Hi all,

 

I've been considering getting a HOTAS Warthog control for quite some time now.  However, this is not a cheap piece of kit, and it's not someone that's readily available in stores to try it out.  Therefore I have doubts and uncertainties that I hope to ask here.

 

For the HOTAS users here who are more civilian flight sim focused, how do you find the piece suit your needs as a commercial simmer?

 

Some may ask why I don't use other stuff or aim to get other stuff?  I currently have the Cyborg F.L.Y. 5 which I'm not very happy with.  Mainly because the stick centering (caused by the centering spring) is too obvious, and the axes movement is not very smooth.  Plus the entire feel of the joystick is not very sturdy.  I bought it because it was on sale at the time my last stick broke, and thought it has lots of buttons and it looked cool.

 

Now I am looking at TM HOTAS because I am hoping to learn the A10 on DCS, but I also don't want to get something like a yoke that needs to be mounted on a desk everytime I want to use it (my desktop is used for everything, not just FS).

 

Being a civil sim focused person, I would like to see what HOTAS users feel about the usability of this piece in general; what are some of the negatives you feel or complaints you have for it?

 

Thanks in advance

Hi,

I bought a Warthog HOTAS for more or less the same reasons as you last week, so my experience with it is not that extensive yet.

 

I would say that it works perfectly for General Aviation. I haven't had to add any dead zone to any of the axes, they are just rock steady. Some of the buttons require quite a bit of force to press, there is nothing flimsy about this stick

I thought that the springyness of the stick was great for GA where you keep the plane trimmed most of the time, and then leave the stick centered.

 

I bought the DCS Huey last week as well, and have been crashing a lot this weekend I must say that flying that thing isn't easy

One thing I learned is that you just keep your hand on the stick and rudder all the time, and rarely have them centered. I guess that's what one have to learn when  flying an unstable aircraft.

After doing this for half an hour, I was very tired and I concluded that the centering force of the stick was too high.

Fortunately its pretty easy to remove the big spring from the stick, and only depend on the 4 smaller springs in it. I did that yesterday. (there is a Youtube movie describing the process)

 

Without the spring it is now much easier on my arm to "fly" the Huey, I can even kinda hover now, although landing is past my ability. The precision of the stick is still fantastic.

 

I also tried flying a Cessna with the big spring removed, and that also worked great.

I think I will have to find a bit more stiff small springs as it may be a bit too loose now, but it still works fine.

 

Again, all this is only based on a weekend of flying, 

 

Helge

Thanks for your reply, it's exactly what I'm looking for!  And given you bought it for similar reasons as me surely puts us in the same boat!

 

One major thing that I care about more than I would ever thought is exactly the stick centering tension!  The FLY 5 had only one big spring, which I wasn't exactly a fan of (actually I hated it), it made it feel too fake.  I saw the HOTAS and thought exactly that as well, I can see the big spring, was quite concerned that it's going to be the same.

 

I've played around with it very briefly (without looking for anything in particular) at an airshow one day, and can feel the stirdiness of the kit.

 

Regarding rudder control, I currently have a very old (but fully functional) CH rudders.  Do you think that would do or should I sell (or trade) it and get a saitek?

The Warthog also has a big central string (Try search for "TM HOTAS Warthog mod" on youtube to see how to remove it).

I didn't think that it detracted from my flying experience, at least not until I had to hold the stick off center for a prolonged time while crashing with the Huey. However, I think it works better with the spring removed. As you can see on the video, there are 4 other springs in the box, and that is all that holds the stick now.

I will try to find 4 springs that are a little more stiff though.

 

Regarding your pedals: I wouldn't switch until it is clear that they aren't good enough. 

 

Helge

Had another talk with an experienced simmer.  I was tossing up between an x52 pro to the TMWH, and he recommended to only go with the WH, don't bother with the x52 pro.  I also asked him how would he put a quality/price, he said TMWH by far...  As in we get what we pay for for TMWH, and we pay more for what we get for in x52 pro.  Though if I am really strapped for money and won't save up enough to get the WH, then x52 pro will do.

 

I had a watch of that mod (thanks Helge), looks simple enough.  But what about removing the little springs rather than the big one, it will loosen the tension a little, should be noticible enough right?

 

If you don't use rudder pedals in civ sims (I really don't like them :S), that will be a problem?  Or could there be some work around?

There's something about the feel of the heavy metal stick that makes flying airliners so much more realistic. You know you're dealing with serious hardware when you lift the thing up. And it's not just heavy. It's machined to precise standards and feels crisp and finely tuned. It senses the most nuanced inputs but, at the same time, isn't oversensitive. Like someone said above, I have never had to calibrate it or add deadzones--although I did change the aileron axis curvature in DCS.

 

Speaking of DCS. Get it. There's a steep learning curve, but It's a blast.

I'm feeling the curve right now...  Don't even know where to start....  I tried many video or text resources, one thing in common among them is; their use of language I am very not accustomed to which makes it very difficult.

 

When I saw the video on spring modding, I can hear the precision and seriousness of the piece through simply just the sound.  I understand what that piece is, but don't understand its implications when I use it.

 

Surely hearing your descriptions, I'm pretty amped to get my hands on one, and pretty sure I won't be disappointed!

If you look closely at the video, you will see that the four springs were moved up from below the mechanism in the stick. I am not sure what they were doing below originally, but I don't think they added much to the tension where they were. In other words, I do not think that just removing those 4 would help much.

 

Rudder pedals are, in my opinion, optional on civ sims unless it is for acrobatics . Helicopters are another matter entirely. You WILL need rudder pedals for that, at least if you fly a realistic model as the DCS Huey.

 

Oh, I landed it yesterday! Not elegantly, since the 'copter stood on its nose for a sec before settling in an upright position, but I survived  I am learning, but slowly, it is great fun.

 

Helge

Hey Brendan, check out a short video overview I made of the Hog, you may find it helpful...

 

http://youtu.be/P-4SKr41mLM

I have seen that, great video Howard!!  With stuff like that I see gives me an extra pump towards getting the piece.  It looks like I'll go pick a set up tomorrow arvo!!  What price would you say it would be good for that? $500s? $450s?

I have seen that, great video Howard!!  With stuff like that I see gives me an extra pump towards getting the piece.  It looks like I'll go pick a set up tomorrow arvo!!  What price would you say it would be good for that? $500s? $450s?

 

Hi Brendan, glad you like the vid. Sure, you can pick up a Hog in the UK for about £300, so more or less what you were suggesting.