realistic joystick

[bolox]

Originally Posted by SlipBall

If anyone reading this thread has bought one, please share your thought's about them...and how you make your living

ok, i installed my stick and throttle today, replacing a cougar.

first impressions are good, the benefit to immersion by having a full length stick between your legs is worth every penny. the lack of centering springs is unusual after 5 years of getting a work out from the cougar's springs but there is a definite resistance to movement- feels like pushing a bellows or similar and inflight actually feels very good, similar to my limited gliding experience. precision is great, having the long throw- i'm still playing with settings and it generally takes 2 weeks to really settle in with new gear but flew a campaign mission and got 2 kills so it's definately functional.
throttle is very smooth, not so ergonomic as a cougar but feels more like a WW11 plane. the ergonomics of the stick are fantastic, the kink and twist of the stick top just fits your hand- reminds me of the luger.

had to reduce the sensitivity on simpeds as i was overcontrolling rudder with the greater stick movements, add the spring return and it felt a bit like rubbing stomach with one hand and patting head with the other at first
but that's feeling alot more natural now- guess i'll just have to spend more time practicing

probably not suited to the online uber dogfight ace type and tir i'd say is a must (4 buttons no hat) but i'm liking it

to pay for it, i work as a lighting technician (roadie), certainly ain't loaded- i just cut down in other areas to feed my simming habit

[ruxtmp]

Bolox, thanks for the feedback. From your post it does not sound like the universal base has blown you away. Do you feel that the price was justified for the precision and feel you have gained? I have worked for a company that made alot of molded products and I can somewhat understand the price per unit for the stick. Master molds are not cheap to fabricate or maintain. I am still trying to figure out why the base costs so much. Hall sensors are not cheap but a very good pair can be had for a little less than $400.

[Eckhart]

Came close myself to buy such a stick and the corresponding throttle. Even wrote them an email inquiring about how to get this stuff send to overseas. However, after an initial answer, I didn't hear from them anymore. Meanwhile, I had to pay my kids' college fees, prepare for a move etc. It is easy to loose your enthusiasm when you look at the price (which is certainly justified....but times are difficult).

I wonder if anybody from North America bought one of those sticks and how he got it through customs....

It is a great idea but still reserved for a small group. On the other end, if I add up all the cougar joysticks I bought (3! and all broke down after approximately a year) to the price of my current CH setting, I come close to the price of this dream equipment.

Keep on going guys. This is really some tremendous work!

Cheers,

Eckhart

[revi]

These certainly look awesome, are there any Spitfire / hurricane sticks?

[Steiner362]

Originally Posted by Eckhart

I wonder if anybody from North America bought one of those sticks and how he got it through customs....

It
Eckhart

Hey we Euros face the same problems with the CH stuff¬!,

[Eckhart]

It looks fantastic C6!

As Rave said before where are you with your work on the pedal? I have an F16 Simped pedal which is great in terms of precision (Hall Sensor) but the spring loaded mechanism makes it somewhat awkward to use. There are other (extremely expensive) pedals out there with oil damping mechanism which adds to the immersion effect. Could you give us some more details about the characteristics of this great looking pedal which is shown in this video?

On a personal note, I am ready to buy the whole stuff but my wife will certainly kill me .

Could C6 send me a contact address where to order and to get more information about the practical details (shipping, tax refund for non EC countries etc.)?

Cheers,

Eckhart

Ps: I will probably have to tell my wife that this costs less than a mistress...

[jamesdietz]

Originally Posted by Tanner

I think Tarmac Aces could make quite a bit of money by offering a modification of an existing joystick with the 109 grip. Most people are not going to shell out the bucks for this kit due to the price and the near necessity of making a sim pit. 99.999999% of folks are flying at their computer desk with standard controllers. Offer a standard joystick with a 109 grip and I think Tarmac Aces could make a ton of money.

Couldn't agree more & I'd be first in line for a conversion kit for my long suffering FFB stick...but thinking about this further ,the various companies who design & build joysticks don't work in a vacuum-they must see the interest for a period looking joystick or two?They like us can see BoBSoW slowly coming down the track & must know all of us will be buying all new stuff to make it work,perhaps including a new stick & or controls ? I'd like to think they are already at the drawing boards...Well one can dream ....

[C6_Trollbug]

@ Eckhart : here are some technical infos about the rudder :

- every moving axis is ballbearing mounted
- 1 Hall effect sensor for the rudder , 1 cermet pot for each brake
- 2 strong traction springs for the rudder , dampered by 2 double-action ( push-pull ) linear oil dampers
- 2 linear gas dampers for the brakes
- 2 kinds of soles : Luftwaffe soles , or modern jets soles (Jaguar )
- very rugged engineering

http://www.tarmac-aces.com/

[bolox]

Originally Posted by ruxtmp

Bolox, thanks for the feedback. From your post it does not sound like the universal base has blown you away. Do you feel that the price was justified for the precision and feel you have gained? I have worked for a company that made alot of molded products and I can somewhat understand the price per unit for the stick. Master molds are not cheap to fabricate or maintain. I am still trying to figure out why the base costs so much. Hall sensors are not cheap but a very good pair can be had for a little less than $400.

very little 'blows me away' these days but i did state it's worth every penny (imho). as i said i've had it for a day and am getting to grips with a vastly different technique to a 'sprung' stick- it's kind of like tir at first, your brain/body has to relearn everything till it becomes instinctive. i felt it important to point this out even if it makes my opinion seem a little less enthusiastic than i am about the product.

another plus point is both the base and throttle are based on leo bodnar's chip so if you wished to it is theoretically possible to connect more axes/buttons to the controller (voiding the waranty )- something no other stick i know does (apart from the ability to wire into the rudder/brake axes on a cougar).

for precision and immersion i think this is hard to beat

[revi]

OK, all this talk of 'no self centering' has got me curious and looking at the screws on my x52 stick.
Has anyone taken the spring out of one of these?