Been wanting a stick lately that's at least in the ballpark of the quality of my Fulcrum One yoke. Yeah, there's Virpil/etc but never really got excited enough about them to pull the trigger. Then I stumbled across the Winwing Orion 2, which from all appearances is a pretty slick bit of kit. Reviews seem to be quite positive, but then you can't trust online reviews anymore.  Anyone here messed with any of this company's hardware? $500-ish for the stick and dual throttle seems quite reasonable if the quality is as good as it appears to be.

 

I have the Orion2 HOTAS stick and throttle.  I would be cautious - my experience is I like the units, BUT, after a few months one button on one throttle grip stopped working.  Their first and immediate response was that I was outside the warranty period, despite me giving them all the information about my purchase and being well within the warranty. 

After some persistence and back and forth they agreed to send me a new button and the cable connecting the handle to the base.  But they expected me to "weld" the parts back on (they meant solder).  The parts did not require soldering, but I had to disassemble the handle and the base.  Neither of those worked, so I can only assume it is related to the circuit board in the base.  No help, no instructions, no follow up.  I gave up not wanting to tear the base apart further and risk making it worse.

Edited January 12, 20242 yr by Joe L

3 hours ago, eslader said:

Then I stumbled across the Winwing Orion 2,

Best you pick yourself up and keep walking 🤥

8 hours ago, Joe L said:

I have the Orion2 HOTAS stick and throttle.  I would be cautious - my experience is I like the units, BUT, after a few months one button on one throttle grip stopped working.  Their first and immediate response was that I was outside the warranty period, despite me giving them all the information about my purchase and being well within the warranty. 

After some persistence and back and forth they agreed to send me a new button and the cable connecting the handle to the base.  But they expected me to "weld" the parts back on (they meant solder).  The parts did not require soldering, but I had to disassemble the handle and the base.  Neither of those worked, so I can only assume it is related to the circuit board in the base.  No help, no instructions, no follow up.  I gave up not wanting to tear the base apart further and risk making it worse.

Wow - that's a company to avoid at all costs then.... 

 

G

@eslader I'm very happy with my Virpil CM3 throttle. VIrpil makes good quality kit and are worth taking another look at. 

But if you still can't get excited about Virpil gear, you could take a look at the gear available from VKB (like the NXT Gladiator line in the mid-range or the Gunfighter line if you're after higher end). Good quality sticks at somewhat reasonable prices (slightly cheaper than Virpil).

I've got a Gladiator NXT and it's a great piece of kit. I've not had any issues with it in the two years I've owned it so I can't really offer any comments about VKB's customer support.

Yup, Virpil and VKB user here and definitely great gear. If you are planning on using the stick on a desk without mounts then I would point you towards the VKB options as the Virpil equivalents sit a bit higher and are probably better suited to being mounted.

13 hours ago, Joe L said:

I have the Orion2 HOTAS stick and throttle.  I would be cautious - my experience is I like the units, BUT, after a few months one button on one throttle grip stopped working.  Their first and immediate response was that I was outside the warranty period, despite me giving them all the information about my purchase and being well within the warranty. 

After some persistence and back and forth they agreed to send me a new button and the cable connecting the handle to the base.  But they expected me to "weld" the parts back on (they meant solder).  The parts did not require soldering, but I had to disassemble the handle and the base.  Neither of those worked, so I can only assume it is related to the circuit board in the base.  No help, no instructions, no follow up.  I gave up not wanting to tear the base apart further and risk making it worse.

Hmm, that's the kind of short sighted, arrogant response which stuffs businesses. I can't stand that kind of attitude. Thanks for posting your experience Joe, it can possibly save others from dealing with this shower.

Edited January 12, 20242 yr by Rocky_53

5 hours ago, Gazzareth said:

Wow - that's a company to avoid at all costs then.... 

 

G

From a single post on Avsim?

I have used the their Orion 2 stick and throttle without any issues whatsoever.  Smooth and accurate kit, been a pleasure to use.

Another happy VKB Gladiator user here. Granted, it's mostly plastic apart from the metal base plate, but it's not flimsy. Has a solid feel to it and has held up well in the 2.5 years I've owned it. As I haven't had any issues, I also can't comment on customer support.

 

Note that they've recently brought out a HOTAS throttle unit called STECS that looks like it would complement the Gladiator well. In fact, I just ordered one yesterday - should be able to give some first impressions soon. 

I own 2 sets of orion2 with F18 throttle and F16 hotas. Plus the takeoff panel and weapons panel. Pluus the full F-18 MIP and now i've just received the F-16 ICP.

Everything is working fine with no problems with sticks or buttons. And the hotas sets or sticks are cheaper than others i have owned, like thrusmaster Warthog set...

May be i'm a lucky guy...

1 hour ago, MrBitstFlyer said:

From a single post on Avsim?

I have used the their Orion 2 stick and throttle without any issues whatsoever.  Smooth and accurate kit, been a pleasure to use.

But u haven't face with their support in case of failure, Joe L did...

16 minutes ago, Beardyman said:

But u haven't face with their support in case of failure, Joe L did...

Name one hardware manufacturer that has zero problems with its products.  After one post on avsim I wouldn't run screaming from a company 🙂

19 minutes ago, Beardyman said:

But u haven't face with their support in case of failure, Joe L did...

Beat me to it, if that's their idea of customer support it's absolutely shocking..

 

G

They make a good product. Better than most, but not quite on par with Virpil and VKB. (in my opinion.)

I doubt you would get a better response from any of them. That is the way companies operate today. its very frustrating.

You almost have to hope and pray before buying anything these days.

We hear your story way to often these days. Sad.

Ron

 

 

 

 

I've owned the Orion 2 Max for a little over a year- maybe 500 hours of stick time? It's worked flawlessly. I've heard that the fingerlifts on the throttles are fragile so I've been gentle with them. No dealings with support other than a request for a document which should have been on their site, but wasn't. It was promptly corrected.