Warthog Review

[TUSA/TX-Gunslinger]

Originally Posted by JG27CaptStubing

Hey Flanker...

What do you think of the lack of trim wheels for IL2. I know the Warthog has wheels but they aren't on the throttle itself. I have a modded Cougar as well (Evenstrain with Hall Sensors) and I've been thinking about this as my next HOTAS.

Let me know what you think about the trim wheels. I like using both my Ant Elev and Radar Range for certain axis.

Hi Stubing

Since you have not taken the plunge yet AND you have an Evenstrain stick - let me offer you an alternative evaluation - my own after a couple of weeks off and on.

I'll keep my Warthog - however - since every review says "it's better than a mod Cougar" - here's some food for thought. This is from a post I made over at ROF forums:

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Ok, it's time to let the "cat" out of the bag a little bit - if for no other reason - to keep some users from perhaps making the same mistake as I did.

Let's start out with my predjudices, which drive my experience:

A. I fly prop sims, almost exclusively. DCS Black Shark would be the occasional exception, and of course - it has a few propellers

B. My Cougar is equipped with Ian Johnston's U2Nxt, high end gimbal system. This system get's it action/feel from precision ball bearings and 4 springs.

C. Very importantly, I have REMOVED the rubber boot from my Cougar - since 2005. This btw, reduces the joystick tension considerably. If you have a U2NXT and have left the boot on - you are flying with significantly more tension than I am, and dampening.

D. I have at least 7,000 hours of Il2 and ROF experience on this stick (conservative estimate). That of course, would highly skew my "preferences" with respect to props and my main stick itself.

E. I tend to be best at stick and rudder things - worst at gunnery - love acro and gain the most fulfillment from simulation in my ability to control my aircraft.

F. As a musician for over 40 years, mainly guitar - I am very sensitive (perhaps overly so) to small changes in the tactile feel and ergonomics of "input devices".

Now, last caveat:

I've only had my Warthog for two weeks, most of this time working on designing optimum application profiles for Rise of Flight - which has been complicated by all the new commands which came with 1.016

1. Stick tension of the Warthog joystick is noticably greater than U2Nxt Cougar without the rubber boot. For jet sim people, this may not mean much - particularly since I'd imagine most of the "Kept the rubber boot". I was a little miffed at this, because I read SIMHQ previews and reviews which said just the opposite. I remember from the first preview - the SIMHQ reporter saying:

"SimHQ's preview article was short on details about how the HOTAS Warthog felt to use. My initial impressions were very favorable; I have a Cougar modded with NXT gimbals and I think that the HOTAS Warthog stock gimbals feel even better. The HOTAS Warthog throttle feels very nice, too, and has a detent system that is worlds better than the Cougar's. However, for a true comparison SimHQ needs more time with the controller and the ability to do side-by-side A/B testing. When we review the HOTAS Warthog we will publish more thoughts on how the HOTAS feels."

2. There is a CENTER DETENT! The main reason for the U2Nxt was to eliminate the center detent to obtain greater control in this very critical area of flight. Of course, almost all other joysticks have a center detent, so this is a non-issue to anyone but a U2Nxt or perhaps other custom joystick user.

3. The switches are very heavy duty - a plus. On the down side, the buttons all have a longer throw - more travel is taken to actuate the buttons. The S1, S2, S3, S4 - Left Throttle button are stiffer and have at least twice the amount of travel-to-actuate. One would imagine that some of the stiffness will get worked out over time - however the travel/distance-to-actuate is what it is.

4. The rotaries are gone. Replaced with a single trim slider - which functions very smoothly and accurately.

5. You must keep TARGET running and initiate a script to keep a "profile" active in the Warthog. This was a surprise to me. One of the great things about the Cougar, is it's ability to retain a profile in memory inside the Cougar. If you fly the same profile, over and over - it's a great feature that I wish they would have retained. Again, most joysticks do not retain profiles - so most users won't notice this.

In summary, this is a great system - UNLESS you are a prop sim addict like me who already has a U2Nxt modified Cougar that you are happy with. If you are, then you might want to hold off on your Warthog order until I can get a more time with the stick.

The SIMHQ reviews and coverage of this device lead to me to believe things that just are not true about this package. In all fairness, the main reviewer's previous stick was an X-45,X-52 and the reporters who compared this stick to the U2nxt Cougar - were Jet Simmers.

Now, If you are an X-45/X-52, stock Cougar user or if you are U2Nxt guy and fly jet sims alot - then I think this stick is a large upgrade for you.

In many areas I'm impressed with the Warthog, however so far - I have the sinking feeling that I would have been better off to just keep my trusty modded Cougar.

I will let you know more as I gain more experience with this system. Perhaps some of my impressions will change. We'll see.

S!

Gunny
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Hope this helps...

S!

Gunny