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Which HOTAS works on Windows 10?


Dead_Meat

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Hello, everyone.

I've been a flight sim enthusiast since the '90s. Back then I had the Thrustmaster FCS system. I really enjoyed it. I was out of the sims for a decade or so and about 5 years ago I purchased the Saitek X-55 system. It worked well on my Windows 7 laptop, but the laptop couldn't handle what was needed for proper flight sims. I've recently purchased a desktop with all the necessary components (Great graphics card, 64Gb RAM, etc). It's, of course, loaded with Windows 10. Several of my favorite sims are rather old. Think x-wing, Jane's Fighter anthology, Wing Commander, etc. The X-55 won't work on these sims. I've also loaded Jane's Advanced Tactical Fighter, and other "newer" sims. The x-55 won't work on them, either. The only sim it'll work on is X-plane 11. I'm now having trouble loading profiles into it, so I'm looking for a new HOTAS system. I liked the look of the X-65 - until I read that it's useless on Win 10. I like the X-56, but will I have the same problems I have with the X-55? I like buttons. The Thrustmaster A-10 HOTAS Really looks nice, but I'm not quite into spending almost $1000 for one. Can some of you help me out? Let me know what you think of the newer HOTAS systems. Thanks

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I use the Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog Throttle and flight stick. Most of the defaults set into MSFS 2020 work out of the box but I've changed a few because of the way I've been using them in the past are more comfortable for me. The main problem with the darn thing for new people is the cost of it. I bought mine for about $425 a year and a half ago. I see it listed now on Amazon (for various prices all of which are much higher than I paid for mine) some of which are for up to nearly $1000. This is almost totally because of the release of MSFS 2020 and the interest it has created. The Warthog is a wonderful device, heavy and tough, and has many buttons and switches which I will never use, but since it is a replica of the actual controls in the Warthog, obviously they are on this device too.
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Like Terry, I bought mine (around 2013) for just over $400, and I love it. I was shocked when you commented it was almost $1000 and had to search the web to discover that it is so, though I also came across some used ones that, if in good shape, would do very well indeed. It's a rugged unit, and I love the increased accuracy (more bits on many controls) and the hall effects sensors that eliminate the problem with dirty pots. AND, it still works like new, in spite of a LOT of hours of use over the years. I DID see one stick (no throttle) advertised at $239, so maybe there's a throttle available at a similar price.

 

I've programmed all manner of controls on to it so that it's rare that I have to touch mouse or keyboard when flying, including the pontoons for the Goose and most view changes, spoilers/dive brakes, gear, flaps, cowl flaps, mixture, prop, engine start, left or right engine select, autopilot ALT HOLD and NAV, landing lights and much more, even changing the flap switch so that a momentary operation lowers (or raises) the flaps by one notch, but leaving it a second or more operates the flaps to full extension or retraction. A very few things I have programmed through FSUIPC to be a little different on certain individual aircraft but otherwise generic.

 

The programing works fine on FSX and on P3D through v2.4 (probable well beyond that too).

 

Larry N.

As Skylab would say:

Remember: Aviation is NOT an exact Science!

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Several of my favorite sims are rather old. Think x-wing, Jane's Fighter anthology, Wing Commander, etc. The X-55 won't work on these sims. I've also loaded Jane's Advanced Tactical Fighter, and other "newer" sims. The x-55 won't work on them, either. The only sim it'll work on is X-plane 11.

 

All the latest controllers are USB, but all your sims pre-date USB and can't recognise that type of connection, or the controller attached with it. You may need to use a DOS emulator such as DOSBox which can work as an interface between modern hardware and older software: https://www.dosbox.com/

Tim Wright "The older I get, the better I was..."

Xbox Series X, Asus Prime H510M-K, Intel Core i5-11400F 4.40GHz, 16Gb DDR4 3200, 2TB WD Black NVME SSD, 1TB Samsung SATA SSD

NVidia RTX3060 Ti 8Gb, Logitech Flight Yoke System, CH Pro Pedals, Acer K272HL 27", Windows 11 Home x64

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