Hello,

       I looked through the threads in this section and didn't notice anything relating to joysticks on the first few pages and other forums didn't seem to have any either so I thought I'd ask here. If this is not the appropriate place I apologize and ask that someone send this to the right place.

       I am trying to make my virtual flying as realistic as possible, being a retired commercial airline pilot with a longtime interest in warbirds from WWII. I have been lucky enough to have flown a real SNJ for about 20 hours (too expensive to do so very often) and I thus know from experience that flying even a trainer from that era is much different than flying an identical virtual airplane even with a realistic flight model because of one important fact. A control stick in a real aircraft is about 3 feet or more long, and mounted on the cockpit floor, which means that you need to use your shoulder and arm muscles to move the control surfaces. Virtual aircraft are maneuvered with a joystick about a foot tall mounted on your desk more or less at shoulder height and manipulated with your wrist. I would like to know if anyone makes a realistic control column (correct length) that can be floor mounted for a more immersive experience. I would also be interested in a WWII era control wheel so I'm not flying my B-17 with a Cessna yoke. Can anybody help me with this? I thank everyone for your time and expertise.

                NavyAce

 

There is a forum dedicated to game controllers.  Click on the Forums tab at the top of the Avsim home page.  On that page scroll well down until you find this heading in a gray bar:

HARDWARE & OPERATING SYSTEMS DISCUSSIONS

Then in that section you will find a forum listed as:
Hardware Controllers | Joysticks | Drivers

 

 

 

Edited April 4, 20206 yr by fppilot

I've moved this thread to the correct forum.

There are a few higher-end sticks like the Thrustmaster Warthog and VKB Gunfighter that have available stick extenders.  There's an extended-length table mount made by Monstertech that you could use to mount the stick with the extender on it.  These would be more in the neighborhood of 18" long, but should be a good compromise solution.

Monstertech HOTAS table mount - long

These aren't going to be inexpensive options, however...probably north of $500 when all is said and done, but it's sturdy, quality hardware that should last a long time.