Volair Sim gets new center stick attachment

Review update by Ray Marshall. The award winning Volair Sim now comes standard with a hefty center stick attachment predrilled for the Saitek X52 Pro, the X-65 and the Thrustmaster Hotas Warthog.  When I reviewed the Volair Sim in July of 2013, the center stick attachment was in the final design phase but was not in production.  Starting a couple of months ago all new buyers receive the new center stick attach free to maintain the Volair sim philosophy of all accessories standard.  The legacy customers can buy this as a retrofit kit for $59.  Bart says they only have a very limited number left and once the inventory is exhausted there are no plans to make more for retro kits.

This is a very substantial addition to the Sim.  I was surprised to see that it weighs in at almost 20 pounds of heavy metal.  Installation is straightforward and takes less than an hour.  You do have to remove the seat to add the middle or third major brace when adding to an existing chassis.  As with the original design features, the center stick mount is fully adjustable both fore and aft and vertically.  You can watch a new assembly video to see how it integrates into the Volair Sim chassis.

This new addition adds so much more capability to the already outstanding flight sim cockpit chassis.  Flying the A2A P-51 Mustangs, P-40 Warhawk, F4U Corsair, Spitfire and all the other WWII models and the J-3 Cub are considerably more realistic with the center mounted stick.  The Realair Simulations Lancair Legacy or Scout package also takes on a special feel using the center mounted stick.  Now your barrel rolls will feel more technically correct. There are probably several of your favorites or soon to be favorite add-ons that use the center mounted flight stick in the real world version that you can replicate with your personal Volair Sim cockpit.

Those of us who have the wonderful Flight Replicas Super Cub package will delight in having a properly placed stick while flying the back country.  And yes, the Diamond DA-20 lovers will finally have a real stick when flying with the Volair Sim.  Even the really big heavy weights like the C-17 and B-1 bomber will benefit from the proper center stick arrangement.

I don’t fly helicopters very much but the center stick might also be a boost to those add-ons.  One that is really nice is firing up the Milviz F-15E Strike Eagle and using the center mounted flight stick.  Now that is really flying high or for the nostalgic try the Milviz F-86 Sabre.  Should one of your favorites be from pre-WWII you can fly the Messerschmitt Bf 108 in your Volair Sim with the center stick to match the real deal.

You can read the original Avsim review of the Volair Sim chassis.

I asked Bart Waclawik, President of Volair Sim based near Indianapolis, IL who was buying his outstanding chassis for building personal cockpits.  I was pleased to hear that it is very popular with educational institutions.  Several middle and high schools have purchased multiple units for aviation related classes.  Another group that I would have guessed is the real world pilots that can no longer fly due to medical or financial reasons are now using the Volair Sim to stay somewhat current.

While asking questions, I was curious to know which of the international countries are popular. Remember, this is one heavy box with everything included for the full chassis.  As expected, Canada due to the common border is number one, but then come Switzerland, UK and Spain.  Interesting.  Bart says he has shipped his Sim chassis to several countries that he did not even know existed.  Shipping costs seem to be the only thing people complain about - it is one very large and very heavy box but oh what fun it is.

You can learn more at the Volair Sim site.

Either fortunately or unfortunately, the Volair Sim is so popular that all existing stock has been temporarily depleted but more is on the way.  Mid-April is the target for resuming shipments but you can still get a 10% discount with your pre-order if you hurry.

Some planes were just meant to be flown with a stick and not a yoke, even in the simulator.