ebay, this stick is a great piece to experiment with: it's compatible with the yoke and has plenty of ready wired pots for building your own controls.

Saitek had a great idea with the Throttle unit, but until they resolve the poor quality of the pots, I am not ready to purchase another set. I'll stick with my modified AVR8 units.

tc