BARGAIN Warehouse Clearance at PCAviator

[cmpbellsjc 2,960]

Just got an email from PCA about the clearance on boxed software and hardware 25 - 50% off until items are sold out. 

Some good deals on people looked for boxed PMDG MD-11 and other items.

I wasn't going to buy anything until I got to page 4 and saw the Thrustmaster Hotas Warthog was marked down from $499 to $349. My Saitek X52 is going down the tubes so I pressed buy now and got the last one and is now gone from the site, but there is still other hardware on sale.

[GHarrall 494]

Too bad they upped the shipping costs from normal to get back some of the % discount

[cmpbellsjc 2,960]

51 minutes ago, GHarrall said:

Too bad they upped the shipping costs from normal to get back some of the % discount

I thought it was reasonably priced. I paid $19.95 for 1-3 day delivery, which for a package that weights around 6 to 10 pounds seems pretty reasonable to me.

Since I essentially got $150 off of the regular price, $20 to get it in 3 days was a no brainer for me.

[rooitou 119]

Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog shipping weight is 21lbs. On its own about 14lbs. (I had one, but reverted to my CH Products Fighterstick, Pro Rudder and Pro Pedal combination). That shipping rate is VERY low, given the weight of that beast.

[honanhal 1,420]

Bit OT, but for those of you using the Warthog HOTAS (or even just the stick): where do you put it? I've been tempted to splurge on one for years, but I've been worried it wouldn't really work ergonomically to have it on my desk, which is fairly high. Right now I'm using a CH Combatstick that I typically hold on my lap. Guessing that's less feasible for the Warthog. :)

James

[rooitou 119]

2 hours ago, honanhal said:

Bit OT, but for those of you using the Warthog HOTAS (or even just the stick): where do you put it? I've been tempted to splurge on one for years, but I've been worried it wouldn't really work ergonomically to have it on my desk, which is fairly high. Right now I'm using a CH Combatstick that I typically hold on my lap. Guessing that's less feasible for the Warthog. :)

That was exactly my problem with the Warthog HOTAS. It is a wonderful piece of engineering, but big and heavy. I typically have my joystick and throttle on the desk each side of the keyboard, attached with sticky putty on the undersides (we call it Prestik over here in South Africa). But the Warthog joystick is so tall and the range of movement so large that it obscured the view and knocked against my ultra-wide monitor. I've never tried putting it on my lap or mounting it on the side of a chair, because I like the firmness and position of the desk mounting.

The Warthog setup is made of steel, which makes it very strong, but also cold to the touch. In the middle of our South African winters, I sometimes wore RAF flying gloves to protect against that. The Warthog Throttle has a magnificent array of buttons and switches, and they all work fantastic, but they click with quite a loud audible sound and I found that if I was flying late at night, those clicks disturbed the family.

So, I went back to my CH Products setup, which have just the right dimensions for my desk, the plastic handles are warm to the touch, it has as many buttons and hats as the Warthog and they click softly. Please note that all the things I mention are very personal and have nothing to do with the quality of the Warthog. It is an exceptional product and I've had a good time with it. I do combat sims like DCS World, IL-2, Rise of Flight and civilian sims like FSX, P3D and X-Plane. I generally fly smaller, one-engine aircraft and helicopters and therefore hardly ever need the dual-throttle functionality of the Warthog, which is actually very nice. In the end, I just found the versatility of the CH Product Fighterstick, Pro Throttle and Pro Rudder to work better across the range of flight-sims that I use.

[cmpbellsjc 2,960]

5 hours ago, rooitou said:

Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog shipping weight is 21lbs. On its own about 14lbs. (I had one, but reverted to my CH Products Fighterstick, Pro Rudder and Pro Pedal combination). That shipping rate is VERY low, given the weight of that beast.

I knew it was heavy but didn't realize the shipping pack was that heavy. For that weight I can say anything about $20 for 3 day delivery, lol.

Quick question since you had this. Is it plug and play so that I can just configure via FSUIPC or do I need to install the software from their site? I read from some that it's just plug and play and only need to install the software if your not using FSUIPC.

[thammond 0]

4 hours ago, honanhal said:

Bit OT, but for those of you using the Warthog HOTAS (or even just the stick): where do you put it? I've been tempted to splurge on one for years, but I've been worried it wouldn't really work ergonomically to have it on my desk, which is fairly high. Right now I'm using a CH Combatstick that I typically hold on my lap. Guessing that's less feasible for the Warthog. :)

James

Yes I have similar issue with mine (just sitting on the desktop for now).  Just recently got back into flight siming and still getting FSX all configured before I start working on what to do with Warthog.  I did some searching on it and have seen anything from on top of desk, to mounting on brackets attached to the desk, to mounting on chair, to mounting on various types of stands (leaning to some type of stands for mine).  Try doing some internet searches to get ideas.

[HighBypass 2,339]

Darn - boxed PMDG MD-11 for FS9 not FSX:SE  ah well ...

[regis9 4,014]

8 hours ago, honanhal said:

Bit OT, but for those of you using the Warthog HOTAS (or even just the stick): where do you put it?

I put it on my desk.  I've read that some people find it hard on the hand/wrist because it's so tall, I haven't had any issues with it.

Probably the best thing I've bought for flight sim, well worth it.  The difference between controlling your aircraft with this vs a cheap stick/yoke is night and day...better than I even thought possible before I bought it.

BTW, the Goflight MCP PRO at 40% off is a ridiculously good deal.  Second best thing I've bought for flightsim :)

[rooitou 119]

10 hours ago, cmpbellsjc said:

Quick question since you had this. Is it plug and play so that I can just configure via FSUIPC or do I need to install the software from their site? I read from some that it's just plug and play and only need to install the software if your not using FSUIPC

I used the Warthog mainly for DCS World and it is definitely plug and play for that, almost perfectly set up for the A-10 out of the box. Despite that, I still reconfigured some of the functions to my personal taste. As far as FSX/P3D is concerned, I didn't have P3D back then and I also didn't have FSUIPC for FSX. But it was plug and play in terms of the axis and buttons automatically being assigned by FSX and you can certainly just plug it in and go, without having to load the Thrustmaster software. In fact I very seldom used the Thrustmaster software, think they call it TARGET or something, found it too complicated and always just went into FSX own controller setup menu to change button or axis assignments, if I didn't like where FSX automatically assigned it.

[cmpbellsjc 2,960]

On 7/21/2017 at 1:24 AM, rooitou said:

As far as FSX/P3D is concerned, I didn't have P3D back then and I also didn't have FSUIPC for FSX. But it was plug and play in terms of the axis and buttons automatically being assigned by FSX and you can certainly just plug it in and go, without having to load the Thrustmaster software. In fact I very seldom used the Thrustmaster software, think they call it TARGET or something, found it too complicated and always just went into FSX own controller setup menu to change button or axis assignments, if I didn't like where FSX automatically assigned it.

Thanks for the clarification. I was hoping I wouldn't need to install the Target software. Since I'm only on FSX at this time, it's pretty simple for me to just plug it in then assign the buttons I need in FSUIPC. Looking at the package I got with the throttle and stick, it looks like it has ample buttons and switches to assign to most anything I'd need when flying my PMDG birds. 

I had been using the Saitek X-52 since around 200@ but over time certain buttons quit working and over time I got to where I was down to about 6 operational buttons left to work with.

I had wanted the Thurst Master Warthog for a while due to the sturdy metal construction, but just didn't want to pay $499 plus tax and shipping. Funny thing was I had just laid down to take a nap Wednesday after work when I got an email notification on my phone. I opened it up and then went to PCA and scrolled through the list of items in close out. When I got near the last page and saw the Warthog stick for $350 I immediately added to the cart and apparently got the last one as it completely disappeared from their inventory page after I got it. Just happened to be at the right place at the right time.

[Rocky_53 1,579]

On 20/07/2017 at 0:32 AM, cmpbellsjc said:

Just got an email from PCA about the clearance on boxed software and hardware 25 - 50% off until items are sold out. 

Some good deals on people looked for boxed PMDG MD-11 and other items.

I wasn't going to buy anything until I got to page 4 and saw the Thrustmaster Hotas Warthog was marked down from $499 to $349. My Saitek X52 is going down the tubes so I pressed buy now and got the last one and is now gone from the site, but there is still other hardware on sale.

Don't think twice about getting the Warty. It is a stunning piece of hardware. I promise you will never regret it

[Aharon 606]

If a resident of America decided to order three airport scenery CDs or DVDs for shipping to any American destinaiton (not Alaska or PR or Hawaii), how much will the shipping charge be?

Thanks,

Aharon

[cmpbellsjc 2,960]

On 7/23/2017 at 3:49 AM, Rockliffe said:

Don't think twice about getting the Warty. It is a stunning piece of hardware. I promise you will never regret it

It's getting delivered tomorrow so I am excited to check it out. Unfortunately my place flooded almost 4 weeks ago and have been without simming for that amount of time. All the reconstruction has been finished and should be getting the sim computer hooked back up this week along with the new controls :-)