Hi guys, newbie here so please be gentle

I need to buy a joystick for the first time and have no idea what's good or what's bad. Preferably something on the cheaper side (entry level). Is having a throttle important too? I see some joystick's come with a throttle and I'm just wondering if that's actually useful or just a tacky thing thrown in to beef up cost?

After doing a search on Google, these are some of the sticks people have recommended, but they all vary in prices and features...

• Thrustmaster T-16000M
• Logitech Extreme 3D
• Saitek PS38 Cybrog F.L.Y5 Flight Stick
• Thrustmaster T-Flight Hotas X Flight Stick (and Throttle)

Cheers guys.

I'm a big fan of the Logitech Extreme 3D: solid stick with a decent amount of buttons, a twist stick, and nice throttle. The Logitech Profiler software is pretty decent, too, allowing for some advanced controls configurations (shifts, macros, etc.) without requiring a degree in programming.

I think you'll find that all of the sticks on your list are missing the majority of inputs required to run all the systems on the Hog, however, so be prepared to study a key command list and/or remap keys to work with your chosen configuration.

Hi NamecaF and welcome to the Hawg!

Firstly I would like to say I have had many Saitek sticks over the years and every single one had centering issues whereby they would 'spike' along the X and Y axis. Not so much with the X52 but still there.

Never had a Logitech joystick so can't comment.

Stay away from the Thrustmaster T-Flight Hotas IMO, gimmicky and not very good and the rudder on the throttle is impossible to use. The Thrustmaster T-16000M has the same innards as the Warthog HOTAS I believe(?) so that may be a good budget start point if you want to stick (pun not intended ) to that price point.

If you want to try a HOTAS (Hands On Throttle And Stick) and don't want to spend loads then have a look on Ebay for a Saitek X45 as that was the last decent HOTAS saitek made, again IMO.

I'm also a fan of the Logitech Extreme 3D.
It's cheap to buy and has enough buttons (for me) to cope with most sims.

The only downside (to some) is the twist rudder,which with my big clumsy hands keeps getting applied accidentally during intense manoeuvres.
I am on my second as the first one started to 'spike' on the rudder input,however after looking at the competition I decided to buy another.

I notice that my current one is also very sensitive on the rudder input,jiggling around just by placing my hand on the stick.
Not sure if that's normal but I'm sure it can be sorted by making a 'dead zone' in a games settings.

Even though I have rudder pedals I still find myself trying to twist the WH stick

Welcome to the Hawg world bud!


I have no clue how much money you are working with but here are the following HOTAS setups I would go with:


First my current set

CH Fighterstick and Ch Pro Throttle. Total cost will be around 200 USD. Good set up, The stick is almost the same as the real Hogs and the throttle is very good. A ton of buttons to program and very easy software to program those buttons. Only 2 downsides I have found, First its not a split throttle so you control both engines the same. And 2nd no dual detent trigger. You can program this in but if you ask me its not that big of a problem.


Second choice, which is my back up stick

X52. I would go pro since its a bit newer. This HOTAS will run about 150 USD. So 50 USD cheaper than the first set up. No real downsides to this stick except for the lack of buttons. Not nearly enough for what I would want to program. However the Stick twist and Dual detent trigger make up for it.



And the Third choice

The Trustmaster WartHog, THis is an exact replica of a working A-10C HOTAS. Only downside here is the price, currently about 500 USD.



So to sum it up, If your straped for cash go for the X52. If you want more buttons but dont have 500 USD go for the Ch set up. And if you are rich and have 500 USD to blow Trustmaster Warthog it is!

I say pick up something cheap and save up for a TM Warthog. I have owned Logitechs; Saitek X-36 and X-45; TM Cougar and upgraded to the Warthog when I was in Afghanistan. It is a great experience flying with the TM Warthog.

I say buy something cheap to begin with to ensure you will enjoy this hobby. There's no reason to spend $400+ on a joystick only to figure out you hate study-sims or this genre in general. On that note you can currently buy a TM Warthog for $399 on Amazon. Occassionaly you can find some places selling it for as low as $349 - I have seen, of course after I had already bought mine....

I can vouch for Logitech Extreme 3D too. Use it to play everything from arcades, as well as flight (including choppers), tank and ship sims. I like the throttle. Small, but does the job just fine. Rudder twist is a mix bag, though. I need it badly, but it often ruined good approaches when I twisted the stick accidentaly. While 12 buttons sounds a lot, it really isn't. Not even enough to fly SFP games. In fact, this is the sole reason why I haven't bought DCS A-10C yet. Oh, and the six buttons on the left are pretty stiff to press. It's still a pretty good joystick though, considering it only cost me a litte over 30 bucks.

For those of you experiencing woes with twist sticks, you can disable the axis via the in game controls in most sims: just clear the assignment for the rudder axis or map it to something else.

If you're posting on the Warthog board, I'm assuming you are into hardcore sims. In that case, I will reiterate the recommendation of the Saitek X52 as an entry level, programmable HOTAS. When you do hardcore flight sims, you really need a programmable stick (pref. HOTAS), especially since (DCS excluded) the best hardcore combat sims came out over 10 years ago. The X52 is inexpensive, yet is also programmable enough to do just about anything you would want to do.

The problem with the entry level, non programmable sticks is that you are still keyboard hunting for a lot of functions, especially in the hardcore sims where the commands are less intuitive and made more to be programmed than remembered (i.e. Falcon 4.0). If you're going to spend $30-40 on an entry level stick, you might as well spend $70-80 to get the X52, and enjoy the additional mileage you get out of it.

CH Fighterstick, because it's just very good, and it will last for a very long time (which can't be said about a lot of other sticks out there).

A throttle is also nice to have. Especially a separate dedicated one like the CH Pro Throttle.

It'll cost you some money, so if you're not going to be using it a lot, you might go for some cheaper alternatives (that may break down earlier).

Based on your recommendations (and my wife being super swell) I've just had an X52 Pro ordered for me for Valentine's Day.. I gotta find some sweet flowers to counter this! My Extreme 3D is spiking like crazy in A-10, I get:
"You want some elevator deflection? How about ALL the deflection??! Muahahahaha!!1" whenever I touch it.. I was starting to think the AOA alarm was just the background noise, like the engines since it was on so dang much. Hoping for a Track IR 5 for my birthday in July. Hopefully by then I'll be competent in this jet. Right now it's very frustrating to fly so it makes it tough to be amped up about learning. Been running through the ramp startups a bit tho, I can taxi like nobody's business

That's gonna be a big bunch of flowers then just wait till the 15th to try it out though! lol

There is a mission to download on the DCS site where it tests your startup and taxi prowess by following the trainer around the taxiway which is quite good.

Due to a right shoulder that doesn't work well, I can't use a right handed stick. Any suggestions for a stick/HOTAS for a left handed user? I currently have a Saitek Cyborg Evo which I have configured left handed.

Thanks for any suggestions, Jim

You may struggle, especially with the throttles as they are designed and shaped for left hand use. With the Warthog throttle you have 4 controls used a lot on the ride side which would be difficult with your right hand. Also the Warthog stick has the countermeasures control on its left side which would get in the way of your left hand.

The X52 has a large bump in the handle so that would be uncomfortable but the version before that, the X45, has a smooth stick which I guess could be used in your left hand but still the throttle is designed for the left hand!

I'm not sure what's before rookie, but I'm that since my x52 Pro hasn't arrived yet. I'm on the fence about either designing my own profile or trying out someone else's, since they're typically designed with TrackIRs in mind. Since I don't have a TrackIR yet I need to still use views on the HOTAS along with the usual trim, slews etc. I'm thinking that I can get more mileage out of my hat switches by reassigning the Clutch button as a Right Ctrl and using a hatswitch for ,./; for slew and have it be trim when combined with the Clutch button. Does this make sense? Is it a poor use of controls? Just trying to have a game plan when this thing arrives. 10-20 business days shipping, ugh!

Even if you get someone else's profile, tomcat, it's not likely it'll work just right for you out of the box. Every one seems to have their own preferred control scheme and what works for me may not work for you. I'll PM you my layout and you're welcome to try it out or hack it to your heart's content.

Yup, sounds great, thanks again. I also found one on ED's forums by Jack Bauer. Both yours and his are probably great, and should be a good start.

FYI, to see the signals coming from your axis controls in the sim, use Right-Control-Enter and a red box will pop up on the lower left of the cockpit. I use this view on takeoff to ensure that my toe brakes are all the way off, because if they are not then the jet will track left or right and makes it dicey for formation rotation.

WC

That's not some 'make everyone eject' trick is it WC?

I am using a TM T-flight HOTAS and I am experiencing a sway down and to the right. It's so bad that during takeoff I have to yaw to left as if I was landing in 30 mph crosswinds. But it only occurs in A-10 but not Blackshark, Falcon 4.0, or BF3. I just find this stick to be too sensitive for A-10. Is there a calibration profile for DCS A-10? Or is it time for a new stick?

You might have to trim the aircraft... see if your stick is calibrated properly, or try flying without the stick (use the keyboard). If the aircraft displays the exact same characteristics, it's a trim problem not a stick problem. My A10 needs two "nudges" of left wing down trim in it's full-loadout state.