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Review
Originally Published April 11, 2002
Updated April 24, 2006
CH
Products USB Joysticks
by Vince
"Beer Camel" Putze
 CH
Products has probably earned the title of being the FIRST
Company to offer a complete USB HOTAS system for the retail
market. Saitek's X-36 / X-45 / X-52 could be considered for this distinction,
but not in the purest sense of the term "realistic HOTAS".
It lacks a separate rudder controller; I do not know of any
real aircraft that have been produced with a "rocker" bar
for yaw control The Thrustmaster Cougar has to be classified as a true HOTAS, but it
was not available as early as the CH Products controllers.
This, in my opinion, gives CH Products the "crown" for producing
the first true USB HOTAS system for flight sim enthusiasts.
CH Products is a family owned US Company
and has been in the PC joystick business for many years. Their
experience in design, production, and support of high quality,
reliable gaming hardware is legendary. The first Joystick
I ever owned was the CH Products F-16 CombatStick Gameport.
I purchased it shortly after acquiring my first computer in
1992. I think I paid $85.00; fairly expensive considering
it was in "1992 dollars". That new "toy" was not anything
close to being considered bargain basement; and to be totally
honest I was a little concerned about the price / value /
quality ratio. Boy was I wrong! That stick received heavy,
long-term use (Pronounced abuse!) and is still working well.
I never had a single problem with it. (That old F-16 CombatStick
has been donated to a friend of mine... he is going to use
it in his high performance aerobatic homebuilt aircraft..
Until then it is on his computer!) It was retired only because
I upgraded to the CH Products FighterStick. I fell
completely in love with my Pro Throttle, FighterStick,
and rudder pedal HOTAS. The Speed Keys programming utility,
relative to the competition, was absolutely simple to use.
My brother, and lifelong LAN buddy, initially chose the Thrustmaster FLCS HOTAS over CH Products. As capable
as that unit was, programming it is not something for the
faint of heart. Its programming utility is not nearly as intuitive
as the CH Products Speed Keys software. It was this
previous experience that had me anxiously waiting for the
CH to produce a USB HOTAS solution. I was NOT disappointed...
Lets explore the CH USB joystick models, feature sets, software,
and HOTAS combinations available.
Today
we look at four CH Products USB Joysticks. They are:
- FlightStick Pro USB
- CombatStick 568 USB
- FighterStick USB
- Pro Throttle USB
Each
of these units have interesting features, assets, and liabilities.
They can also be combined, via software, for a truly unique
and useful way to configure your HOTAS. CH Products Control
Manager, the powerful programming utility used to program
and integrate these controllers, will allow just about any
CH Products USB controller combination to be recognized by
Windows as a single gaming controller. This permits games
that recognize only one input device to "see", and properly
use all CH Products USB units as one controller/HOTAS (Up
to 16 separate CH Products controllers). More on this later.
Lets look at each controller individually, and then how to
"combine" and "program" them into a true HOTAS.
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