I am curious what types of hardware people wish existed.
 

I personally am not a replica guy. I like to fly all the different aircraft.  Having an eclectic mix of cockpit pieces scattered on  my desk confuses me and while the mouse isn’t ideal being in the 3D cockpit and interacting with the switches and layout is more immersive. Plus I fly a lot in VR. However, some interactions are exhausting with the mouse. G1000 comes to mind. The rotating of AP knobs on the fly as well. 
 

I want a thoughtful versatile and simple autopilot or switch box that has the desktop and VR in mind. No one has push pull if I fly an airbus, which I could also use in VR bc one quick knob gives me an encoder and two buttons. No one has dual rotary encoders. And certainly no one combines any of this into anything intuitive that fits nicely on my desk. There are switch boxes but they will lack most of the important things. Rotary with push, compact design, dual rotary encoder, the right amount of buttons etc. 

Anyway, I know there are options out there to mix and match. I know building one is an option. And I know most people want a FFB yoke under $300.  But curious if there is anything else people feel is lacking in the hardware department. Especially for those that don’t fly one plane. 
 

Lastly, I wish hardware existed that wasn’t so ugly. 

There are dual rotary encoders in certain pieces of hardware. Realsimgear makes Garmin replicas and autopilot panels with the dual rotaries including push. From everything I've seen, they're making really good equipment, but be willing to watch your wallet bleed if you go with their stuff 😄

BTW, they do make a G1000 - both the single and the dual panel version:

 

 

If you fiddle with its position enough, you can get it to match where it appears in the virtual cockpit. Of course the downside is that as soon as you switch to another G1000 plane, you have to move the physical panel again. And the other downside is that you're paying a bunch of money for the full suite including screens when all you really need are the buttons in VR. 

 

A stick the right length to be able to use it sitting down rather than on my desk. I know I can get an adapter for my Hotas but they all look a bit home made. 

The TM Warthog extension looks pretty good, but you're also paying $150 for what is essentially a rod. 😉

 

1 hour ago, TravelRunner404 said:

I personally am not a replica guy. I like to fly all the different aircraft.  Having an eclectic mix of cockpit pieces scattered on  my desk confuses me and while the mouse isn’t ideal being in the 3D cockpit and interacting with the switches and layout is more immersive. Plus I fly a lot in VR. However, some interactions are exhausting with the mouse. G1000 comes to mind. The rotating of AP knobs on the fly as well. 

Me too. I fly lots of different aircraft so a custombuilt cockpit doesn't cover my type of flying. Controllers don't need to look like the real thing but they must be sturdy and be versatile.
That said, being able to start an GA engine with a real ignition switch is kinda nice.

If the Streamdeck plus had DUAL rotary encoders, and more of them and more buttons too it would be great for 2D flying.,
I haven't flown in VR yet but it would be nice if we would not need a mouse or controllers and could just use our fingers to operate knobs and switches. Perhaps a glove to give us some haptic feedback would be nice.
 

A computer capable of of running smoothly with all settings on ultra. 

An airbus style stick and throttle quadrant in the $100 US (ea) range.  Current choices are:

• Thrustmaster TCM - stick may be OK, throttle awful size, throw, indexing and weight make this a no go
• Honeycomb Bravo - no stick, throttle is oversized, third party mods needed, price range pushes $300 US
• Throttetek (and similar) - these units are for full home cockpits and easlily exceed $600 US, so .... no

Ultimately for me, an upgraded TCM stick/throttle setup for around $300 US or less (yes, plastic is no problem)

A reasonably-accurate tiller that doesn't cost $350.

More general usable input devices for all types of aircraft:

 

10 hours ago, Mike S KPDX said:

An airbus style stick and throttle quadrant in the $100 US (ea) range. 

You’re not going to get much quality for that. Saitek / Logitech standard with pots that fail and impossible for the average user to replace.

Consider the Fulcrum TQ. Due in a few months and very high quality. Good USD/GBP exchange rate too. 😉

Something that would push my desk and my computer at 280kts through the air 

On 1/25/2023 at 8:49 AM, TravelRunner404 said:

I am curious what types of hardware people wish existed.

A keyboard with integrated knobs + MSFS support for rotating Knobs. For me this is probably the most frustrating issue with any sim at the moment. Even today assigning a knob or slider to for example the heading bug or lights is a monumental task, hardware and software wise.

4 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

You’re not going to get much quality for that. Saitek / Logitech standard with pots that fail and impossible for the average user to replace.

Consider the Fulcrum TQ. Due in a few months and very high quality. Good USD/GBP exchange rate too. 😉

Thanks Ray, would be interesting but the key for me is Airbus style (appropriate or a least adjustable detents).

8 minutes ago, Mike S KPDX said:

Thanks Ray, would be interesting but the key for me is Airbus style (appropriate or a least adjustable detents).

Mike, I don’t fly Airbus but you can chat to the main man at Fulcrum here. 

I know the Honeycomb throttle quadrant has a bunch of 3d printed detents available, including for making Airbus throttle detents. I've got one of the flap detent mods and it works really well. Might even be able to find the files to print them yourself.