A word of warning
 

I've been using my aviator quite regularly for about 4 months, and it broke down today. With a cracking sound I noticed it became very wobbly and that the twist rudder wouldn't work anymore.
After taking a look inside the joystick I noticed what may be a slight design flaw. It's hard to explain without any pictures, but I will give it a shot.


The aviator handle, as you might have figured out, is a 2-piece affair. First there is the stick that connects to the base,
and then there is the grip that sits on top of the stick. The problem lies in how the stick and grip connect and interact.

The stick on which the grip handle itself rests, has a crescent shaped tip.
The tip connects to a spring-loaded, rotatable recess mounted inside the grip. This is the rudder control.

The problem is that between the sides of grip and stick there's a gap by a couple of millimeters.
So instead of the stick being totally enclosed by the grip and distributing the pressure evenly, all pressure is put on the crescent tip within the grip.
I've noticed that pulling the stick 8 or 4 o' clock towards you puts more stress on it than anything else and might break it. On my joystick, it was snapped clean off.


I'm not saying that your aviator will break, but it might be good to know it's weaknesses.
I recommend you to remove the grip and tape the upper part of the stick so that the gap is reduced (maybe lube it too so twisting doesn't become hard).
This should distribute the pressure better.


I will try to take some pictures of it and maybe figure out a potential fix (superglue hasn't worked).

Hmm...that sucks. Do you think you will get your money back because of the flaw?

Maybe, but since I bought it from abroad it's probably easier/cheaper to try to fix it myself...

I guess. Good luck!:)

I have also heard of this flaw...however I also know a couple of people that have had this stick since launch and use it a lot. So I guess its part unlucky. If you were UK you could get it turned around to a new one as Saiteks customer service is fantastic.

Hope you get it sorted out....i'd still call/email Saitek and see if they can offer you a resolution.

For the time being, it looks like I'm going to take the components of the joystick and build a improvised HOTAS instead. :-)

I've been thinking about modding the joystick anyway...

I would like to congratulate you for being the first IL-2 BoP player to officially break their joystick in the playing of the game. ;)

I just received my AV8R Wed and after reading your post decided to take out the four screws holding on the outside grip and take a peak inside. Interestingly mine has metal pins that connect the outer shell to the inner stick to facilitate the rudder movement. New version perhaps? I forgot to take a pic and probably won't now that I have it wrapped in tennis racquet grip tape. Best $5 I've spent lately. ;)

I forgot to mention that metal pin... It's purpose as far as I can see, is only to keep the outside/grip on the stick. The stress created when moving the stick will still be at the point where the stick is in actual contact with the grip (the c-shaped tip that connects to the rudder control).

Hey, new thread beckons - "PIMP MY STICK"....

oh..hang on a second....I didn't think it through.....:(
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