Need Advice on New Joystick Purchase!

[LTCSZ]

My trusty old Microsoft joystick has finally gone TU...I want to invest in a really good joystick, but am quite confused by the selection and price range...I would like a yoke, but just do not have the space for one on my desk...Can any of you suggest a really good controller for FS that would last and be really accurate in calibration? Budget: Under $300...Thanks a lot...

Steve

[Fozzer]

Hello Steve...

My little bundle of joy at the moment...>>> http://www.saitek.com/uk/prod/fly5.html

Price= £40/50.

I did an easy mod on mine to reduce the strength of the spring (very strong!) to stop the stick from tipping over when using it!

It does the job OK, without the use of expensive rudder pedals. (Twist the Stick).

Paul... ...!

[pegger]

If you want a yoke, then get one. Once you use it, you will never look back to sticks.

And the problem of not enough space....nonsense! Most yokes clamp on the edge of the desk, and quite easily unclamp to be stored away until the next flight.

[logjam]

Whatever turns your crank. Yokes are so 60's. I was brought up on stick and rudder and my FS experience has always leaned towards that. I have owned a yoke at times, there's an old CH yoke and pedals in the shed even. My 1st. choice now is a Thrustmaster hotas. I owned one during the old days of CFS, but it wasn't digital like the new ones. I get by quite well with a Saitek X45 HOTAS. I find the rudder control just fine. I have programmed the buttons to be logical and there's a button for just about everything. The best news is you can get one on EBAY for cheap.

[zswobbie1]

Stick & rudder? Stick to fly GA & other planes? I was under the impression that only Airbus & fighter jets (& 1 or 2 GA's) use sticks.
I really thing that a yoke up's the realism settings hugely, so try make a plan to get one. I have a CH Product set of Yoke & Rudders. THe yoke is easy to tighten on to the edge of a desk. I'm sure you can try find something cheap & 2nd hand? Ask on forums? Maybe logjam has his that he is not using to sell?

As far as the comment of yokes being so 60's?? I reserve comment

[Fozzer]

Yokes?

I'll tell you what, I have a Steering Wheel (including Pedals) which can be attached to my desk for use in my Truck Games, and which practically obliterates my view of my monitor in front of me!
So a Yoke obscuring my view is a no-no for me!

"Aiming" the Aircraft, using a "Joystick" comes natural for me, (like we did in our 8-bit computer games), and is the way to go for me!.... ...!

Preferences!.... ...!

Paul....With a Stick of Joy!... ...!

[zswobbie1]

Well, a yoke is like a steering wheel, but with a gap in the middle. That should give better visuals than a steering wheel?
If not, ever thought of raising your seat a little bit?

Are your pedals switchable between vehicle or flight? Toe brakes? Must be interesting using vehicle pedals for flying.

"Aiming" the Aircraft, using a "Joystick" comes natural for me, (like we did in our 8-bit computer games), and is the way to go for me!

Well, for us that tend to take our simulated flying up a level, most of us have moved away from "Aiming an Aircraft" & try to make things as realistic as we can, by learning to fly, instead of aiming/driving. We call it "Piloting", (well, mostly).

Sure, preferences,,,,, those that like gaming/pointing a plane, or those that prefer simulating pilotage.
Diffrent strokes.. posting.php?mode=reply&f=9&t=170958#

[logjam]

O dear Zwob, My Cirrus SR20 has a joystick just like Airbus. Just like it's name, it is a JOY to fly. Mind you the glass cockpit took a bit getting used to. The ultralites all have a joystick (Except those glorious gliders that bend their wings.) Most of the prop trainers I simfly have joysticks too. BTW I use FSX for navigational training and updating instrument approaches. It actually is hard work, not playing. I only simfly one cigar tube, that's the Airbus A320, just to experience what the saurus (sore-ass) pilots go through. ( I find I've only got a 3 hour backside) So I really don't need a yoke for my simming.

[Fozzer]

Zwob...

..and me?.... ....!

Whether its a Yoke or a Joystick, I still have terrible problems comparing my piloting an Auster Aiglet spotter plane for the British Army in 1955, occasional real world flights in the local club's Cessna 150/152's, and taking seriously manoeuvring a set of multi-coloured Pixels on a computer monitor screen with the aid of some sort of hand-held device...
I mostly reserve that sensation for blasting the Aliens attacking my inter-stellar star fighter....

...like I did/do on my Sinclair Spectrum 48k Computer.....

A very vivid imagination is required...trust me... ...!

...its a game... ... ...!

Paul....Powering up my hyper-drive...Off to Alpha Centauri... ...!

[Visitor66]

Fozzer, very well said sir!

All the best, For Danglia.

[ViperPilot]

Although I use a CH Eclipse Yoke (with the Rudder 'paddles'), I recently bought a Thrustmaster HOTAS X for a spare, on clearance from the local Computer store. I like the fact that the Throttle Quadrant is removable, and that the Joystick has a tension adjustment on the bottom that loosens or stiffens the action.

The choice between Yoke or Joystick is purely up to the User; for me, a Yoke adds a sense of realism when flying most GA airplanes, or the occasional tubeliner. I may go back to the Joystick at some point, as soon as I build a stand that places the Joystick in the proper position!!

(Yeah, sure you will, Alan...)

[pegger]

Well...seems this is a sore point for sime users.

Back to the OP's question...
Do not be concerned for how much space a yoke will use up. As mentioned, they can be easily put out of the way when you are done with them. And don't concern yourself with what is "better" according to us anonymous internet peeps. Personal preferrance is paramount in YOUR decision. Read between the lines off all the soap box rants.

If you decide that flying with "mouse as yoke" turned on instead of buying a new controller, then thats awesome too.

Cheers.

[zswobbie1]

Lol... just having a bit of fun, guys. At our Virtual Flying club, at our local Air Force base, Ysterplaat, here in Cape Town, South Africa, we mentor 60 kids "The Young Falcons"as part of a 2 year project run by the Air Force as a community upliftment (& recruiting as well), 30 juniors & 30 seniors. We get them every second Saturday. They get lectures on nav, survival, fire drill etc & do practicals on our 15 PC's that have been donated. Those PC's have headphones & Joysticks. The kids are all high grade maths & science, & VERY passionate about aviation. We also have 2x simulators that we have built, an Avro Shackleton, fully kitted out with original controls, seats etc & an Aero Machi MB 236 twin seater trainer that the SAAF call an Impala.

After doing the pracs on their PC with joysticks, they come & fly on our PC's with Yokes.. bearing in mind the examples & pracs they do are on Cessna 172's. They look on their faces is quite awesome when they realise how much more emersive & realistic flying a yoked plane is, with pedals, instead of a twist grip.

No problem guys, there is a place for yokes & pedals, & to each their own. Yes, it is moving coloured pixels around a small piece of glass, but we try & pretend to make things as realistic & emmersive as we practically can.

Phew, I so remember my good old Speccy!