Best joystick? Newbie asking for dad's christmas present

Hi all,

 

I am very glad to find this welcoming forum! I am not a flight sim user myself but am just writing a quick pre-Christmas question on behalf of my father, who is fully committed to the cause. Dad has sadly had to give up flying recently (especially sad after his marathon stretch of 28 years to achieve his ppl, conquering many hurdles of time/finance along the way) and so flight sims are becoming important to him to keep his passion alive. However, he has a rubbish joystick. I have been saving for a while and think I am finally in a position to get him a super one (complete with rudder pedals if possible!) but have realised I have no idea which one to get. Would really appreciate any suggestions – he is a particular lover of combat flight sims and historic aircraft, if that makes any difference. Thanks so much for your time and for any suggestions. OG

It depends on your budget. Personally, I have an X-52,which suits me very well (I'm more into HOTAS than yoke+quadrant), but it will cost you around $150 right now. This does not include rudder pedals, however.

It makes a difference. Most combat planes have a stick. Other planes have a yoke and rudder panels and a throttle quadrant. Such a set can be expensive. But can sometimes be bought one part at a time too.

It's a very personal choice though. Maybe a "contribution towards" would be better, and letting him choose..

 

What's the budget?

Thanks so much for the replies. I had worried it might be too personal a thing and that it would be best to let him choose, and your comments make me think that might be the right option. Particularly if the combat element makes a difference. I guess I had assumed £300-£400 for something that would do everything he needed - I thought he mentioned something about a Warthog brand (and I see they do HOTAS) but equally I hadn't appreciated there was quite so much choice available. Thank you for your help!

Found an Ad for the Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog Stick&Throttle:

https://www.fspilotshop.com/thrustmaster-hotas-warthog-joystick-throttle-p-6347.html

 

Just to show it, and give an indication of price, new.

(stick and throttle quadrant can also be bought separate.)

 

 

And here is a set that people like for flying with yoke and pedals. It's pretty much the cheapest set of this type that's available.

(Now that I say that, I think Saitek has had huge problems with deliveries. A backlog of over a year, so people that ordered a year ago still don't have their set. They had production problems.

I think I heard something about Saitek being bought out recently by another big manufacturer. (Was it Logitech??).

Don't remember too clearly.

But that didn't really mean that productions and delivery had started up again. Just that "all hope ws not lost.)

 

Anywho, probably not the best idea to order these if you need then as present soon.

 

Yoke and throttles set:

http://www.saitek.com/uk/prod/yoke.html

Rudder pedals:

http://www.saitek.com/uk/prod/pedals.html

(click Buy Now to see the prices.)

(And if you click 'buy now' on the throttles and yoke page, you will see the Logitech product advertised there too! (as 'not yet available'))

 

Anywho, I would let him make that difficult (but fun) choice. :):D

 

(Must add that according to what I read on these forums the Saitek gear isn't very sturdy, and can't be repaired much if it breaks) But, many have loads of fun with it.

 

Getting something more expensive gets VERY expensive. As in, 2500 dollar for a throttle alone (CH products for example.)

I should add that using a yoke, throttle, rudder peddal set, is not the norm.

 

Many use a simple joystick, and are fine with that.

I've been playing fsx for 5 or 6 years and never felt I needed anything more then a 'simple' "Logitech Extreme 3D" joystick. That was about 50$ I think. Not that precise, but it does the job nicely.

With that stick I fly airliners, small prop planes (that have a yoke in real life). But also the F18, and F16 and such, which have a Stick in real life.

I even used it to drive a car.

 

There are even some here that use just the keyboard to fly.

That Thrustmaster Warthog is a great stick/throttle combination. It's extremely versatile and is what I use for everything, though it doesn't include rudder control -- I use CH Pro pedals until I can find something much better.

 

Once programmed, that Warthog has enough controls to (mostly) keep you from needing to use the keyboard, and I've found that not having to look at the keyboard, but just having most controls fall readily to hand is worth a lot to me.

 

The Warthog is expensive, and Saitek and CH sell things for much less that do a fair chunk of what the Warthog will do.

 

Some folks want a control wheel for aircraft that use them, and some are like me and find a stick to be just what I need for anything.

This is my baby, it cost me about £25 (32 US dollars) and works fine, and has a nice solid chunky feel to it.

Its got the 3 features which I consider essential, namely a twist action for rudder control, a panning hat, and a 'click-stop' halfway along the throttle slider so you know you're at half throttle without having to look down-

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/thrust_master_stick_zps8oimplce.jpg~original

 

 

I've also got this spare one for about £40 (55 US dollars) it's the 'big brother' of the one above with the same twist rudder, panning hat and 'click-stop', but the throttle lever is that huge thing which I don't like much, the lever has also got two big optional rudder control buttons on the back of it which take some getting used to.

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/sub2/t-flight-hotas-x_zpsmqtdecnn.jpg~original

 

PS- I might get a yoke next to see what it's like out of curiosity, I've never had one.

I've not been fond of a twist rudder control -- it's so awkward and unnatural when you're used to pedals. So if the OP's father is a pilot, I'd tend to skip the twist, unless you know for a fact the twist will work for him.

I have a ThrustMaster T.Flight HOTAS X, that I like very much.

 

It works very good when taking off from the runway,

Rudder on the left side throttle on a rocker / slider,

and I assign a couple of the buttons on the left throttle to use as elevator trim up / down,

very convenient setup.

And very good price at 50 USD.

 

It is an entry level HOTAS, and it does not do everything, but it is good, and the next step up is usually a big step up in number of buttons and price.

 

Good Luck, and keep researching

JD

Thank you so much for all of your comments - it has really helped me out. I have looked at all the recommendations and definitely know that dad will want a HOTAS + pedals set up. He did have a twist joystick (I think a Sidewinder) but I know that wasn't really his bag. Beyond that, there seem to be a lot of options which will depend on his personal preferences, so I have decided to avoid disappointment that I will let the cat out of the bag. I know he really wants a head-tracker as well so I can make that the surprise part (as well hopefully as a copy of his old favourite combat sim, Flying Corps Gold...!). I really appreciate everyone taking the time to comment - what a lovely community.

Another thing about joysticks-- they usually come with lots of buttons which you can assign to all sorts of things like trim, gear up/down, flaps etc, but I never use them, I simply hit the corresponding key on my keyboard because it's easier than having to fiddle with buttons on the stick. So buying a stick with lots of buttons has never been a top priority for me.

OG,

 

You're on the right track with your Father making the final choice; after all, he will be the one using it, so whatever he's comfortable with is the best one to go with.

 

I had a HOTAS X and liked it very much, but I was looking for something a little more compact so now I'm using a F.L.Y 5 Joystick... so far, it feels pretty good!

 

Alan :pilot:

Another thing about joysticks-- they usually come with lots of buttons which you can assign to all sorts of things like trim, gear up/down, flaps etc, but I never use them, I simply hit the corresponding key on my keyboard because it's easier than having to fiddle with buttons on the stick. So buying a stick with lots of buttons has never been a top priority for me.

 

You're different in that regard from anyone I know that has those. The keyboard is the hassle, while once you learn the HOTAS there's no need to look at all, nor to take your hands off the stick and throttle, except for whatever you may not have programmed to the HOTAS.

 

But each to his own...