My Review of the Saitek Aviator for Xbox 360

[l88bastard]

Here is my review of the saitek aviator

No, I have not tried the standard controller. I have all the bells and whistles for Il-2 1946 on the computer (CH Flightstick, peddals & throttle + TackIR4) and ordered the Aviator the minute I saw a release date for the demo and got the stick the day before the demo dropped...so I had never used the aviator before, but I did not wanna play this game with the xbox control stick because I know better! I also did not wanna spend $100+ for another controller which is why I did not get the Ace stick.

I think the aviator is an average stick, but I do not recommend it for two reasons. First, the twisting feature for rudder control on the stick itself.....I hate it. It is a pain to execute specific moves which require precise stick movement and precise rudder movement and when you have to do it on the same stick it just sucks....imagine pulling back for a climb while you are also twisting it for rudder movement...uggg, you get used to it, but after an hour of frantic play....and I STRESS FRANTIC because this game has non-stop action, your writst is jello. I am not kidding, I had to ice my wrist and hand...this will give you carpel tunnel syndrom guaranteed I am not kidding.

Second, the Ergonomics. Because it is ambidexterous for righties and lefties it is not designed for maximum comfort. The button placement on the base of the stick sucks and is a real pain in the butt for reaching critical buttons while you are trying to fly....you are constantly crossing one of your arms over the other to reach an out of the way button.....and don't get me started on the throttle control which is all the way on the front of the base!

Also, as I was saying earlier, after an hour of frantic play, my palm was sweaty and slipping all over the stick while I was trying to execute rudder movements. I am not a pusseee by any means, but my hand was cramping in a painful claw position and it took an hour of icing and stretching it to make it feel better.

After some investigation and questioning I have found that owners of the ace combat stick really enjoy the hotas setup for this game and I have decided to pull the trigger and buy one myself. I should have it in a few days and will fill you in then....

In short, don't make the same mistake I did, save yourself $40 buy spending $100-$130 for a proper HOTAS setup for this game.

Anybody wanna buy a slighly used AVIATOR? LOL!